LeBlanc. "In Accordance With The Documents of Ancient Times" The Origins, Development, and Significance of The Ancient Egyptian Sed Festival (Jubilee Festival) PDF

Abstract
"In Accordance with the Documents of Ancient Times":

The Origins, Development, and Significance of the Ancient Egyptian Sed Festival
(Jubilee Festival)
Marc Jeremy LeBlanc
2011
Volume 1
As the grandest of all royal festivals, the Sed Festival is one of the most
frequently depicted royal iconographic motifs in the decorative relief programs of
Egypt's numerous temples and royal precincts. Upon taking the throne, each Egyptian
ruler hoped to celebrate many Sed Festivals—both in life and in the perpetually renewed
state of existence the ruler hoped to achieve after his death. While previous studies have
mostly ignored early evidence for the festival prior to the political unification of the
Egyptian state at the end of the 4th millennium BCE, the present dissertation's analysis of
Predynastic and Protodynastic iconography suggests that Upper Egyptian rulers
celebrated a version of the Sed Festival as early as Naqada I. Furthermore, an in-depth
study of all available documentation for the celebration of the Sed Festival in the
Predynastic, Protodynastic and dynastic periods suggests that the cycle of rituals that
comprises the Sed Festival serves three main purposes throughout Egyptian history.
First, by means of ritual, the Egyptian ruler symbolically transforms into a creator deity
and attains the ability to effect his own rejuvenation and to continue to rule Egypt
effectively. Second, by symbolically demonstrating his control over cyclical phenomena
of the natural world, the Egyptian ruler establishes and maintains order in Egypt and in
the cosmos at large. Third, in order to suppress the potentially disruptive and destructive
inimical forces of chaos in the cosmos, the Egyptian ruler eliminates all possible threats
to himself and to the Egyptian state during the celebration of the Sed Festival.
(Jubilee Festival)
A Dissertation
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of
Yale University
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Marc Jeremy LeBlanc
Dissertation Director: Prof. John Coleman Darnell
May 2011
n
UMI Number: 3467510
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in
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements viii
List of Figures xi
Chapter 1: The Ancient Egyptian Sed Festival: An Introduction 1
1.0. Introduction 1
1.1. An Etymological Study of the Term Hb-Sd 5
1.1.0. Introduction 5
1.1.1. Hb-Sd: Festival of the Tail? 7
1.1.2. Hb-Sd: Festival of the Cloth? 14
1.1.3. Hb-Sd: Festival of the Canine God Sed? 27
1.1.4. Hb-Sd: 30-Year Festival? 28
1.2. Search for the Origins of the Sed Festival 34
1.3. A New Interpretive Model for the Sed Festival 41
Chapter 2: Major Sed Festival Relief Programs 44
2.0. Introduction 44
2.1. The Sed Festival Reliefs of Amenhotep III in the Tomb of Kheruef. 45
2.1.1. Tomb of Kheruef: Reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's 1st Sed Festival 55
Scene 1: Enthronement of Amenhotep III and Hathor 56
Text 1: Celebration of Amenhotep Ill's First Sed Festival 67
Scene 2: Presentation of Gold to a Group of Royal Officials 75
Scene 3 Offering of Libations to the King 77
Scene 4: Performance of Hathoric Music & Dance Rituals 85
Scene 5: Procession of the Royal Couple from the Palace 108
Scene 6: Towing of the Solar Barque 112
Scene 7: Musical Performance of the Royal Daughters 122
2.1.2. Tomb of Kheruef: Reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's 3rd Sed Festival 137
Scene 1: Presentation of Gifts to the Enthroned Royal Couple 140
Scene 2: Presentation of Offerings to the Djed Pillar 156
Scene 2a: Preparation & Transport of Offerings 156
Scene 2b: Granting of Offerings by the King 167
Scene 3: The Raising of the Djed Pillar 174
Scene 4: Performance of Music & Dance Rituals 186
Scene 4a: Hymn of the Royal Daughters 186
Scene 4b: Additional Music & Dance Sequences 189
Scene 5: Driving of Cattle Around the Walls 196
Scene 6: Performance of Ritual Combat 209
2.2. Overview of Major Sed Festival Relief Programs 220
2.2.1. Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser at Saqqara 221
IV
2.2.2. Valley Temple of the Bent Pyramid o f Snofru at Dahshur 231
2.2.3. Solar Temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob 237
2.2.4. Temple of Soleb: Reliefs of Amenhotep III 241
2.2.5. Gempaaten Temple of Akhenaten at Karnak 249
2.2.6. Temple of Bubastis: Reliefs of Osorkon II 254
Chapter 3: Music and Dance: Hathoric Rituals of Renewal 263

3.1. Hathoric Dances of Regeneration and Renewal ............265
3.1.1. Dancing with Raised Arms: The Bird-Dance & the Hunt 266
3.1.1.1. Women of the Oasis & the Dance Troupe of the Acacia House...266
3.1.1.2. Dancing Women & the Ostrich-Dance 269
3.1.1.3. Dancing Women & the Scavenger Bird-Dance 284
3.1.2. Nocturnal Dances of the Longhaired W o m e n of the Cosmic Sky 286
3.1.3. Hathoric Dancing & the Myth of the Wandering Goddess 294
3.1.3.0. Introduction 294
3.1.3.1. Mntyw-Libyms & the Women o f the Libyan Desert 295
3.1.3.2. %w-Nubians & the Mace-Dance 296
3.1.3.3. Iwn.ty.w: The Prostrate Nomads 297
3.1.3.4. Bearded Puntites & Lion-Masked Bes Figures 298
3.2. Ritual Performances of the Royal Women 299
3.2.1. Palanquin Procession of the Royal Women 300
3.2.1.0. Introduction 300
3.2.1.1. Palanquin Procession of the Queen 303
3.2.1.2. Palanquin Procession of Multiple Royal Women 307
3.2.2. Outside the Palanquin: Music Rites & t h e Hieros Gamos 314
3.2.3. The King's Mother as Neith 319
Chapter 4: The Ritual Run of the King {Konigslauf) 321

4.1. The Konigslauf: Control over the Solar Cycle ...'. ............325
4.1.1. The Boat Run V.".".'.'.'.".'.*.ZZ"ZI 326
4.1.2. The Ruderlauf. ZZZZZZZZVZZ7ZZZ77.Z7Z7Z.ZZ.Z329
4.2. The Konigslauf. Control over Migratory Birds & the /sTM.v-Region 335
4.2.1. The Fowling Run & the Vogellauf. 336
4.2.2. The Vasenlauf8c the Doum-Nut Offering o f the Baboon 341
4.3. The Konigslauf Control over Fields & Landscape 347
4.3.1. The Group Run 349
4.3.2. The Apislauf. ../..... "".'. ........ 353
v
4.3.3. Fixing the Wepwawet Standard in the Ground 358
4.3.4. Double-Enthronement as the Culmination of the Konigslauf. 365
Chapter 5: Hunting & Butchery Rituals 372

5.1. Nilotic Hunting Rituals: The Hippopotamus Hunt 373
5.2. Desert Hunting Rituals 378
5.2.1. The Master-of-Beasts & the Lion Hunt 378
5.2.2. Rows of Wild Animals & Royal Control over Cosmic Organization 388
5.2.3. The Wild Bull Hunt 393
5.2.4. The Hunting of Antelopes, Oryxes, Gazelles, & Ibexes 398
5.2.5. Royal Hunting Parks: The Ritual Landscape of the Desert Hunt 400
5.3. Butchery & the Ritual Slaughter of Sacrificial Animals 405
5.3.1. Ritual Slaughter of Bulls 407
5.3.2. Ritual Slaughter of Antelopes, Oryxes, Gazelles, & Ibexes 412
5.3.3. Architectural Setting for the Ritual Slaughter of Animals 414
5.4. The Cattle Count & the Driving of Cattle 420
Chapter 6: Royal Military Victory Rituals 423

6.1. Royal Military Victory Rituals in Early Egypt 433
6.1.1. Royal Smiting Ritual 434
6.1.2. Display of Defeated Enemy Combatants at Nautical Processions 453
6.1.3. Inspection & Census of Defeated Enemy Combatants 462
6.1.4. Ritual Trampling of the Enemy 469
6.1.5. Razing of Enemy Fortifications 474
6.1.6. Ritual Stabbing of a Prisoner in the Chest with a Dagger 480
6.2. Ritual Destruction of Enemies: Shooting Arrows & Striking Balls 485
6.3. Ritual Combat: A Celebration of Royal Military Power 494
Chapter 7: Nautical Processions 510

7.1. The Boat as a Form of Royal Transport in Early Egypt 516
7.1.1. The Egyptian Ruler as Seated Occupant of Ceremonial Barque 518
7.1.2. The Egyptian Ruler as Standing Occupant of Ceremonial Barque 531
7.1.3. Ritual Performance & the Barque of the Egyptian Ruler 536
7.2. Nautical Processions & Royal Hunting Rituals 537
7.3. Nautical Processions & Royal Military Victory Rituals 554
7.4. Ritual Navigation & Royal Control of Nautical Propulsion 566
vi
7.4.1. Self-Propulsion of Ceremonial Barques 569
7.4.2. Towing of Ceremonial Barques 573
7.4.3. Rowing of Ceremonial Barques 584
7.4.4. Carrying of Portable Barques 600
7.5. Creation of Ritual Waterscape for the Royal Nautical Procession 602
Bibliography 615
Figures 737
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The original idea for this dissertation emerged from a series of conversations with
Prof. John Darnell about royal and religious symbolism in Predynastic Egyptian
iconography. Inspired by Prof. Darnell's deep knowledge of all periods of ancient
Egyptian history and his enthusiasm for thorny and controversial topics, I decided to
study the grandest of all Egyptian royal festivals—the Sed Festival—from its earliest
origins in Naqada I to its final representations in the Roman Period. Since the history of
the Sed Festival spans roughly four millennia, the resulting dissertation on the Sed
Festival proved to be a considerably larger undertaking than I had originally envisioned.
During the course of working on my dissertation, I have benefited greatly from the
advising and mentorship of Prof. John Darnell and Prof. Colleen Manassa. Their
commitment to the study of ancient Egypt and to the advancement of human knowledge
has been a constant source of inspiration for me. I humbly thank them both for their
insightful comments on my dissertation drafts and for their continued support of my
project.
During my time as a graduate student at Yale University, I have also learned a
great deal about the language and history of ancient Egypt from Prof. William Kelly
Simpson, Prof. Bentley Layton, Prof. Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert, Prof. Leo Depuydt,
and Dr. Stan Hendrickx. I offer my sincerest thanks to each of these distinguished
scholars. My colleague and good friend Dr. David Klotz has also been amazingly
supportive of me during my dissertation work; he has generously hosted me at his home
in Niantic, provided me with many useful bibliographic references, and helped me track
down quite a few hard-to-find articles and books. For their friendship and good cheer, I
viii
also thank my current and former colleagues in the Egyptology program at Yale,
including Lauren Lippiello, Alicia Cunningham-Bryant, Dr. Caitlin Barrett, Tasha
Dobbin, Marina Wilding Brown, Julia Hsieh, and Katie Cobb.
I would not be an Egyptologist today were it not for the encouragement of my
sister Lauren and my parents Z and Jay, who taught me from an early age to value
learning and education. I am forever indebted to my family for their unconditional love
and constant support. While I was studying for my comprehensive exams in New Haven
during the late summer of 2005, my parents lost their home and all of their worldly
possessions to the floodwaters that resulted from Hurricane Katrina's landfall in
Louisiana. My parents' resilience and consistently upbeat attitude—despite their
tremendous loss—has truly placed life in a new perspective for me.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention some of my dear friends who have
celebrated with me during good times and commiserated with me during bad times over
the past nine years. I offer many heartfelt thanks to Fletcher Maumus (for nearly 20
years of close friendship); Stephen Crocker (for always treating me like a brother); Ben
Looker (for being a fantastic roommate for 6 years at 84 Howe Street); Julia Otis (for
being a truly wonderful person and for encouraging me to explore new places and
cultural experiences); Nicholas Jaster (for sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of music
and for introducing me to the culinary delights of Texas barbecue); Mike DiBenedetto
(for his fierce loyalty and his fun-loving approach to life); Aron Culotta (for his calm
demeanor and his willingness to travel long distances for the love of Rock 'n' Roll); Art
Boonparn (for his joie de vivre and his eternally youthful spirit); Christopher Kirsch (for
being the quintessential New Orleanian); Philip Trevvett (for his unique perspective on
ix
the world and his ability to find excitement in all things great and small); Amanda Izzo
(for graciously listening to my litany of concerns about the current state of the academy);
and Matt Hanson (for his generosity, warm spirit, and sharp wit).
x
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Wadi Hammamat, Double-Enthronement of Pepi 1 737
2. El-Lischt, Double-Enthronement of Amenemhat 1 737
3. Medamud, Double-Enthronement of Sesostris 1 738
4. Qurna, Double Enthronement of Amenhotep 1 738
5. Carnelian Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 26.7.1340) 739
6. Qurna, Double-Enthronement of Ramesses 1 739
7. Abydos, Double-Enthronement of Seti 1 739
8. Wadi Maghara, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual & Konigslauf of Pepi 1 740
9. Deir el-Bahari, Konigslauf of Montuhotep II 740
10. Karnak, Konigslauf of Amenhotep 1 740
11. Karnak, Konigslauf of Ramesses II 741
12. Deir el-Bahari, Vogellauf of Hatshepsut 741
13. Karnak, Vasenlauf of Amenhotep 1 742
14. Deir el-Bahari, Ruderlauf of Montuhotep II 742
15. Coptos, Ruderlauf of Sesostris I (UCL 14786) 742
16. Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Den, Sed Festival 743
17. Saqqara, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Adjib, Sed Festival 743
18. Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Semerkhet, Sed Festival 743
19. Saqqara, Inscribed Stone Vessels of Qa-a, Sed Festival 743
20. Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Qa-a, Sed Festival 744
21. Scorpion Macehead 744
22. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 13-14 744
xi
23. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival ofNiuserre, Hoeing the Ground 745
24. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival ofNiuserre, Driving Stakes 745
25. Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Subterranean Relief Panels 745
27. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival ofNiuserre, ôra'gs/aw/'Sequence 746
28. Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Konigslauf Scenes 747
30. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Visit to "Hall of Eating" 748
31. Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Royal Visit to Sacred Shrines 748
32. Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Royal Visit to Sacred Grotto 749
33. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Presenting Offerings to Min 749
34. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Offering of Sb. tto Wadjet 750
35. Fragmentary Labels of Den, Hippo Hunt 750
36. Wooden Label of Den, Fowling Run 750
37. Seal Impression of Djer, Konigslauf. 751
38. Abydos, Label of Den, Konigslauf '& Wepwawet Standard 751
39. Narmer Palette 751
40. Abydos, Label of Den, Smiting Ritual 752
41. Wadi el-Humur, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual of Den, Examples 1-2 752
42. Wadi el-Humur, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual of Semerkhet 752
43. Gebelein, Early Dynastic Relief Fragment, Arrow-Shooting Ritual 752
44. Bull Palette 753
45. Ebony Label of Aha (University of Pennsylvania U.M. E9396) 753
xn
46. Hunters Palette, 754
47. C-Ware Bowl (MMA 12.185.15) 754
48. Abydos, Tomb U-239, C-Ware Vessel, Subjugation Scene 755
49. Abydos, Tomb U-415, C-Ware Vase #1 755
50. Two Dogs Palette (A.M. E.3924) 756
51. Bearers Macehead (UCL 14898A) 756
52. Gebelein Linen 757-759
53. Metropolitan Museum Knife Handle 759
54. Qustul Incense Burner 760
55. Archaic Horus Incense Burner 760
56. Wadi Gash, Site 18. M 137a, Predynastic Rock Inscription 761
57. Battlefield Palette 761
58. Gebel el-Arak Knife Handle 762
59. Royal Macehead 762
60. Narmer Macehead 762
61. Abydos, Ebony Label of Den, Sed Festival (British Museum 32.650) 763
62. Abydos, Labels of Den, Enthronement Beside Shrines & Grotto 763
63. Seal Impression of Djer, Upper & Lower Egyptian Enthronement Scenes 763
65. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Enthronement, Examples 1-2 764
66. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Enthronement, Example 3 764
67. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Enthronement, Examples 4-5 764
68. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Double-Throne, Example 6 765
69. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Royal Enthronement, Example 1 765
xiii
73. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Royal Enthronement, Examples 5-6 766
75. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panel 3 767
76. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Visit to Shrine of the Ennead 767
78. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Foot-Washing Ritual, Example 1 768
79. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Foot-Washing Ritual, Example 2 768
80. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Robing Ritual, Section 1 769
81. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Robing Ritual, Section 2 769
82. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Palanquin Procession, Section 1 770
87. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Palanquin Procession 772
88. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Palanquin Procession 1 773
89. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Palanquin Procession 2 774
90. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Palanquin Procession 775

91. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Lion-Furniture Sequence 775
92. Limestone Sed Festival Statue of Khasekhemwy (A.M. 620.11) 776
xiv
93. Slate Sed Festival Statue ofKhasekhemwy (Cairo JdE 32161) 777
94. Sed Festival Statue of Unknown 1st Dynasty King (British Museum 37996) 778
95. Sed Festival Statue of Amenhotep III (Cairo JdE 33900 & 33901) 778
96. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Sesostris III, Royal Enthronement 779
97. Tomb of Surer, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Royal Enthronement #1 779
98. Pectoral from the Tomb of Tutankhamun 780
99. Karnak, Temple of Osiris Hki-D.t, Sed Festival of Osorkon III 780
100. "Feathered" Corselet from the Tomb of Tutankhamun 780
101. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Sed Festival Robe 781
102. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Sed Festival Robe 781
103. Luxor, Standing Statue of Amenhotep III 781
104. Abydos, Label of Semerkhet 782
105. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Hi.ty-r in Ceremonial Robe 782
106. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, 'Iry-Ntrm Ceremonial Robe 782
107. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Official in Ceremonial Robe 782
108. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Jry-Ntr in Ceremonial Robe 783
109. Predynastic Palette Fragment, Palanquins (San Antonio 86.138.62) 783
110. Tomb of Hemaka, Label of Djer (Cairo JdE 70114) 783
111. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Women in Palanquins, Group 1 784
115. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Daughters in Palanquins, Group 1 785
xv
118. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Daughters in Palanquin, Group 4 786
122. Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman (Louvre E. 11888) 787
123. Abydos, Protodynastic Faience Statue of Royal Woman 787
124. Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman (A.M. E.326) 788
125. Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman (Philadelphia U.M. E.4895) 788
128. Protodynastic Limestone Statue of Royal Woman (Lucerne, Kofler K.415) 789
129. Protodynastic Limestone Statue of Royal Woman (Cairo JdE 71586) 789
130. Abydos, Tomb U-182, Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman 789
131. Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau 790-792
132. Reinscribed Predynastic Palette from Reign of Amenhotep III 793-794
133. Plan of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival Constructions at Malqata 795
134. Plan of the Birket Habu and its Environs 796
135. Plan of Thebes Depicting the Birket Habu & the Eastern Birket 796
136. PlanofAkhetaten 797
137. Tomb of Kheruef, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Complete Tableau 798
138. Tomb of Kheruef, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 1 799
xvi
139. Tomb of Kheruef, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Text 1 799
140. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Fish and Fowl Scene 800
143. Tomb of Khaemhat, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Enhronement #1 802
145. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Hathoric Rites 803
146. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Libation Bearers 803
147. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Hathoric Rites 804-805
148. Tomb of Kheruef, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4 805-807
149. Tomb of Tutankhamun, Performance of ./Vy«v-Gesture by Nut 807
150. 2nd Golden Shrine of Tutankhamun, Performance of yVyny-Gesture 808
151. 3 rd & 4th Hours of the Book of the Night, Longhaired Women 808
152. 6th & 7th Hours of the Book of the Night, Longhaired Women 809
153. Tomb of Hemaka, Seal Impression of Den, Konigslauf'& Apislauf. 809
154. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Lion-Masked Figure 809
155. Medamud, Sed Festival of Ptolemy II, Bearers of Crocodile Statues 810
156. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Priest of the Crocodile 810
158. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Royal Procession to the Palace 812
160. Karnak, Chateau de l'Or of Tuthmosis III, Nautical Procession 814
xvii
162. Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, Royal Daughters at Sed Festival 815
163. Sed Festival Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 44.2.1) 815
164. Sed Festival Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 26.7.1340) 815
165. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Standing Royal Daughters 816
166. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Royal Daughters' Hymn 816-817
167. Medinet Habu, Eastern High Gate, Royal Daughters of Ramesses III 817
168. Tomb of Kheruef, 3 rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Complete Tableau 818
169. Tomb of Kheruef, 3 rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 1 819-820
170. Plaque Depicting Tiye as Sphinx (MMA 26.7.1342) 821
171. Tomb of Khaemhat, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Enthronement #2 821
172. Tomb of Surer, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Royal Enthronement #2 822
173. Tomb of Surer, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, JVtf^-Platform Scenes 823
174. Tomb of Kheruef, 3 rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 2a 824
175. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Unloading of Boats 825-828
176. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Slaughter of Bulls 829
177. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Slaughter of Bulls 829-830
178. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Meat Offerings for the Ennead 830
179. Tomb of Dbh-n=i, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House 831
180. Tomb of Mrrw-kj-i, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House 831
181. Tomb of Pth-htp, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House 831
182. Tomb of K3r, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House 831
183. Tomb of Kheruef, 3rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 2b 832
xviii
185. Karnak, Talatat Block of Akhenaten, Inspection of Cattle & Oryx Stalls 833
186. Tomb of Kheruef, 3 rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 3 833
187. Tomb of Kheruef, 3 rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4a 834
188. Tomb of Kheruef, 3 rd Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4b 834-835
190. Edfu, Ptolemy IV, Driving of the Calves Ritual 836
191. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Driving of Cattle 836
192. Libyan Palette 837
194. Elephantine, Archaic Baboon Figurine 838
195. Elephantine, Arhaic Figurine of Baboon Taking Doum Nut from Jar 838
198. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 15, 18 839
200. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Inspection of Construction Work 840
201. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Cattle-Count 840
202. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Opening Procession 841
203. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Min Sequence & Royal Procession 841
204. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Transfer of Bow & Arrow #1 841
205. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Transfer of Bow & Arrow #2 842
206. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Royal Offerings to Khnum 842
207. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Visit to Shrine of Horus 843
xix
208. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Group Run & Hymn 843
209. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Dancers of Punt 844
210. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Driving of Stakes 844
211. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Driving of Cattle 845
212. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Preparation of Offerings 846
213. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Presentation of Offerings to Aten 846
214. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Royal Banquet 846
215. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Departure from Palace 847
216. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Lion-Shaped Palanquins 847
217. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Lion-Furniture Sequence 847
218. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Scene of Homage to the King 848
219. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Group Run 848
220. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, King at Steps of Kiosk 849
221. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Stick Fighting & Boxing 849
222. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Royal Feet-Washing Ritual 849
223. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Granting of Years & Sed Festivals 850
224. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, &»Offering to Nekhbet 850
225. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, 1st Procession to Tntl^-Platform 851
226. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, 2nd Procession to Tntl.t-Platform 851
227. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, 3rd Procession to Tntl.t-Platform 851
228. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, King at Steps of Kiosk 852
229. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Anointing of Wepwawet Standard 852
230. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Censing of Pillars and Standards 853
xx
231. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, &.f-Offering & Purification Rite 854
232. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Procession of Barque of Amun-Re 854
233. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Music Rites & Ritual Prostration 854
234. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Northern Barque Procession 855
235. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Lower Egyptian Royal Procession 855
236. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Libyans Wearing Leather Straps 856
237. Causeway of Sahure's Mortuary Temple, Dancing Women 856
238. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Dancing Women 856
239. Tomb of Hnmw-nfr, Dancing Women 857
240. Tomb of'Nn-hfty-k3=i, Dancing Women 857
241. Tomb of Inty, Dancing Women 857
242. Tomb of Nfr-ir.t-n=f, Dancing Women 858
243. Tomb of Shm-B=l, Dancing Women 858
244. Gerzeh Palette 858
245. Abydos, Tomb U-210, Seal Impression (Abydos K 2160a) 859
246. Hierakonpolis, Early Dynastic Stone Vessel, Bovine Celestial Goddess 859
247. Manchester Palette (Manchester Museum 5476) 859
249. Gebelein, Predynastic Golden Knife Handle 860
250. Predynastic Bird-Shaped Vessel 860
251. D-Ware Vessel (A.M. 1895.345) 861
252. Naqada, D-Ware Vessel (A.M. 1895.584) 861
253. Abydos, D-Ware Vessel 861
xxi
254. El-Adaima, D-Ware Vessel (Brooklyn 09.889.400) 861
255. El-Amrah, D-Ware Vessel (British Museum 35502) 862
256. D-Ware Vessel (MMA 20.2.10) 862
257. D-Ware Vessel in Munich 862
258. D-Ware Vessel in the Berlin Museum 863
259. D-Ware Vessel (Stockholm MM10310) 863
260. D-Ware Vessel (MMA 12.182.41) 863
261. Men with Raised Arms & Solar Boats in Predynastic Rock Inscriptions 864
263. Wadi Abu Subeira, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Falcon Standard & Boat 865
264. Khor Takar, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Boat & Row of Ostriches 865
265. Abydos, Tomb U-503, Fragmentary Knife Handle (Abydos K 3325) 865
266. C-Ware Bowl in Moscow Museum 866
267. Dominion Behind Thebes, Predynastic Rock Inscription (WHW 353) 866
268. Wadi Mineh, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Ostrich Hunt 866
269. Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Ostrich Hunt 867
270. "Gazelle-Goose" Palette (British Museum 32074) 867
271. Four Dogs Palette (Louvre E.l 1052) 867
272. Predynastic Beak-Nosed Female Figurine with Raised Arms 868
273. Predynastic Tattooed Female Figurine with Raised Arms (A.M. 1895.127) 868
274. Predynastic Female Figurine with "Arm Stumps" 869
275. Predynastic Beak-Nosed Male Figurine with (Brooklyn Museum 35.1269) 869
276. Predynastic Tattooed Female Figurine (British Museum 50.680) 869
277. Predynastic Tattooed Female Figurine (British Museum 58.064) 870
xxii
278. Dominion Behind Thebes, Predynastic Rock Inscriptions (WHW 90 & 84) 870
279. Mahasna, C-Ware Bowl (A.M. E2785) 871
281. C-Ware Vessel in Petrie Museum (UCL 15339) 871
282. C-Ware Vessel in the Royal Museum (Brussels E.3002) 872
283. Gebelein, Early Dynastic Relief Fragment, Foundation Ritual 872
284. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Prostrate Men 872
285. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Prostrate Men 873
286. Gebel Uweinat, Sed Festival Relief of Montuhotep II, Prostrate Man 873
287. Gebel Tjauti Inscription #1: The Scorpion Tableau 873
288. Early Dynastic Votive Offering (Lucerne, Kofler-Truniger K9643R) 874
289. Heliopolis, Sed Festival Relief of Djoser 874
290. Ebony Label of Djer (Berlin Museum 18026) 874
291. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Women in Palanquins 875
292. Mortuary Temple of Teti, Women in Palanquins 875
293. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Incense Offering for Min 875
294. Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Divine Mother #1 876
298. Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Boundary Markers in Southern Court 878
299. Plan of Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara 878
300. Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau 879-881
xxiii
301. Abydos, 1st Dynasty Royal Boat Burials 881
302. Deir el-Bahari, Ruderlauf of Hatshepsut 882
303. Bubastis, Reception of Oar by Pepi 1 882
304. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Reception of Oar by Tuthmosis III 883
305. Saqqara, 1st Dynasty Limestone Relief. 883
306. Ostraca Depicting a Baboon Retrieving a Doum-Nut from a Sack 884
307. Tomb of Iry-nfr (TT 290), Man Kneeling Beside Doum-Palm & Lake 884
308. Reconstruction of the Naqade-Tdfelchen of Aha 885
309. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Group Run #1 885
312. Record of Apislauf of Aha on a Diorite Bowl 886
313. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Apis Shrine 886
314. Chapelle Rouge, Hatshepsut Performing Apislauf, White Crown 886
315. Chapelle Rouge, Hatshepsut Performing Apislauf, Red Crown 887
316. Deir el-Bahari, 19th Dynasty Sarcophagus, Sed Festival Rites 887
317. Plan of Moat Around Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex 888
318. Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Tntl.t-PMform 888
319. Kom as-Samak, M.f-Platform of Amenhotep III 888
320. Enthronement Scene of Khaskhemwy 889
321. C-Ware Bowl (Cairo CG 2076) 889
322. Abydos, Tomb U-415, C-Ware Vase #2 890
323. Seal Impressions of Den Depicting Hippo Hunt & Decapitated Enemies 890
xxiv
324. Seal Impression of Den Depicting Two Hippo Hunt Scenes 891
325. Mortuary Temple of Userkaf, Hippo Hunt 891
326. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Hippo Hunt 891
327. Mortuary Temple of Pepi II, Hippo Hunt 892
328. Stockholm Palette 892
329. Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, Ivory Handle Depicting Master of Beasts 892
330. Medinet Habu, Lion Hunt of Ramesses III 893
331. Early Dynastic Lion Statues 893
332. Soleb, Lion Statue of Amenhotep III 893
333. Wadi Umm Salam, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Row of Ibexes & Dog 894
334. Eastern Desert, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Rows of Ibexes & Dogs 894
335. GebelTarif Knife Handle 895
336. Carnarvon Knife Handle 895
337. Abu Zeidan Knife Handle 896
338. Pitt-Rivers Knife Handle 896
339. Petrie Museum Knife Handle 897
340. Berlin Museum Knife Handle 897
341. Ashmolean Museum Knife Handle (A.M. E.4975) 897
342. Tomb U-127, Abydos, Knife Handle Fragments (Abydos Kl 103cl-4) 898
343. Cemetery U, Abydos, Knife Handle Fragment (Abydos K 1262b) 898
344. Davis Comb 898
345. Sayala Mace Handle 899
346. Ivory Spoon from Tarkhan 899
xxv
347. Protodynastic Decorated Calcite Vase (Munich 7162) 900
348. Tomb U-134, Abydos, Seal Impression (Abydos K 2087a) 900
349. Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Stone Panels Depicting Snakes 900
350. BenBubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkonll, Schlangensteine 901
351. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Incense Offering & Pillars 901
353. Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing #1 902
354. Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing 902
355. Wadi el-Atwani, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing 903
356. Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing #2 903
357. Fragmentary Label of Den, Bull Hunt 903
358. Abydos, Temple of Seti I, Corridor of the Bull, Bull Lassoing 904
359. Medinet Habu, Bull Hunt of Ramesses III 904
360. Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Desert Hunting 905
361. Incised Black-Topped Vessel (Brussels E.2631) 905
362. D-Ware Vessel from Abydos (A.M. E.2832) 905
363. Plan of Ritual Structure at Locality HK29a in Hierakonpolis 906
364. Mortuary Temple of Userkaf, Desert Hunt 906
365. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Desert Hunt 907
366. Mortuary Temple of Unis, Desert Hunt 908
367. Mortuary Temple of Unknown King of Late Old Kingdom, Desert Hunt 908
368. Bow Case of Tutankhamun, Desert Hunting Scene 909
369. Chest of Tutankhamun, Desert Hunt 909
xxvi
370. Chest of Tutankhamun, Lion Hunt 910
371. Ostrich Feather Fan of Tutankhamun, Ostrich Hunt 910
372. Stela of Seti I from Giza, Desert Hunt 911
373. Medinet Habu, Desert Hunt of Ramesses III 911
374. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Desert Animals, Example 1 912
375. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Desert Animals, Example 2 912
376. Karnak, Talatat Block on Akhenaten, Desert Hunt 913
377. Mortuary Temple of Pepi II, Sacrifice of Oryx 913
378. Luxor Temple, Amenhotep III Slaughtering Antelope 913
379. Tomb 3504, Saqqara, Burcrania 914
380. Wadi Nag el-Birka, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Pr-wr Shrine 914
381. Abu Gurob, Solar Temple of Niuserre, Large Stone Offering Table 914
382. Abu Gurob, Solar Temple of Niuserre, Butchery Facilities 915
383. Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, Major Tableau 916
384. Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, Minor Tableau 916
385. Hierakonpolis, Mace Handle of Narmer, Royal Smiting Ritual 917
387. Label of Narmer from Abydos, Royal Smiting Ritual 918
388. Label of Aha from Abydos, Royal Smiting Ritual 918
389. Label of Djet from Abydos, Royal Smiting Ritual & Ritual Combat 918
390. Wadi el-Humur, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual of Den, Example 3 919
391. Ceremonial Palette, Smiting Scene, Unknown 1st Dynasty King 919
392. Hierakonpolis, Proto-/Early Dynastic Mace Handle, Smiting Ritual 919
xxvii
393. Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Mace Handle, Animals & Large Maces 920
394. Wadi Magar, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Crocodiles & Large Maces 920
395. Kom el-Qal'a, Smiting Ritual & Enthronement of Merenptah 921
396. Nag el-Hamdulab, Protodynastic Rock Inscription, Royal Tableau 921
397. Karnak, Relief of Tutankhamun, Display of Enemy on Royal Barque 922
398. Hermopolis, Talatat of Akhenaten, Royal Barque (MMA 1985.328.15) 922
399. Medinet Habu, Ramesses Ill's Victory over Sea Peoples 923
400. Medinet Habu, Ramesses Ill's Victory over Libyans 923
401. Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Object, Decapitated Enemies 924
402. Tomb U-127, Abydos, Knife Handle Fragments (Abydos K1103M-2) 924
403. Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Plaque 924
404. Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Macehead 924
405. Abydos, Early Dynastic Plaques Depicting Bound Prisoners 925
406. Coptos, Protodynastic Statue of Min, Side Panel (Cairo JdE 30770) 925
407. Gebel Tjauti Inscription #2: Elephant on Mountains 926
408. Cemetery U, Abydos, Labels Depicting Elephants on Mountains 926
409. Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Object, Elephants on Mountains 927
410. Wadi Magar, Protodynastic Rock Inscription, Elephant Standard on Boat 927
411. Reconstructed Label of Aha, Ssp Smcw mhw Ritual 927
412. Stone Vessel of Adjib, Unification of the Two Lands 928
413. Stone Vessels of Khasekhemwy, Unification of the Two Lands 928
414. Dendera Chapel of Montuhotep II, Unification of the Two Lands 928
415. 18th Dynasty Reliefs, Prisoners Bound to Sml-Sign 929
xxviii
416. El-Lischt, Base of Statue of Sesostris I, Unification of the Two Lands 929
417. Karnak, Akhmenu, Military Instruction Scenes of Tuthmosis III 929
418. Karnak, Edifice of Taharqa, Ball-Throwing and Arrow-Shooting 930
419. Karnak, Sed Festival Relief of God's Wife Shepenwepet II 930
420. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Ball-Striking Ritual of Tuthmosis III 931
421. Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, rnh-Sign Carrying Large Bow 931
422. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, ZW-Pillars Carrying Large Bows 932
423. Bubastis, SedFesival of Osorkon II, Carrying of Large Bow 932
424. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Transfer of Bow to Hry-P 932
425. New Year's Flask from Late Period, Stick-Fighters (Brooklyn 16.144) 932
426. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Causeway, Wrestling 933
427. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Causeway, Stick Fighting 933

428. Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Causeway, Archery 933
429. Beni Hasan, Tomb of Amenemhat, Ritual Combat Scenes 934
430. Beni Hasan, Tomb of Khety, Ritual Combat Scene 935
431. Beni Hasan, Tomb of Baqti III, Ritual Combat Scenes 936
432. Tomb of Khonsu (TT 31), Stick-Fighting on Ceremonial Barques 937
433. Amarna, Tomb of Meryre II, Ritual Combat at Durbar of Akhenaten 938
434. Medinet Habu, Window-of-Appearance of Ramesses III 939-940
435. Tomb of Amenmese (TT 19), Ritual Combat Scenes 941
436. Cemetery U, Abydos, Labels Depicting Dueling Wrestlers 941
437. Cemetery B, Abydos, Label Depicting Dueling Wrestlers 941
438. Tomb of Tjanuni (TT74), Crew of Marines & Military Standard 942
439. Semna, Reliefs of Tuthmosis III, Portable Barque Procession 943-944
xxix
440. Chapelle Rouge, Boat Procession of Opet Festival 944
441. Chapelle Rouge, Boat Procession of Valley Festival 945
442. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Boat Procession of Valley Festival 946
443. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Boat Procession of Opet Festival 947-949
444. Wadi Abbad, Predynastic & 18th Dynasty Rock Inscriptions 950
445. Tomb U-127, Abydos, Seal Impression (Abydos K830c-d) 951
446. Beda, Predynastic Ceramic Vessel, Incised Potmark 951
447. Wadi Magar, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Nautical Procession 951
448. Wadi Abbad, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Ruler on Barque 952
449. Khor Abu Subeira, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Nautical Procession 952
450. Wadi el-Faras, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Nautical Procession 953
451. C-Ware Bowl (MMA 35.10) 953
452. C-Ware Bowl (Cairo CG 2071 =JdE 31069) 953
453. C-Ware Bowl (Berlin Museum 23222) 954
454. Tomb 1805, Mostagedda, C-Ware Bowl (Cairo JdE 52 835) 954
455. Wadi Gash, Site 18. M 140, Predynastic Rock Inscription 954
456. Tomb B5, Abydos, C-Ware Bowl (A.M. 1909.1026) 954
457. Wadi Mineh, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Abbreviated Hippo Hunt 955
458. Wadi Mineh, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Tethered to Boat 955
459. Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription 955-957
460. Wadi Umm Salam Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat #1 957
461. Wadi Umm Salam Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat #2 958
462. Naga Abidis, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat 958
xxx
464. Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat 959
465. Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Unmanned Barques 959
467. Abu Gurob, Solar Temple ofNiuserre, Brick Boat 961
468. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival ofNiuserre, Towing of Barque(s) 961
469. Elkab, Tomb of Setau, Sed Festival of Ramesses III, Barque of Nekhbet 961
470. Khor Abu Subeira, Unpublished Predynastic Rock Inscription 962
471. Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Boat with Pilot 962
472. Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, 1st Dynasty Inscription, M^r.ry-Barques 963
473. Mortuary Temple of Montuhotep II, King Piloting Ceremonial Barque 963
474. Karnak, Grand Chateau d'Amon, Sesostris I Piloting Ceremonial Barque 964
475. Mounds on Periphery of Birket Habu 964
xxxi
CHAPTER 1: THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN S E P FESTIVAL: AN INTRODUCTION
1.0. INTRODUCTION
As the grandest of all royal festivals in ancient Egypt, the Sed Festival is one of
the most frequently depicted royal iconographic motifs in the decorative relief programs
of Egypt's numerous temples and royal precincts. Each Egyptian ruler, upon taking the
throne, hoped to celebrate not one, but many Sed Festivals—both in life and in the
perpetually renewed state of existence the ruler would later achieve upon his death.1
Thus, formulaic hieroglyphic texts accompanying ritual scenes from the celebration of
the Sed Festival often describe the Egyptian ruler's desire to celebrate "millions of Sed
Festivals." For example, in a relief describing "the first occasion of the Sed Festival"
(sp-tpy hb-sd) of Pepi II, the lion goddess Menit grants "the celebration of a million Sed
Festivals" (ir.t hh m hb.w-sd) to the king. Perhaps as an expression of this desire to
celebrate numerous Sed Festivals, ancient Egyptian rulers often commissioned the
production of reliefs depicting scenes of ritual performance from the celebration of the
Sed Festival; the two most frequently depicted motifs among these reliefs are the
enthronement of the Egyptian ruler in a double-kiosk (the "double-enthronement" scene)
1
For discussion of the connection between the celebration of the Sed Festival and the continued existence
of the deceased Egyptian ruler, see primarily Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 41-46,
with references. Hornung and Staehelin, op. cit, p. 41, encapsulate this Egyptian concept regarding the
celebration of the Sed Festival in the afterlife quite well: "Da sich die Erneuerung des Konigs iiber seinen
Tod hinaus fortsetzen und standig wiederholen soil, ist das Sedfest nicht an seine irdische Regierung und
Existenz gebunden."
2
For discussion of Egyptian texts that describe the Egyptian ruler's desire to celebrate great numbers of
Sed Festivals, see primarily Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 10-12, with references.
3
For the text that desribes the granting of a "million Sed Festivals" to Pepi II during the celebration of his
first Sed Festival, see Sethe, Urkunden des Alten Reichs, Vol. 1, pp. 114-115.
1
and the performance of a ceremonial run by the ruler (the Konigslauf). Prior to the
development of monumental stone architecture in the Old Kingdom, similar depictions of
scenes of ritual performance from the celebration of the Sed Festival were a common
iconographic motif on 1st Dynasty ivory and wooden labels known as "year labels."5 In
these scenes depicting the performance of rituals at the celebration of the Sed Festival,
the Egyptian ruler typically wears elaborate costumes and carries ritual implements that
are unique to the Sed Festival.
For example, during the performance of the "double-enthronement" ritual (Figs.
1-7), the Egyptian ruler almost always wears one of two enveloping ceremonial robes—
either the long Sed Festival robe, which ends just above the feet, or the short Sed Festival
robe, which ends just above the knees.6 The ceremonial robe that the Egyptian ruler
wears in the double-enthronement scene is a key feature for identifying this and other
scenes as Sed Festival rites; the name of the Sed Festival itself, hb-sd, may be
etymologically linked to the name of the cloth (sd) from which the ruler's robe was
4
For discussion of the earliest depictions of the Sed Festival kiosk and double-kiosk, see primarily
Kuhlmann, Der Thron im alten Agypten, pp. 75-80; Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): 63-71; Krol, GM184
(2001): 27-36. For detailed discussion of the "double-enthronement" ritual and its connection to the
Konigslauf'at the celebration of the Sed Festival, see primarily Section 4.3.4. For discussion of the
Konigslauf'in general, see Chapter 4.
5
The images on these labels refer to a particular year of a ruler's reign by depicting the most important
ritual performance(s) of that year. For discussion of the inscribing of ritual scenes on 1st Dynasty labels as
a de facto system of designating specific regnal years, see primarily Redford, Pharaonic King-Lists, Annals
and Day-Books, pp. 67, 86-88; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 53-59; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 218-
223; Wilkinson, Royal Annals ofAncient Egypt, pp. 63-64; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 20-22; Baines, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand,
pp. 20,23.
6
For detailed discussion of two-dimensional representations of the Sed Festival robe, see references
collected in Section 1.1.2, footnote 55. For detailed discussion of three-dimensional representations of the
Sed Festival robe, see references collected in Section 1.1.2, footnote 64.
2
made.7 Additionally, the double-enthronement of the Egyptian ruler at the Sed Festival
expresses an important aspect of ancient Egyptian kingship—namely, the division of the
ruler's authority over the two constituent parts of the country, i.e., Upper and Lower
Egypt. On one side of the double-enthronement scene, the enthroned Egyptian ruler
wears the white crown of Upper Egypt; on the other side of the scene, the ruler wears the
red crown of Lower Egypt.8 Thus, as a result of the ritual enthronement of the ruler at the
Sed Festival, the Egyptian ruler symbolically unifies Egypt and demonstrates his
authority to rule the country.9
For the performance of the Konigslauf (Figs. 8-11), the ruler typically removes
the Sed Fesetival robe and wears a less restrictive costume that includes a kilt with a
bull's tail attached to the back of the waist; the name of the Sed Festival, hb-sd, may also
be etymologically linked to the ancient word designating the bull's tail (sd) as a
component of ritual costume for the Sed Festival.10 The Konigslaufhas several important
variants, each of which expresses the ruler's mastery over a different aspect of the
cosmos and the various natural cycles thereof—for example, the Vogellauf (Fig. 12),11
7
For detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of the Sed Festival robe and the Egyptian word sd,
"cloth," see Section 1.1.2.
8
For discussion of the white crown and red crown as elements of Egyptian regalia with specific geographic
symbolism, see, e.g., Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 192-196. Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): 64,
sensibly concludes that the double-enthronement scene depicts "the Appearance of the King of Upper
Egypt and the Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt" at the celebration of the Sed Festival. For
discussion of the ritual performance of the "Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt" (if.t nsw.t), the
"Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt" (if.t bl.ty), and the "Appearance of the King of Upper and
Lower Egypt" in the Palermo Stone and other sources for the Early Dynastic Period, see primarily Millet,
JARCE21 (1990): 53-59; Wilkinson, op. cit, pp. 210-212.
9
For further elaboration of this theory regarding the symbolic significance of the double-enthronement
ritual at the Sed Festival, see Section 4.3.4.
10
For discussion of the ceremonial bull's tail as an element of royal costume at the Sed Festival, see
primarily Section 1.1.1.
11
For discussion of the symbolic significance of the Vogellauf, see Section 4.2.1.
3
the Vasenlauf (Fig. 13), and the Ruderlauf (Figs. 14-15). As a result of his vigorous
effort during the performance of the Konigslaufmd its ritual variants, the Egyptian ruler
assures the proper functioning of all elements and cycles of the cosmos.
Despite the ubiquity of these scenes of ritual performance at the celebration of the
Sed Festival, detailed representations of the entire progression of rituals comprising the
Sed Festival are relatively rare in the archaeological record of Egypt.14 From the Old
Kingdom onwards, elaborate reliefs depicting a progression of several different rituals at
the celebration of the Sed Festival appear most often on the walls of temples, royal
mortuary temples, and in the tombs of royal officials who participated in the ceremony.
Notable examples of detailed Sed Festival relief programs from the Old Kingdom appear
in the Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser at Saqqara (Section 2.2.1), in the valley temple
of Snofru's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Section 2.2.2), and in the solar temple of Niuserre
at Abu Gurob (Section 2.2.3). Examples from the New Kingdom include the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef, a high-ranking royal official, at
Thebes (Section 2.1); the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the Temple of Soleb
(Section 2.2.4); and the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten at Karnak
(Section 2.2.5). Finally, from the 3 rd Intermediate Period, a detailed set of reliefs in the
Temple of Bubastis depicts the celebration of the Sed Festival by Osorkon II (Section
2.2.6). The Sed Festival reliefs of Djoser, Snofru, Niuserre, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten,
and Osorkon II certainly were not the only detailed sets of reliefs commissioned to depict
12
For discussion of the symbolic significance of the Vasenlauf, see Section 4.2.2.
13
For discussion of the symbolic significance of the Ruderlauf, see Section 4.1.2; Section 7.4.3.
14
For discussion of the relative paucity of detailed representations of the entire progression of rituals
comprising the Sed Festival, see, e.g., Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 97-106; Martin, in LA, Vol. 5, cols.
785-787; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 1.
4
the progression of rituals at the celebration of the Sed Festival; however, the reliefs from
these kings' reigns represent the most complete representations of the Sed Festival that
have survived to the present day.
1.1. AN ETYMOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE TERMHb-Sd
1.1.0. INTRODUCTION
The etymological derivation and proper translation of the ancient Egyptian term
hb-sd are unresolved issues that have been subject to considerable discussion and
controversy.15 The translation of hb, the first word in hb-sd, is unambiguous and
uncontroversial; hb is a common Egyptian word that refers to a "festival" or "ritual
celebration" in phrases such as hb-n-tp-rnp.t ("Festival of the Beginning of the Year")
and hb-n-wp.t-rnp.t ("New Year Festival").16 Controversy concerning the translation and
17
etymology of the term hb-sd hinges entirely upon the word sd. The term hb-sd is often
written ideographically with a hieroglyphic sign representing the royal /«/?.?-platform and
the double-kiosk in which the king is enthroned during the celebration of the Sed
Festival; however, when the two words in the term hb-sd are written out in full, the word
sd often has a narrow triangle-shaped determinative (with a rounded end) that closely
1o
resembles Gardiner Sign N20/N21 ("tongue of land"). This particular sign appears as a
15
For an overview of various interpretations of the etymology of the term hb-sd (Wb. 3, 59.1), see Martin,
in LA, Vol. 5, col. 782; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-FestivalatKarnak, pp. 2-3; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 42-43.
16
For the word hb, "das Fest," see Wb. 3, 57.5-23, 58.1-21.
17
For the word sd in the phrase hb-sd, see Wb. 4, 364.10.
18
Although the narrow triangle-shaped sign (with a rounded end) that determines for the word sd in certain
orthographic writings of hb-sd strongly resembles Gardiner Sign N20/N21 ("tongue of land"), the sign
most likely does not represent a piece of land. For a problematic interpretation of sd as a type of land
connected to the performance of the Konigslauf, see with caution Wainwright, The Sky-Religion in Egypt,
pp. 19-24.
5
determinative for the word sd in several of the earliest attestations of the term hb-sd, e.g.,
in an inscription of Den on a limestone bowl from Abydos (Fig. 16),19 in an inscription of
Adjib on a stone vessel from Saqqara (Fig. 17), in an inscription of Semerkhet on a
crystal bowl from Abydos (Fig. 18), and in several inscriptions of Qa-a on stone vessels
from Saqqara and Abydos (Figs. 19-20).
Despite considerable scholarly attention to the subject, the meaning of the word
sd has remained unresolved and unclear; however, the term hb-sd has typically been
understood in one of four ways. The two most convincing theories concerning the
etymology and origin of the word sd in the term hb-sd both provide plausible
interpretations of the narrow triangle-shaped determinative for the word sd. According to
one theory, the determinative for sd represents the end of a ceremonial animal's tail worn
by the Egyptian ruler during the performance of physically demanding rituals at the
19
For the writing of hb-sd in an inscription of Den on a limestone bowl from Abydos, see Dreyer, etal.,
MDAIK46 (1990): 80, fig. 9, pi. 26d.
20
For the writing of hb-sd in an inscription of Adjib on a stone vessel from Saqqara, see Lacau and Lauer,
Lapyramide a degres, Vol. 4, Fasc. 1, pi. III.7; Lacau and Lauer, op. cit, Vol. 4, Fasc. 2, pp. 19-20, no. 35;
Kuraszkiewicz, GM167 (1998): 73-75, doc. 2, fig. 1, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in
the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 71-72, fig. 39.
21
For the writing of hb-sd in an inscription of Semerkhet on a crystal bowl from Abydos, see Petrie, Royal
Tombs of the Is' Dynasty, Vol. 1, p. 20, pi. 7.6; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period and the First Dynasty, p. 73, fig. 40.
22
For the writing of hb-sd in several inscriptions of Qa-a on stone vessels from Saqqara, see Lacau and
Lauer, Lapyramide a degres, Vol. 4, Fasc. 1, pi. IV.5; pi. 8, cat. no. 41; Lacau and Lauer, op. cit., Vol. 4,
Fasc. 2, pp. 24-25, cat. nos. 41, 43; Kaplony, Steingefdsse mit Inschriften der Friihzeit unddes Alten
Reichs, pp. 26-32, 34-38, cat. nos. 12, 16; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, p. 73, fig. 41. For the writing of hb-sd in an inscription of Qa-a on a stone vessel
from Abydos, see Petrie, Royal Tombs of the V Dynasty, Vol. 1, pp. 20-21, pi. 8.7; Jimenez-Serrano, op.
cit., p. 73.
23
Concerning three of the most widely supported theories regarding the meaning of the word sd in the term
hb-sd, Martin, in LA, Vol. 5, col. 782, has posed the following question: "1st sie auf den Canidengott Sed
zuruckzufiihren, auf den Tierschwanz sd, auf das Kleidungsstiick sd, oder sind alle drei aufgefuhten
Begriffe daran beteiligt?" Thus, Martin hints at the possibility that the word sd in the term hb-sd may have
originally referred to more than one ritual item or concept.
6
celebration of the Sed Festival (Section 1.1.1). According to another theory, the
determinative for sd represents a folded piece of cloth—/. e., the material from which the
Sed Festival robe of the Egyptian ruler was made (Section 1.1.2). Two additional widely
supported theories concerning the etymology and origin of the word sd in the term hb-sd
are ultimately unconvincing because they fail to provide a plausible interpretation of the
narrow triangle-shaped determinative for the word sd. According to one of these
theories, the word sd refers to the canine god Sed who is closely related to the god
Wepwawet (Section 1.1.3). According to another theory, the word sd refers to a 30-year
period of time—i.e., the hypothetical length of time that a king would typically rule
before celebrating the Sed Festival (Section 1.1.4).
1.1.1. Hb-Sd: FESTIVAL OF THE TAIL?
The word sd in the term hb-sd is very likely etymologically linked to an Egyptian
word meaning "tail"; the tail-shaped determinative (Gardiner Sign F33) that appears in
standard orthographic writings of sd, "tail," is very similar in shape to the narrow
triangle-shaped determinative for the word sd in the term hb-sd?4 If this etymological
interpretation of sd is correct, as seems likely, the word sd in the term hb-sd probably
refers to the ceremonial animal's tail that is attached to the back of the Egyptian ruler's
waist during the performance of several notable rituals at the celebration of the Sed
Festival.25 For example, in representations of the Sed Festival from the Protodynastic
Period onwards, the Egyptian ruler often wears a ceremonial tail while performing rituals
24
For the word sd, "der Schwanz," see Wb. 4, 363.4-14, 364.1-2.
5
For the interpretation of the word sd in the term hb-sd as an allusion to the ceremonial animal's tail worn
by the king at the Sed Festival, see, e.g., Spiegelberg, OLZ4 (1901): 9-10; Petrie, Researches in Sinai, p.
181; Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, p. 156; Moret, Mysteres egyptiens, pp. 73-102; Adams, Eretz-Israel 21
(1990): 4; Kahl, Das Systen der dgyptischen Hieroglyphenschrift in der 0.-3. Dynastie, p. 501; Cialowicz,
Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 39.
7
that require a heightened level of physical exertion, for example, during the temple
foundation rites (Figs. 21-24);26 the Konigslauf (Figs. 25-28);27 the king's visit to sacred
shrines (Figs. 25, 29-32);28 the Raising of the Djed Pillar (Fig. 186);29 and the king's
presentation of offerings to deities (Figs. 33-34,183).
First attested with certainty as a component or royal garb in the depiction of the
Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21), the ceremonial tail that often hangs
from the back of the king's waist in important ritual scenes is most likely the tail of a
26
Depictions of the Egyptian ruler wearing a ceremonial tail while performing a foundation ritual appear,
e.g., on the Scorpion Macehead (Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 8 (1997): 12, fig. 1); in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Fakhry, The
Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 97, fig. 91); and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre
in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol.
2, nos. 1-4, 56). For detailed discussion of the foundation rituals that appear in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Scorpion, Snofru, and Niuserre, see Section 7.6.
27
Depictions of the Egyptian ruler wearing a ceremonial tail while performing the Konigslauf'appear, e.g.,
in the Sed Festival reliefs of Djoser in the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara (Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995):
23, fig. 14); in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur
(Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 66, 78, figs. 43, 58); in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs
Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 33-34); and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Apries from the gateway of his palace at
Memphis (Kaiser, MDAIKA3 (1986): 150, fig. 7). For detailed discussion of the significance of the
ceremonial tail worn by the Egyptian ruler during the performance of the Konigslauf see Section 4.3.3.
28
Depictions of the Egyptian ruler wearing a ceremonial tail while visiting sacred shrines appear, e.g., in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Djoser in the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara (Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995):
19, 38-39, figs. 12, 23-24); in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at
Dahshur (Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 60, fig. 35); Osorkon II
(Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 4, nos. 2,4); and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Apries from the
gateway of his palace at Memphis (Kaiser, MDAIK43 (1986): 149, 151-152, figs. 6, 8-9).
29
A depiction of Amenhotep III wearing a ceremonial tail while performing the Raising of the Djed Pillar
appears in the reliefs of his third Sed Fesitval in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef
pi. 56). For detailed discussion of this representation of Amenhotep III performing the Raising of the Djed
Pillar, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 3.
30
Depictions of the Egyptian ruler wearing a ceremonial tail while making offerings to various deities
appear, e.g., in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 55, pi. 122); in the
Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 54);
and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 16, nos.
8-10).
8
wild bull.31 During the Protodynastic Period and Early Dynastic Period, the bull's tail
most often appears as a component of the Egyptian ruler's outfit during the performance
of vigorous ritual activities such as the ground-breaking ritual (Fig. 21);32 the
hippopotamus hunt (Fig. 35);33 the fowling run (Fig. 36);34 the Konigslauf (Figs. 37-
38);35 the royal smiting ritual (Figs. 39-42);36 the royal inspection of defeated enemy
combatants on the battlefield (Fig. 39);37 and the ritual shooting of arrows (Fig. 43).38 In
the context of these Protodynastic and Early Dynastic royal scenes, the ceremonial bull's
31
For discussion of the bull's tail as an element of royal garb, see primarily Jequier, BIFAO 15 (1918):
165-168; Staehelin, in LA, Vol. 4, col. 615; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 190-191; Hendrickx, in
Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 298.
32
For detailed discussion of the royal ground-breaking ritual that appears on the Scorpion Macehead, see
Section 7.6.
33
Depictions of Den wearing a bull's tail while performing a ceremonial hippopotamus hunt appear on a
pair of labels; see Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pi. 10, no. 19; Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 54 (1998): pi. 12d.
For detailed discussion of these images of Den harpooning a hippopotamus, see Section 5.1.
34
For an image of Den wearing a bull's tail while performing the fowling run, see Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 54
(1998): pi. 12f. For detailed discussion of this image of Den performing the fowling run, see Section 4.2.1.
35
The earliest depiction of the Egyptian ruler wearing a bull's tail while performing the Konigslauf appears
on a seal impression of Djer (Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 31, cat. no. A2);
for detailed discussion of the image of Djer performing the Konigslauf on this seal impression, see Section
4.3.4. Another Early Dynastic depiction of the Egyptian ruler wearing the bull's tail while performing the
Konigslauf appears on a label of Den from Abydos (Dreyer, MDAIK 46 (1990): pi. 26c; Dreyer, etal.,
MDAIK 59 (2003): pi. 18g); for detailed discussion of the image of Den performing the Konigslauf on this
label, see Section 4.3.3.
36
Depictions of the Egyptian ruler wearing a bull's tail while performing the royal smiting ritual appear,
e.g., on the recto of the Narmer Palette (Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 42, fig.
12); a label of Den from Abydos (Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 505,
fig. 31.8); a pair of rock inscriptions of Den from the Wadi el-Humur in Southern Sinai (Resk Ibrahim and
Tallet, RdE 59 (2008): 162, fig. 6); and a rock inscription of Semerkhet from the Wadi el-Humur in
Southern Sinai (Resk Ibrahim and Tallet, RdE 59 (2008): 170, fig. 12). For detailed discussion of these
royal smiting scenes, see Section 6.1.1.
37
A depiction of the Egyptian ruler wearing a bull's tail while inspecting defeated enemy combatants on
the battlefield appears on the verso of the Narmer Palette (Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization,
1st ed., p. 42, fig. 12); for detailed discussion of this depiction of the royal inspection of defeated enemy
combatats on the battlefield, see Section 6.1.3.
38
A depiction of an unknown 1st Dynasty Egyptian ruler wearing a bull's tail while performing an arrow-
shooting ritual appears in a fragmentary relief from Gebelein (Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds.,
Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und Programm, p. 236, fig. 1); for detailed discussion of this
depiction of the royal arrow-shooting ritual, see Section 6.2.
9
tail symbolically imbues the Egyptian ruler with the potency and strength of an
aggressive wild bull; in several Protodynastic and Early Dynastic royal scenes, the
Egyptian ruler completely transforms into a bull while performing physically strenuous
rituals such as the trampling of enemies (Figs. 39,44) and the Konigslauf (Fig. 45).39
In several passages from the Pyramid Texts, the word sd, "tail," is clearly
associated with a powerful and aggressive bull. In Pyramid Texts Spell 336, the solar
deity himself appears as a powerful bull ascending the sky; by grasping the "tail" (sd) of
this ascendant solar bull, the deceased Egyptian ruler is able to travel through the sky
with the solar deity and effect his own rejuvenation and rebirth.40 In Pyramid Texts Spell
538, Horus, Isis, and Atum are able to protect the deceased Egyptian ruler from an
inimical bull by grasping its "head" (tp), "tail" (sd), and "horns" (wp.t).41 Pyramid Texts
Spell 580 describes the ritual slaughter of a violent wild ox that is responsible for the
death of the deceased Egyptian ruler; in order to render this wild bull impotent, the god
Horus removes its "head" (tp), "tail" (sd), "arm" (<"), and "legs" (rd.wy).42 Thus, in these
The Egyptian ruler appears as a wild bull trampling defeated enemy combatants on the Bull Palette
(Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 144, fig. 37) and the Narmer Palette (Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a
Civilization, 1st ed., p. 42, fig. 12); for detailed discussion of the king's transformation into a wild bull on
the Bull Palette and the Narmer Palette, see Section 6.1.4. On an ebony label of Aha, the Egyptian ruler
appears as a bull during the performance of the Konigslauf(Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol.
2, pi. 10.2); for detailed discussion of the Den's transformation into a wild bull on this label, see Section
4.3.2.
40
For Pyramid Texts Spell 336, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, pp. 279-280, § 547a-
548b. For a complete translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 336, see Allen, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts,
p. 70, Spell T21. For discussion of this Pyramid Texts passage in connection with the etymology of the
word sd in the term hb-sd, see Spiegelberg, OLZ4 (1901): 9-10; von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu
den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, Vol. 1, pp. 96-97.
41
For Pyramid Texts Spell 538, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 226-227, §
1302a-c. For a complete translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 538, see Allen, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
Texts, p. 169, Spell P485.
42
For Pyramid Texts Spell 580, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 329-331, §
1543a-1550b. For a complete translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 580, see Allen, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
Texts, p. 185, Spell P522.
10
Pyramid Texts passages, the bull represents the vitality and power of the ascendant solar
deity with whom the deceased Egyptian ruler hopes to associate himself in the
netherworld; however, the bull also represents the aggressiveness and violence of the
deceased Egyptian ruler's enemies whom he hopes to overcome and conquer. By
removing the tail of the bull, the Egyptian ruler symbolically absorbs the strength of his
enemies and becomes rejuvenated and powerful like the rising morning sun.43
After its introduction in the Protodynastic Period, the bull's tail quickly became a
standard component of ceremonial royal garb and remained in continuous use throughout
all of ancient Egyptian history. As the previously discussed passages from the Pyramid
Texts suggest, the bull's tail functioned as a symbol of the potency and strength of large
wild fauna; when properly channeled through the person of the Egyptian ruler, this
zoomorphic power had the ability to impose order and suppress chaos in the cosmos. In
this regard, the use of the bull's tail as an element of royal costume very likely derives
from traditional Predynastic Egyptian hunting and military garb, which typically consists
of a feathered headdress (or cap), a belted penis sheath (or short kilt), and a wild hunting
dog's tail that is attached to the back of the waist.44
The tail of the wild hunting dog also has a special ritual function related to the
control of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic forces of chaos during the Predynastic and
Protodynastic periods. The outfits worn by the hunters who pursue lions and other desert
43
In the same way, the king absorbs the ritual power of gods by ingesting them in the Cannibal Hymn; see
Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 137-152, et passim.
44
For discussion of Predynastic hunting and military garb and its influence on ancient Egyptian royal
costume, see primarily Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 964-972; Altenmilller, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 233-235;
Staehelin, in LA, Vol. 4, col. 615, with references; Helck, in LA, Vol. 6, col. 591, with references; Helck,
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 6-21; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant,
p. 508; Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 145-146; Hendrickx, in
Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 740-742; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19
(2009): 86, 88; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
11
game animals in the ritualistic hunting scene on the Hunters Palette (Fig. 46), for
example, consist of a feathered headdress, a short kilt, and the tail of a wild hunting dog
(Lycaon pictus)?5 The animal's tail worn by the penis sheath-clad hunter who pursues a
group of hippopotami in the hippopotamus hunting scene on a C-Ware bowl in collection
of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig. 47) is probably also the tail of a wild hunting
dog.46 Very similar tails also form part of the costume worn by the Predynastic Upper
Egyptian rulers who perform the royal smiting ritual on a pair of C-Ware vessels from
Cemetery U at Abydos (Figs. 48-49).47 In the bottom left corner of the recto of the Two
Dogs Palette (Fig. 50), a man playing a flute and wearing a dog mask and tail appears to
exert control over a large group of desert fauna, which includes both real animals and
fantastic hybrid-animals.48 The offering bearer who carries a wild hunting dog's tail in a
fragmentary Protodynastic scene on the so-called Bearers Macehead from Hierakonpolis
(Fig. 51) is probably preparing to present this ritually significant object to the Egyptian
For discussion of the wild hunting dog's tails that form part of the costume of the hunters on the Hunters
Palette, see primarily Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 965; Staehelin, in LA, Vol. 4, col. 618, note 34; Helck,
in LA, Vol. 6, col. 591; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp.
740-742; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 88. For detailed discussion of the desert hunting scenes on the
Hunters Palette, see Section 5.2.1; Section 5.2.4.
46
For discussion of the animal's tail worn by the hippopotamus hunter on a C-Ware bowl in the collection
of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA 12.182.15), see primarily Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 742. For detailed discussion of the hippopotamus hunting
scene on this C-Ware Bowl, see Section 5.1.
47
For discussion of the animal's tails worn by the Predynastic Upper Egyptian rulers who perform the royal
smiting ritual on a C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-239 at Abydos (Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 54 (1998): 114, fig.
13) and a C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-415 at Abydos (Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 59 (2003): 81, fig. 5), see
primarily Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 742. For
detailed discussion of the royal smiting rituals that appear on these two C-Ware vessels from Abydos, see
Section 6.1.1.
48
For discussion of the masked man on the recto of the Two Dogs Palette, see primarily Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 191-194, fig. 32; Morenz, Archivfur Religionsgeschichte 5 (2003): 212-226,
figs. 4, 6. According to Morenz, loc. cit., this scene on the recto of the Two Dogs Palette provides evidence
for the practice of shamanism in Protodynastic Egypt. For further discussion of the zoomorphic imagery of
the Two Dog Palette, see Section 5.2.1; Section 5.2.3; Section 5.3.2.
12
ruler. Thus, the use of the wild hunting dog's tail as a component of ritual garb in the
Predynastic and Protodynastic periods has a similar symbolic significance to the use of
the bull's tail as a component of royal garb during the ritual performances of the Sed
Festival; both the bull's tail and wild hunting dog's tail imbue their wearer with an
animal-like power and a special ability to suppress chaotic elements of the cosmos.
The widely supported theory regarding the etymological derivation of the term
hb-sd from the word sd, "tail," has many merits; however, the ceremonial tail worn by the
Egyptian ruler during the celebration of the Sed Festival is not unambiguously identified
as a sd-ta.il in any extant Sed Festival reliefs. On the contrary, the ceremonial tail worn
by the king during the Sed Festival is twice identified as a wr.t.t-tail (Wb. 1, 279.10) in
the depiction of the Konigslauf in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre from Abu Gurob
(Fig. 27).50 The word sd.t, which appears as part of the phrase sd.t r3.t in a fragmentary
relief from Niuserre's Konigslauf sequence, does not contain a determinative; thus, a
definitive interpretation of the phrase sd.t r3.t in this context is not possible.51 The phrase
sd.t ri.t most likely refers to the "great tail" that is worn by Niuserre during the
Konigslauf however, the phrase could also hypothetically refer to the "great (standard of
For discussion of the offering bearer who carries a wild hunting dog's tail on the Bearers Macehead
(UCL 14898A), see primarily Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 8, pi. 26a; Cialowicz, Les tetes
de massues des periodes Predynastique et Archa'ique dans la Vallee du Nil, pp. 43-45, fig. 6; Cialowicz,
Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 36-38, fig. 2. For an imaginative discussion of the image of a man carrying a
pot on the Bearers Macehead as a cryptographic writing of the word ibi, "to dance," see with caution
Morenz, Lingua Aegyptia 6 (1999): 99-103.
50
For the reliefs from Abu Gurob in which the ceremonial tail worn by Niuserre is identified as the wr.t.t-
tail, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 33b, 34.
51
For the relief fragment containing the phrase sd.t ri.t, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des
Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 34. For discussion this phrase and the ambiguity of its meaning in the
context of the Konigslauf'sequence of Niuserre, see Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Konigs, p. 194.
13
the god) Sed" that is carried in front of the king during the performance of the
Konigslauf.52
1.1.2. Hb-Sd: FESTIVAL OF THE CLOTH?
The word sd in the term hb-sd is probably also linked etymologically to the word
sd, "cloth," and the word sd, "to be clothed"—both of which can be written with a narrow
triangle-shaped cloth determinative that closely resembles the determinative for the word
sd in the term hb-sd.53 If this etymological interpretation of sd is correct, as seems likely,
the word sd in the term hb-sd probably refers to the ceremonial robe worn by the
Egyptian ruler during the performance of several notable rituals at the celebration of the
Sed Festival.54 For example, as early as Naqada IC-IIA, in Predynastic, Protodynastic,
and Early Dynastic depictions of the Sed Festival, the Egyptian ruler wears a long,
enveloping robe during the performance of ceremonial barque processions (Figs. 52f, 53-
56); military victory rituals (Fig. 57); hunting rituals (Fig. 58); and enthronement rites
(Figs. 59-63).55 In Sed Festival reliefs from the Old Kingdom onwards, the Egyptian
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 9, no. 6, sees no ambiguity in the meaning of the phrase sd.t
c
i.t; he interprets the phrase as a designation for the ceremonial tail thatNiuserre wears during the
Konigslauf.
53
For the word sd, "Kleid," see Wb. 4, 365.7-8. For the word sd, "gekleidet sein," see Wb. 4, 365.1-6.
54
For the interpretation of the word sd in the term hb-sd as an allusion to ceremonial robe worn by the king
at the Sed Festival, see, e.g., von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum
des Rathures, Part 1, pp. 95-98; Bonnet, Reallexikon der dgyptischen Religionsgeschichte, pp. 158-160;
Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 119-121; Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 383.
55
For detailed discussion of the depictions of the robed Egyptian ruler as a seated occupant of a ceremonial
barque on the Gebelein Linen (Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 5), on the
Metropolitan Museum Knife Handle (Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 273, fig. 1), on the Qustul
incense burner (Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pi.
34), on the Archaic Horus incense burner (Williams, op. cit., Vol. 3, Part 1, pi. 33), and in a Predynastic
rock inscription from Site 18. M 137A in the Wadi Gash (Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper
Egypt,Vol. l,pl. 13.3), see Section 7.1.1. For detailed discussion of the depiction of the robed Egyptian
ruler escorting a defeated enemy combatant away from the battlefield on the recto of the Battlefield Palette
(Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 121, fig. 33), see Section 6.1.3. For detailed discussion of the depiction of the
robed Egyptian ruler in the master-of-beasts scene on the verso of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
14
ruler often wears a long or short robe during the performance of important rituals, such
as the enthronement rites (Figs. 64-74) ;57 the royal visit to sacred shrines (Figs. 30, 75-
76);58 the royal foot-washing ritual (Figs. 77-79);59 the robing ritual (Figs. 80-81);60 the
procession of the royal palanquin (Figs. 82-90);61 the lion furniture sequence (Fig. 91);62
(Seidlmayer, in Schulz and Seidel, eds., Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, p. 26, fig. 31), see Section
5.2.1. For detailed discussion of the enthronement scenes depicting the robed Egyptian ruler on the Royal
Macehead (Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 37, fig. 1), the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28
(1991): 224, fig. 1), an ebony label of Den from Abydos (Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 158),
a pair of labels of Den from Cemetery T at Abydos (Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 54 (1998): pi. 12g-h), and a seal
impression of Djer (Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, pi. 15, no. 108), see Section 4.3.4.
For a detailed study of two-dimensional representations of the Sed Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler from
the 1st Dynasty through the 3 r Dynasty, see Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des
Alten Reiches, pp. 134-140, figs. 1-5.
56
For a detailed study of two-dimensional representations of the Sed Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler from
the Old Kingdom through the Graeco-Roman Period, see Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 49-76.
57
Depictions of the robed king performing the enthronement rites appear, e.g., in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at
Dahshur, Vol.2, Part 1, p. 108, fig. I l l ) ; in the Sed Festival reliefs ofNiuserre in his solar temple at Abu
Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 1 la-b, 13, 23-24,
27); in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of
Kheruef, pi. 26); and in the Sed Festival reliefs ofOsorkon II at Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon
II, pis. 1-2,19-21,23).
58
Depictions of the robed king visiting sacred shrines appear, e.g., in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in
the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2,
Part 1, p. 88, fig. 72); in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis.
102-103,107,112, 114, 117,125, 128-129); and in the Sed Festival reliefs ofOsorkon II at Bubastis
(Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pis. 4, 4bis, 11).
59
Depictions of the robed king appear in the royal foot-washing scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of
Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at
Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 92, fig. 78) and in the Sed Festival reliefs ofNiuserre in his solar temple at Abu
Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 20,45b).
60
Depictions of the Egyptian ruler donning the Sed Festival robe during the robing ritual appear in the Sed
Festival reliefs ofNiuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des
Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 39-43).
61
Depictions of the robed Egyptian ruler as a seated occupant of the royal palanquin appear, e.g., in the Sed
Festival reliefs ofNiuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des
Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 44a-d, 45a-b, 46-47, 50b, 51-52); in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III at Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 97); in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the
Gempaaten at Karnak (Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 1-2, 7.13); and in the Sed Festival
reliefs ofOsorkon II at Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pi. 6).
Depictions of the robed Egyptian ruler appear in the lion furniture sequence from the Sed Festival reliefs
ofNiuserre (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 56a-b).
15
and the ceremonial barque procession (Fig. 159). Three-dimensional representations of
the Egyptian ruler wearing the Sed Festival robe are a common form of royal statuary
beginning in Dynasty 1; seated statues of the Egyptian ruler wearing the Sed Festival
robe are most common (Figs. 92-93), but several examples exist in which the Egyptian
ruler is depicted in a standing pose (Figs. 94-95).64
The strongest evidence linking the term hb-sd etymologically to the Egyptian
word sd, "cloth," is the opening and closing scenes of the procession of the royal
palanquin in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob.65 In
the opening scene of this sequence (Figs. 80-81), Niuserre departs from a palace known
as (70 Ssp sd, the "(Palace of) Receiving the Sd-Cloth," and takes a seat on a portable
carrying chair where he receives the Sed Festival robe from an attentive royal official.66
A depiction of the robed Egyptian ruler as a standing occupant of a ceremonial barque appear in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 46).
64
For detailed studies of three-dimensional representations of the Sed Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler, see
Hornung and Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 73-79; Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds.,
Kunst des Alten Reiches, pp.133-154, pis. 50-53; Sourouzian, in Berger, etai, eds., Hommages a Jean
Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 499-530; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 77-86. For discussion
of standing statues of the Sed Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler as variants of "piliers osiriaques," see with
caution LeBlanc, BIFAO 80 (1980): 69-89, pis. 19-22. Schulz, Die Entwicklung undBedeutung des
kuboiden Statuentypus, Vol. 1, p. 732, convincingly argues—contra LeBlanc, loc. cit.—that standing
statues of the Sed Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler should not be interpreted as variants of Osiris pillars.
65
For discussion of the depiction of the procession of the royal palanquin in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see Section 2.2.3, Scene 11, with references.
66
For discussion of the opening scene of the royal palanquin procession in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-
woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 39-43; von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum
des Rathures, Part 1, pp. 94-99; Kaiser, in Aufsdtze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp. 91, 94,
Faltafel 5, Register 2; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 15; Rummel, SAK34 (2006): 387-388,
fig. 3.1. The word sd, "cloth," has a determinative that depicts the Horus falcon perched on a standard
above a group of four vertical signs with forked bottoms (Gardiner Sign 030/U12). This group of signs
could conceivably write a separate word (such as idmi, "idmi-linen") or a separate phrase (such as ifd-ntr,
"divine //af-linen"); however, this group of signs most likely functions as a determinative for the word sd,
"cloth." Rummel, loc. cit., interprets the group of signs that follows the word sd as a separate word and
translates the phrase: "Empfangen des Sed (aus) jdmj-Leinen." According to Posener-Krieger, RdE 29
(1977): 86-96, tall vertical signs with forked bottoms (Gardiner Sign O30/U12) are primarily used in the
Old Kingdom as a unit of measure for the width of cloth.
16
In the final ritual at the end of the procession of the royal palanquin (Figs. 83, 86),
Niuserre returns to a ritual palace known as (ch) hm sd, the "(Palace of) Retiring the Sd-
Cloth," where he presumably removes the ceremonial Sed Festival robe.67
According to a widely supported—but ultimately unproven and unconvincing—
theory, the Sed Festival robe is identical in form and function to the enveloping mummy
wrappings of the god Osiris.68 This theory regarding the supposedly Osirian nature of the
Sed Festival robe is based, in part, on an outdated interpretation of the ritual significance
of the Sed Festival as a whole—namely, that the Sed Festival, being deeply rooted in
Osirian mythology, evolved from a prehistoric ritualistic form of regicide in which an
aged ruler experienced a symbolic death and rebirth that allowed him to regain his vitality
and continue his rule.69 Despite having garnered widespread scholarly support in the first
For discussion of the closing scene of the royal palanquin procession in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-
woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 45a, 52; von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-
Heiligtum des Rathures, Part 1, pp. 94-99; Kaiser, in Aufsdtze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp.
91, 94, Faltafel 5, Register 4; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 17; Rummel, SAK34 (2006): 387-
388, fig. 3.2.
68
For discussion of the supposed iconographic and symbolic similarity of the Sed Festival robe and the
mummy wrappings of Osiris, see, e.g., Moret, Du caractere religieux de la royaute pharaonique, pp. 242-
243, 270-273; Murray, The Osireion at Abydos, pp. 32-34; Petrie, Researches in Sinai, p. 181; Capart,
Revue de I 'histoire des religions 53 (1906): 332-335; Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in
Ancient Egypt, p. 39; Murray, Man 14(1914): 17-23; Mercer, Journal of the Society of Oriental Research 1
(1917): 11; Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, pp. 151-157, with references; Moret, Nile and Egyptian
Civilization, pp. 130-131; Seligman, Egypt and Negro Africa: A Study in Divine Kingship, pp. 51-52;
Mercer, The Religion ofAncient Egypt, p. 122; Rummel, SAK3A (2006): 381-407. For convincing
criticism of the view that the Sed Festival robe is identical in form and function to the mummy wrappings
of Osiris, see Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Konigs, pp. 163-168; Gardiner, JEA 2 (1915): 124;
Griffiths, JEA 41 (1955): 127-128; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, p. 110.
69
For the suggestion that the Sed Festival was rooted in prehistoric African traditions of ritual regicide, see
primarily Petrie, Researches in Sinai, pp. 181-185; Murray, Man 14 (1914): 17-23; Frazer, Adonis, Attis,
Osiris, pp. 151-157; Moret, in Dawson, ed., The Frazer Lectures: 1922-1932, pp. 161-166; James, Myth
and Ritual in the Ancient Near East, pp. 80-91. For further elaborations of this theoretical connection
between the Sed Festival and the burial or ritual murder of the Egyptian ruler, see also Helck, Orientalia 23
(1954): 383-411, especially pp. 408-411; Helck, 'mLA, Vol. 5, col. 274, no. 5; Barta, Untersuchungen zur
Gbttlichkeit des regierenden Konigs, pp. 63-67; Kaiser, MDAIK 39 (1983): 286-287. The early
development of this theory was heavily influenced by ethno-archaeological accounts of the ritual murder of
priest-kings in African tribes, such as the Shilluk tribe of the Sudan; for discussion of the ethnographic
evidence for ritual regicide in Africa, see primarily Seligman, Egypt and Negro Africa: A Study in Divine
17
half of the 20 century, this Osirian interpretation of the ritual significance of the Sed
Festival fails to hold up under close scrutiny because—with the exception of the Raising
of the Djed Pillar ceremony at the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III (Fig. 186)—
Osirian mythology and symbolism do not appear to have exerted any substantial
influence on the various rituals that were performed during the celebration of the Sed
Festival. The Osirian symbolism of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony is clear;
however, Amenhotep Ill's decision to perform this Osirian ritual during the celebration
of his Sed Festival appears to be an innovation of his reign without any clear prior
precedent.71
Instead of demonstrating a connection between the Egyptian ruler and Osiris, the
Sed Festival robe of the Egyptian ruler almost certainly identifies the ruler as a divine
manifestation of the solar deity. Several notable representations of the Sed Festival robe
indicate that the robe was—at least occasionally—decorated with feather-shaped
adornments, feather-shaped patterns, or diamond-shaped patterns symbolizing the
Kingship, pp. 1-82; Seligman and Seligman, Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan, pp. 90-96. For reasoned
critiques of this theory regarding the influence of prehistoric traditions of ritual regicide on the Sed
Festival, see Gardiner, JEA 2 (1915): 121-126; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 108-111; Griffiths, JEA 41
(1955): 127-128; Krol, in Maravelia, ed., Modern Trends in European Egyptology, pp. 87-90; Quack, ZAS
133 (2006): 84-85; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 94-95; Lange, in Broekman, ed.,
The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 216-218. For further discussion of the controversial topic of regicide in
ancient Egypt, see with caution Jankuhn, GM\ (1972): 11-16; Stork, GM5 (1973): 31-32; Munro, in
Studien zu Sprache undReligion Agyptens, Vol. 2, pp. 907-928; Campagno, Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 113-
124; Cervello-Auruori, CCdEl (2001): 27-52; Patznik, in Meyer, ed., Egypt: Temple of the Whole World,
pp. 287-301.
70
For a similar conclusion regarding the lack of Osirian influence on the rites of the Sed Festival, see
primarily Gardiner, JEA 2 (1915): 124; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 109-111, 113,116-118; Lange, in
Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 215-218. Beginning in the New Kingdom, certain
aspects of Osirian iconography and the iconography of the Sed Festival have an influence upon one other;
for discussion of the iconographic connection between Osiris and the Sed Festival from the New Kingdom
onwards, see Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 63-64, 76.
71
For detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at the third Sed
Festival of Amenhotep III, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 3. For a similar conclusion regarding Amenhotep Ill's
performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at his third Sed Festival as unprecedented and innovative, see
Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 216.
18
colorful plumage of the ascendant solar falcon. For example, during the reigns of
Sesostris III (Fig. 96),72 Tuthmosis III,73 Amenhotep III (Figs. 97, 138, 157, 159),74
Tutankhamun (Fig. 98),75 and Osorkon III (Fig. 99),76 the front of the royal Sed Festival
robe is occasionally adorned at mid-thigh with an unusual ornament that closely
resembles the tail feathers of a falcon. The symbolic significance of this feather-shaped
ornament is most readily apparent in a scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef that depicts the king as a standing occupant of the solar
night barque during a nautical procession at Thebes.77 In the context of this ritual scene
72
For discussion of the depiction of a Sed Festival robe with feather-shaped adornment in a relief of
Sesostris III from his pyramid complex at Dahshur, see primarily Oppenheim, in Arnold, ed., The Pyramid
Complex of Senwosret HI at Dahshur, pp. 143-144, pi. 163a; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 56-57, fig. 4.
73
Tuthmosis III from the Akhmenu at Karnak, see primarily Barguet, Le temple d'Amon-Re a Karnak, pp.
191-192; Porter and Moss, Topographical Biliography, 2nd ed., Vol. 2, p. 118, no. 385; Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 58.
74
For discussion of the depictions of a Sed Festival robe with feather-shaped adornment in the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see primarily Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of
Kheruef, pis. 26, 42, and 46; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 58-59, figs. 7-8;
Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 23, 220-221, note 58. For detailed discussion of the
scenes from the tomb of Kheruef in which Amenhotep III wears a Sed Festival robe with a feather-shaped
adornment, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 1; Section 2.1.1, Scene 5; Section 2.1.1, Scene 6. For discussion of the
depiction of aSed Festival robe with feather-shaped adornment in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Surer, see Save-Soderbergh, Private Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pp. 36-38, pi. 31;
Aldred, JEA 55 (1969): 73-76; Larson, JEA 67 (1981): 180-181; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 58-59.
75
For discussion of the depiction of a Sed Festival robe with feather-shaped adornment on a pectoral of
Tutankhamun from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, see primarily Feucht, Die koniglichen Pektorale,
pp. 51, 54; Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptian Jewellery, p. 139, pi. 51; Larson, JEA 67 (1981): 180-181; Bell, in
Posener-Krieger, ed., Melanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, Vol. 1, p. 34; Patch, BES 11 (1991-1992): 66-67,
69, 75, pi. 5, with references; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 58, fig. 6.
76
Osorkon III in the Temple of Osiris, Hki-D.t, at Karnak, see Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 60-61, figs. 9-10.
77
For discussion of the depiction of Amenhotep III wearing a Sed Festival robe with feather-shaped
adornment in a nautical processional scene from the reliefs of his first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef,
see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 46. For detailed discussion of this symbolic significance of
this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2.
19
from the tomb of Kheruef, the feather-shaped ornament that adorns Amenhotep Ill's robe
undoubtedly signifies the divine transformation of the king into the solar falcon during
his ceremonial journey aboard the solar barque.78
The fabric of Amenhotep Ill's robe in the reliefs of his first Sed Festival from the
tomb of Kheruef is undecorated; however, in at least two instances, Sed Festival robes
with feather-shaped adornments appear to be made from patterned cloth or cloth that is
decorated with elaborate beadwork. For example, the robe (with a feather-shaped
adornment) that Tutankhamun wears in a ritual scene on a pectoral from his tomb is
covered in its entirety with an intricate feather-shaped pattern (Fig. 98) ;79 the "feathered"
robe on this pectoral may, in fact, be identical to an actual garment that was discovered
among the royal equipment in Tutankhamun's tomb—namely, a corselet that is covered

on
in its entirety with a beaded feather-shaped design (Fig. 100). Garments with feather-
shaped designs, such as kilts and shirts, are fairly common in royal reliefs and statuary of
the 18th Dynasty. In most instances, these royal "feathered" garments identify the
Egyptian ruler as the falcon form of the god Horus; however, in the context of the Sed
For a similar conclusion regarding the solar symbolism of the feather-shaped adornment to the king's
robe in the nautical processional scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef, see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 23.
79
For discussion of the robe depicted on this pectoral of Tutankhamun, see references collected supra, this
section, in footnote 75.
80
For discussion of the "feathered" corselet from the tomb of Tutankhamun, see primarily Patch, BES 11
(1991-1992): 57-77, pi. 6, with references; Larson, JEA 67 (1981): 181.
81
For discussion of New Kingdom royal garments with feathered designs and their relationship to the
falcon form of Horus, see primarily Brunner, ZAS 83 (1958): 74-75; Posener-Krieger, RdE 12 (1960): 37-
58, pis. 3-4; Brunner, ZAS 87 (1962): 76-77, pis. 5-6; Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 97-99; Giza-Podgorski,
MDAIK 40 (1984): 103-121; Giza-Podgorski, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 2 (1992): 27-34; Giza-
Podgorski, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization A (1992): 27-31; Bolshakov, inZiegler, ed., L'artde
VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 311-332. For a recent study of feathered garments and their connection to
the god Amun, see also Hirsch, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos Staat, pp. 27-39.
20
Festival, robes with feather-shaped patterns symbolize the transformation of the Egyptian
ruler into the solar falcon.
In the description of the deceased Egyptian ruler's journey through the
netherworld alongside the solar deity in Pyramid Texts Spell 302, the ruler himself adopts
9,0
many of the same physical traits as the solar falcon:

ns.tNNhr=kRr
ny rdi-fs{w) nky nb
pry rfNN r p.t hr=k Rr
hr n NN m bik.w
dnh.w NN m ipd.w
r
n.wt=fm whl.w Itf.t
"The throne of NN is with you, Re.

He will not give it to anyone else.
Indeed, NN will go up to the sky with you, Re,
the face of NN being (the face of) falcons,
the wings of AW being (the wings of) birds.
and his nails being the talons of (him of) Atfet."
The Egyptian ruler's adoption of various avian features in this passage from the Pyramid
Texts signals his divine transformation into the solar deity during his netherworldly
journey through the cosmic sky. In a similar fashion, examples of the Sed Festival robe
with feather-shaped adornments and patterns signal the Egyptian ruler's transformation
into the solar deity during the ritual performances of the Sed Festival; thus, these royal
costumes undoubtedly evoke the falcon imagery of Horus Behedeti, the winged solar
disk, who is commonly described as sib-Sw.ty, "colorful of plumage," in Egyptian
religious texts.83
For this passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 302, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, p.
237, § 460c-461d. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 302, see Allen, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
Texts, p. 56, Spell W207. For further discussion of the deceased Egyptian ruler's transformation into the
solar falcon in the Pyramid Texts, see Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 221, note 59, with
references.
The epithet sib-Sw.ty, "colorful of plumage," which most commonly describes the god Horus Behedeti,
refers to the prismatic and radiant qualities of the solar disk at sunrise. For discussion of the term slb-Sw.ty
21
The diamond-shaped pattern of the Sed Festival robe that Amenhotep III wears in
relief from the tomb of Surer probably also symbolizes the colorful plumage of the solar
falcon (Fig. 97).84 Examples of a Sed Festival robe with a similar diamond-shaped
pattern also appear in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru at Dahshur (Fig. 101)85 and in the
Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob (Fig. 102).86 Three-dimensional
representations of a Sed Festival robe with a similar diamond-shaped pattern also appear
in a small ivory statue of an unknown 1st Dynasty ruler from Abydos (Fig. 94) 7 and in a
fragmentary slate statue of Amenhotep III from Luxor Temple (Fig. 103).
The Sed Festival robe that appears with a feather-shaped adornment in the
previously mentioned Sed Festival reliefs is strikingly similar to a ceremonial robe that
as a description of "prismatic nature of the solar deity qua falcon," see primarily Klotz, Adoration of the
Ram, pp. 73, 130, with references. For a similar interpretation of the term slb-Sw.ty as a description of
solar light, see also Gasse, BIFAO 84 (1984): 214-215, note 8; Assmann, Liturgische Lieder an den
Sonnengott, p. 171. According to Kenning, ZAS 129 (2002): 43-48, the term slb-Sw.ty describes the
colorful quality of the plumage of adult falcons in comparison to the relatively plain plumage of juvenile
falcons; however, Kenning's attempt to connect the term sib-Sw.ty to an observable natural phenomenon
overlooks the term's clear theological connection to solar light.
84
For discussion of the robe that Amenhotep III wears in this Sed Festival relief from the tomb of Surer,
see references collected, supra, this section, in footnote 74.
85
For discussion of patterned Sed Festival robe that appears in the reliefs of the valley temple of the Bent
Pyramid of Snofru at Dahshur, see Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Fasc. 1, p. 134, figs.
157-158, pi. 29c-d; Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des Alten Reiches, p. 138;
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 59.
6
For discussion of the patterned Sed Festival robe that appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his
solar temple at Abu Gurob, see Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser Re, Vol. 3, no. 173;
Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des Alten Reiches, p. 138; Hornung and Staehelin,
Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 59.
87
For discussion of the patterned robe worn by an unknown 1st Dynasty Egyptian ruler in a small ivory
statue from Abydos (British Museum 37996), see primarily Glanville, JEA 17 (1931): 65-66, pi. 9; Aldred,
JEA 55 (1969): 74; Larson, JEA 67 (1981): 180-181; Sourouzian, in Berger, eta/., eds., Hommages a Jean
Leclant, Vol. 1, p. 507, cat. no. 1; Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des Alten
Reiches, pp. 133-140, pi. 50; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 14, 59, 78.
88
For discussion of the patterned robe worn by Amenhotep III in a fragmentary slate statue from Luxor
Temple, see Aldred, JEA 55 (1969): 74, figs. 1-2; Larson, JEA 67 (1981): 180-181, fig. 1; Sourouzian, in
Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 501, 523, cat. no. 55; Hornung and Staehelin,
Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 26, 59.
22
appears in the hieroglyphic writing of the Nb.ty-name of the I s Dynasty ruler Semerkhet
(Fig. 104). Semerkhet's Nb.ty-name, which has typically been interpreted as either iry-
(Nb.ty) or iry-ntr, could possibly depict the king wearing a Sed Festival robe with a
feathered ornament; however, a definitive interpretation of the garment that appears in
the Nb.ty-name of Semerkhet is not currently possible. A similarly ornamented robe is
also worn by several royal officials who bear the title iry-ntr, "the one who belongs to the
god," and h?.ty-c, "provincial governor," in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar
temple at Abu Gurob (Figs. 105-107);90 the ceremonial robe of Niuserre himself,
however, does not have a feather-shaped adornment in any of the scenes from his Sed
Festival reliefs. In the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, an official bearing
the title iry-ntr, "the one who belongs to the god," wears a long ceremonial robe similar
to the royal Sed Festival robe (Fig. 108); however, the ceremonial robe of the iry-ntr does
not have a feather-shaped adornment in any of the scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of
Osorkon II.91 The precise relationship between the royal Sed Festival robe and the
For the interpretation of Semerkhet's Nb ty-name as iry-(Nb.ty), "the one who belongs (to the Two
Ladies)," see primarily Kaplony, Inschriften der agyptischen Fruhzeit, Vol. 1, p. 426; von Beckerath,
Handbuch der agyptischen Konigsnamen, 2nd ed., pp. 40-41. For the interpretation of Semerkhet's Nb ty-
name as iry-ntr, "the one who belongs to the god," see primarily Grdseloff, ASAE 44 (1944): 284-288, fig.
29; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 855-856, fig. 571. For acritical summary of previous interpretations of
Semerkhet's Nb fy-name and an unconvincing interpretation of the name as ".wj-priest," see Ogdon, GM72
(1984): 15-19.
90
For discussion of the royal officials who wear ornamented robes in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in
his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol.
2, nos. 13-14, 45a, 50b, 53; Grdseloff, ASAE 44 (1944): 285-287, figs. 29d-f; Frankfort, Kingship and the
Gods, p. 82; Munro, in Studien zu Sprache undReligion Agyptens, Vol. 2, pp. 919-920. For discussion of
the title iry-ntr in the Old Kingdom, see primarily Jones, Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and
Phrases of the Old Kingdom, Vol. 1, p. 324, no. 1192, with references . For discussion of the title hi.ty-r in
the Old Kingdom, see primarily Helck, in LA, Vol. 2, col. 1042; Jones, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 496-497, no.
1858, with references.
91
For discussion of the royal officials who wear long ceremonial robes in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Osorkon II, see Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1.6, 3.12; Grdseloff, ASAE 44 (1944): 285-287,
fig. 29h; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 855-856, fig. 57lh; Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The Libyan
Period in Egypt, p. 212.
23
ceremonial outfit of the hS.ty-r and the iry-ntr is uncertain; however, the iry-ntr who
wears a ceremonial robe that is similar to the royal Sed Festival robe appears to play an
important ritual function in several scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre and
Osorkon II.92
The ritual garb that the deceased Egyptian ruler dons in Pyramid Texts Spell 335
is similar in several important ways to the ceremonial outfit that the Egyptian ruler
typically wears at the celebration of the Sed Festival:93
nfr.wiy) miw NN
s$d=fm wp.tRc
Sndw .t=f hr=f m Hw.t-Hr
Sw.t-fm Sw.t bik
pr=frfirp.t m-m sn.w=fntr.w
"How beautiful is the sight of NN,

his fillet being (the fillet) from the brow of Re,
his kilt being (the kilt) from Hathor,
and his plumage being the plumage of a falcon,
as, indeed, he goes up to the sky among his brothers, the gods!"
The falcon's plumage that is described in this passage from the Pyramid Texts almost
certainly refers to the feather-shaped ornament that the Egyptian ruler wears during the
celebration of the Sed Festival. The ceremonial kilt of Hathor that is described in this
passage most likely refers to a garment that is similar in function—if not in form—to the
royal Sed Festival robe. In several texts from the Temple of Dendera, Hathor bears the
epithet hbs n bht.t, "clothier of the eastern horizon," which alludes to the goddess as the
solar disk—/. e., the radiant and protective womb that surrounds and swaddles the solar
For scenes in which a ceremonial robe-clad iry-ntr walks at the head of a long procession of officials in
the presence of the king at the Sed Festival, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-
woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 45a, 50b;Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1.6, 3.12.
93
For this passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 335, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1,
pp. 278-279, § 546a-c. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 335, see Allen, Ancient Egyptian
Pyramid Texts, p. 70, Spell T20.
24
deity just prior to his rebirth in the morning sky. As further evidence of this
mythological function of the goddess Hathor, a text from Crypt No. 6 in the Temple of
Dendera describes Hathor as hbs nb-s m Ssp=s imn=s sw m hnw n dfd=s, "(she) who
clothes her lord with her radiance when she hides him within her pupil."95 In a similar
fashion, the enveloping nature of the royal Sed Festival robe almost certainly represents
the protective, womb-like, and radiant qualities of the ritual garment that Hathor provides
for the solar deity—as well as the king—just prior to his rebirth in the eastern horizon of
the sky.96
This strong association between the royal Sed Festival robe and Hathor may
explain why the royal women who appear as seated occupants of palanquins in
representations of the Sed Festival from the Protodynastic Period onwards often wear a
long cloak similar to the ceremonial robe of the Egyptian ruler; representations of seated
royal women wearing long cloaks appear, e.g., on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21),97 on
the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60), on a Protodynastic palette fragment in the San Antonio
Meeks, Annee lexicographique, Vol. 2, p. 245, no. 78.2647, has collected several attestations of the
phrase hbs n bht.t in the reliefs of the Temple of Dendera. For the definitive interpretation of this phrase as
an epithet of Hathor, see Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, p. 134, no.
4. For further discussion of Hathor as the solar disk and the womb of Re, see references collected in
Darnell, op. cit., p. 134, footnote 434.
9
For this description of Hathor from Crypt No. 6 at Dendera, see Mariette, Denderah: Description
generate du grand temple de cette ville, Vol. 3, pi. 61b. The transliteration and translation of the text
presented here are based on Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, p. 134,
nos. 2-3.
96
For a detailed discussion of the radiant quality of the clothing that Hathor provides for the solar deity, see
Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 132-138, note b.
97
For detailed discussion of the seated royal women wearing long cloaks who appear in the representation
of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 225, fig. 2), see Section 3.2.1.2.
98
For detailed discussion of the seated royal woman wearing a long cloak who appears in the
representation of the Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 224, fig. 1), see
Section 3.2.1.1.
25
Museum of Art (Fig. 109), on a label of Djer from the tomb of Hemaka (Fig. 110), in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Niusere at Abu Gurob (Figs. 111-114),101 in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten (Figs. 115-121), and in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Apries from the gateway of his palace at Memphis (Figs. 28, 32).103 The royal
women who are depicted in numerous Protodynastic ivory and limestone statues from
Hierakonpolis and Abydos also wear a very similar cloaked garment (Figs. 122-130).104
The participation of royal women in the celebration of the Sed Festival often takes the
form of Hathoric musical rites celebrating the king as a divine manifestation of the solar
creator god;105 thus, the reason royal women wear long cloaks at the Sed Festival is very
likely to mark them as Hathoric representatives who are responsible for the clothing and
For detailed discussion of the seated royal women wearing long cloaks who appear on a Protodynastic
palette fragment in the San Antonio Museum of Art (Scott, in Hawass and Richards, eds., The Archaeology
and Art of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 345, figs. 1-2), see Section 3.2.1.2.
100
For detailed discussion of the seated royal women wearing long cloaks who appear on a label of Djer
from the tomb of Hemaka (Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 153), see Section 3.2.1.2.
101
For detailed discussion of the seated royal women wearing long cloaks who appear in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs
Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 7b, 44d, 50a; Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 246),
see Section 3.2.1.2.
102
reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten at Karnak (Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project,
Vol. 1, pis. 41,44.5, 46.4,48.3, 51.6, 52.2, 58), see Section 3.2.1.2.
103
reliefs of Apries from the gateway of his palace at Memphis (Kaiser, MDA1K 43 (1986): 148,150, 152,
figs. 5, 7, 9), see Section 3.2.1.2.
104
For an important study of Protodynastic sculptural representations of cloaked royal women from
Hierakonpolis and Abydos, see Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 99-147, figs.
33-42, 44-46, 54-56, with references. Fay, op. cit., pp. 109-116, convincingly argues that these
representations of cloaked royal women are linked to the celebration of the Sed Festival. For discussion of
a similar sculptural representation of a cloaked royal woman from Tomb U-182 at Abydos, see Hartmann,
in Hofmann and Sturm, eds., Menschenbilder-Bildermenschen: Kunst undKultur im alten Agypten, pp. 37-
43, figs. 1-3, with references.
10
For detailed discussion of the participation of royal women in Hathoric rites during the celebration of
the Sed Festival, see Section 3.2.
26
protection of the Egyptian ruler prior to his ceremonial rejuvenation and rebirth at the Sed
Festival.
1.1.3. Hb-Sd: FESTIVAL OF THE CANINE GOD SED?
Because the standard of the canine god Wepwawet commonly appears in
representations of the Sed Festival as early as the reign of the Protodynastic king
Scorpion, some scholars have proposed an etymological connection between the word sd
in the term hb-sd and the name of the canine god Sed, who is very likely an archaic
precursor to the god Wepwawet.106 The Palermo Stone entry recording the "creation of
(an image of) Sed" in year x+11 of the reign of Den attests to the antiquity of this
particular canine deity whose standard closely resembles that of the god Wepwawet.107
Early examples of the ritual display of the standard of a canine god occur, for example, in
the depictions of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21), the Narmer
Macehead (Fig. 60), and a seal impression of Djer from Abydos (Fig. 63).108 The
Wepwawet standard is closely related to the performance of the Konigslauf at the Sed
Festival as early as the 1st Dynasty. The carrying of the Wepwawet standard takes place
during the performance of the Konigslauf, for example, in depictions of the Sed Festival
For the suggestion that the word hb in the term hb-sd is etymologically linked to the name of the canine
god Sed, see Murray, The Osireion at Abydos, pp. 32-34; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 366, note 1;
Brovarski, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 779-780; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals of the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, pp. 42-43.
107
For discussion of the Palermo Stone entry (recto III.l 1) that records the "creation of (an image of) Sed"
in year x+11 of Den, see Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, p. 117, fig. 1; Wilkinson, Early
Dynastic Egypt, p. 294.
108
For detailed discussion of the Wepwawet standard in the depictions of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion
Macehead (Millet, JARCE2S (1991): 225, fig. 2), the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE2S (1991): 224,
fig. 1), and a seal impression of Djer from Abydos (Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, pi. 15,
no. 108), see Section 4.3.3.
27
of Den (Fig. 38), Djoser (Fig. 25), Snofru (Fig. 26), and Niuserre (Fig. 27). luy In the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre from his solar temple at Abu Gurob, the anointing of the
Wepwawet standard and the fixing of the Wepwawet standard in the ground are
important rituals that take place during the performance of the Konigslauf (Fig. 27). uo
The textual reference to sd.t ci.t in the Konigslauf sequence from the Sed Festival reliefs
of Niuserre could conceivably refer to the standard of the canine god behind the king;
however, this phrase most likely refers to the bull's tail that Niuserre wears during the
performance of the Konigslauf.111 The possibility of an etymological connection between
the canine god Sed and the word hb in the term hb-sd is an intriguing theory, particularly
because wild hunting dogs feature prominently in Predynastic depictions of royal hunting
rituals and because the Wepwawet standard plays a prominent role in the performance of
119
the Konigslauf however, because of the lack of clear evidence connecting a god
named "Sed" to the Sed Festival, this theory concerning the etymology of the word hb in
the term hb-sd ultimately remains unproven and unlikely.
1.1.4. Hb-Sd: 30-YEAR FESTIVAL?
For detailed discussion of the carrying of the Wepwawet standard during the performance of the
Konigslauf in depictions of the Sed Festival from the reigns of Den (Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): pi.
18g), Djoser (Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 23, 28, 30, figs. 14, 16-17), Snofru (Fakhry, The Monuments of
Sneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 76, fig. 55), and Niuserre (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum
des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 33b), see Section 4.3.3.
110
For detailed discussion of the anointing of the Wepwawet standard and the fixing of the Wepwawet
standard in the ground during the performance of the Konigslaufin the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in
his solar temple at Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2,
nos. 33b, 34), see Section 4.3.3.
1
For the interpretation of sd.t ri t as a reference to the "great tail" worn by Niuserre during the
performance of the Konigslauf, see Section 1.1.1.
112
For discussion of the symbolic significance of wild hunting dogs in Predynastic and Protodynastic
depictions of royal hunting rituals, see primarily Section 5.2.4.
28
According to another widely supported—but ultimately unproven and unlikely—
theory concerning the etymology of the word sd in the term hb-sd, the word sd refers to a
span of time equal to 30 years; based on this etymological interpretation, the term hb-sd
has often been translated "30-Year Festival" or "DreiBigjahrfest."113 This etymological
interpretation of the term hb-sd is based, in large part, on the translation of the royal title
nb hb.w-sd ("lord of the Sed Festivals") as Kupioc TpiaKovTOCETnpiScov ("lord of the 30
year periods") in line 2 of the Greek section of the Memphis Decree on the Rosetta
Stone.114 Attempts to reconcile the description of the Sed Festival as a "30-Year
Festival" in the Rosetta Stone with earlier evidence concerning the celebration of the Sed
Festival in the dynastic period has led to several different theories concerning the date on
which the Sed Festival was typically performed and the normal interval of time that
elapsed between performances of the Sed Festival.115 According to the most commonly
held view, the Egyptian ruler celebrated the Sed Festival for the first time during regnal
year 30; if the ruler's reign lasted more than 30 years, additional celebrations of the Sed
For the interpretation of the word sd in the term hb-sd as a "30-year period," see primarily Lauth, in
Sitzungsberichte der bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Abteilung 1875,
Bd. 2, Heft 1, pp. 109-144; Brugsch, Thesaurus Inscriptionum Aegyptiacarum, Vol. 2, pp. 203-215;
Brugsch, op. cit., Vol. 5, pp. 1119-1132; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 2-3. Bonnet,
Reallexikon, pp. 158-160, uses the term "DreiBigjahrfest" to refer to the Sed Festival, but does not suggest
that the word sd actually means "30-year period."
114
For discussion of the phrase Kupioc TpiaKovxasxripiScov ("lord of the 30-year periods") in the Greek
section of the Memphis Decree on the Rosetta Stone, see primarily Lauth, in Sitzungsberichte der
bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Abteilung 1875, Bd. 2, Heft 1, pp.
109-110,122; Brugsch, Thesaurus Inscriptionum Aegyptiacarum, Vol. 2, p. 209; Brugsch, op. cit., Vol. 5,
p. 1119; Simpson, JARCE 2 (1963): 59; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 113-114; Wente and Van Siclen
III, in Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, p. 220; Martin, in LA, Vol. 5, col. 784; von Beckerath,
MDAIK 47 (1991): 29; Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 3; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue
Studien zum Sedfest, p. 9, no. 3.
115
For convenient summaries of all theories concerning the theoretical rules governing the timing of the
celebration of the Sed Festival, see Hornung and Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 11-15; Gohary,
Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 3-5; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 9-12,
with references.
29
Festival could take place in short intervals after regnal year 30—typically every three or
four years.116
The preponderance of evidence suggests that such a model was, in fact, the
typical procedure for the celebration of the Sed Festival from the Middle Kingdom
onwards. Egyptian rulers who are known with a high degree of certainty to have
celebrated their first (or only) Sed Festival in regnal year 29, 30, or 31 include Sesostris I
(in regnal year 31),117 Amenemhat III (in regnal year 30),118 Amenhotep III (in regnal
year 30),119 Ramesses II (in regnal year 30),120 and Ramesses III (in regnal year 29).121
Proponents of this model, whereby an Egyptian ruler celebrated the Sed Festival for the first time in
regnal year 30, include Simpson, JARCE 2 (1963): 59-63; Hornung and Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest, pp.
11-15, 51-54, 62-65, 80-85; Wente and Van Siclen III, in Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, pp. 219-
223; Martin, in LA, Vol. 5, col. 784; Murnane, MDAIK 37 (1981): 369-376; von Beckerath, MDAIK 47
(1991): 29-33; Konrad, ZAS 130 (2003): 82-83; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 9-
12,33-37.
117
A rock inscription from Hatnub (Anthes, Die Felseninschriften von Hatnub, cat. no. 49, pp. 76-78, pi.
31) records the "first occasion of the Sed Festival" in year 31 of Sesostris I; for discussion of this text as
evidence for an actual celebration of the Sed Festival by Sesostris I in year 31, see primarily Simpson,
JARCE2 (1963): 61-62; Murnane, MDAIK37 (1981): 369; von Beckerath, MDAIK47 (1991): 30, no. 5;
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 20, 34, 36.
118
A stela from Sheikh Farag in the Museum of Fine Arts (Dunham, Naga-ed-Der Stelae of the First
Intermediate Period, cat. no. 7, pp. 19-20, pi. 5.1) records the performance of the Sed Festival in year 30 of
Amenemhat III; for discussion of this text as evidence for an actual celebration of the Sed Festival by
Amenemhat III in year 30, see primarily Simpson, JARCE2 (1963): 60, 62-63; Murnane, MDAIK37
(1981): 369-370; von Beckerath, MDAIK 47 (1991): 30, no. 6; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studienzum
Sedfest, pp. 20-21, 34,36.
119
Numerous jar labels from Malqata (Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 82-86) record the performance of the Sed
Festival in year 30 of Amenhotep MI. Inscriptions from the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of
Kheruef pis. 28, 46) and the tomb of Khaemhat (Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 76b) confirm that regnal
year 30 was the date of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. For discussion of these labels and inscriptions
as evidence for an actual celebration of the Sed Festival by Amenhotep III in year 30, see primarily
Habachi, ZAS 97 (1971): 68-69; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 291-296; Murnane, MDAIK 37 (1981):
370; von Beckerath, MDAIK47 (1991): 30-31, no. 8; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest,
pp. 25, 33, 36. For further discussion of the date(s) of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1,
Text 1.
120
Numerous inscriptions, including several from Gebel Silsileh, record the celebration of the first Sed
Festival of Ramesses II in regnal year 30; for convenient collections of these texts, see Breasted Ancient
Records of Egypt, Vol. 3, pp. 228-234, with references; Habachi, ZAS 97 (1971): 64-72; Gomaa,
Chaemwese: Sohn Ramses' II undHoherpriester von Memphis, pp. 27-33; Kitchen, Ramesside
Inscriptions, Vol. 2, pp. 377-399; Sayed Mohamed, Festvorbereitungen, pp. 12-14, with references. For
30
Additionally, Tuthmosis III, who is known to have celebrated a Sed Festival in regnal
year 33, probably celebrated his first Sed Festival in regnal year 30.122 However, the
existence of several exceptions to the so-called 30-year principle suggests that adherence
to this ideal model was not obligatory. Egyptian rulers who are known with a high
degree of certainty to have celebrated a Sed Festival prior to regnal year 30 include
discussion of these texts as records of an actual celebration of the Sed Festival by Ramesses II in year 30,
see also Murnane, MDAIK31 (1981): 370; von Beckerath, MDA1KM (1991): 30-31, no. 9; Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 28-29, 33, 36.
121
The strongest evidence for the celebration of Ramesses Ill's first Sed Festival in year 29 comes from
Papyrus Turin 44, 18-19 (Gardiner, ZAS 48 (1910): 49):
hsb 129 ibd 4 [p]r t sw 28
hd in ti ty Ti
m-dr iw-fr it t ni ntr w n( w) r rsy r pi hb-sd
"Year 29, fourth month of Peret, day 28:
Traveling downstream by the vizier Ta,
when he came to take the gods of the southern district to the Sed Festival."
An inscription from the tomb of Setau, high priest of Nekhbet, in Elkab (Gardiner, op cit, pp. 48-49)
confirms that the vizier Ta performed these deeds during the celebration of the first Sed Festival of
Ramesses III:
[hsb.t 29 hi hm n nsw t-bi ty\ nb [ti wy]
Wsr-Mir t-Rrmry-'Imn si Rr nb tf w Rr-ms-sw hki-lwnw di rnh
sp-tpy hb-sd
wd.n hm=fdi tmhr n imy-ri niw t ti ty Ti
[r it t ti dp t-ntr n( t) Nhb t r hb-sd]
r ir t nt w-r=s m hw w t hb-sd
"[Year 29 ... under the majesty of the king of U. & L. Egypt, lord of the two lands],
Usermaatre, beloved-of-Re, son of Re, Ramesses, ruler of Heliopolis, given life;
First occasion of the Sed Festival:
That his majesty commanded the attention of the overseer of the City, the vizier Ta, was
[to take the divine barque of Nekhbet to the Sed Festival],
(and) to perform her rituals in the precincts of the Sed Festival."
For discussion of these texts as evidence for an actual celebration of the Sed Festival by Ramesses III in
year 29, see primarily Murnane, MDAIK37 (1981): 370; von Beckerath, MDAIK47 (1991): 30-31, no. 10;
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 29-30, 35-36. For further discussion of the towing
of the barque of Nekhbet at Ramesses Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 7.4.2.
122
A stela of Sennefer, high priest of Thoth, from Deir el-Bersheh (Sethe, Urkunden der 18 Dynashe, Vol.
2, p. 597, 11. 9-16) records the "beginning of millions of very numerous Sed Festivals" {hi thhwm hb w-sd
r
$i( w) wr t) in year 33 of the reign of Tuthmosis III. If—as seems likely—this text refers to the king's
second Sed Festival, then Tuthmosis Ill's first Sed Festival probably took place in regnal year 30. For
discussion of this text as evidence that Tuthmosis III celebrated his first Sed Festival in year 30 and his
second Sed Festival in year 33, see primarily Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 24, 34,
36.
31
Montuhotep IV (in regnal year 2), Hatshepsut (in regnal year 15 or 16), Akhenaten
(in regnal year 2 or 4),125 and Osorkon II (in regnal year 22).126
Wadi Hammamat inscription no. 110 (Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 2, pi. 149c) records the "first occasion
of the Sed Festival" in regnal year 2 of Montuhotep IV. For discussion of this text as evidence for an actual
celebration of the Sed Festival by Montuhotep IV in year 2, see primarily Hornung and Staehelin, Studien
zum Sedfest, pp. 54-55, who suggest that Montuhotep IV selected this date because it was exactly 30 years
after the reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt by Montuhotep II. For a similar interpretation of this
inscription as a legitimate reference to an actual celebration of the Sed Festival, see also Bleeker, Egyptian
Festivals, p. 114; Murnane, MDAIK 37 (1981): 369. In their updated monograph on the Sed Festival,
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 19, 36, suggest that the reference to the Sed Festival
in this inscription represents the king's desire to celebrate the Sed Festival at a future date, but does not
provide firm evidence for an actual celebration of the Sed Festival. For a similar interpretation of this
inscription as an expression of the king's desire to celebrate the Sed Festival, see von Beckerath, MDAIK
47 (1991): 30, no. 4.
124
The inscription on the north side of Hatshepsut's northern obelisk at Karnak records the "first occasion
of the Sed Festival" (Sethe, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Vol. 2, p. 359,1. 1). According to the inscription
on the base of the northern obelisk (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 367,11. 3-5), quarrying work on the obelisks
began in "Year 15, second month of Peret, day 1," and ended in "Year 16, fourth month of Shomu, final
day." If—as seems likely—Hatshepsut commissioned the construction of these obelisks for the celebration
of her Sed Festival, then Hatshepsut's Sed Festival probably took place shortly after the completion of
work on these obelisks in regnal year 16. Hornung and Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest, p. 54, suggest that
Hatshepsut viewed her reign as a continuation of the reign of her father Tuthmosis I and, thus, celebrated
the Sed Festival 30 years after the accession date of Tuthmosis I. For further discussion of Hatshepsut's
obelisk inscriptions as evidence for an actual celebration of the Sed Festival by Hatshepsut in regnal year
15 or 16, see also Uphill, JNES 20 (1961): 250; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, p. 114; Ratie, La reine
Hatchepsout: Sources et problemes, pp. 201-204; Wente and Van Siclen III, in Studies in Honor of George
R. Hughes, pp. 220-221; Murnane, MDAIK37 (1981): 372-373; von Beckerath, MDAIK47 (1991): 30-31,
no. 7; von Beckerath, in Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 15-20; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 223, note 87; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 23, 36-37.
125
The detailed reliefs of the Gempaaten at Karnak depict the performance of the Sed Festival by
Akhenaten at some point during the early years of his reign—most likely in regnal year 2 or 4. According
to one theory, Akhenaten viewed his reign as a continuation of the 38-year reign of his father Amenhotep
III; thus, regnal year 2 or 4 of Akhenaten would have corresponded to regnal year 40 or 42 of Amenhotep
III. Both of these dates, of course, would have been fitting dates for the celebration of the Sed Festival by
Akhenaten. For discussion of this theory concerning the significance of Akhenaten's celebration of the Sed
Festival in regnal year 2 or 4, see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 26-27, with
references. For further discussion of the significance of the date of Akhenaten's Sed Festival at Thebes, see
also Wente and Van Siclen III, in Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, pp. 220-221; Gohary,
Akhenaten's Sed-festival at Karnak, pp. 29-33; Gabolde, D 'Akhenaton a Toutdnkhamon, pp. 26-28;
Redford, in Freed, etal., eds., Pharaohs of the Sun, pp. 53-57; Martin, SAK 30 (2002): 269-274; Spieser,
CdE 79 (2004): 16, footnote 49, with references; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 27-
28,37.
126
According to a text from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of
Osorkon II, p. 6, no. 8), the Sed Festival of Osorkon II took place in regnal year 22. Hornung and
Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest, p. 55, tentatively suggest that Osorkon II may have celebrated his Sed
Festival 30 years after the accession date of his predecessor Takelot I. According to a commonly held view
concerning the writing of the date of Osorkon II's Sed Festival in this inscription, "year 22' is a scribal
error or copying mistake for "year 30"; proponents of this view include Wente, JNES 35 (1976): 278;
Wente and Van Siclen III, in Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, p. 222; von Beckerath, MDAIK 47
32
Prior to the Middle Kingdom no firm evidence exists to suggest that Egyptian
rulers typically celebrated the Sed Festival for the first time in regnal year 30. According
to the royal annals of the Palermo Stone, the 1st dynasty ruler Den celebrated a Sed
Festival in year x+3; however, unfortunately, attempts to link year x+3 of Den to a firm
date in his reign have thus far been inconclusive.127 Records of the celebration of the Sed
Festival by Pepi I in the "year after the 18th reckoning" and in the "year of the 25th
reckoning" have similarly proven difficult to link to particular regnal years in this king's
reign. Since evidence for the 30-year principle is completely absent from the
documentation of the Sed Festival prior to the Middle Kingdom, it seems very unlikely
that the word sd in the term hb-sd originally referred to a word meaning "30-year period."
The term "jubilee" has traditionally been applied to the Sed Festival because of
the mistaken notion that Egyptian rulers universally celebrated the Sed Festival (for the
first time) on the 30th anniversary of their accession to the throne. In contemporary royal
contexts, the term "jubilee" often refers to precisely such a ceremony; for example, the
(1991): 30-31, no. 11; von Beckerath, GM154 (1996): 19-22; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 30, 34, 36. Gozzoli, in Grimal and Baud, eds., Evenement, recit, histoire offlcielle, p. 215,
footnote 18, has noted that the highest attested date for the reign of Osorkon II is regnal year 28. Since
"year 30" is later than the highest attested date for the reign of Osorkon II, the proposal to emend the text
from "year 22" to "year 30" is problematic and highly questionable. For an unconvincing suggestion that
Osorkon II reigned for at least 29 years and possibly as long as 34 years, see with caution Broekman, GM
205 (2005): 21-33.
127
For the record of Den's celebration of the Sed Festival on the Palermo Stone (recto III.3), see primarily
Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 107-108, fig. 1, with references; Hornung and Staehelin,
Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 14.
128
Rock inscriptions from Sinai (Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 2, pi. 116a) and the Wadi Hammamat (Couyat
and Montet, Les inscriptions hieroglyphiques et hieratiques du Ouddi Hammamat, cat. nos. 62, 63, 103,
107) record the celebration of a Sed Festival by Pepi I in "the year after the 18th reckoning"; for discussion
of these records of the Sed Festival of Pepi I, see primarily Murnane, MDAIK31 (1981): 369; von
Beckerath, MDA1KA1 (1991): 30, no. 1; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 17, 36. A
rock inscription from Hatnub (Anthes, Die Felseninschriften von Hatnub, cat. no. 3, p. 13, pi. 4) records the
celebration of a Sed Festival in "the year of the 25th reckoning"; for discussion of this record of the Sed
Festival of Pepi I, see primarily Murnane, op. cit.,p. 369; von Beckerath, op. cit., p. 30, no. 2; Hornung and
Staehelin, op. cit., p. 17.
33
Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 took place exactly 50 years after her
accession to the throne upon the death of her father George VI on February 6, 1952.
However, since evidence for the so-called 30-year principle is completely lacking prior to
the Middle Kingdom, and since deviations from the normal celebration of the Sed
Festival in regnal year 30 were fairly common from the Middle Kingdom onwards, the
1 OH
use of the term "jubilee" to describe the Sed Festival seems woefully inadequate.
Additionally, in the ancient world prior to the destruction of the Second Temple of
Jerusalem in 70 CE, the term "jubilee" specifically referred to a reoccurring yearlong
Jewish festival that took place at regular intervals of seven Sabbatical cycles (/. e., every
49 or 50 years).130 Thus, in the interest of accuracy and clarity, the term hb-sd is perhaps
best rendered into English as simply "Sed Festival."
1.2. SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF THE SED FESTIVAL
Though ultimately unproven and unconvincing, the previously discussed Osirian
"ritual regicide" theory concerning the origins of the Sed Festival has rightfully focused
attention on Predynastic and Protodynastic Egyptian rituals as the basis for the royal
festival later known as the Sed Festival.131 The vast corpus of Predynastic and
Protodynastic iconography, which appears in the form of rock inscriptions, decorated
pottery, inscribed ceremonial objects, painted tableaux, and statuettes, provides fertile
ground for investigations into the origins of royal ideology and royal ritual performance
129
Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, p. 113, has also advocated for the discarding of this term on similar
grounds.
130
For detailed discussion of the history, significance, and societal implications of the Biblical Jubilee that
is described in Chapter 25 of Leviticus, see, e.g., North, Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee; Fager, Land
Tenure and the Biblical Jubilee; North, The Biblical Jubilee: After Fifty Years; Lefebvre, Lejubile
biblique: Lv 25—exegese et theologie; Bergsma, The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran.
131
For discussion of the Osirian "ritual regicide" theory concerning the origins of the Sed Festival, see
references collected in Section 1.1.2, footnote 69.
34
in Egypt.132 Indeed, several researchers who have investigated Predynastic and
Protodynastic iconography have identified depictions of rituals from the celebration of
the Sed Festival in Predynastic scenes dating as early as Naqada IC-IIA.
According to Wolfgang Helck, the Sed Festival evolved from a Predynasic
hunting ritual ("Qualifikationsjagd") that demonstrated the virility and power of a would-
be local chief or ruler.133 Bruce Williams and Thomas Logan have found evidence for an
early version of the Sed Festival ("Greater Pharaonic Cycle") in Predynastic and
Protodynastic scenes from as early as Naqada IC-IIA; according to these authors, this
early version of the Sed Festival included a barque procession, a ritual run, a victory
celebration, the sacrifice of a prisoner, and a hunting ritual.134 Largely echoing Williams
and Logan's views concerning Predynastic and Protodynastic evidence for the celebration
of the Sed Festival, Kryzstof Cialowicz has written at great length in several publications
about the early Sed Festival as a ceremony of royal renewal and triumph.135 Alejandro
For convenient collections of Predynastic and Protodynastic artwork and cultural artifacts in various
media from Naqada I through Dynasty 0, see, e.g., Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 261-609; Asselberghs,
Chaos en Beheersing; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des periodes Predynastique et Archaique dans la
Vallee du Nil; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-285; Williams, Decorated Pottery and the Art of
Naqada III; Cialowicz, Les palettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans decoration; Cialowicz, in
Friedman and Adams, eds., The Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 247-
258; Davis, Masking the Blow; Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in The Brooklyn Museum;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 151-207; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada
II.
133
For discussion of Predynastic hunting rituals as the ideological basis for the celebration of the Sed
Festival, see primarily Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 6-21.
134
For discussion of the Predynastic and Protodynastic representations of a "Greater Pharaonic Cycle" as
evidence for the celebration of the Sed Festival in Early Egypt, see primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 245-285. For further elaborations of these authors' views concerning the celebration of the Sed
Festival in Predynastic and Protodynastic Egypt, see also Williams, in Phillips, etal., eds., Ancient Egypt,
the Aegean and the Near East, Vol. 2, pp. 483-496; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise:
Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente, pp. 261-276.
135
For Cialowicz's views concerning the earliest evidence for the celebration of the Sed Festival, see
primarily Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des periodes Predynastique et Archaique dans la Vallee du Nil,
pp. 31-45; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 39-48; Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization
8 (1997): 11-27; Cialowicz, in Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-352; Adams and
35
Jimenez-Serrano, who has shed much light on the various rituals of the Sed Festival in
the Protodynastic and Early Dynastic periods, also believes that the Sed Festival
originated in Egypt during the Predynastic Period. Finally, John Darnell has
convincingly argued that depictions of the Sed Festival appear as "tableaux of royal ritual
power" in Predynastic and Protodynastic rock inscriptions from the Western Desert of
Egypt.137
Unfortunately, however, recent in-depth studies of the documentation for the Sed
Festival from the dynastic period have ignored or dismissed the increasingly large corpus
of Predynastic and Protodynastic royal iconography as a possible source of evidence for
the celebration of the Sed Festival prior to the 1st Dynasty.138 For example, in the preface
to the catalogue of "Sedfest-Belege" in their most recent monograph on the Sed Festival,
Erik Hornung and Elisabeth Staehelin completely dismiss the notion that definitive
evidence for the celebration of the Sed Festival exists in the Predynastic Period;
concerning this matter, the authors state: "Nur am Rande verweisen wir hier auf
Versuche, Sedfest-Hinweise schon in vorgeschichtlicher Zeit zu finden, da diese
Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-46; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 273-279; Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 35-42;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 155-163, 166-172, 196-207,211-212,218,222-223.
136
For detailed discussion of Protodynastic and Early Dynastic representations of the Sed Festival, see
primarily Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 42-
78.
137
For the identification of elements of the Sed Festival in Predynastic and Protodynastic rock inscriptions
from the Western Thebaic!, see primarily Darnell, in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World, p. 33; Darnell,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 83-107; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power;
Darnell, in Friedman and Fiske, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
138
The following discussions of documentation for the Sed Festival in the dynastic period lack any
substantive discussion of Predynastic and Protodynastic evidence for the celebration of the Sed Festival:
Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 91-123; Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, pp. 83-91; Martin,
in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 782-790; Hornung and Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-
Festival at Karnak; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest; Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The
Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 203-218.
36
Versuche bisher nicht iiberzeugen."139 Despite Hornung and Staehelin's protestations to
the contrary, the publications of Helck, Williams, Logan, Cialowicz, and Darnell have
clearly and definitively shown that local rulers in Upper Egypt celebrated an archaic
version of the Sed Festival as early as Naqada IC-IIA.
Central to many Predynastic and Protodynastic scenes of representational art is
the stylized figure of a man who wears distinctive garb, carries ritual implements, and
performs various ritual activities.140 In early scenes from the Predynastic Period, this
man is most likely a local Upper Egyptian ruler or tribal leader; in later tableaux from the
Protodynastic Period, this man is the head of the nascent Egyptian state—i. e., a prototype
for later pharaonic kingship. Identification of the man at the center of these Predynastic
and Protodynastic tableaux as a ruler is based on several factors. First, the overall
iconographic context in which the Predynastic and Protodynastic Egyptian ruler typically
appears indicates that he has a special religious authority and holds power over animals
and other humans.141 Second, the ritual implements and garb of this ruler conform to the
styles of regalia and royal dress that are later associated with pharaonic kingship.142

140
A full discussion of the garb, implements, and ritual activities of the man at the center of these
Predynastic and Protodynastic tableaux appears in Chapters 3-7. For general discussion of the origins and
evolution of royal ideology in Predynastic, Protodynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, see primarily Williams
and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-285; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian
Kingship, pp. 95-156; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt; Wilkinson, JEA 86 (2000): 23-32; Kohler, in van
den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-513; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty; Kohler, in Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology, pp. 49-50.
141
For example, in Predynastic and Protodynastic tableaux, the ruler founds sacred precincts and ritual
waterways (Section 7.5), dominates lions with his bare hands (Section 5.2.1), and smites his enemies with a
ceremonial mace (Section 6.1.1).
142
The first appearance of the red crown, for example, dates to Naqada I (Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt,
pp. 48-49, 192-194). Additionally, the white crown appears commonly in Predynastic royal scenes
beginning in early Naqada III (Wilkinson, op. cit, pp. 194-195); the M^-scepter appears commonly in
Predynastic royal scenes beginning in Naqada II (Wilkinson, op. cit., pp. 188-189); and the nhihi-f[a\\
appears commonly in Predynastic royal scenes beginning in Naqada II (Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 190).
37
Third, several of the ritual scenes in which this ruler appears are similar or identical to the
ritual scenes in which the pharaoh commonly appears in the dynastic period.143 Thus, an
unquestionably clear chain of cultural continuity exists between the iconography of
Predynastic local Upper Egyptian rulers and the iconography of the dynastic rulers of
Egypt—a chain of cultural continuity that spans roughly four millennia from Naqada I
through the Graeco-Roman Period.
The clearest and most definitive evidence for the celebration of the Sed Festival in
the Predynastic and Protodynastic periods is the existence of numerous scenes in which
the Egyptian ruler wears a long enveloping robe that is identical to the royal Sed Festival
robe of the dynastic period. Predynastic and Protodynastic scenes in which the Egyptian
ruler wears this robe include painted and inscribed royal tableaux from the Gebelein
Linen (Fig. 52f),144 the Metropolitan Museum knife handle (Fig. 53),145 the Qustul
incense burner (Fig. 54),146 the Archaic Horus incense burner (Fig. 55),147 a rock
143
The royal smiting scene, which remained largely unchanged for approximately four millennia after its
introduction in Naqada I, was perhaps the most iconic image of the ruler throughout all of ancient Egyptian
history (Section 6.1.1).
144
For detailed discussion of the nautical processional scene in which the Egyptian ruler wears the long Sed
Festival robe on the Gebelein Linen (Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 5), see
Section 7.1.1.
145
Festival robe on the Metropolitan Museum knife handle (Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 273, fig.
1), see Section 7.1.1.
146
Festival robe on the Qustul incense burner (Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian
Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pi. 34), see Section 7.1.1.
147
Festival robe on the Archaic Horus incense burner (Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute
Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pi. 33), see Section 7.1.1.
38
inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 56),148 the Battlefield Palette
(Fig. 57),149 the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (Fig. 58),150 the Royal Macehead (Fig.
59),151 and the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60).152 Additionally, in several Predynastic and
Protodynastic scenes, the Egyptian ruler performs rituals that typically occur in the
dynastic period as part of the celebration of the Sed Festival. For example, the Egyptian
ruler performs the Konigslauf'in the painted tableau from Tomb 100 at Hierakonpohs
(Fig. 131d),153 and the ruler performs a foundation rite at the commemoration of a ritual
waterway and sacred precinct on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21).1M A detailed study of
these scenes suggests that the celebration of the Sed Festival in the Predynastic and
Protodynastic periods typically included the performance of several of the following
rites: music and dance rituals (Section 3.1); a palanquin procession of the royal women
(Section 3.2.1); the Konigslauf (Chapter 4); the royal enthronement ritual (Section
4.3.4); hunting and butchery rituals (Chapter 5); military victory rituals (Chapter 6); the
Festival robe in a rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash (Winkler, Rock-Drawings of
Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pi. 13.3), see 7.1.1.
149
For detailed discussion of the military victory ritual in which the Egyptian ruler wears the long Sed
Festival robe on the Battlefield Palette (Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 121, fig. 33), see Section 6.1.3.
150
For detailed discussion of the "master-of-beasts" scene in which the Egyptian ruler wears the long Sed
Festival robe on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (Seidlmayer, in Schulz and Seidel, eds., Egypt: The World
of the Pharaohs, p. 26, fig. 31), see primarily Section 5.2.1.
151
For detailed discussion of the royal enthronement scene in which the Egyptian ruler wears the long Sed
Festival robe on the Royal Macehead (Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 37, fig. 1), see Section
4.3.4.
152
For detailed discussion of the royal enthronement scene in which the Egyptian ruler wears the long Sed
Festival robe on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 224, fig. 1), see Section 4.3.4.
153
For detailed discussion of the Konigslauf scene from Tomb 100 at Hierakonpohs (Quibell and Green,
Hierakonpohs, Vol. 2, pis. 76-77), see Section 4.1.1.
154
For detailed discussion of the foundation ritual on the Scorpion Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991):
225, fig. 2), see Section 7.5.
39
royal barque procession (Chapter 7); and the rites of founding a sacred precinct (Section
7.5).
The cultural continuity that is readily apparent in many aspects of the celebration
of the Sed Festival in the Predynastic, Protodynastic, and dynastic periods is not the result
of pure chance. Instead, there is clear evidence that Egyptian rulers periodically studied
archaic documentation for the Sed Festival and attempted to emulate earlier prototypes of
the festival. For example, a text from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in
the tomb of Kheruef unambiguously states that the king consulted ancient documents in
order to celebrate the rites of the Sed Festival in their earliest and most authentic form:155
in hm=firnn
m snr sS.w isw.t
h.wt rmt.w dr rk imy.w-bih
ny ir=sn hb.tn.t hb-sd
"It was his majesty who did these things

in accordance with the documents of ancient times.
As for generations of men since the time of the ancestors,
they did not celebrate the rituals of the Sed Festival (properly)."
As further evidence of this king's interest in the celebration of the Sed Festival during
archaic times, Amenhotep III commissioned the re-inscription of a ceremonial slate
palette that originally depicted a ritual scene from the Sed Festival of an unknown
Predynastic Egyptian ruler (Fig. 132a); the added scene on the reverse of the palette
depicts Amenhotep III and his wife Tiye at the celebration of the Sed Festival (Fig.
132b).156
For this text from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 28. For detailed discussion of this text, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
156
For general discussion of the extant fragments of this re-inscribed palette (Cairo JE 46148 and Brooklyn
Museum 66.175), see primarily von Bissing, AfO 6 (1930): 1-11; Baumgartel, The Cultures of Prehistoric
Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 101-102, pi. 8.1; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 252-254, 340-343, pis. 102-103;
Fischer, Ancient Egyptian Representations of Turtles, p. 20; Bothmer, JARCE 8 (1969-1970): 5-8; Ridley,
40
1.3. A N E W INTERPRETIVE MODEL FOR THE SED FESTIVAL
Over the course of roughly four millennia of ancient Egyptian history, during
which many of Egypt's most famous rulers celebrated the Sed Festival, several of the
rituals that comprised the celebration of the Sed Festival evolved significantly in meaning
and form; other rituals fell out of practice for large periods of time or even disappeared
completely from the celebration of the festival. However, an in-depth study of all of the
available documentation for the celebration of the Sed Festival in the Predynastic,
Protodynastic and dynastic periods suggests that the cycle of rituals that took place at the
Sed Festival serve three main purposes throughout the entire history of the festival. First,
during several of the major ritual performances of the Sed Festival, the Egyptian ruler
symbolically transforms into a creator deity, and, by doing so, attains the ability to effect
his own rejuvenation and continue to rule Egypt effectively. Second, by symbolically
demonstrating his control over cyclical phenomena of the natural world, the Egyptian
ruler establishes and maintains order in the cosmos during several ritual performances at
the Sed Festival. Third, in order to suppress the potentially powerful and disruptive
forces of chaos in the cosmos, the Egyptian ruler eliminates all possible threats to himself
and to the Egyptian state during the celebration of the Sed Festival.
Rituals from the celebration of the Sed Festival in which the Egyptian Ruler
transforms into a creator god include the procession of the solar barque and the
performance of ritual music and dance. During an elaborately staged nautical procession
in which the Egyptian ruler travels along a ritual waterway in the barque of the solar
The Unification of Egypt, pp. 54-55; Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in The Brooklyn Museum, pp.
332-334; Davis, The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 157-158. For discussion of this
palette as evidence of archaism in the Sed Festivals of Amenhotep III, see also Berman, in O'Connor and
Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 17; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies,
p. 219, note 42; Hartwig, in Engel, etal, eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 195-209.
41
deity, the ruler is symbolically transformed into the brilliantly plumed, ascendant solar
falcon; as a result of this transformation, the ruler shares in the rejuvenation and rebirth
that the solar deity perpetually experiences each day at sunrise (Chapter 7). During a
series of Hathoric music and dance rituals involving performances by the royal daughters
and by women from liminal areas of the Egyptian landscape, the wandering goddess of
the solar eye, who is manifest in the person of the queen, returns to Egypt and unites
sexually with the king who, in turn, transforms into the creator god Re-Atum and realizes
his full creative potential for self-rejuvenation (Chapter 3).
Rituals concerned with the creation and maintenance of order in the cosmos
include the Konigslauf and the procession of the solar barque. During the performance of
the Konigslauf and each of its variants, the Egyptian ruler symbolically demonstrates his
control over important elements of the cosmos and cyclical phenemona of the natural
world (Chapter 4). For example, the Vogellauf dcmonsivaies the Egyptian ruler's control
over the annual migrations of the birds (Section 4.2.1); the Vasenlauf demonstrates the
ruler's control over the watery landscape of the cool water regions (kbh.w) at the northern
and southern edges of the cosmos (Section 4.2.2); and the Ruderlauf demonstrates the
ruler's control over the solar deity's nautical journey through the cosmos (Section 4.1.2).
As a result of his vigorous effort during the performance of the Konigslauf 'and its ritual
variants, the Egyptian ruler assures the proper functioning of the cosmos and claims his
rightful spot on the throne as the legitimate ruler of the Egyptian state in its entirety
(Section 4.3.4). By physically demonstrating his control over navigation on the Nile
during the procession of the solar barque at celebration of the Sed Festival, the Egyptian
42
ruler shows that he alone possesses the divinely bestowed power to maintain the solar
cycle in perpetuity (Chapter 7).
Rituals concerned with the suppression of chaos in the cosmos include Nilotic and
desert hunting rituals, the ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals, and military victory
rituals. During the performance of hunting rituals, which are especially prevalent in
Predynastic and Protodynastic depictions of the Sed Festival, the Egyptian ruler
neutralizes the potentially damaging and disruptive effect of animals from Egypt's desert
and Nilotic environs upon the Egyptian cosmos (Section 5.1, Section 5.2). From the Old
Kingdom onwards, hunting rituals largely disappear from the surviving documentation
for the celebration of the Sed Festival; however, the ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals,
which commonly appears in representations of the Sed Festival from all periods, very
likely has the same symbolic significance as the hunting of desert and Nilotic fauna
(Section 5.3). In documentation for the celebration of the Sed Festival from all periods
of ancient Egyptian history, the Egyptian ruler presents himself as a powerful military
leader with a well equipped and well trained army at his disposal (Chapter 6). The ritual
execution of the enemies of the Egyptian state is a common component of the celebration
of the Sed Festival during the Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods (Section 6.1).
During the celebration of the Sed Festival in the dynastic Period, a more nuanced image
of the Egyptian ruler as a military leader emerges in the performance of less brutal
military rituals, including arrow-shooting rituals (Section 6.2.1) and ritual combat bouts
(Section 6.3).
43
CHAPTER 2: M A J O R S E P FESTIVAL RELIEF PROGRAMS
2.0. INTRODUCTION
Beginning in the Old Kingdom—or perhaps even in the Early Dynastic Period—
Egyptian rulers who celebrated the Sed Festival commemorated this important event with
the commission of detailed reliefs depicting the various rites of the Sed Festival on the
walls of temples, royal mortuary complexes, and other sacred precincts. During the New
Kingdom, especially in reign of Amenhotep III, high-ranking royal officials who
participated in the ritual performances of the Sed Festival memorialized their
participation in this ceremony with detailed reliefs on the walls of their own private
tombs. The Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Theban Tomb
192) provide the most complete, best-preserved, and most detailed record of the various
ritual performances that took place at the celebration of the Sed Festival (Section 2.1).1
The scenes and texts of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival (Section 2.1.1) differ greatly
from the scenes and texts of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival (Section 2.1.2) in the
tomb of Kheruef; however, taken as a whole, these two sets of reliefs most likely present
a detailed composite summary of the numerous rituals that Amenhotep III celebrated at
each of his three Sed Festivals. Many—though not all—of the ritual scenes and texts
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef find close parallels
in the Sed Festival reliefs of other Egyptian rulers; these parallels often provide important
details that aid in the interpretation of fragmentary or obscure portions of the reliefs from
1
For the most complete account of the ancient and modern history of the tomb of Kheruef, see Nims, in
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pp. 1-16. For the definitive publication of the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III in this tomb, see Epigraphic Survey, op. cit., pis. 24-63. Earlier publications of these reliefs
include Fakhry, ASAE 42 (1943): 447-508, pis. 39-52; Helck, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Fascicle 21, pp.
1858-1871. For translations of the hieroglyphic texts that appear in these reliefs, see Wente, in Epigraphic
Survey, op. cit, pp. 41-66. For important notes and commentary on Wente's translation of the texts, see
Caminos, JEA 71 (1985): 197-200.
44
the tomb of Kheruef.2 Important detailed representations of the various rituals from the
celebration of the Sed Festival also appear in the reliefs of Djoser in the Step Pyramid
Complex at Saqqara (Section 2.2.1), in the releifs of Snofru in the valley temple of the
Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Section 2.2.2), the reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at
Abu Gurob (Section 2.2.3), in the reliefs of Amenhotep III in the Temple of Soleb
(Section 2.2.4), in the reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten at Karnak (Section 2.2.5),
and in the reliefs of Osorkon II in the Temple of Bubastis (Section 2.2.6). Other
Egyptian rulers who celebrated the Sed Festival almost certainly also commemorated this
event with the commission of detailed reliefs; however, the reliefs of the previously
mentioned kings are the most complete and best-preserved representations of the Sed
Festival that survive to the present day.
2.1. THE SED FESTIVAL RELIEFS OF AMENHOTEP III IN THE TOMB OF KHERUEF
2.1.0. INTRODUCTION
Detailed reliefs memorializing the royal official Kheruef s participation in the
first and third Sed Festivals of Amenhotep III appear on the western wall of the West
Portico in the tomb of Kheruef. The reliefs of the king's first Sed Festival appear on the
section of the wall to the south of the doorway in the West Portico; the reliefs
commemorating the king's third Sed Festival appear on the section of the wall to the
north of the doorway.3 One of the most commonly depicted of all Sed Festival rituals—
2
Discussion of notable parallel scenes and texts appears alongside discussion of the reliefs from the tomb
of Kheruef in Section 2.1.
3
For the scenes and texts of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival from the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic
Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pp. 41-54, pis. 24-46. For the scenes and texts of the Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival from the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, op. cit., pp. 54-66, pis. 47-63. For discussion of
the architectural layout of the tomb and its decoration, see Nims, in Epigraphic Survey, op. cit., pp. 3-13,
pis. 2-4.
45
the Konigslauf—is notably absent from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the
tomb of Kheruef; however, many of the rituals that appear in the reliefs from the tomb of
Kheruef are traditional Sed Festival rites that were celebrated as early as the Predynastic
and Early Dynastic periods—for example, Hathoric music and dance rituals, ritual bouts
of hand-to-hand combat, a ceremonial barque procession, and the ritual slaughter of
sacrificial animals.4 Although many of the rituals performed by Amenhotep III during
the celebration of his first and third Sed Festivals are traditional and commonly attested
Sed Festival rites, one of the most prominent rituals of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival—the Raising of the Djed Pillar—is not otherwise attested as part of the
celebration of the Sed Festival.5 Thus, with the inclusion of both traditional and
nontraditional rites, the Sed Festivals of Amenhotep III may rightly be described as both
archaizing and innovative.
According to the Sed Festival relief program in the tomb of Kheruef, Amenhotep
Ill's first Sed Festival and third Sed Festival each included a completely different set of
rituals; however, in actuality, each of Amehotep Ill's Sed Festivals probably included
many of the same rituals. The similarity and consistency of the carving style used for
both sets of Sed Festival reliefs in the tomb of Kheruef suggest that all of the Sed Festival
reliefs were carved at the same time—probably in the final years of Amehotep Ill's reign
or in the first two years of his successor Akhenaten's reign.6 Since the reliefs of
4
For detailed discussion of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic precursors to the rituals performed at
Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festivals, see Chapters 3-7.
5
Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 216, suggests that the performance of the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony during Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival was probably an innovation
of his reign without historical precedent.
6
Neither set of Sed Festival reliefs in the tomb of Kheruef was completely finished before the
abandonment of the tomb; however, the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival are more fully
46
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival and third Sed Festival were very likely planned from
the outset to be viewed together, the reliefs complement each other. Rituals that were
performed at both Sed Festivals appear only once in the relief program in the tomb of
Kheruef; thus, the collected scenes from both sets of reliefs present a composite of all the
rituals performed by Amenhotep III during his first and third Sed Festivals.7
As the grandest ritual expression of kingship in ancient Egypt, the Sed Festival
was a lengthy festival that included numerous ritual performances. In planning the
celebration of a Sed Festival, the reigning king paid homage to the institution of kingship
and to the past by including traditional rites in his Sed Festival; however, to a certain
extent, each king also sought to put his own personal stamp on the celebration of the
festival by highlighting his best royal attributes or by selecting rituals that emphasized a
favored deity.8 The considerable similarities and differences in the major Sed Festival
relief programs of Djoser, Snofru, Niuserre, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II
confirm this interpretation of the Sed Festival as an amalgation of traditional and novel
ritual performances. Indeed, the Sed Festival is a celebration of kingship as an
finished than the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. According to Wente, JNES2S (1969): 275,
the fact that the reliefs of the third Sed Festival are more fully finished suggests that work on both sets of
reliefs began after regnal year 37—the date of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival. Nims, in Epigraphic
Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pp. 10-13, dates the carving of the West Portico of the tomb of Kheruef to the
final years of Amenhotep Ill's reign. After a critical review of previous discussions of the dating of the
construction and decoration of the tomb of Kheruef, Dorman, in Brand and Cooper, ed., Causing his Name
to Live, pp. 65-82, concludes that all of the decoration in the tomb was carved in the first two years of
Akhenaten's reign. Based on his observations regarding the decoration of the tomb of Kheruef and the
Temple of Soleb, Dorman, he. cit, sensibly concludes that "acoregency of any length" between
Amenhotep III and Akhenaten is very unlikely. For a similar conclusion regarding the general dearth of
evidence for a coregency between Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, see Gabolde, D 'Akhenaton a
Toutdnkhamon, pp. 62-98; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 24, with references.
7
The reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb (Section 2.2.4) include several
rituals that do not appear in the reliefs from the tomb of Kheruef; thus, the reliefs in the tomb of Kheruef
clearly do not provide a complete catalogue of all the rituals performed at Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festivals.
8
For discussion of the roles of various deities in the celebration of the Sed Festival, see primarily Hornung
and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 47-48.
47
institution, but it is also a celebration of a particular ruler's reign. The major differences
between Amenhotep Ill's two sets of Sed Festival reliefs in the tomb of Kheruef are
probably a reflection of Amenhotep Ill's desire to personalize each of his Sed Festivals
with different ritual emphases. The ritual performances of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival celebrate the goddess Hathor, equate the king with the solar deity, and emphasize
the symbolic rebirth and renewal of the king as a result of the hieros gamos; his third Sed
Festival emphasizes the regeneration of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris through the performance of the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony.9 As several of the hymns sung during the
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival indicate, the result of the Osirian regeneration that
takes place during the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony is the rebirth of the solar deity,
who glistens in the sky and favors Amenhotep III above all others.
The depictions and descriptions of ritual landscape and architecture in the reliefs
of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festivals in the tomb of Kheruef corroborate and supplement the
archaeological work that has been performed at Malqata—a large ritual complex on the
west bank of the Nile at Luxor that served as the setting for all three of Amenhotep Ill's
Sed Festivals (Fig. 133).10 Amenhotep III initiated the construction of much of the ritual
9
Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, pp. 83-91, has come to a similar conclusion regarding the
major themes of the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festivals in the tomb of Kheruef: "At the
erection of the djed-pillar the king shares in the triumphant resurrection of his father Ptah-Sokar-Osiris,
while as an occupant of the solar bark he is assimilated to the sun god after his symbolic marriage to
Hathor."
10
For an overview of Amenhotep Ill's ritual constructions at Malqata and a summary of the history of
archaeological work at the site, see primarily Kemp and O'Connor, The International Journal of Nautical
Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 101-136; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a
Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 213-217; O'Connor, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 1173-1177; Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993):
131-146; Lacovara, Amarna Letters 3 (1994): 6-21; Lacovara, The New Kingdom Royal City; pp. 24-28;
Smith, Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, pp. 159-169; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, pp. 193-
195; Koltsida, JARCE 43 (2007): 43-57. A wealth of inscribed material at the site, particularly jar labels,
relates to the king's three Sed Festivals; for discussion of this inscribed material, see Hayes, JNES 10
(1951): 35-56, 82-112, 156-183, 231-242; Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 248-250; Leahy,
48
architecture at the site of Malqata specifically for first Sed Festival in regnal year 30. In
some cases, the Sed Festival reliefs in the tomb of Kheruef provide the only known
evidence for the function of Amenhotep Ill's constructions at Malqata.
Text 1 of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival from the tomb of Kheruef indicates
that the festival began with "the appearance of the king in glory at the great double-gate
of his palace of the House of Rejoicing (rh=fn pr-hcy).,,n In Scene 5, the royal couple
emerges from the House of Rejoicing for the start of a procession to a ceremonial harbor
that is now known as the Birket Habu (Figs. 134-135). The Great Palace of Akhenaten at
Amarna was also called the House of Rejoicing (pr-hcy). Since the House of Rejoicing
Excavations at Malkata and the Birket Habu, Vol. 4; Berman, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III:
Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 16-17.
11
For a discussion of the term pr-hFy as the name of Amenhotep Ill's ritual palace at Malqata, see primarily
Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 177-181; Kemp and O'Connor, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 128-130; Ricke, in Haeny, ed., Untersuchungen im Totentempel
Amenophis' III, p. 33; Lacovara, Amarna Letters, Vol. 3 (1994): 9; Lacovara, The New Kingdom Royal
City, pp. 25-27; O'Connor, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp.
160-162; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 25, with references; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 21-22, with references; Koltsida, JARCE 43 (2007): 43-57. The original royal
palace at Malqata was built before Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival and was at least partially torn down
later in his reign to make way for an expansion of the Birket Habu; however, a rebuilt and expanded royal
palace complex took the place of the original construction and was used for Amenhotep Ill's second and
third Sed Festivals. Darnell and Manassa, loc. cit., connect the term "rejoicing" in the term House of
Rejoicing to the "sexual union between the sun god and the horizon"—with Amenhotep representing the
solar deity and the palace at Malqata symbolizing the horizon. For further discussion of the horizon as
sexual consort of the solar deity, see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 59-61, with references.
12
For discussion of the term pr-hcy as the name of the Great Palace of Amarna, see Uphill, JNES 29
(1970): 151-166; Assmann, JA^S" 31 (1972): 143-155; Badawy, ZiS1102 (1975): 10-13; Kemp, Ancient
Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 279-281; Lacovara, The New Kingdom Royal City, pp. 29-30;
O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 286-289; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 21-22, with references. O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, loc. cit,
suggests that the Great Palace of Amarna was likely comprised of two parts, called the "House of Rejoicing
for the Aten" and the "House of Rejoicing in Akhetaten for the Aten." These two names appear in the
"earlier proclamation" of the boundary stelae of Akhenaten at Amarna in a passage listing some of the
architectural features the king constructed at his new royal city (Murnane and Van Siclen III, The Boundary
Stelae of Akhenaten, pp. 25, 40,11. K.15-16):
irr=ipr-hry npi itn piy=i it m tl n itn tny hb.w-sd m ih.t itn m By s.t
irr=ipr-hry m [ih.t] i[tn] n pi itn ply=i it mtin itn tny hb.w-sd m iht itn m tly s.t
"That I will construct the House of Rejoicing for the Aten, my father, in the land of the Aten,
distinguished of Sed Festivals, in Akhetaten is in this place.
That I will construct the House of Rejoicing in [Akhet]a[ten] for the Aten, my father, in the land
of the Aten, distinguished of Sed Festivals, in Akhetaten is in this place."
49
served as the ritual setting for the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festivals at
Malqata, the House of Rejoicing at Amarna very likely served as the setting for the
celebration of the Sed Festival by Akhenaten—or perhaps for the celebration the Sed
Festival by the Aten itself.13
In Text 1 of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, a group of royal officials rows the
royal barque in mr n hm=f ("the waterway of his majesty") and tows the solar night
barque and day barque upon s.t wr.t ("the great place").14 The body of water described in
these texts likely corresponds to a specially constructed system of artificial harbors and
canals on the west and east banks of the Nile at Luxor.15 The most striking aspect of this
network was a large harbor, known now as the Birket Habu, on the west bank at Malqata
(Figs. 134-135);16 just south of Luxor Temple on the east bank of the Nile, the Eastern
Birket served as a counterpart to the Birket Habu (Fig. 135). Presumably the two
13
For a similar conclusion regarding the function of the House of Rejoicing at Amarna, see Assmann,
JNES 31 (1972): 150-152; O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 288-
289. Regarding the celebration of the Sed Festival by Akhenaten and the Aten at Amarna, Kemp, Ancient
Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 286, notes: "we have no expansive sources at all, and it remains
entirely guesswork as to where we wish to locate the main ceremonial."
14
For the depiction of the nautical procession in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
1
For detailed discussion of Amenhotep Ill's construction of ritual waterways for the performance of a
nautical procession at his first Sed Festival, see Section 7.5.
16
For discussion of the Birket Habu, see primarily Kemp and O'Connor, InternationalJournal of Nautical
Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 101-136; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's
Armies, pp. 22-23, with references. According to Kemp and O'Connor, op. cit, pp. 128-130, the Birket
Habu was only "half-completed" at the time of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in regnal year 30. The
harbor continued to be expanded after Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival and was likely used as a docking
place for boats bringing products and offerings to Malqata for Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival (Section
2.1.2, Scene 2a).
17
For the harbor on the east bank of the Nile, opposite the Birket Habu on the west bank, and its
association with the boat procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see primarily Darnell and
Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 22,226, note 138; Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep
III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 76-77.
50
harbors were originally connected to the Nile and to each other by a system of canals; if
so, this elaborate waterway likely served as the setting for the ceremonial boat procession
of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. Unfortunately, no recent archaeological work has
been done at the Eastern Birket, nor is any work likely to be done in the near future since
most of the site lies underneath the modern village of el-Habeel.18
Two enclosed garden areas located in the southern district of Amarna near the
southern terminus of an extension of the Royal Road—the so-called Maruaten or
"viewing places of the Aten"—contained flora, religious structures, and artificial bodies
of water (Fig. 136).19 The Northern Palace section of Amarna also contained a garden
area comparable to the Maruaten (Fig. 136); a talatat block from Karnak mentions a
location that likely corresponds to the northern garden area at Amarna: pi mirw mh.ty n
p? itn mp? $ np3 itn m ih.t itn, "the Northern Maru of the Aten on the Island of the Aten
in Akhetaten."20
Thus report Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 220, endnote 53, who visited the site in
2005.
19
For discussion of the Maruaten of Amarna, see Peet and Woolley, City ofAkhenaten, Vol. 1, pp. 109-
124; Badawy, JEA 42 (1956): 58-64; Hanke, LA, Vol. 3, cols. 1102-1103; Kemp and O'Connor, The
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 132; Kemp, JEA 62
(1976): 93, 99; Kemp, Amarna Reports 6 (1995): 416-432,452-455; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a
Civilization, 1st ed., p. 285; O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p.
285; Cabrol, Les voiesprocessionnelles de Thebes, pp. 603, 606; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's
Armies, p. 30; Konrad, Architektur und Theologie: Phraonische Tempelterminologie unter
Beriicksichtigung konigsideologischer Aspekte,pp. 121-122. For general discussion of mirw-shrines, see
also Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes, p. 389, with references; Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 102-
104, with references; Stadelmann, in LA, Vol. 5, col. 1260; Quack, in Fitzenreiter, ed., Tierkulte im
pharaonishen Agypten und im Kulturvergleich, pp. 113, 115-117; Goldbrunner, Buchis: Eine Untersuchung
zur Theologie des heiligen Stieres in Theben zur griechisch-romischen Zeit, pp. 246-252; Laskowska-
Kusztal, Deir el-Bahari, Vol. 3, pp. 66-68; Konrad, op. cit, pp. 117-154, with references.
20
For discussion of the Northern Maru of Amarna, see Redford, JARCE 10 (1973): 81; O'Connor, in
O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 286; Smith, Art and Architecture of Ancient
Egypt, revised ed., p. 270, note 21; Lacovara, The New Kingdom Royal City, p. 31; Cabrol, Amenhotep III:
Le Magnifique, p. 287, note 93; Konrad, Architektur und Theologie: Phraonische Tempelterminologie
unter Beriicksichtigung konigsideologischer Aspekte, pp. 122-124. A talatat block ofAkhenaten from
Karnak depicts an enclosed area with gardens that might be another example of a Maru; for this block, see
Anus, BIFAO 69 (1971): 73-79, block 3.
51
The Birket Habu and Eastern Birket of Amenhotep III may have influenced the
design, construction, and use of the Maruaten by Akhenaten at Amarna.21 The term Maru
cannot be linked with any degree of certainty to either of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival
harbors at Thebes; however, a stela of Amenhotep III from Thebes mentions a "Maru" in
a list of Amenhotep Ill's major Theban construction projects.22 The location and nature
of the Maru of Amenhotep III in Thebes are described at length in lines 12-14 of this
stela:23
whm mnw ir.n hm=fn it-f'Imn

ir.t n=fmirw m htp-ntr hft hr n 'lp(.i) rsy(.t)
s.t sdSy n it=i m hb=fnfr
srr.n=i hw.t-ntr r?.t m smn.w=s
mi Rc hrr=f m ih.t
rwd.tl m hrr.wt nb.t
nfr Nwn imy mr r tr nb
n(=i) wr irp=fr mw
mi hwi hcpy msnnb n nhh
r
$3ih.ts.t
Ssp(.w) blk.t his.wt nb.t
ms(.w) in.w r$3.w m-blh it=i
m hr.wt ti.w nb.w
"Reporting the monument that his majesty made for his father Amun;
21
For the possible influence of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival constructions on the Maruaten of Akhenaten,
see Kemp and O'Connor, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration
3 (1974): 131-132; O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 285-286;
Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993): 134-141.
22
This large, inscribed, black granite stela (Cairo CG 34025) was discovered in the mortuary temple of
Merenptah in western Thebes; however, the stela probably originally stood nearby in the mortuary temple
of Amenhotep III. Merenptah re-inscribed the reverse side of the stela with a victory inscription that is
most commonly known as the Israel Stela. For the inscription of Amenhotep III on the front of this stela,
see primarily Klug, Konigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis III, pp. 393-407, with
references; Helck, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Fascicle 20, pp. 1646-1657; Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes,
pp. 23-26, pis. 11-12; Gundlach, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion
undProgramm, pp. 89-100; O'Connor, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep HI: Perspectives on His
Reign, pp. 162-172; Cabrol, Amenhotep HI: Le Magnifique, pp. 270-276.
23
For the text of 11. 12-14 of this stela, see primarily Klug, Konigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis
Amenophis III, pp. 397-398; Helck, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Fascicle 20, pp. 1651-1652; Petrie, Six
Temples at Thebes, pp. 24-25, pi. 12,11. 12-14. For further discussion of this section of the text, cf. also
Badawy, JEA 42 (1956): 59-60; Kemp and O'Connor, The International Jouranl of Nautical Archaeology
and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 131; Cabrol, Les voies processionnelles de Thebes, pp. 600-607,
with references.
52
The construction of a Maru for him as a divine offering in front of Southern Ipet;
A place of recreation for my father at his beautiful festival.
It is within it that I have erected a great temple,
like Re when he arises in the horizon,
It is flourishing with all kinds of flowers.
Nun is beautiful when he is in the lake during every season.
Wine is more plentiful for (me) than water
like the overflowing of the Nile, born of the Lord of Eternity.
The products of the place are numerous.
The revenues of all foreign lands have been received.
Much tribute has been brought into the presence of my father
as the products of all lands."
The location of Amenhotep Ill's Maru, which is described in this text as hft hr n 'lp(.t)
rsy(.t), has proven to be controversial because of the difficulty of translating this very
phrase, which could mean "in front of Luxor Temple" or "opposite Luxor Temple."24
Consequently, the proposed locations for Amenhotep Ill's Maru have included the Birket
Habu and its environs, the iSrw-lake of the Mut Precinct at Karnak Temple, the
Eastern Birket,27 and an unknown locale along the processional route between Luxor
Temple and Karnak Temple.28 Because of its proximity to Luxor Temple, the Eastern
Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes, p. 24, translates hft-hr "before the face of; Badawy, JEA 42 (1956): 59,
suggests "over against"; Kemp and O'Connor, The International Jouranl of Nautical Archaeology and
Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 131-132, offer "opposite"; Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds.,
Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 68, proposes "in front of; Cabrol, Les voies processionnelles
de Thebes, p. 601, offers "au-devant de"; Klug, Konigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis
III, pp. 397,402-403, suggests "gegeniiber von." For further discussion of the location and nature of the
Maru of Amenhotep III, see also Hanke, LA, Vol. 3, cols. 1102-1103; Manniche, in L 'Egyptologie en 1979,
Vol. 2, pp. 271-273; Bell, JNES 44 (1985): 275; O'Connor, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep Ill-
Perspectives on His Reign, p. 163; Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993): 134-141; Cabrol, op. cit., pp. 600-607;
Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le Magnifique, pp. 267-269; Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes, p. 389,
footnote 309; Konrad, Architektur und Theologie: Phraonische Tempelterminologie unter
Beriicksichtigung konigsideologischer Aspekte, pp. 118-121, 132-143, 149-154.
25
Badawy, JEA 42 (1956): 58-64; Kemp and O'Connor, The International J ouranl of Nautical
Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 131-132.
26
Manniche, in L Egyptologie en 1979, Vol. 2, pp. 271-273.
27
O'Connor, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 163.
28
Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 68; Cabrol,
Amenhotep III: Le Magnifique, pp. 267-269.
53
Birket seems the most likely location of Amenhotep Ill's Maru—though, admittedly, this
location is difficult to coordinate with the description of the site in the stela as hft hr n
'lp(.t) rsy(.t). Another possibility is that the term Maru rightly applies to both the Eastern
Birket and the Birket Habu.29
During the ceremonial barque procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival,
the royal couple probably travelled back and forth across the Nile between the Birket
Habu and the Eastern Birket; this journey on the solar day barque and night barque
mimicked the diurnal and nocturnal movements of the solar deity and resulted in the
ceremonial rebirth of Amenhotep III.30 In a similar fashion, Akhenaten and the royal
family participated in a ritual chariot ride each day at Amarna that mimicked the daily
journey of the solar deity. Each morning Akhenaten rode along the Royal Road from the
Northern City to the Central City at Amarna (Fig. 136) as the human incarnation of the
rising sun; in the evening his chariot ride back to the North City mirrored the setting of
the sun.31 Interestingly, the northern and southern termini of the Royal Road at Amarna
are both near garden districts with artificial bodies of water—i.e., the Northern Maru of
According to Badawy, JEA 42 (1956): 60-61, Graeco-Roman examples of Maru were associated with
solar deities and contained a building called a Sw.t Rr ("Sunshade"), "the main architectural feature" of
which "was a sSdt 'window' in which Horus appeared in the shape of his sacred falcon." This provides a
strong parallel to the images of Amenhotep III sprouting falcon feathers during the boat procession at his
first Sed Festival and supports the idea that the Birket Habu and Eastern Birket are examples of Maru. For
further discussion of the Sw.tRr, see also Kemp, Amarna Reports 6 (1995): 454-461, with references;
Konrad, Architektur und Theologie: Phraonische Tempelterminologie unter Berucksichtigung
kbnigsideologischer Aspekte, pp. 188-205, with references.
30
For a similar interpretation of the boat procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see primarily
Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23. For detailed discussion of Amenhotep Ill's solar
transformation during the procession of the solar barque at his first Sed Festival, see Section 1.1.2; Section
2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2; Section 7.4.3.
31
For a similar interpretation of Akhenaten's daily chariot ride at Amarna and its relationship to the
ceremonial barque procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 38-40. For further discussion of Akhenaten's daily chariot ride along the
Royal Road at Amarna, see also Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 276-287;
O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 284-290, 293-296.
54
the Northern Palace in the north and the Maruaten in the south. The layout of these
garden areas at Amarna was likely influenced by the placement of the Birket Habu and
the Eastern Birket within the larger scheme of Amenhotep Ill's ritual constructions at
Thebes.32 Amenhotep Ill's influence on Amarna extended beyond simply the layout of
the city. Akhenaten chose to build his new royal city at Amarna because of the site's
proximity to Hermopolis, a major cultic center of the Ogdoad in Middle Egypt; in this
regard, Amenhotep Ill's decision to build his festival palaces and temples at Malqata on
the west bank of Thebes near a Tuthmoside temple of the Ogdoad strongly influenced
Akhenaten's decision to build at Amarna.
2.1.1. TOMB OF KHERUEF: RELIEFS OF AMENHOTEP Ill's 1ST SED FESTIVAL 34
A multi-register tableau depicting the rituals of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival
appears south of the door on the western wall of the West Portico in the tomb of the
Kheruef (Fig. 137). On the far right of the tableau is an enthronement scene in which
Amenhotep III and Hathor are seated upon thrones inside the palace of the House of
Rejoicing (Scene 1); Queen Tiye stands within the palace behind the thrones of the king
and the goddess. To the left of the enthronement scene are two major registers, each of
O'Connor, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 279-296, comments
regarding the major construction projects of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten: "temples, palaces and city at
Thebes and Amarna, and presumably at the other royal cities, interrelate with each other so as to establish
an appropriate setting for ritual, ceremony and governance; and simultaneously create a replica of the
cosmos and its workings as envisaged by the Egyptians, thus imparting effectiveness and authority to ritual,
ceremonial and governing activies involved."
33
For discussion of the reasons Akhenaten chose to build his royal city near the cultic center of the Ogdoad
at Hermpolis, see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 36-40. According to Darnell
and Manassa, loc. cit., Malqata's proximity to the Tuthmoside temple of the Ogdoad enabled Amenhotep
III to return to the time of creation during the celebration of his Sed Festivals.
34
For the scenes and texts of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef,
pp. 41-54, pis. 24-46. According to Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, pp. 83-91, the major
theme of these reliefs is "the sacred marriage of Hathor to the king, identified with the sun god."
55
which is further divided into smaller sub-registers. A hieroglyphic text (Text 1)
presenting an overview of all of the ritual activities of the first Sed Festival appears in the
top register just to the left of the enthronement scene. A lengthy procession of
individuals towards the House of Rejoicing in the bottom register includes the following
groups of celebrants: officials receiving golden amulets and gold-of-praise (Scene 2),
daughters of foreign chieftains bearing libation offerings for the king (Scene 3), and a
group of musicians and dancers singing hymns to Hathor and Sobek (Scene 4). To the
left of the lengthy hieroglyphic text in the top register is a royal processional scene in
which Amenhotep III and Tiye depart from the House of Rejoicing (Scene 5); two rows
of standard-bearers and officials lead the procession from the royal palace. In the
nautical processional scene in the leftmost portion of the top register, Amenhotep III and
Tiye stand inside a divine barque that is towed along the ceremonial harbor of the Birket
Habu by a group of royal officials (Scene 6). On the banks of this harbor, the royal
daughters and other women of the royal family sing a hymn and greet the royal couple
(Scene 7).
SCENE 1: ENTHRONEMENT OF AMENHOTEP III AND HATHOR 3 5
In the enthronement scene at the far right of the tableau, Amenhotep III and
Hathor are enthroned within a kiosk on top of a stepped tnfi./-platform (Fig. 138).36 The
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 26, pp. 41-43. For further discussion of this scene, see also
Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 570-571, fig. 304; Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 84, 90-
91; Aldred, JEA 55 (1969): 73; Derchain, Hathor Quadrifrons, pp. 43-44; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp.
28, 60; Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 26-28; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 57-58, 61-62, 100, fig. 34;
Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, pp. 66, 70, fig. 20; Walker, Aspects of
the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 263-266; Green, Amarna Letters 2 (1992): 33; Roberts,
Hathor Rising, pp. 25-26, 32-36; Preys, in Eyre, ed., Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp.
911-919, fig. 1; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 6-9; Roth, in Brfickelmann and Klug, eds.,
In Pharaos Staat, p. 230; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 58-59, 63, fig. 7. For a
discussion of New Kingdom royal enthronement scenes in which the king is enthroned in a similar kiosk,
see Vandier, op. cit, Vol. 4, pp. 544-571, with references; Aldred, op. cit, pp. 73-81; Martin-Valentin, in
Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 741-757.
56
enthronement of the king within a kiosk on top of a stepped platform is a commonly
depicted iconographic motif of the Sed Festival that is attested as early as the
Protodynastic Period; early depictions of the motif appear on the Narmer Macehead (Fig.
60) and on a label of Den from Abydos (Fig. 61).37 According to the texts of the nautical
processional scene (Scene 6), the tnrt.t-platform that was used for the enthronement rites
of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival was located "on the west bank of Luxor" (hr imn.t
n(.f) niw.i); however, pinpointing the exact location of this platform poses difficulties
since a multitude of raised platforms have been discovered at Malqata and its environs.
Also, the location of the platform may have changed when the original palace complex at
Malqata was dismantled and rebuilt to make room for an expansion of the Birket Habu
after the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III.39
For discussion of three-dimensional examples of the Sed Festival tntl .f-platform, see Krol, GM184
(2001): 27-36; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 172 (1999): 63-71; Kuhlmann, Der Thron im Alten Agypten, pp. 75-80.
37
For detailed discussion of Protodynastic and Early Dynastic depictions of the stepped Sed Festival
platform on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE28 (1991): 224, fig. 1), on a label of Den from Abydos
(Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitemeit, p. 158), and in ceremonial scenes on other objects, see Section
4.3.4. Predynastic examples of the covered kiosk also appear as boat cabins in ritual scenes in the painted
tableau of Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 (Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pi. 76) and in a rock art
tableau in the Wadi of the Horus Qa'a in the Western Thebai'd (Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97, fig. 19);
for detailed discussion of the kiosks in these Predynastic tableaux, see Section 4.1.2; Section 7.1.2.
38
Several raised platforms were discovered in the courts near the entrance to the Palace of the King at
Malqata. Another raised platform was found at the edge of the festival hall to the south of the Temple of
Amun at Malqata; walking in procession from this platform towards the east, one arrives at the Birket Habu
at the roughly the midpoint of its western side. The two platforms that were discovered beyond the
southern edge of the Birket Habu at the sites of Kom el-Samak and Kom el-Abd may have also been used
as for the Sed Festival rites of Amenhotep III. For a summary of the numerous platforms found at Malqata
and its environs, see Lacovara, Amarna Letters 3 (1994): 9-15. For the platform at Kom el-Samak, see
Leclant, Journal des Savants 1987, pp. I-III; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 755; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 172 (1999): 65-66, with references;
Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 7; Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 25, with references. For the platform at Kom el-Abd, see Kemp,
JEA 63 (1977): 71-82; Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., loc. cit.
39
For discussion of the expansion of the Birket Habu after Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section
2.1.0, footnote 11.
57
During the enthronement rites of Scene 1, Amenhotep III wears the double crown
and the short Sed Festival robe; the falcon's tail feathers that adorn the bottom of the robe
indicate that the king has experienced a divine transformation into the falcon form of the
solar deity during the rites of his first Sed Festival.40 Thus, in this scene, Amenhotep III
is simultaneously human and divine. The chief royal wife Tiye, who stands behind
Hathor, wears a queenly Hathoric crown that is adorned with double plumes, cow horns,
and twin uraei; the two uraei at the front of the queen's diadem are further adorned with
the white and red crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt.41 The enthroned goddess Hathor
embraces the king with one hand; in her other hand, she carries three notched year-signs
as a symbol of the long life that she bestows upon the king during the rites of his Sed
Festival. A special uraeus that is adorned with cow's horns and a solar disk appears at
the front of Hathor's crown. The human-armed insignia that carry shades in front of the
king include an cnh-sign and a vWs-scepter; these ceremonial shade-bearers symbolically
impart "life" and "dominion" to Amenhotep III during the enthronement scene.42
Titulary of Amenhotep III:
For a similar interpretation of the king's costume as an indicator of his divine transformation at the Sed
Festival, see Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 19-24. Amenhotep III appears in the same
ceremonial garb in Section 2.1.1, Scenes 5 and 6. For detailed discussion of the Sed Festival robe with
feathered adornment as a symbol of the solar transformation of the Egyptian ruler at the Sed Festival, see
Section 1.1.2.
41
On the history and significance of this crown, see Malaise, SAK4 (1976): 215-236. According to
Malaise, op. cit., pp. 228-229, the plumes of the crown allude to the celestial falcon deity, not Amun:
"Reines et divines epouses d'Amon pouvaient fort bien arborer l'attribut d'une deesse qui personnifiait
precisement la contrepartie feminine du dieu createur Atoum et qui s'identifiait au desses heliopolitaines
Iousaas et Nebet-Hetepet, symbolisant soit le sexe feminin, soit le geste procreateur du dieu primordial."
42
Personified cnh-signs and wis-scepters also serve as shade-bearers in the Sed Festival reliefs of Djoser in
the Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara (Section 2.2.1) and in the Sed Festival reliefs on the gateway of the
Palace of Apries at Memphis (Kaiser, MDAIKA3 (1986): pp. 147-150,152-153, figs. 4-7, 9-10). For
discussion of personified rnh-s\gns and vWs-scepters in general, see Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte
pharaonique, pp. 420-436. For further discussion of personified symbols and insignia with human arms,
see Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 17-81.
58
Hr ki nht whm hb-sd
Nb.ty hc m hd.t wts dSr.t
nsw.t bi.ty nb ti.wy nb ir.t ih.t
nb hc.w Nb-Mic.t-R?
r
si R hnm shm.ty 'Imn-htp hki Wis.t
di cnh dd wis ml Rr d.t
Horus, victorious bull, who repeats the Sed Festival,43

Two Ladies, who appears in the white crown and raises up the red crown,
King of Upper & Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, lord of performance,44
lord of appearances, Nebmaatre,
Son of Re, who unites the double crown, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes,
given life, stability, and dominion like Re forever.
Royal Titularly on Left Side of Kiosk:
Hr ki nht hr m mic.t
ntr nfr ir hb.w-sd mi it=f Hr-ti-nn
nbfiw mi Mnw hr s.t wr(.t)
nsw.t bi.ty nb ti.wy Nb-Mir.t-Rc
si Rr mr=f'Imn-htp hki Wis.t
mry Pth ci rsy inb=f
di rnh mi Rr d.t
Horus, victorious bull, who appears in truth,

junior god, who celebrates Sed Festivals like his father Horus-Tatenen,'
lord of magnificence like Min46 upon the great dais,
Bell, JNES 44 (1985): 285, footnote 179, suggests that whm should be translated as "proclaims" rather
than "repeats" since this scene forms part of Amenhotep Ill's first celebration of the Sed Festival.
44
For discussion of the royal title, nb ir.t ih.t, "lord of performance," see Routledge, JARCE 43 (2007):
193-220, with references. Routledge, op. cit, p. 220, concludes that this title emphasizes "the king as
creator of ma'at" and has associations with "cultic, military, royal, and building activities." For the use of
this royal title in a Sed Festival relief of Sesostris III from Medamud, see Gardiner, JEA 30 (1944): pi. 4;
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 20, with references.
45
Wente, JNES 42 (1983): 156, notes that the crown of Tatenen in this text is the earliest attested example
of Tatenen's crown featuring ram horns, ostrich feathers, and the solar disk. For discussion of the god
Tatenen in the reign of Amenhotep III, see also Schlogl, Der Gott Tatenen, pp. 39-42, who notes that the
Sed Festival reliefs in the tomb of Kheruef contain the first occurrence of the syncretized god Horus-
Tatenen. These religious innovations of Amenhotep III in regard to the accoutrements of Tatenen's crown
and the syncretism of Tatenen and Horus further suggest that Amenhotep III was deified at his Sed Festival
through his union with the solar falcon deity. In these scenes the human king (as Horus) combines with the
solar creator deity (as Tateten with the solar crown). In several New Kingdom and Ptolemaic texts,
Tatenen—like Nun and the Djed Pillar—receives the solar deity in his arms and lifts him up from the
waters in the morning as the newly reborn solar disk; for discussion of this imagery, see van Dijk, OMRO
66(1986): 13-14.
46
Min plays an especially prominent role in the rites of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in his reliefs
from the Temple of Soleb; for a general discussion of the significance of Min at the Sed Festival and a
59
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre,
Son of Re, whom he loves, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes,
beloved of Ptah the Great, south of his wall,
given life like Re forever.
Royal Titulary on Right Side of Kiosk:
Hr kl nht If m mF.t
ntr nfr s? Jmn
shc-n=fhr ns.t-ftp tl r ir.t mrr.t ki=f
nsw.t bi.ty hkS pd.tpsd.t nb tl.wy
nb ir.t h.t Nb-M3r.t-Rc
c
si R n h.t=f mr=flmn-htp hkl Wis.t
mry rs wfe hry-ib hw.t Skr
di cnh d.t
Horus, victorious bull, who appears in truth,

junior god, son of Amun,
whom he has caused to appear on his throne upon earth to do what his ki desires,
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, ruler of the Nine Bows, lord of the Two Lands,
lord of ritual performance, Nebmaatre,
Bodily Son of Re, whom he loves, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes,
beloved of him who awakes uninjured,47 who dwells in the mansion of Sokar,48
given life forever.
The king's titulary in Scene 1 contains several unique epithets and does not
follow the standard titulary known elsewhere for Amenhotep III.49 Similarly, Amenhotep
Ill's titulary in the reliefs of the Opet Festival in Luxor Temple also includes several
discussion of the Min sequence from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb, see Section 2.2.4,
Register 6.
47
For discussion of rs wdi as an epithet of the resurrected Osiris, see Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of
Kheruef, p. 31, textnote p; Klotz, Adoration of the Ram, p. 34, textnote c, with references; Zecchi, A Study
of the Egyptian God Osiris Hemag, pp. 80-81; Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und
Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 4, pp. 713-715. The regeneration of Osiris is one of the prominent themes of
the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Section 2.1.2).
48
For discussion of hry-ib hw.t Skr as an epithet of rs wdi, see Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und
Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 5, p. 341.
49
For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's titulary in general, see von Beckerath, Handbuch der agyptischen
Konigsnamen, 2 nd ed., pp. 140-143; Schade-Busch, Zur Konigsideologie Amenophis' HI; Gundlach, in
Gundlach and Klug, eds., Das agyptische Konigtum im Spannungsfeldzwischen Innen- und Aussenpolitik
im 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr., pp. 185-194. For discussion of the titulary of Amenhotep III in his Sed Festival
reliefs, see primarily Schade-Busch, op. cit., p. 50, with references.
60
nonstandard epithets. At Luxor Temple Amenhotep III bears a new and unique titulary
as a result of his union with Amun-Re at the Opet Festival. This union occurs after a
series of scenes depicting the king's presentation of offerings (including incense and
libations) to the god; as a result of the god's largess, the king becomes the recipient of
these same offerings and is thereby deified like the god himself.51 The union of the king
and god rejuvenates Amenhotep III during the celebration of the Opet Festival at Luxor
Temple; the culmination of this ritual union is the enthronement of Amenhotep III as the
king of Upper and Lower Egypt—an episode similar in many ways to the enthronement
of Amenhotep III at his first Sed Festival.52 The various epithets attributed to Amenhotep
III in the royal titulary from the reliefs of his first Sed Festival indicate distinctive
attributes of the divinized king that he gains during the ritual performances of the Sed
Festival; according to Lanny Bell, the Opet Festival and the Sed Festival "center around
the monarch's possession of the royal ka, and both signal his achievement of a new ritual
status, expressed in part by his taking a new name, and hence a new identity, as yet
another aspect of the royal ka."53
Another notable feature of the royal titulary on the left and right side of the kiosk
in Scene 1 is the evocation of seven gods that collectively form two syncretized groups of
gods: Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and Horus-Tatenen-Amun-Min. The resulting pair of divine
50
For changes to Amenhotep Ill's titulary during the Opet Festival depicted at Luxor Temple, see Bell,
JNES 44 (1985): 251-294, especially 281-290. The following discussion of Amenhotep Ill's titulary at
Luxor Temple in this section is based primarily on Bell's article.
51
Amenhotep III is also the recipient of libation offerings in the reliefs of his first Sed Festival in the tomb
ofKheruef (Section 2.1.1, Scene 3).
52
For discussion of the coronation of the king following his union with the god in the rites of the Opet
Festival at Luxor Temple, see Bell, JNES 44 (1985): 283.
53
Bell, JNES 44 (1985): 289-290.
61
syncretized groups gives, special legitimacy, power, and ultimately rejuvenation to the
king. Ptah-Sokar-Osiris represents the syncretized form of the lord of the underworld,
the father of the royal god Horus;54 Horus-Tatenen-Amun-Min forms a impressive
syncretized group of four creator gods. Through the mysteries of the Solar-Osirian unity,
solar resurrection resulted each morning in the eastern horizon of the sky—a resurrection
that the king also hoped to experience by channeling the power of the creator gods.55
Through his divinization at the Sed Festival, the king incorporates two generations into
one person; he is both the father (the solar creator god/Osiris) and the son (the
king/Horus).
By means of textual and visual allusions to the double-crown and the heraldic
plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, Scene 1 emphasizes the unification of Upper and
Lower Egypt as an important theme of the enthronement ceremony at Amenhotep Ill's
first Sed Festival. For example, the epithets of Amenhotep Ill's titulary twice allude to
the double-crown which he wears in Scene 1: hr m hd.t wts dSr.t ("who appears in the
white crown and raises up the red crown") and hnm shm.ty ("who unites the double
crown"). Additionally, nine papyrus plants and lotuses appear below the personified
Inscribed material from Thebes suggests that a temple to the divine triad Ptah-Sokar-Osiris was erected
in the northern portion of Amenhotep Ill's mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes just
northeast of Malqata; for the incorporation of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris into the decorative program of Amenhotep
Ill's mortuary temple, see O'Connor, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His
Reign, pp. 159-161, with references; Ricke, in Haeny, ed., Untersuchungen im Totentempel Amenophis' III,
pp. 31-37; H. Brunner, in Gorg and Pusch, eds., Festschrift Elmar Edel, pp. 60-65; Graindorge-Hereil, Le
Dieu Sokar, pp. 38, 44-54. According to Bryan, in Quirke, ed., Temple in Ancient Egypt, p. 58, the divine
statuary in Amenhotep Ill's mortuary temple was used in rituals, the function of which "was to invoke the
protection of the gods throughout Amenhotep's jubilee year and to link the king's rejuvenation through the
Sed v/'ith his rebirth as the sun god for millions of years to come."
55
For a discussion of the religious texts of the Solar-Osirian unity, see Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld
Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity; Spalinger, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift
fur Jan Assmann, pp. 257-275; Spalinger, Great Dedicatory Inscription of Ramesses II, especially pp. 100-
102.
62
rekhyt-birds in the decoration of the mtf ./-platform on which the king is enthroned; as the
heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, these plants undoubtedly symbolize
Amenhotep Ill's control over both parts of the country. The columns capped with lotus
flowers and papyrus umbels that support the uraeus frieze on both sides of the Sed
Festival kiosk in Scene 1 also probably allude to this twofold nature of kingship in
Egypt.56 Finally, the lotus flower and papyrus umbel that Tiye carries in Scene 1
probably also signify the two territorial divisions of the country.57 These texual and
visual allusions to the joining of the double-crown and the unification of the papyrus and
lotus in Scene 1 suggest that the scene as a whole represents one of the most commonly
depicted ritual scenes from the celebration of the Sed Festival: the royal double-
CO
enthronement scene.
Hathor:
Hw.t-Hr nb.t 'Iwn.t di=s rnh wis
Hathor, lady of Dendera, as she gives life and dominion.
Tiye:
hm.t nsw.t wr.t mr.t=fTiy rnh.ti

Wnn=s m Sms hm=k mi M3r.t Sms Rr
The chief wife of the king, whom he loves, Tiye, may she live.
56
For discussion of the columns, roofs, and canopies of the royal kiosks that appear in similar
enthronement scenes from other 18th Dynasty private tombs, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, p. 544-552.
57
For this variety of the lotus flower, see Kantor, Plant Ornamentation in the Ancient Near East, pp. 97-98;
for similar depictions of the papyrus umbel, see Kantor, op. cit., pp. 14-15. According to Westendorf, in
Endesfelder, etal., eds., Agypten und Kusch, p. 485, fig. 4, a flower may symbolize the vulva, when held by
a woman in the vicinity of her pudendum. Thus, the image of the queen here is sexualized despite the fact
that Hathor subsumes her role as Amenhotep Ill's consort in Scene 1.
58
A common iconographic motif depicted in the wall reliefs of Egyptian temples is the enthronement of the
king within the double-kiosk during the celebration of the Sed Festival; in these images the king often
appears twice—once wearing the red crown and once wearing the white crown. For numerous examples of
this motif, see Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): 69, Appendix 2. For discussion of the enthronement of the
king as a symbolic representation of the entirety of the Sed Festival, see Section 1.0; Section 4.3.4.
63
It is like Maat in the following of Re, that she exists in the following of your majesty.
Whereas the human and divine aspects of the king are unified in this scene, these
same aspects of the queen appear to be divided between two individuals—the divine
aspect in the form of Hathor, the human aspect in the form of the queen.60 As suggested
supra, the divinized manifestation of Amenhotep III in Scene 1 combines two
generations in one person; however, the two generations of female divinity appear
separately in this scene. Hathor appears as the divine consort of Re; Tiye appears as
Maat, the daughter Re. The interaction of Amenhotep III, Hathor, and Tiye in this scene
demonstrates the complex role of the king's wife and the goddess Hathor at the Sed
Festival. The culmination of this interaction seems to be the hieros gamos, a sexual
union between the king and the queen that mirrors the original creation act and thereby
renews the creative powers of the king.61 Hathor assists the king in his role as unifier of
the two lands; the ritual shaking of papyri, which may be evoked by the image of Tiye
carrying a papyrus umbel in Scene 1, is also associated with the unification of the Two
Lands by the king.62
According to Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p. 100, this comparison of Tiye to Maat demonstrates that the
"sexual relationship between the king and his consort is thus equated with the relationship between the god
and his daughter-eye." For further discussion of the significance of this text, cf. also Vernus, Essai sur la
conscience de I'Histoire dans I'Egyptepharaonique, p. 39.
60
For a similar interpretation, see Preys, in Eyre, ed., The Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists,
pp. 912-915.
61
For detailed discussion of the numerous visual and textual allusions to the hieros gamos in
representations of the Sed Festival throughout ancient Egyptian history, see Section 3.2.2.
62
For discussion of the connection between the ritual shaking of papyrus and the unification of the two
lands, see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 57-58. Such a connection is suggested, e.g., in Pyramid Texts
Spell 271 (Sethe, Die Altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, pp. 202-203, § 388a-388c):
NNpw mh tiprmS
NNpw sSS wld
NNpw htp ti.wy
NNpw smi ti.wy
NNpw dmd mw.t=fsmi.t wr.t
64
Vertical Text Appearing Twice in the Central Portion of the Tnti. f-Platform:
tl.w nb.w kls.wt nb.t r rd.wy ntr pn nfr
All flat-lands and all hill-countries are at the feet of this junior god.
Horizontal Text on Left Side of the Tnt3. t-Platform:
rdi.t Bw n ntr nfr sn-ti n sS 'Imn

in wr.w his.wt nb.t w3.w hm.w Kmt
Giving adoration to the junior god and kissing the ground for the son of Amun
by the chiefs of all distant foreign lands who did not know of Egypt.
Horizontal Text on Right Side of the 7>i/2.f-Platform:
rdi.t Bw n nsw.t nht sn-B n hki Wis.t

in wr.w his.wt nb.t SB.(w)t-ns
iw=sn m ksw n blw hm=f
Giving adoration to the victorious king and kissing the ground for the ruler of Thebes
by the chiefs of all foreign lands, strange of tongue,
when they come bowing because of the power of his majesty.63
The texts on the platform of the kiosk in Scene 1 present Amenhotep III as a ruler
under whom all foreign peoples are subjugated; thus, these texts relate to the military
mw tn.t NN smi t hm.t tpy.t dw sm tpy.t dw shsh

"The one who inundates the land that emerges from the lake is NN;
the one who shakes the papyrus is NN;
the one who pacifies the two lands is NN;
the one who unifies the two lands is NN;
the one who joins his mother, the great wild cow, is NN.
The wild cow upon the grassy hill and upon the hill of the shsh-bird is the mother of NN."
Allen, The Inflection of the Verb in the Pyramid Texts, p. 33, § 56, does not recognize a grammatical
parallelism (N + pw + participle) in the first five lines of Pyramid Spell 271. Thus, Allen, loc. cit.,
translates sSS wM in the second line as "green lotus-bud" (noun + adjective) rather than "who shakes the
papyrus" (participle + direct object). Based on the writing of sm 1 and dmd with two reed leaves {smiy and
dmdy) in the version of this passage from the tomb of Unis, Allen, loc. cit, interprets these two verbs as
dual forms of the imperative ("join together" and "unite") rather than masculine, singular, active forms of
the participle ("who unifies" and "who joins"). For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 271, cf. also
Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 50, Spell W178. For further discussion of the sSS wid ritual,
see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7.
63
For discussion of the term biw as a divine power that effects terror in humans, see Borghouts, in
Demaree and Janssen, eds., Gleanings from Deir el-Medina, pp. 1-70; Green, in Ruffle, etai, eds.,
Glimpses of Ancient Egypt, pp. 107-115. When associated with the king, biw often appears in military and
ritualized military contexts, e.g., in Papyrus Anastasi II, 2.1-5 (= IV, 6.7-10); for discussion of this passage,
see primarily Borghouts, op. cit, pp. 13-15, with references.
65
victory rituals that Egyptian rulers often celebrated at the Sed Festival during the
Predynastic and Protodynastic periods.64 A text evoking a similar militaristic image of
the king as subjugator of foreign peoples appears in a scene from the Sed Festival reliefs
of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 90) :65
ti.w nb(.w) his.wt nb(.t)

Rnnw.t hr.tRnnw.t [h]r.t
hls.wt nb(.t) St3{.wt)-[ns\
r rd.wy ntr pn nfr
rhy.t nb(.t) rnh=sn.
"All flat-lands, all hill-lands,

Upper Retjenu, [Lo]wer Retjenu,
And all foreign lands, strange [of tongue],
are at the feet of this junior god;
as for all rekhyt, may they live."
Amenhotep Ill's epithet "ruler of the Nine Bows," which appears on the right side of the
kiosk in Scene 1, similarly presents the king as a militaristic leader of Egypt.66 The
placement of the texts describing the adoration of the king by foreign chiefs on the base
of the tnrt.t-pXatfoxm in Scene 1 may correspond to the presence of foreign dignitaries in
the audience of the king at the Window-of-Appearances during the celebration of grand
state festivals such as the royal durbar {e.g., in the twelfth regnal year of Akhenaten).
The presence of foreign dignitaries at the Window-of-Appearances serves both a practical
Similar texts and scenes that emphasize the king as subjugator of foreign peoples also appear on royal
/ra/^-platforms in several other 18th Dynasty private tombs; for discussion of the militaristic royal imagery
that often appears on the royal;«/;?.r-platform in scenes from 18th Dynasty private tombs, see primarily
Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 552-555. For a discussion of the military victory rituals of the Sed Festival in
the Predynastic and Protodynastic periods, see Section 6.1.
65
The text appears below the palanquin of Osorkon II in a processional scene from the reliefs of the
Temple of Bubastis (Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 6, nos. 10-11); for discussion of the royal
palanquin procession in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, see Section 2.2.6, Scene 14.
66
For the title "ruler of the Nine Bows," see Grimal, Les termes de la propagande royale egyptienne, p.
372, footnote 1252. For a similar epithet of the king ("Re of the Nine Bows") and its relationship with the
Maru of Amenhotep III as "a place where the divine king's power is made manifest," see Bell, JNES 44
(1985): 275.
66
function (to facilitate the conferring of rewards to loyal subordinates of the king) and a
cosmic function (to demonstrate the universal preeminence of the king over all lands).67
TEXT 1: CELEBRATION OF AMENHOTEP Ill's 1ST SED FESTIVAL 68
The hieroglyphic text to the left of the enthronement scene presents an overview
of the ritual performances of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in regnal year 30 (Fig.
139). The rituals themselves, which are depicted in Scenes 1-7, include the appearance
of the king at the gateway of his Sed Festival palace at Malqata; the presentation of
golden amulets, gold-of-praise, and cloth to the loyal retinue of the king; the dining of
royal officials on food from the royal repast; the rowing of the royal barque; and the
towing of the solar night barque and day barque. Finally, Text 1 concludes with a rather
astounding assertion by Amenhotep III that he utilized ancient documents while planning
the celebration of his first Sed Festival.
hsb.t 30 Ibd 2 Smw sw 27

hr hm n Hr ki nht If m mir.t di rnh
nsw.t bi.ty nb tl.wy Nb-M3c.t-Rr
si Rr mr=fTmn~htp hki Wis.t di rnh
hft ir.t hb-sd tpy n hm=f
hc.t nsw.t r rw.ty-wr.ty m ch=fn pr-tfy
sty sr.w [smr.w]-nsw.t imy-hnt rmt.w rw.ty
rh.w-nsw.t iry.w wii hrp.w rh srh.w-nsw.t
fki-tw m nbw n hsw.t ipd.w rm.w n nb.wy
For a similar interpretation of the presence of foreign dignitaries at the Window-of-Appearances during
the celebration ofthe royal durbar, see Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 125-131, 134-
135,184,208.
68
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 28, pp. 43-45. For discussion of this text, see primarily Kemp
and O'Connor, InternationalJournal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 132-
133; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 215-216; Kozloff, in Kozloff and Bryan,
eds., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, p. 277; Dorman, in Berger etal., eds, Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, p. 464;
Berman, in in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 17; Johnson, in
O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 86-87; Murnane, in O'Connor
and Cline, eds., Amenhotep HI: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 217-218; Johnson, in Fried, etal, eds.,
Pharaohs ofthe Sun, p. 43; Galan, JNES 59 (2000): 257; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos
Staat, p. 230; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 61, 93; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 20; Hartwig, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 205; Binder, The
Gold of Honour in New Kingdom Egypt, pp. 98-100, fig. 8.3, with references.
67
Ssp=sn ssf.w wid.w
c r
di.w h snb r nmt.t=f
snm=tw m t? n rbw-ri nsw.t t? hnk.t ki.w ipd.w
di.w m-hr rmr n hm=fr hn.t m wlin nsw.t
Ssp-sn shl.w mskt.t hi.t.t nfnd.t
st?=sn wB.w hr s.t wr.t
r r
h =sn r rd.w s.t
in hm=fir nn
m snr s$.w isw.t
h.wt rmt.w dr rk imy.w-blh
ny ir-sn hb.t n.t hb-sd
wd.n.tw=f n hr m mSc.t sS Imn
htp hr.t [it]=fdi cnh mi Rr d.t
Year 30, second month of Shomu, day 27,

under the majesty of Horus, victorious bull, who appears in truth, given life;
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre,
Son of Re, whom he loves, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes, given life,
at the time of celebrating the first Sed Festival of his majesty;
Appearance of the king at the great double-gate in his palace of the House of Rejoicing;
Bringing forward of officials, royal [companions],69 chamberlain, men of the double-gate,
royal acquaintances, crew of the barque, palace-directors, and royal dignitaries,
whom one rewards with gold-of-praise and double-gold birds and fish,
so that they might receive ribbons of green fabric.70
Each man was caused to stand according to his rank,
so that one might eat the food of the royal repast:71 bread, beer, oxen, fowl.
The order was given at the waterway of his majesty to row in the barque of the king.
They took up the towropes of the night barque and the prowrope of the day barque;
They towed the barques upon the great place;
(And) they stopped at the steps of the throne.
For the restoration of smr.w-nsw.t, see Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 43, textnote d.
70
According to Wb 4,274.2, ssf'xs "a type of thin fabric." Most likely, the ssf.w mentioned in this text are
scented cloths used to absorb sweat and mask the body odor of the officials who participated in the towing
of the divine barque during the royal boat procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. For discussion
of the use of scented scarves and cloths to mask body odor during ritual activities, see Darnell, The
Inscription of Queen Katimala atSemna, p. 9, with references. Less likely, the strips of green cloth
mentioned in the text may have served as "ribbonlike" attachments for the flails (or "festival whips") that
are sometimes carried by naval officers in processional scenes; for discussion of the use of flails by naval
officers, see Perdu, RdE 56 (2005): 151-157. For discussion of the naval officers who carry flails with red
cloth attachments in the Opet Procession at Luxor Temple, see Darnell, Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor
Temple, Vol. 1, pp. 8, 14. In a fragmentary scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in
the tomb ofKheruef, an "insignia-bearer" carries a flail in a royal procession (Section 2.1.1, Scene 5).
71
For discussion of the royal repast at the Sed Festival, see primarily Dorman, in Berger etal., eds,
Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 455-470. Dorman, in Berger, etal., eds., op. cit., p. 465,
characterizes the rbw-rl nsw.t of the New Kingdom as "provisions that have been consecrated for a specific
purpose and not leftovers from the king's private dinner table." For further discussion of the royal repast,
cf also Darnell, JEA 75 (1989): 219, footnote 2; Goedicke, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of
William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 357-358.
68
It was his majesty who did these things
in accordance with the documents of ancient times.
As for generations of men since the time of the ancestors,
they did not celebrate the rituals of the Sed Festival (properly).
That it was decreed was for the one who appears in truth, the Son of Amun,
who satisfies the requirements of his [father], given life like Re, forever.
The opening lines of Text 1 date "the time of celebrating the first Sed Festival of
his majesty" to "Year 30, second month of Shomu, day 27." Numerous other sources
corroborate that the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival took place in regnal
year 30—for example, numerous jar labels from Malqata,73 an inscription in the tomb
chapel of Amenhotep son of Hapu,74 a text from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III
in the Temple of Soleb,75 inscriptions from the tomb of Khaemhat (Theban Tomb 57),76
For detailed discussion of evidence for the 30-year principle as the ideal model for the celebration of the
Sed Festival from the Middle Kingdom onwards, see Section 1.1.4.
73
Several hundred jar labels from Malqata mention the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in
regnal year 30; for a discussion of theses labels, see Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 56, fig. 16; pp. 82-86; Aldred,
JNES 18 (1959): 117; Habachi, ZAS 97 (1971): 68; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 291; Von Beckerath,
MDAIKM (1991): 31; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 25.
74
A fragmentary inscription in the tomb chapel of Amenhotep son of Hapu gives [hsb t30] ibd3 Smw sw 2
("[Year 30], third month of Shomu, day 2") as crk(y) hb-sd ("the final day of the Sed Festival"); for a
depiction of this fragmenatary inscription, see Robichon and Varille, Le temple du scribe royal Amenhotep
fils de Hapou, Vol. 1, pi. 35. For discussion of date of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival that is mentioned in
this inscription, see Borchardt, ZAS 72 (1936): 55, 58-59; Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 84; Habachi, ZAS 97
(1971): 68; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 292; von Beckerath, MDAIKM (1991): 31; Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 27, with references.
75
In the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb, the king issues a royal decree
on hsb t30 ibdl Smw sw I ("Year 30, second month of Shomu, day 1"); the decree grants an exemption
from corvee labor to the musicians, dancers, and priestly staff working in the Temple of Amun (Section
2.2.4, Register 1). For discussion of the dating of the decree, see Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 291; von
Beckerath, MDAIK47 (1991): 31; Dorman, in Brand and Cooper, ed., Causing his Name to Live, p. 80. An
almost verbatim copy of Amenhotep Ill's decree appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at
Bubastis (Section 2.2.6, Scene 14).
76
In a text from the tomb of Khaemhat, the king receives accounts of "the harvest of the high inundation of
the Nile of the [first] Sed Festival of his majesty" (Smw n pi hrpy ri n pi hb-sd [tpy] hm=f); in a nearby next
in the same tomb, the tomb owner and a group of royal officials present "the bounty from their harvest of
regnal year 30" (hiw hr Smw=sn n hsb 130) to the king. For these scenes and texts from the tomb of
Khaemhat, see Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pis. 76b and 77c; Helck, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Fascicle
21, pp. 1841-1842. For a discussion of the dating of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of
Khaemhat, see Borchardt, ZAS 72 (1936): 55; Habachi, ZAS 97 (1971): 68; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973):
69
and a text from the nautical processional scene in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
• 77
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef.
The text from the tomb chapel of Amenhotep son of Hapu suggests that the final
no
day of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival was Year 30, third month of Shomu, day 2.
The text from Amenhotep Ill's boat procession in the tomb of Kheruef confirms that the
Sed Festival was already underway five days earlier on the day 27 of the second month of
Shomu;79 however, the exact date when Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival began is
uncertain. A fragmentary inscription from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the Temple of Soleb suggests that the festival may have started significantly
earlier than day 27 of the second month of Shomu:80

hftntj.t[...]
S3r m 3bd 4 pr.t sw 26
r Sbd 1 Smw sw 1
[...] nw 36 r hd t? n hb.w-sd
"Illuminating of the //tf^-platform [...]
beginning on the fourth month of Peret, day 26,
until the first month of Shomu, day 1.
[...] of 36 until the day is about to dawn is for the Sed Festival rites."
291; von Beckerath, MDAIKA1 (1991): 31; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 749-750
77
The royal boat procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival takes place on hsb.t30 ibd3 Smw [sw ... ]
("regnal year 30, third month of Shomu (Harvest), day [...]"); for a transliteration and translation of this
text, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 6. For a discussion of the dating of the Sed Festival in this text, see Hayes,
JNES 10 (1951): 84, footnote 62; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 292; von Beckerath, MDAIKA1 (1991):
31; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p.
751.
78
For the relevant text in the tomb chapel of Amenhotep, son of Hapu, see supra, this section, footnote 74.
79
For the relevant text from Amenhotep Ill's barque procession, see supra, this section, footnote 77.
80
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 37; for discussion of the dating of this text, see Wilson, JAOS 56 (1936): 293-
296; Borchardt, ZAS12 (1936): 59; Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 84; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 291-294;
70
The ritual of "illuminating the tnti. /-platform" began on day 26 of the fourth month of
Peret and concluded on day 1 of the first month of Shomu. The section of text directly
after the date of the "illuminating the tnti./-platform" is obscure. If "36" refers to the
number of days that passed between the end of the "illuminating the tnti./-platform" and
the opening of the Sed Festival, then the festival would have begun on day 7 of the
second month of Shomu. However, until further evidence comes to light, the precise date
of the opening of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival will remain uncertain.81
Returning again to the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef, Text 1 describes the presentation of rewards to the loyal officials who
participate in celebration of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival; the gifts that the king presents
to these royal officials include gold-of-praise and golden amulets in the shape of fish and
birds.82 The list of officials receiving these rewards includes the "crew of the barque"—
presumably the same crew responsible for the rowing of the "barque of the king" and the
towing of the "day barque" and "night barque."83 In certain accounts of the journey of
the solar deity through the underworld at night, fish surround the night barque in order to
protect the solar deity from potentially dangerous creatures such as crocodiles and
snakes.84 Thus, the awarding of royal fish to the officials at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
81
For discussion of the duration of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Borchardt, ZAS 72 (1936): 54-
55, 58-59; Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 84; Van Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 290-300; von Beckerath, MDAIK
47 (1991): 29-33; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 40. Proposed estimates for the
length of the Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival range from five days to eight months.
82
The actual presentation of golden collars, fish, and birds to these officials is depicted in Section 2.1.1,
Scene 2.
83
For further discussion of the rowing and towing of ceremonial barques at the first Sed Festival of
Amenhotep III, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2; Section 7.4.3.
84
For a recent compilation of references to the "beneficent fish" that "surround and protect Re's night-
bark" in the underworld, see Klotz, ZAS 136 (2009): 137-138, footnote 23. For further discussion, cf. also
Germond, BSEG 26 (2004): 27-41.
71
Festival may indicate that the crewmen who tow the royal barque function similarly to
the fish that swim alongside the night barque and protect Re.
In the Demotic Papyrus Leiden I 384 (111.29-31), birds accompany the solar deity
during his daily journey through the sky; during the god's nightly journey through the
or
underworld, fish surround him:

hr hl[=fl r tlp.t irm n? ipt.w hr hrw
hr hpr=fhn pS mw irm n3 rym.w [m]-mne
iir=fsdr wrS irm=n m-mne
"[He] flies up to the sky with the birds each day;

then he is perpetually in the water with the fish.
It is with us perpetually that he spends the night and day."
In certain cosmological accounts of the solar deity's nocturnal journey through the
underworld, Re himself appears as a swimmer or a fish.86 By symbolically transforming
themselves into fish and birds in the netherworld, deceased individuals could become
linked to the perpetuum mobile of the solar cycle—the combination of the daily and
nightly journeys of the solar deity.87 Accompanying the solar deity during his nocturnal
journey, the deceased could hope to experience renewed life just like the solar deity
himself when he is reborn in the eastern horizon at sunrise. Because of their associations
with the night barque of the solar deity, two particular species of fish—Tilapia nilotica
85
Spiegelberg, Der agyptische Mythus vom Sonnenauge, pp. 16-17. For further discussion of this passage
from Demotic Papyrus Leiden 1384 (111.29-31), see Klotz, ZAS 136 (2009): 137-138, with references.
86
For discussion of cosmological allusions to Re swimming through the underworld at night, see Darnell,
The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 148, 197, 428-429; Klotz, Adoration of
the Ram, p. 105, note E; Klotz, ZAS 136 (2009): 137-138.
87
For discussion of the transformation of deceased individuals into fish and birds in the netherworld, see
primarily Gamer-Wallert, Fische undFischkulte im Alten Agypten, pp. 131-134; Bidoli, Die Spruche der
Fangnetze; Sahrhage, Fischfang und Fischkult im Alten Agypten, pp. 148-152; Cannuyer, in Cannuyer,
etal., eds., Lafemme dans les civilisations orientates, pp. 283-286; Hornung, Geist der Pharaonenzeit, pp.
181-200; Germond, BSEG 26 (2004): 27-41; Servajean, Lesformules des transformations du Livre des
Morts.
72
and Lates nilotica—were special symbols of rejuvenation, rebirth, and new life in
Egypt.88
The offering of golden fish and birds to royal officials does not appear in the Sed
Festival inscriptions of any king besides Amenhotep III; however, two complex scenes
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis also prominently include fish and
birds (Fig. 140).89 Each of these scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II
depicts two rows of men holding fish and fowl in their hands or on top of their heads.
Each of the fish and birds in these two scenes is identified by species name and is
associated with a particular deity—for example, Isis, Nephthys, Seth, Thoth, Osiris,
Horus, Khenty-irty.90 The combination of fish and birds in these scenes recalls the well-
known motifs of fishing and fowling that are commonly found in private tomb scenes; in
funerary contexts, fishing and fowling are associated with fertility, rebirth, and
rejuvenation.91
For the association of Tilapia nilotica and Lates nilotica with solar rebirth, see primarily Desroches-
Noblecourt, Kemi 13 (1954): 33-42; Germond, BSEG 26 (2004): 27-41.
89
Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pp. 29, 33-34, pis. 18,22. For discussion of these scenes, see
Montet, Revue de I'histoire des religions 68 (1952): 129-144; Gamer-Wallert, Fische undFischkulte im
Alten Agypten, pp. 71-72; Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 85-86. For further discussion, see also
Section 2.2.6, Scene 20. Haeny, Untersuchungen im TotentempelAmenophis'III, pi. 40, block 67, has
reconstructed a similar scene in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III from his mortuary temple at
Western Thebes. An early example of this ritual may be depicted on a label of Djer from the tomb of
Hemaka; in one of the scenes on the label, two men carrying a large catfish and a large pelican walk in
procession towards the royal serekh. For discussion of this label of Djer, see Crubezy and Midant-Reynes,
Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 30, with references; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere undder Konig, Part 1, pp. 73-74.
90
The texts of these scenes also link each bird and fish to a particular ritual implement or product.
91
For discussion of fishing and fowling imagery, see the references compiled in Decker, Annotierte
Bibliographic zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 118-123; Decker and Forster, Annotierte Bibliographic zum
Sport im Alten Agypten II: 1978-2000, pp. 156-164. For further discussion of these motifs, cf. also
Kaplony, GM214 (2007): 39-69; Woods, BACE 17 (2006): 137-157; Altenmuller, Nikephoros 18 (2005):
39-52; Van Walsem, Iconography of Old Kingdom Elite Tombs, pp. 72-80; Hartwig, Tomb Painting and
Identity in Ancient Thebes, pp. 103-106.
73
Several pieces of evidence suggest that fishing and fowling were included in the
rites of the Sed Festival. In a variant of the Konigslauf known as the Vogellauf (Fig. 12),
the king carries a bird while performing a ritual run around a set of boundary markers; the
movement of the king during the course of this run may symbolize the perpetuum mobile
of migratory birds traveling between the kbhw-XQgions, to the north and south of Egypt.92
A fragmentary wooden label of Den from Abydos depicts the king capturing birds in a
net while performing the Konigslauf (Fig. 36).93 One group of relief fragments from the
Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru at Dahshur depicts the capturing of birds in a hexagonal
fowling net in a marshy area (Fig. 141).94 Fragmentary scenes of fishing and fowling
also appear in a set of reliefs from the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari
that probably depicts a scene from the celebration of the Sed Festival.95
In the final lines of Text 1, Amenhotep III claims to have performed the rites of
his first Sed Festival "in accordance with the documents of ancient times"; furthermore,
Amenhotep III also states that "generations of men" had failed to celebrate the Sed
Festival properly in the intervening span of time "since the time of the ancestors." These
92
For discussion of the Vogellauf, see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz, pp. 4-21; Kees, ZAS 52 (1914): 61-
64; Bartels, Formen altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 71-72; Stoof, Skorpion undSkorpiongottin, pp. 96-97. For a
convenient collection of examples of the Vogellauf, see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 49, doc.
A60; pp. 50-51, doc. A66; pp. 51-52, doc. A69; p. 55, doc. A82; p. 56, A87; p. 69, doc. A130; p. 74, doc.
A151; p. 76, doc. A159; p. 79, doc. A170; p. 80, doc. A173; p. 97, doc. A231; pp. 100-101, doc. A243; pp.
104-105, doc. A255; pp. 106-107, doc. A263; pp. 109-110, doc. A273; p. 120, doc. A306. For further
discussion of the Vogellauf, see also Section 4.2.1.
93
For this depiction of Den capturing birds in a net while performing the Konigslauf, see Dreyer, etal.,
MDAIKSA (1998): 163-164, pi. 12f.; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and
the First Dynasty, pp. 70-71, fig. 37. For further discussion of this label, see also Section 4.2.1.
94
For discussion of the fowling scene in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru (Fakhry, The Monuments of
Sneferu at Dahshur, Vol 2, Part l,p. 110, figs. 117-118), see Section 2.2.2, Panel 20; Section 4.2.1.
95
Karkowski, EtTrav 19 (2001): 82-90, figs. 1-3; Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 6, pi. 163. For
further discussion of the fishing and fowling scenes in Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, see
also Davies, JARCE 41 (2004): 60.
74
rather astounding claims of Amenhotep III very strongly suggest that the king consulted
ancient prototypes while preparing for the celebration of his Sed Festival. 6 Further
evidence to support this claim is a fragmentary palette with late Predynastic decoration
carved on one side (Fig. 132a) and an image of Amenhotep III and Tiye on the reverse
(Fig. 132b). The Predynastic side of the palette depicts several bearded and long-haired
men who wear belts with sporrans attached at the waist; these men hold their hands
together at their chests just like the three men who run in the presence of Narmer in the
depiction of his Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60).98 Thus, this palette
provides convincing evidence that Amenhotep III not only had access to archaic
representations of Sed Festival from the late fourth millennium BCE, but that Amenhotep
III was intrigued enough by early royal iconography to re-inscribe a late Predynastic
ceremonial palette with an image of himself and his chief wife at the Sed Festival.
SCENE 2: PRESENTATION OF GOLD TO A GROUP OF ROYAL OFFICIALS"
For discussion of this passage as evidence that Amenhotep III studied the Sed Festival ceremonies of his
ancestors and incorporated older rites into his own celebrations of the Sed Festival, see primarily Aldred,
JEA 55 (1969): 74; Kozloff, in Kozloff and Bryan, eds., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, p. 277; Berman, in
O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 17; Murnane, in O'Connor and
Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 218-219; Johnson, in Fried, etal, eds., Pharaohs
of the Sun, p. 43; Galan, JNES 59 (2000): 257; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 61;
Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 20; Hartwig, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand,
p. 205.
97
For discussion of this re-inscribed palette as a evidence of Amenhotep Ill's antiquarian interest in the
celebration of the Sed Festival during archaic times, see references collected in Section 1.2, footnote 156.
98
Hartwig, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 201, also points out the similarity of the running
men on the Narmer Macehead and the bearded men on this palette. For a detailed discussion of the running
men on these objects and a discussion of the group run at the Sed Festival in general, see Section 4.3.1.
99
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 30, p. 45. For discussion of this scene, see Gundlach, in Holtus,
ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, p. 69; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos
Staat, p. 231; Binder, The Gold of Honour in New Kingdom Egypt, pp. 98-100. For general discussion of
the awarding of golden collars to royal officials during the New Kingdom, see Hermann, ZAS 90 (1963):
49-66; Binder, op. cit, 1-356, with references.
75
A group of officials, including Kheruef, stands in front of the steps of the Sed
Festival kiosk at the royal palace in the fragmentary reliefs of Scene 2 (Fig. 142); golden
collars and golden amulets of fish and birds are laid out on tables for the royal officials.
Heavy damage to the depictions of the royal officials in this scene is most likely the result
of damnatio memoriae—perhaps suggesting that Kheruef fell out of favor in the royal
court at some point late in his career.100
Awarding of GoId-of-Praise:
fki hrp rh sS-nsw.t

imy-ripr [n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t mr.t-fTiy Hry.w=f]
[...] [hr] r nsw.t
The rewarding of the controller of the palace, the royal scribe,

the steward [of the chief wife of the king, whom he loves, Tiye, Kheruef,]
[...] [from] the hand of the king.
In a similar scene from the tomb of Khaemhat (Fig. 143), the tomb owner and a
group of other royal officials receive golden collars at the steps of the royal kiosk at the
first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in regnal year 30.101 Similarly, in the tomb of Meryre
II at Amarna, Akhenaten bestows golden collars to the tomb owner and other royal
officials at the Window of Appearances during the royal durbar—a grand festival
commemorating the king's successful Nubian campaign in regnal year 12.
Habachi, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, p. 26, has speculated that damage to the name and
images of Kheruef in his tomb was most likely politically motivated.
101
Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 76b; Helck, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Fascicle 21, pp. 1841-1842.
For discussion of this scene, see Aldred, JEA 55 (1969): 73; Kozloff, in Kozloff and Bryan, eds., Egypt's
Dazzling Sun, pp. 288-289, cat. nos. 54-55; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 749-750; Binder, The Gold of Honour in New Kingdom Egypt,
p. 100, fig. 8.4, with references.
102
Davies, The Rock Tombs of El Amarna, Vol. 2, pp. 36-38, pis. 33-40. For further discussion of the
awarding of golden collars in this scene, see Hermann, ZAS 90 (1963): 57; Binder, The Gold of Honour in
New Kingdom Egypt, pp. 104-105, figs. 8.8-8.10, with references. For general discussion of the durbar
ceremonies of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies,
pp. 125-131, 134-135,184, 208-209.
76
SCENE 3: OFFERING OF LIBATIONS TO THE KING 1 0 3
To the left of Scene 2, eight young women perform a libation ritual for
Amenhotep III at the steps of the tnti.t-dsds in the presence of the king (Fig. 144); the
young women are organized into pairs and identified as ms.w wr.w, "daughters of the
chieftains."104 The first two pairs of young women carry "golden nms.t-jars',^, the next
two pairs hold "electrum s{n)b.t-vases."105 From these vessels, the young women offer
cool water to the king four times in a ritual of purification. These eight libation bearers
wear outfits very similar to those worn by the "royal daughters" who greet the royal
couple at the procession of the solar barque in Scene 7. The outfit consists of floor-
length diaphanous robes, broad-collars, and platform crowns; additionally, the young
women in these scenes wear their hair in a distinctive style with long extensions on the
sides.106 Such costumes and hairstyles are typical of young women of the New Kingdom
who bear the titles nfr.t ("beautiful one") and hkr.t-nsw.t ("royal ornament")—both of
which typically designate female Hathoric cultic officials.
103
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 32, pp. 45-46. For discussion of this scene, see Walker,
Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, p. 269; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In
Pharaos Staat, p. 231.
104
For the identification of the ms.w wr.w in this scene as daughters of foreign chieftains, see Wente, in
Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 84-85; Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 46; Roth,
in Brockelmann and Klug, In Pharaos Staat, p. 231. For discussion of the term ms.w in general, see Allam,
SAK \9 (1992): 1-13.
105
Teeter, in Teeter and Johnson, eds., Life ofMeresamun, pp. 44-45, describes the electrum s(n)b.t-vases
carried by the royal daughters as "electrum hes jars."
106
This hairstyle may indicate that the young women have reached adulthood but are not yet married; for
discussion of this hairstyle, see primarily Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt, pp. 183-185; Robins, JARCE
36 (1999): 63-68, with references.
107
For discussion of the titles nfr.t ("beautiful one") and hkr.t-nsw.t ("royal ornament"), see primarily Troy,
Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 76-79, figs. 50-51. For Hathoric hair styling in general, see also Posener, in
Lesko, ed., Egyptological Studies in Honor of Richard A. Parker, pp. 111-117; Karlshausen, in Obsomer
and Oosthoek, eds., Amosiades, pp. 153-173. According to Troy, op. cit, pp. 121-122, the "platform
crown, uraeus circlet and the papyrus crown also fall into the same referential realm, connotating
77
Carrying of Libation Jars:
sfi ms.w wr.w

[iw.w hr] nms.wt n(.t) nbw s{n)b.wt drmw m dr.t=sn
r ir.t irr.w n hb.w-sd
Bringing forward the daughters of the chieftains,

[who have come bearing] gold nms.t-jars and electrum s(n)b.t-vases in their hands
to celebrate the rites of the Sed Festival ceremonies.
Arrival at the Royal Dais:
rdi.t chr=sn r rd.w s.t hft-hr tntj.t

m-bSh nsw.t
Causing them to stop at the steps of the throne in front of the tntl.t-dais
in the presence of the king.108
Presentation of Offerings:
ir.t rbw sp 4
Making purification-offerings four times.
Daughter of the M/iryH'-Libyans:
wrb nms.wt=k m nbw s(n)b.wt=k m dFmw

sl.t Mntyw di=s n=k kbh.w
ity rnh(.w) wdi(.w) snb(.w) wnn=k rr
Your golden nms.t-]axs and your electrum s(n)b.t-vases are pure.109

As for the daughter of the Mntyw-Libyans, she gives cool water to you.
Sovereign, l.p.h., you will indeed exist.
identification with the Lower Egyptian goddess Wadjet, and her correlate the uraeus, as divine eye and
daughter of the god."
108
In the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at his solar temple at Abu Gurob, a group of royal daughters that
is carried in palanquins stops at the steps of the royal dais; the caption to the scene (Kees, Das Re-
Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, pp. 35-37, pi. 14, no. 246) reads: rhr hr Bb hft tp rd.w swi ir
s.t=sn, "stopping on the left in front of the top of the stairs; passing by and taking their position." For
further discussion of this scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983):
266-267. In the Sed Festival reliefs ofOsorkon II at Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 14),
the royal daughters are similarly described as "passing by and taking their position" (swi ir s.t=sn). For
further discussion of these scenes depicting the royal daughters in palanquins at the steps of the royal
throne, see Section 3.2.1.2.
109
The use of the second person, singular, masculine suffix pronoun suggests that these jars and vases
belong to the king.
78
A close parallel to the presentation of libation offerings to the king in Scene 3
appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak
(Fig. 145); the extant portion of the text in these reliefs parallels the text of Scene 3 very
closely:110
wrb [ntns.wt=k m nbw s(n)b.wt=k m drmw

sS.t Mnt]yw di-s n=k kbh.w
ity cnh(.w) wdl(.w) snb(.w) wnn-k rr
"[Your golden ntns.t-jars and your electrum s(n)b.t-vases] are pure.

[As for the daughter of the Mnt] vw-Libyans, she gives cool water to you.
Sovereign, l.p.h., you will indeed exist."
Another talatat block from the Gemapaaten at Karnak depicts two young women who
wear similar outfits and carry libation vessels at the Sed Festival of Akhenaten (Fig.
146); the partially preserved caption to the scene on this talatat block reads:111
ist ms.w wr.w nw his.t nb.t hr-h?[.t] [...].
"Meanwhile, the daughters of the chiefs of each foreign land are in fro[nt] [...]."
A similar scene in which two young women carry libation vessels appears in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 147a); a caption below the two libation
bearers reads:112
his.wt nb(.t) hr-hl.wt=sn

hr nms.wt n [nbw] s{n)b.wt n drm
"All foreign lands are in front of them

bearing golden nms.t-jars and electrum ,s(«)&.f-vases."
Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4. For detailed discussion of the libation offering scene on
these talatat blocks, see Traunecker, JSSEA 14 (1984): 61-62; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak,
pp. 98-101, pis. 50-51; Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 148-149,
pi. 61; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 7-8. For further discussion of this scene, see
Section 2.2.5, Scene 12; Section 3.1.2.
111
Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 85.5; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, In
Pharaos Staat, p. 231. For further discussion of this scene, see Section 2.2.5, Scene 12; Section 3.1.2.
112
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 14, no. 3. For further discussion of this scene, see Section
2.2.6, Scene 7; Section 3.1.2.
79
These similar scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten and Osorkon II confirm
that the young women offering libations to the king in the tomb of Kheruef are, indeed,
daughters of foreign chieftains.113
The term ms.w wr.w also appears in a fragmentary 18th Dynasty stela that
describes the presentation of tribute to the king by groups of Nubians and Asiatics; in the
text of this stela, ms.w wr.w ("children of the chieftains") are included in a list of
offerings that the Asiatics bring to the king:1
iw.t n=fhrpy.w wr.w

r srSS wlhy.t m t3 pn
r sdfiy htp.w-sn
r smnh cw.t
kml.n=frhy.t
pr.t m ir.t=f
di=fiw.t n=f'Iwn.ty.w Sty
inw=sn m nbw hr dr.t=fhbny ->bw
hnm.t nSm.t inm.w Iby.w
r
r s $3 mnw.w m r?.w-pr.w n(w) ntr.w nb.w
iw n=fSt.ty.w m hnt
inw=sn mh n=ft3pn (m)
hd nbw hr his.wt=fhsbd m?r mfkl.t
r
y.w{t) nb.t Sps(.t) hm.t dhty
mi cS3-sn
ssm.wt-sn wrry.wt=sn hm.w hm.wt
m ms.w wr.w
irp sntr b3k w3d CS mrh(.t)
n tp.w n(w) ht[y.w]
[...] ssn[dm] Ki.w nb(.w) ndm(.w) sty ibr
n psd.t
his.t nb.t [hr] inw-sn
Though the term ms.w wr.w, "daughters of foreign chieftains," is never applied to royal women, the term
ms.w wr.w might appropriately describe foreign members of the royal harim and foreign-born princesses
whom Amenhotep III took as wives—for example, Gilukhepa, daughter of the Mitannian king Shuttarna.
For a discussion of Amenhotep Ill's diplomatic practice of incorporating foreign princesses into his royal
harim, see primarily Schulman, JNES 38 (1979): 177-193; Berman, in O'Connor and Cline, eds.,
Amenhotep HI: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 19-22; Weinstein, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep
III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 224-226; Kitchen, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III:
Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 256-260; Meier, in Cohen and Westbrook, eds., Amarna Diplomacy, pp.
165-173; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, pp. 129-138; Roth, Gebieterin aller Lander, pp. 85-130;
Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 144-146.
114
Gaballa, JEA 63 (1977): 122-124, pis. 22-23.
80
r shtp Km.t n nb=s
ntk ntr ir tm.w
r
nh=sn m rwd r.wy-ky
"May great inundations come forth for him (the king)

to increase the amount of grain in this land,
to provide their offerings,
and to endow small cattle,
after he (the god) has created the people
who come forth from his eye.
May he (the god) cause the Nubian nomads to come for him (the king),
(they) whose tribute consists of gold in its ore, ebony, ivory,
red jasper, green felspar, and panther skins,
in order to multiply the monuments in the temples of all the gods.
It is for him that the Asiatics come traveling south,
(they) whose tribute, which fills this land for him, (consists of):
silver, gold from its deserts, true lapis lazuli, turquoise,
all kinds of noble costly stones, copper, and lead
according to their quantity;
their horses, their chariots, male and female servants,
along with the children of the chieftains;
wine, incense, fresh moringa-oil, cedar oil, and resin
from the hillsides;
[...], ssn[dm]-wood, all kinds of sweet-smelling herbs, and ladanum
of the Ennead.
Every foreign land bears their tribute
in order to pacify Egypt for its lord.
You are the god who creates all peoples,
so that they might live by the strength of your arms."
The foreign peoples that are ennumerated in this stela are said to come forth from the eye
of a deity who created them; the unknown deity in the stela is most likely the solar deity
Re.115 Thus, the foreign peoples and their products in this stela are understood to be
emanations of the eye of Re—i. e., the solar disk. Since the Egyptian king rules over all
the lands upon which the rays of the sun fall, people of foreign lands are also subject to
the rule of the Egyptian king. Thus, this stela compares the tribute brought to Egypt by
foreign peoples to the floodwaters of the inundation; notably, the inundation marks the
Gaballa, JEA 63 (1977): 123, similarly interprets the creator of the people in the stela as the solar deity.
81
beginning of the New Year and coincides with the return of the wandering goddess of the
eye of the sun to Egypt.
The hymns and dance performances of Scene 4 of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef evoke strong Hathoric imagery; a similar connection to
Hathor as the wandering solar eye goddess may be applicable for the libation offering
rituals of Scene 3. The text in Scene 3 singles out one of the young women pouring
libations as the "daughter of the Mnfyvv-Libyans." In the Medamud Hymn to the Golden
One and in the Mut Ritual of Papyrus Berlin 3053, the Mntyw are "Lybo-Nubians" who
dance for Hathor in the form of the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun.116 In a
scene from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus that may also allude to the myth of
wandering goddess, Libyan women offer the god Horus a chain of faince that symbolizes
his wd?.t-eye.ni
In "les rites de l'eau" in a bandeau text from the ramp of Taharqa at Karnak, the
l in
king is similarly purified by water that is poured from snb.t-va.ses and nms.t-jais:
[r>] n wd[S] hr wdhw snb.wt nms.wt

Imn Mw.t Hnsw hr nwy
dd mdw in hry-hb \hry\-tp
ntr.w nb.w m ihhy
psd.t tm.ti hr hnp
ini-sn cnh w3s n 7mn-Rc
nb ns.wt tl.wy hrf psd.t=f
The identification of the Mntyw as "denizens of far southeastern Libya and the western regions of
Nubia," in Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 66-74, is preferable to the interpretation of the Mntyw as Asiatics, for
example, in Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, p. 46, textnote g; Roth, in Brockelmann and
Klug, In Pharaos Staat, p. 231. According to Darnell, op. cit., pp. 72-73, footnote 134, the "beautiful and
not un-Egyptian appearing 'daughter(s)" of the Mnty.w' in the tomb of Kheruef, also called the msw wr.w,
might be early imitators of the southern Lybo-Nubian tribe, associated with the Libyan clad acrobats, all
representatives of the land of the solar eye's hiding at the Hathoric rites of Amenophis Ill's Jubilee." For
further discussion of these "Libyan clad" dancers at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1,
Scene 4.
117
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 185-189, Scene 24,11. 76-79.
118
Traunecker, BIFAO 72 (1972): 203-209, figs. 2-3.
82
ini=sn cnh wis n s? Rr [Tihrk] di cnh
nsw.t...
"Utterance of processing while carrying the offering of snb.t-vases and nms.t-jais

of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu from the floodwaters.
Words to be spoken by the chief lector priest:
'All the gods are rejoicing;
The entire Ennead is pouring libations.
That they bring life & dominion is to Amun-Re,
the lord of the thrones of the two lands along with his Ennead.
That they bring life & dominion is for the son of Re [Taharqa], given life.
The king...'"
The purification of the king and the pouring of water from the snb.t-vases and nms.t-jars
in this ritual are apprently connected to the inundation of the Nile and the festival of the
New Year.119 The nms.t-jar also often appears as a cultic object during the Amarna
Period; in numerous scenes the king or other members of the royal family offer these
vessels to the outstretched hands of the rays of the Aten.120
Several passages in the Pyramid Texts suggest that a rite involving the pouring of
water from four nms.t-jars was associated with the purification of the eye of Horus and
119
For a similar conclusion, see Traunecker, BIFAO 72 (1972): 195-236, especially 209-219,230-236.
Traunecker, op. cit, pp. 220-230, also discusses several other notable ritual scenes from the New Kingdom
that involve the use of the nms.t-jar and/or the snb.t-vase.
1
For discussion of the nms.t-jar as a cultic object during the Amarna Period, see primarily Tawfik,
MDAIK35 (1979): 335-344. For identification of the various forms of the nms.t-jar, see du Mesnil du
Buisson, Les noms etsignes egyptiens designant des vases ou objets similaires, pp. 131-137; Fazzini,
JSSEA 28 (2001): 60-61. For discussion of the various water rituals associated with the nms.t-jar, see also
Jeffreys, in Sowada and Ockinga, Egyptian Art in the Nicholson Museum, Sydney, pp. 119-133; Dorothea
Arnold, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 213-220.
83
the rebirth of the deceased king. 121 In Pyramid Texts Spell 536, libation offerings from
nms.t-jars are connected to the regeneration of Osiris: 122
mw=kn=k
brhw=k n=k
rdw-k n=kpr m Wsir
wn n-k rj.wy p.t
i.sn n-k c?.wy nw.t
wn n=k ri.wy p.t
i.sn n-k r3.wy kbhw
nhi in is.t
m htp in Nb.t-hw.t
mij.n-sny sn—sny
tstw
whr n-k kis.w=k
why n-k hmw=k
hms r=k hr hndw=k pw bil
wcb.ti mfd.t=k nms.wtfd.t=k r
3b.wt
pri.t n=k m ch-ntr=k
brh.t n-k m mr ntry
rdi.t.n n=k Hr Nhn
"Your water is yours;

your inundation is yours;
your effluvium that comes forth from Osiris is yours;
For you, the double-doors of heaven have been opened;
For you, the double-doors of the sky have been cast open;
For you, the double-doors of the sky have been opened;
For you, the double-doors of the firmament have been cast open;
'Be enduring,' exclaims Isis;
'In peace,' exclaims Nephthys,
after they have seen their brother.
Lift yourself!
For you, your bonds have been loosened;
For you, your dust has been cleared.
Be seated upon this bronze throne of yours,
that you might be purified with your four nms>jars & your four c3b.t-)ars,
which have come forth to you from your divine palace,
121
For a convenient collection of passages from the Pyramid texts that describe rituals involving the use of
the nms.t-jar, see Tawfik, MDAIK 35 (1979): 343. A scene from the Middle Kingdom Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus (Sethe, Dramatische Texte zu altaegyptischen Mysterienspielen, pp. 177-180, Scene
22,11. 69-71) may also relate to Scene 3 of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef; in
this scene from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, the pouring of wine from Spn.t-jars by ms.w-nsw.t,
"royal daughters," is equated to the presentation of the eye of Horus to the god.
122
Sethe, Die Altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 222-223, § 1291a-1293d. For a full translation of
Pyramid Texts Spell 536, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 168-169, Spell P484.
84
which have been filled for you from the divine canal,
which Horus of Hierakonpolis has given to you."
The libation offerings, thus, create the proper environment to facilitate the regeneration of
Osiris in the underworld; the result of this regeneration is the rebirth of the deceased king
as the solar disk in the eastern horizon in the morning.123 In the waters of nwn, the solar
deity Re is able to achieve renewal and rebirth. The water poured from the sacred vessels
in this passage from the Pyramid Texts may symbolize light and, thus, be connected to
the first rays of the solar disk in the morning when Re is (re)born in the eastern
horizon.124 At the Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, such an association would especially
be especially appropriate given the apparent transformation of the king into the solar
deity.
SCENE 4: PERFORMANCE OF HATHORIC MUSIC & DANCE RITUALS 1 2 5
To the left of Scene 3 in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef are two registers that depict a complex sequence of music and dance
For a similar interpretation, see Colin, in Amenta, etal, eds., L 'Acqua Nell'Antico Egitto, pp. 283-292.
Colin, loc. cit, suggests that the four vessels are linked to the four cardinal points and their associated
deities—for example, the four goddesses who stand on each side of Tutankhamun's wooden canopic
shrine: Selkis, Neith, Isis, and Anukis. On the eastern wall of the temple of Seti I at Gurna (Christophe,
BIFAO 49 (1950): 121-126), the king pours a libation offering from a nms.t-'âr and offers incense to
Amun-Re Kamutef as part of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony; this scene provides a further link
between libation offerings from nms.t-]axs and regeneration.
124
For interchangeability of liquid and light within Egyptian religious iconography, see Darnell, The
Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 56, 147-148, with references.
125
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 34, 36,38, 40, pp. 46-49. For discussion of the hymns,
musical performances, and dance rituals in this scene, see Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 283-284, 306-308;
Wild, in Les danses sacrees, p. 77; Wente, in Hauser, ed., Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 85-91;
Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte pharaonique, pp. 67-69, 118-120; Meeks, in Luft, ed., The Intellectual
Heritage of Egypt, p. 426; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 722, doc. R4.4; pp. 751-752, doc.
S2.18; pp. 799-801, doc. S3.95; Volokhine, BSEG 18 (1994): 83-84; Walker, Papeete of the Primaeval
Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 270-272; Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 72-73; Roberts, Hathor Rising, pp. 26-
29; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos Staat, p. 231. For discussion of related Hathoric
dances, see also Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im Alten Agypten, pp. 40-42; Wild, op. cit, pp. 65-72; Nord, in
Simpson and Davis, eds., Studies in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan, pp. 141-142; Bartels,
Formen altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 153-159; Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 50-51, 64-74, 88-89; Teeter, in Teeter
and Johnson, eds., Life ofMeresamun, p. 32.
85
rituals (Fig. 148). An intriguing group of animals appears in front of a small shrine at the
far right of the top register; the group consists of a bull calf, a flying goose, and a baboon
(Fig. 148a). Behind the shrine, a group of longhaired women performs a series of
acrobatic dances; the dancing women in this scene wear kilts, broad collars, and leather
bands on their chests (Figs. 148a-d). As part of their performance, the dancing women
sing an unusual hymn that describes an agricultural ritual involving a pod of carob seeds.
The bottom register of Scene 4 depicts a long row of female musicians, chantresses, and
dancers; the ritual celebrants of this register sing a lengthy hymn to the goddess Hathor
and a short hymn to the god Sokar. The female musicians in the right portion of the
bottom register wear broad collars and long, formfitting robes (Figs. 148a-b). The
dancing women in the middle portion of the bottom register wear broad collars, kilts, and
leather bands on the chests (Figs. 148a-c). The three dancing women in the left portion
of the bottom register wear broad collars and long kilts; their hair is closely cropped
except for a long ponytail or braid at the back of the head (Fig. 148d). This hairstyle is
commonly worn by dancing women who attach a small round object to the end of their
braided hair in order to accentuate their acrobatic dance moves. At the far left of the
bottom register are three lion-masked men with large, pendulous breasts and rolls of fat
on their bellies; one these men carries an arm-shaped baton (Fig. 148d). Close parallels
to the hymns and the ritual scenes in both registers of Scene 4 appear in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Fig. 145) and in the Sed
For discussion of dancing women who wear this hairstyle, see, e.g., Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im Alten
Agypten, pp. 23-27; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 41; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas
zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 706, 708-710, 742-746, 748-749, 777-779, 785-787, cat. nos. R1.1-R1.2,
R3.1-R3.2, R3.4-R3.5, S2.7-S2.9, S2.14, S3.56, S3.58, S3.68-S3.69.
86
Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 147); however, the most complete
version of these texts and scenes appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in
the tomb of Kheruef.
Female Ritual Celebrants:
stS hm.wt m-blh nsw.t

r irt irw n hb.w-sd hft-hr tntS.t
Bringing forward women into the presence of the king

to celebrate the rites of the Sed Festival in front of the tnrt. t-dais.
Top Register: Acrobatic Dance Sequence and Hymn of the Carob Seed Pod:128
rdi.n—fn{=i) wch nprw.t

(i)n ibh wrh n pr.wt wl n(=i) sw w3i
shm n(=i) sw shm
ibh mk.t-n{-i) it.ti
mk.t-n(=i) it.ti
kil.t ki.ti
sdr-k
B B.t
dSr ir.ty n sti.t Fk.t
k? [d]s=f ns=fhty.t=f ndd=f
h.ti
spd rn.t nS 3y.t
[tsbw.t...]
[...m si ...]
[...prm ...sh.t]
It is to me that he has given a pod of carob beans.
For the Hathoric music and dance sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten, see Traunecker,
JSSEA 14 (1984): 61-62; Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival
at Karnak, pp. 98-101,163-164, pis. 50-51, 107; Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains
d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 148-149, pi. 61; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 7-8. For further
discussion of the Hathoric rites in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten, see Section 2.2.5, Scene 11. For
the Hathoric music and dance sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, see Naville, The Festival-
Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 14-15; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 722-723, cat.
no. R4.5; Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte pharaonique, pp. 67-69. For further discussion of the Hathoric
rites in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, see also Section 2.2.6, Scene 7.
128
The following interpretation of the Hymn of the Carob Seed Pod is based in part on the ideas of John
Darnell and Colleen Manassa, who have suggested (by personal communication) that the carob seeds
represent the eyes of Apophis and that the "exalted ones" represent eyes of the solar deity and Horus.
129
In Pyramid Text Spells 168 and 182, the deceased king receives two bowls of carob beans (wrh, Wb. 1,
289.1-9) as offerings; in both spells, the deceased also receives the eye of Horus and is entrusted with
protecting the eye from the nets of an unnamed individual (probably Seth) who attempts to ensnare (rh, Wb.
1,213.17-19) the eye.
87
It is the cultivator of the pod of carob beans who roasted it thoroughly for me,
(and) who ground it thoroughly for me.131
Oh cultivator, what I have protected has been seized!
What I have protected has been seized!
Oh female exalted one, may you be exalted!
May you (masculine) spend the night;
Oh male exalted one, may you be exalted!
The two eyes become red through the shooting of the inverted one.
May his [kn]ife, tongue, throat, and ndd-part be exalted!
The otherwise unattested word ibh with the seated man determinative is probably related to the noun
Ibh, "water" {Wb., 1, 64.12), and the verb bh {Wb. 1,472.6-8), which refers to the irrigation or fertilization
of a crop-bearing field. The word ibh may also be a corruption of the title lb, "cultivator"; for discussion of
this title, see Cauville, RdE 59 (2008): p. 73, with references.
131
Literally, wl n{=i) sw wii shm n{=i) sw shm means "who roasted it for me a roasting, who ground it for
me a grinding." Verhoeven, Grillen, Kochen, Backen, pp. 82-84, translates, "es dorrte sie meine Darre, es
zerstampfte sie mein Zerstampfer." For discussion of complementary infinitives and cognate accusatives,
see Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, pp. 222-223, § 298; Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 171; Vermis, in Autuori
and Alvarez, eds., ...Ir a Buscar Lena: Estudios Dedicados alProf. Jesus Lopez, pp. 193-202. One attested
preparation of carob for medicinal purposes involved combining carob with milk—a product that in other
contexts is known to rejuvenate re-energize the kin; for discussion of the rejuvenating effect of milk-
offerings, see Leclant, in Proceedings of the IXth International Congress for the History of Religions, pp.
135-145; Guglielmi, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 127-128; Maruejol, ASAE 69 (1983): 311-319; Feucht, SAK11
(1984): 402-404, with references; Darnell, in Epigraphic Survey, Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple,
Vol. 1, p. 30; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complex of the Old Kingdom, pp. 176-184,
with references; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, eds., Thutmose III: A New Biography, p. 145.
132
Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef p. 47, interprets this word as an unusual orthography of
hty.t, "throat" {Wb. 3, 181.4-16). Other possible readings of the word include hwn, "a special piece of
flesh" {Wb. 3, 55.3-4), and ih.ty, "the inner-flesh of the upper thigh of the mother" {Wb. 1, 120.16-17)—the
latter of which may apply to the sky goddess or the mother of the king. If the reading hty.t, "throat," is
correct, the passage may refer to Hathor and/or Maat as the "throat" of the solar deity; for discussion of
Hathor and Maat as the "throat" {bgs.t) of the solar deity, see primarily Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of
Roman Thebes, p. 160, with references.
133
In Coffin Texts Spell 888, ndd refers to an individual who appears to be friendly towards Re (de Buck,
Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 7, p. 100):
/ nb nb.w
ink nddpw {smri) Imn-Rc hr-ib hw.t sSm.w
ni rdi.tw=i n r?pp
nirdy=in ripp
"Oh lord of lords!
I am ndd (who establishes) Amun-Re within the temple of divine images.
I will not be given to Apophis.
Nor will I give (anyone) to Apophis."
However, in version B16C of Coffin Texts Spell 49, ndd appears as a variant of Nbd, "Evil One" (DeBuck,
Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 1, p. 220):
ndr ndd imy kkw
"Grasp ndd who is in darkness!"
In this context, ndd may be related to the term ndd {Wb. 2, 369.1), which refers to the defeated enemies of
the solar god Re. In the Hymn of the Carob Seed Pod from the tomb ofKheruef, ndd probably refers to an
unknown part of the body {Wb. 2, 386.5)—perhaps with magical importance, as in Coffin Texts Spell 657
(de Buck, Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 6, p. 278):
shi.t hkiw
88
May you be exalted!
Oh you sharp of talons, who drives off the pale one!134
[The vertebra of the detested one ...]
[... as a son ...]
[... come forth from ... field ...]
A parallel to the first two lines of the hymn appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Fig. 145) .135
ink rdy n=f si Rr si Dhwty

shn(.n)=i nn gm.n-i m ri=i
him.t=i gm.n=i hr ndd-l
"Calling magic to mind:
I am the one to whom (things) are given, the son of Re, the son of Thoth.
I sought this thing which I found in my mouth.
I have found that which I catch under my ndd."
Similarly, ndd refers to an unknown part of the body in a fragmentary passage referring to Hathor as a
celestial goddess in Coffin Texts Spell 846 (de Buck, Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 7, p. 50):
pr sd.t r hw.t-ntr n.t Smy.tpr.t n ...
... hr=f
ni rdi.<n>=fsw.t hi Wsir NNpn
ndd n Npn hr=fm mj[ki.t] ...
... [Ws]ir NN [pn] ... m Siw
Wr.t rb.wy ... r=fdbi m sbi.wy
iw sp.ty NN\pri\ ...
iw in.n WsirNNpn [hr...]
[...m.n] Wsir NN pn ih.w=f
ni rdi Wsir NN [pn] ...
...itihkiw
"The fire bursts forth against the temple of the desert goddess who comes forth ...
... to him.
He will not place danger around Osiris NN.
The ndd of Osiris AW bears him with turqfuoise] ...
... [Osjiris AW... in Sais.
The Great One, [whose] horns ... against him, adorned with two stars.
The lips of NN...
Osiris AW has brought ...
Osiris AW [has ...] his powers.
Osiris AW will not ...
... taking possession of magic."
134
For iy.t-hr, "pale of face" (Wb. 1, 2.9), as an expression of fear, see Goedicke, BSEG 22 (1998): 35,
footnote 35; this use of the term appears in the Tale of Sinuhe when the royal daughters beg the king to
forgive Sinuhe and urge Sinuhe not to be afraid in the presence of the king (Sinuhe B278-279; Koch,
Erzdhlung des Sinuhe, p. 79):
nn iy.t-hr n mil hr=k
nn snd ir.t dg.ttw
"There will be no one whose face is pale from looking upon you!
There will be no one who is afraid when the eye sees you!"
135
Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4. For further discussion, cf. also Traunecker, JSSEA 14
(1984): 61-62; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 98-101, 163-164, pis. 50-51, 107;
89
rdi.n<=f> n=i mni.t nprw.t
in ibhy [n] mny.t nprw.t w3 n(—i) sw [...]
"It is to me that <he> has given the root of seeds.

It is the mixer [of] the root of seeds who roasted it for (me) [...]."
In this parallel, "carob" is replaced by mni.t, "root" (Wb. 2, 77.2-5)—a word that can
figuratively mean the "life" of an individual or a people.137 Another slightly confused
variant of this passage appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig.
147b):138
di<.n—f> n(=i) ns.t(yw) npr.wt

in pr.wt Wjw3(=i) sw w3w?
"It is to (me) that <he has> given a pod of ns.t(yw)-seeds.

As for the (pod of) seeds, I will roast it thoroughly."
The word ns.t(yw), which replaces "carob," is "a type of plant with red root" (Wb. 2,
324.3-5); because of its red color, the ancient Egyptians used the root of the ns.tiyw) plant
as a dyeing agent.139 The use of this red-rooted plant in the hymn from the Sed Festival
Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 148-149, pi. 61; Traunecker,
Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 7-8.
136
The verb ibh (Wb., 1, 8.8-20), variant ibh, means "to mix," "to associate with," or "to fill"; one usage of
the verb describes the mixing of ingredients in medical texts {Wb., 1, 8.9-10). Alternatively, ibhy may
simply be a corrupted form of the word ibh, "cultivator," which appears in the version of this text in the
tomb of Kheruef.
137
In the victory inscriptions of Ramesses Ill's first Libyan War at Medinet Habu, mni.t is used in a
figurative sense to describe the life of the Libyans that is extinguished by the Egyptian king (Epigraphic
Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 1, pi. 22,1. 7; pi. 28,1. 42):
fdk tiy=sn mni.t
ni st m sp wr.ty
"Their root is severed.
They are not on even a single occasion."
138
Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi 15, no. 5.
139
A text at Edfu suggests that the root of the ns.ryw-plant was used by the Egyptians as a red dye
(Dumichen, Geographische Inschriften altdgyptischer Denkmdler, Vol. 2, pi. 90):
sdSry m wib.w nw ns.tyw
"Dyeing red with the roots of the «.y.?yw-plant."
For further discussion of the ns.tyw-p\ant in this text from Edfu, see Ebbell, ZAS 64 (1929): 51. For
additional examples of ns.tyw, "plant," in texts of the Ptolemaic Period, see Wilson, Ptolemaic Lexikon, p.
548.
90
reliefs of Osorkon II probably alludes to a later section of the hymn that is absent from
Osorkon IPs relief: "the two eyes become red through the shooting of the inverted one."
The reddening of the two eyes in the hymn may refer to the radiance of the solar disk at
sunrise in the eastern horizon of the sky; since the eastern horizon is also the location for
the punishment of the damned and the enemies of the solar deity (such as Apophis), the
red color of this location also represents the exsanguination of enemies.140 In Pyramid
Texts Spell 246, a red-eyed form of the god Horus protects the king from inimical deities
in the underworld.141
A variant of another difficult portion of the hymn also appears in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten at Karnak:142
B.t B.ti
sdr[-k]
B B.ti
For the eastern horizon as the place of punishment for Apophis and the souls of the damned, see Darnell,
The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 24-25, 137-138, 145, 176, 319, 373-374,
389-390. In connection with the eastern horizon, the color red represents the angry goddess of the eye of
the sun and the glowing light of the morning sun; for discussion of the significance of the color red in these
contexts, see primarily Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 305-308;
Darnell, SAK2A (1997): 35-48, especially pp. 41-42, and 44. As Darnell, SAK 24 (1997): 42, notes, the
"blood and gore with which the wild goddess slakes her rage become the red glow of the protective sun
when the fury of the eye is turned against the enemies of the solar order."
141
Sethe, Die altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, p. 139, § 253a-253b:
// r=tn Hr hsbd ir.ty
s>=tn Hr dSr ir.ty mr i.t
n hsfbl=f
"It is against you that the lapis-eyed Horus comes.
You should beware the red-eyed Horus, painful with power,
whose bi cannot be repulsed."
For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 246, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 41,
Spell W157. In a scene from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, Horus takes his eye—described as red in
color—from Seth and leaves Seth with a carnelian stone in its place; see Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp.
180-185, Scene 23,11. 72-75.
142
Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4. For further discussion, cf. also Traunecker, JSSEA 14
(1984): 61-62; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festivalat Karnak, pp. 98-101, 163-164, pis. 50-51, 107;
Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 148-149, pi. 61; Traunecker,
Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 7-8.
91
"Oh female exalted one, may you be exalted!
May [you (masc.)] spend the night!
Oh male exalted one, may you be exalted!"
The section of the hymn that follows these lines closely parallels the version from the
tomb of Kheruef and, unfortunately, does not provide any alternative readings or
solutions to the obscure sections of the hymn. A variant of the same section of the hymn
also appears in the Sed Festival inscriptions of Osorkon II at Bubastis:143
kl kii.t
sndr k3j(i)
"Oh male exalted one, oh female exalted one!

Spend the night, you (masc.) being exalted!"
The different renderings of this difficult passage in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep
III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II might indicate that this hymn was copied from a damaged
or poorly understood original copy on papyrus.
Although the hymn sung by the dancers in the top register of Scene 4 is damaged
and difficult to interpret in places, it is clear that the hymn is a complicated religious
treatise that describes an agricultural ritual pertaining to the cultivation of carob; the
hymn also alludes to the regenerative aspects of the nocturnal journey of the solar deity.
At the far right of the dance sequence in the top register of Scene 4, three women wearing
leather bands on their chests reach down to the ground with their hands; the hieroglyphic
sign for water (Gardiner Sign N35) appears near the hands of two of these women. Since
the hymn above them describes a ritual linked to the cultivation of carob seeds, the
movements of these dancing women may symbolize the irrigation of the land in which
carob plants grow.
143
Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 14, no. 1.
92
A possible parallel to the dancing women who participate in the agricultural ritual
of Scene 4 appears in the late Predynastic depiction of the Sed Festival of Horus Scorpion
on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21).144 In the depiction of the Sed Festival on the
Scorpion Macehead, four longhaired, kilted women simultaneously dance and clap their
hands in an area with marsh plants directly behind the ceremonial shade-bearers of the
king.145 In another scene on the Scorpion Macehead, the king wields a mr-hoe at the
dedication of a new ritual complex; the complex includes several religious shrines and a
ritual waterway that is navigable by boat.146 The hoeing of the earth is a well-attested
ritual that is typically performed as part of the ceremonial foundation of a temple.147 The
two attendants directly in front of the king on the Scorpion Macehead are also carrying
out a ritual that is most likely related to the temple foundation ceremonies—i.e., the
pouring of sand on the ground.148 According to another—less likely—theory, the royal
scene on the Scorpion Macehead is an agricultural rite in which the king digs holes in the
ground with the mr-hoe, the attendant directly in front of him drops seeds into these
144
For discussion of the depiction of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead, see primarily Quibell and
Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pp. 9-10, pis. 25, 26c; Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, p. 41;
Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des periodes Predynastique et Archalque dans la Vallee du Nil, pp. 32-38;
Gautier and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 87-127; Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and
Civilization 8 (1997): 11-27; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 62-68; Cialowicz, La naissance d'
un royaume, pp. 197-202. For further discussion, cf. also Vikentiev, BIE 32 (1950): 209-218; Vandier,
Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 600-602; Baumgartel, The Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 116-118; Nibbi,
GM29 (1978): 89-94; Schneider, SAK2A (1997): 241-267; Nibbi, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian
Museum Collections from Around the World, pp. 855-861; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische
Zeichen, pp. 151-154.
145
For detailed discussion of the dancing women on the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.1.2.
146
For detailed discussion of the main scene on the Scorpion Macehead as a depiction of a foundation
ritual, see Section 7.5.
147
For the hoeing of the earth by the king at the ceremonial foundation of a temple, see Finnestad, Image of
the World and Symbol of the Creator, p. 57; Montet, Kemi 17 (1964): 85-87, Scene 4, fig. 2.
148
For the ritual pouring of sand onto the ground at the cermonial foundation of a temple, see Finnestad,
Image of the World and Symbol of the Creator, p. 57; Montet, Kemi 17 (1964): 89-91, Scene 6, fig. 4.
93
holes, and the second attendant is refills the holes with soil. If these attendants are
indeed planting seeds, the symbolism of the royal ritual on the Scorpion Macehead may
be linked to the Egyptian concept of the temple as the mound from which creation
springs forth out of the waters of chaos; the columns of the hypostyle courts in Egyptian
temples, for example, symbolize the papyrus and reed plants that grow in Egypt's
marshy, inundated areas.150
The hieroglyphic water signs next to the dancing women's hands in Scene 4 from
the tomb of Kheruef suggest that their dance movements might represent a form of the
nyny-gestuxe. The nyny-gestare can serve as a simple greeting; however, in certain
contexts the «yny-gesture is an allusion to the hieros gamos of the goddess Nut and the
solar deity (or the deceased king); the result of this sacred union is the rebirth of the solar
disk in the eastern horizon and the rejuvenation of the deceased king.151 In a painted
scene from the northern wall of the tomb of Tutankhamun, the goddess Nut performs the
wywy-gesture before Tutankhamun; this scene illustrates the symbolic significance of the
«y«y-gesture quite well (Fig. 149):152
For discussion of this agricultural interpretation of the primary royal scene on the Scorpion Macehead,
see primarily Vikentiev, BIE32 (1951): 209-215.
150
Finnestad, Image of the World and Symbol of the Creator, pp. 1-174, demonstrates that the ancient
Egyptians viewed their temples as symbols of the cosmos; the foundation of a temple corresponds to the act
of creation, during which order triumphs over chaos. Finnestad, op. cit., p. 3, notes: "When appearing as
cosmos, the temple is called by names identifying it with a cosmological geography and topography, and it
has frequently been pointed out that it displays architectural features identifying it with the landscape of
cosmos: its roof is the sky, its floor is the soil of Egypt from which pillars 'grow' like vegetation."
151
For the Hj/ry-gesture as a type of greeting, see Dominicus, Gesten und Gebarden in Darstellungen des
Alten und Mittleren Reiches, pp. 36-58. For the ny«y-gesture as an allusion to the sexual union of Nut and
the deceased king, see Westendorf, in Verhoeven and Graefe, eds., Religion undPhilosophie im Alten
Agypten, pp. 351-362, especially pp. 358-359; Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-
Osirian Unity, pp. 142-149, especially pp. 148-149.
152
For a discussion of this scene from the northern wall of the tomb of Tutankhamun, see Westendorf, in
Verhoeven and Graefe, eds., Religion und Philosophie im Alten Agypten, pp. 358-359, 362, fig. 1.
94
Nw.t nb.tp.t hnw.t ntr.w
wdi=s nyny n ms.n=s
di=s snb rnh rfnd=k
r
nh.ti d.t
"As for Nut, the mistress of the sky and lady of the gods,
she performs the «y«y-gesture for the one whom she bore,
so that she might place health and life against your nostrils.
May she live forever!"
In a scene from the second golden shrine of Tutankhamun, six goddesses associated with
the eastern horizon of the netherworld pour water from their hands onto the heads of
snakes that are emerging from the ground (Fig. 150).153 In this scene the goddesses
symbolize the Netherworld and the embodied womb of the solar deity; their pouring of
water onto the snakes alludes to the birth of Re at the conclusion of his nocturnal journey
after traveling through the body of the serpent Apophis. A possible allusion to Apophis
(as the "the inverted one") in the hymn above the dancers in Scene 4 in the tomb of
Kheruef suggests that the scene may similarly relate to the rejuvenation of the solar deity
at the conclusion of his journey through the underworld.
The unusual posture of the dancers who bend forward with their hair draped down
in front of their faces in the top register of Scene 4 is similar to the posture of several
groups of women who appear in the Book of the Night (Figs. 151-152).154 The
overarching theme of the Book of the Night and the hymn above the dancers in Scene 4
For the definitive interpretation of this scene and the accompanying cryptographic texts from the second
golden shrine of Tutankhamun, see Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity,
pp. 142-149, pi. 13B. The description of the scene presented here is based on the overall interpretation of
Darnell.
154
For discussion of the the groups of women who appear in the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh hours of
the Book of the Night, see Roulin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, p. 1011; Roulin, he livre de la nuit, Vol. 1, pp. 131-133, third hour, lower register, nos. 8-9;
pp. 154-155, fourth hour, lower register, nos. 1-3; pp. 200-203, sixth hour, lower register, nos. 2, 4; pp.
221-222, seventh hour, lower register, no. 1. Roulin, loc. cit, suggests that these women are deceased
inhabitants of the netherworld who exist in a state of lamentation because the absence of the sun has caused
them to have a restless, non-rejuvenating night of sleep.
95
of the tomb of Kheruef is the rejuvenation of the solar deity during his nocturnal journey
through the underworld.155 Since this rejuvenation occurs as a result of the sexual union
of Nut and the solar deity, the long hair and the acrobatic movements of the women
probably has an erotically charged significance.156 Thus, these women's hairstyles and
acrobatic gestures are most likely intended to stimulate the king to re-engender himself
1 S7
like the creator god Re-Atum in the Heliopolitan creation myth. The caption to the
group of women in the seventh hour of the Book of the Night—kmS, "creating"—clearly
links their movements to a process of creation and rebirth.158 The names of the
longhaired, dancing women in the Book of the Night suggest that they are foreigners
from various geographic regions or perhaps a group of nomadic women who have
traveled through many different regions.159 Similarly, the outfits worn by the dancers in
the tomb of Kheruef also indicate that they are foreigners; for example, the leather bands
For a similar conclusion regarding the primary theme of the Book of the Night, see Hornung, The
Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, pp. 122-135; Goebs, GM165 (1998): 57-72; Roberts, My Heart My
Mother, pp. 106-178.
156
For discussion of the eroticism of the long hairstyles of women in ancient Egypt, see Derchain, RdE2\
(1969): 19-25; Derchain, SAK2 (1975): 55-74; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 61-62, 73. For further discussion
of Hathoric hair styling, see also Posener, in Lesko, ed., Egyptological Studies in Honor of Richard A.
Parker, pp. 111-117. For ancient Egyptian women's hairstyles in general, see Robins, JARCE 36 (1999):
63-68, with references. Darnell, op. cit, p. 73, notes that "groups of women and men toss their hair for"
the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun upon her return to Egypt in Column 22 of the Myth of the
Solar Eye. For the acrobatic dance movements of young women in scenes from Old Kingdom private
tombs as erotic stimulation for the self re-engendering of the deceased, see Gillam, Performance and
Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 41; Altenmuller, SAK 6 (1978): 1 -24. For further discussion of acrobatic
dance, see also Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 396-397, 435-437,446-454; Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten
Agypten, pp. 23-27, 39-40, 48-52; Wild, Les danses sacrees, pp. 66-68, 70-71; Bartels, Formen
altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 150-153; Decker, Annotierte Bibliographiczum Sport, Vol. l,pp. 103-104; Van
Lepp, BSAK3 (1988): 385-394; Decker and Forster, Annotierte Bibliographic zum Sport, Vol. 2, pp. 122-
123.
157
For further discussion of the connection between the rejuvenation of the king at the Sed Festival and the
creation act of the Heliopolitan creation myth, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7.
158
Roulin, Le livre de la nuit, Vol. 1, pp. 221-222, seventh hour, lower register, no. 1.
159
Captions in the Book of the Night identify these dancing women as sh.ty.w and min.ty.w in the third
hour, as htr.ty.w, ihm.ty.w, and wdby.w in the fourth hour, and as Smi.w and Sfd.w in the sixth hour; see
Roulin, Le livre de la nuit, Vol. 1, pp. 131-133, 154-155, 200-203.
96
that they wear on their chests are part of a traditional Libyan style of dress. These
women are probably associated with the different geographic locations through which the
wandering goddess of the solar eye travels during the winter months; their inhabitants
praise the goddess and perhaps help to pacify her as she returns to Egypt.161
In front of the dancers at the far right of the top register of Scene 4, a group of
animals appears in front of a shrine; the group consists of a young bull rearing up with its
front hooves raised off the ground, a baboon walking upright, and a goose flying over the
other two animals (Fig. 148a). A similar pairing of a bull and a baboon appears in the
depictions of the Kdnigsiauf and Apislauf on a seal impression of Den from the tomb of
Hemaka (Fig. 153); the ritual scene on this seal impression provides an intriguing and
unexpected possible parallel to the group of animals that appears before the shrine in the
tomb of Kheruef.163 The baboon in Scene 4 may correspond to the "great white" baboon
For discussion of leather straps (worn across the chest) as a Libyan style of dress, see primarily Brunner-
Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten, pp. 15-16; Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 306-307; Staehelin,
Untersuchungen zur agyptischen Tracht im Alten Reich, pp. 130-132; Wente, in Studies in Honor of John
A. Wilson, p. 88; Goedicke, Re-used Blocks, p. 75, footnote 185; Nord, in Simpson and Davis, eds., Studies
in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan, p. 137; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 70-73, footnote 124.
Darnell, op. cit.,p. 73, compares the dancing women from Scene 4 to the M«fyw-Libyans who wear leather
bands across their chests and dance for the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun during the goddess's
return to Egypt in the Medamud Hymn.
161
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 72, footnote 134, similarly connects the dancers from Scene 4 of the tomb of
Kheruef to the wandering solar eye goddess and identifies them as "representatives of the land of the solar
eye's hiding."
162
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 73, footnote 135, reasonably suggests that the animals in front of the shrine in
Scene 4 of the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef "are representatives of
the 'verkehrte Welt' which occurs at the time of the New Year." For discussion of this "verkehrte Welt,"
see Kessler, SAK 15 (1988): 171-196. A bull calf also appears in front of a group of acrobatic dancers in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Naville, The Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pi. 15, nos. 4-
5). A bull calf and a shrine appear at the front of the procession of dancers and libation bearers in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 24-
25, figs. 3-4).
163
For the seal impression of Den from the tomb of Hemaka, see primarily Emery, Tomb of Hemaka, p. 64,
fig. 26, cat. no. 434; Kees, Die Opfertanzdarstellung aufeinem Siegel des Konigs Usaphais, pp. 21-30;
Blackman, Studia Aegyptiaca 1 (1938): 4-9; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1950): 987; Kaplony, Kleine Beitrdge zu
den Inschriften der agyptischen Friihzeit, pp. 92, 94; Eaton-Krauss, Representations of Statuary in Private
97
deity who offers a bowl of doum nuts to the king during the performance of the
Konigslauf 'at the Sed Festival; similarly, the bull calf in Scene 4 may correspond to the
Apis bull who runs alongside the king during the performance of the Apislauf at the Sed
Festival.164 If so, then the flying goose in Scene 4 probably depicts the king himself
during the performance of the Konigslauf. The complete transformation of the king into
a bird during the performance of Konigslauf is not otherwise attested; however, such a
transformation seems logical since the course for the Konigslauf'mirrors the routes flown
by migratory birds.165 Alternatively, the depiction of the flying goose in Scene 4 may
symbolize the transformation of the king into the creator god Amun-Re, who often
appears in the form of a cackling goose.166 In several scenes from the reliefs of his first
Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, Amenhotep III wears a robe adorned with the tail-
feathers of the solar falcon deity (Scenes 1, 5-6).167 In Pyramid Texts Spell 682, the
deceased king appears as both a goose and a solar falcon:168
Tombs of the Old Kingdom, pp. 90-91; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere undder Konig, Part 1, p. 72; Wilkinson,
Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, p. 241; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, p. 69; Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First
Century, Vol. 2, pp. 505-506. For detailed discussion of the running rituals on this seal impression of Den,
see Section 4.2.2; Section 4.3.2.
164
For detailed discussion of symbolic significance of the "great white" baboon deity's offering of doum
nuts to the king during the performance of the Konigslauf see Section 4.2.3. For detailed discussion of
symbolic significance of the Apislauf, see Section 4.3.2.
165
For discussion of the Konigslauf as a ritual run paralleling the paths flown by migratory birds, see
Section 4.2.1.
166
For a discussion of the goose as a form of the god Amun-Re, see El-Adly, GM126 (1992): 47-57, with
references.
167
For detailed discussion of the feathered adornement to the king's Sed Festival robe in these scenes, see
Section 1.1.2.
168
Sethe, Die Altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 494-495, § 2042c-2043b. For discussion of the
king's transformation into a falcon in Pyramid Texts Spells 626, 655, and 668, see Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 221, note 59. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 682, see Allen, The
Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 290, Spell N512.
98
igp NN m bik ntr(y)
kbhNNm rhiw
ittNNm smn
dnh.wy NN m bik ntr(y)
tpy.t-dnh NN m bik ntriy)
"Just as AW soars to the clouds as a divine falcon,

so too does AW fly to the sky as a heron,
and so too does AWflyup as a goose.
Just as the wings of NN are (those of) a divine falcon,
so too is the tail feather of NN (that of) a divine falcon."
Bottom Register: Musical Sequence and Hymn to the Golden One:
ir m(y) hiy n Nbw htp.w n nb.t tl.wy

swlh=s Nb-MF.t-Rc di rnh
mi.t ki ir=t mi.t
iry=i n-t hiy hr hlwy
iky m mSrw
Hw.t-Hr itw ki.ti m Sny Rr m Sny Rc
rdi.w n=tp.t im wSlw sbi.w
wr hm.t=s m shtp=s
dwl Nbw m wbn-s m p.t
n=t tm m p.t Rr im-s
n=t tm m t? Gb im-f
nn ntr ir msd.t n=t Jf.ti
wdS hm.t r bw mrr=t
nn (n=)s bw-k[hb h]3y[.t] [hr] hdnn{.t}
hnw.t-i mi.t hw.t nsw.t Nb-M¥\t-Rc di rnh
ssnb sw hr Bby np.t
nfr.w wdi(.w) snb(.w) m Sh.t
shtp sy ty.wy tmy iw wn Nbw
mr cnh=f
srnh sw m hh.w nw rnp.wt mhhn sp
mhi nn m hw
Make jubilation for the Golden One and pleasantries for the lady of the two lands,
so that she might cause Nebmaatre, given life, to endure!
Come, be raised on high, come,
so that I might make jubilation for you at twilight
and perform sistrum-music in the evening!
Hathor, you are exalted as the hair of Re, as the hair of Re!169
Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, p. 89, points out a parallel to this line in the song of a
harpist in the Middle Kingdom tomb of Senbi at Meir. In a 30th Dynasty mythological text carved on a
naos from Ismailia (no. 2248), the god Geb is bitten by the uraeus of Re and is subsequently cured by the
Br.t n Rr, which translators of the text have rendered either "wig of Re" or "uraeus of Re"—both of which
(Wb. 1, 11.17-18; Wb. 1, 32.3) are feasible translations of the phrase. However, based on the determinative
(Gardiner Sign D3) that is used for Hr.t in the text, "wig" seems to be the best reading of the word. The
relevant section of the text reads (Goyon, Kemi 6 (1936): 16-17):
99
It is to you that the sky there, the deep night, and the stars have been given.
Her majesty is great when she is pacified.170
r r
h nddn {n} hm n Gb
ink rdi-i st hr tp=i ml ir n it=i Sw
Gb pw rk=frpr Hr t hrf ntr w <n> nty <r> hnr=f
r r
h n wdi r r kffd t nty rnh t im~s<t>
pr pw ir n sl-tl
c
nh n=f tlw=f r hm n Gb m nSn w-fwr sp 2
hpipw ir nnty r h t=f
Smm pw ir n km n ntr pn
wdi pw ir n hm=fr mht tnilt Nbs hr Smm pn n hry t-tp
r c
h nph hm<n>=fr shty w hnn w
iw nn rri Smm pn
r r
h n dd n=f<n> ntr w nty <r> h wt=f
i mi iti tw Hr t n Rr im
r Sm hm=k r mil sStl=s
rr=s hm=f hr=k
r r
h n rdi n hm n Gb iti Hr t hr tp=fr pr Hr t
rdi( t) ir tw n=s pds nrl t mlr t
imn tw=s m bw pr Hr tmw n Hr t ntr( t) n hm n Rr
r r
h n rri Smm pnmhF w n( w) hm n Gb
"Then the majesty of Geb spoke:
'As for me .., I will place her upon my head like my father Shu did.'
Geb entered the House of the Iaret along with the gods who were with him.
Then (his) arm extended to uncover the box within which was Ankhet.
And the serpent came forth.
She breathed her breath against the majesty of Geb in maddening him very greatly.
The one in his following was struck dead.
And the majesty of this god burned.
His majesty proceeded to the north of the mound of Nbs bearing this burn of Her-upon-the-head.
Then his majesty reached the fields of hnn w,
there being no healing of this burning.
Then the gods who were in his following spoke to him:
'Oh, come, that the wig of Re might be seized there,
that your majesty might come to see its mystery.
It will heal his majesty [of that which is] upon you.'
Then the majesty of Geb caused the wig to be placed upon his head at the House of Iaret,
and caused a box of true, costly stone to be made for it.
It was hidden in [...] place, the House of Iaret in the area of the divine wig of the majesty of Re.
Then this burning was healed in the limbs of the majesty of Geb."
When Hathor is exalted as the "hair of Re" in the text from the tomb of Kheruef, she may be invoked as the
powerful uraeus-form of the daughter of Re; only the "hair of Re" is able to cure her venomous bite. For
further discussion of the mythological text on naos no. 2248 from Ismailia, cf. also Griffith, Antiquities of
Tell el Yahudtyeh, pp. 70-74; Goyon, op cit., pp. 1-42; Schumacher, Der Gott Sopdu, pp. 179-184;
Verhoeven, in Verhoeven and Graefe, eds., Religion undPhilosophie im Alten Agypten, pp. 319-330;
Goedicke, Agypten undLevante 3 (1992): 61; Sternberg el-Hotabi, in Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten
Testaments, Vol. 3, Lief. 5, pp. 1006-1017; Loprieno, in Loprieno, ed., Ancient Egyptian Literature, pp.
293-294; Schneider, in Brodbeck, ed., Em agyptisches Glasperlenspiel, pp. 207-242, with references For
discussion of the significance of the .frry-hair of the goddess of the eye of the sun in the Tale of the
Herdsman, see Darnell, in Melville and Slotsky, eds., Opening the Tablet Box, pp. 115-120.
170
Since the following line refers to the rising (wbn) of the Golden One in the sky, the phrase shtp=s
("when she is pacified") probably refers not only to the "pacifying" of the goddess, but also to the "setting"
of the goddess. In his discussion of the hymn to the Golden One in the temple of Medamud, Darnell, SAK
22 (1995): 52, suggests that the Golden One—as the solar disk at night—"rises at the beginning of the
nocturnal celebration, and sets when it concludes in deep night."
100
Adoration of the Golden One when she rises in the sky.
Unto you is everything in the sky in which Re is;
Unto you is everything in the earth in which Geb is.
There is no god who does what displeases you when you appear.
Proceed, majesty, to the place where you desire.
There is no ha[rm] (to) her when [she dejscends [upon] the unwilling one.
My mistress, come and protect king Nebmaatre, given life.
Make him healthy in the eastern side of the sky.
May he be happy, uninjured, and healthy in the horizon.
It is when the Golden One exists, that the entire two lands pacify her.172
Desire that he live!
Cause him to live for millions of years, a million times!
Concern yourself with this as a protection!
Bottom Register: Song of Chantresses:
wn cS.wy
pr ntr wcb
The double-doors are open,

so that the god may go forth pure.
Bottom Register: Hymn to Sobek:
iw nn (m) hw=f nsw.t Nb-M?.t-Rr

mi m(y) Sbk n si Rc Imn-htp hk?-W?s.t di rnh
ir-k mrr.t=f
The translation of this line is very uncertain; as understood here, the line is grammatically parallel to the
line above that reads: "There is no god who does what displeases you when you appear." When the
goddess "descends" upon the "unwilling one," she appears as the angry form of the solar eye goddess who
must be pacified. In this context the "unwilling one" is most likely Seth or Apophis. In lines 22-23 of a
21 st Dynasty decree of Amun-Re, hdnn.w, the "unwilling ones," refer to the enemies of Amun-Re (Daressy,
ASAE 18 (1919): 218-224):
m.k hrw pi spr wr $ps n Jmn-Rr nsw.t ntr.wply it nfr
[m...tw] hrw-ib
mtw rwi hdnn.w nb.w hr.w nb.w kn.w nb.w $pt nb nhi.t ib
"Hear the voice of the great and noble petition of Amun-Re, lord of the gods, the good father,
... content of heart,
and expelling all the unwilling ones, all weapons, all offences, all the anger and sadness."
172
The ms.w-nsw.t ("royal daughters") pacify Hathor as the wandering solar eye goddess in the Medamud
Hymn (Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 54-55):
shtp twt msw-nsw.t m mr.t
hry.w-tp.w hr klb n=t wdb.w
"When the royal daughters pacify you with what is desired,
the officials consecrate offerings to you."
Darnell, loc. cit., suggests that the royal daughters pacified the goddess by shaking Hathoric musical
instruments, such as sistra and mm'.f-necklaces.
101
This is his protection, namely king Nebmaatre;
Come, Sobek, to the Son of Re, Amenhotep Ruler of Thebes, given life,
that you may do what he desires.
Bottom Register: Dancers:
Bhm
Dancing.173
Bottom Register: Song of the Clapping Women:
hs. hnn sp-2 ir m hnn bn(n)
Singing: "Jubilate, jubilate! Make jubilation! Be effusive!"174
Bottom Register: Short Hymn to the Golden One:

m=t sw ir-fn=t 7hy-wrb
nsw.t bity Nb-MSrJ-Rc
s? Rr Jmn-htp h& Wls.t
iry-fhb-sd
Behold him as he acts as the Pure-Ihy175 for you,

King of Upper & Lower Egypt, Nebmaatre,
Son of Re, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes,
so that he might celebrate the Sed Festival.
The women depicted in the bottom register of Scene 4 sing a hymn to the Golden
One—a form of the goddess Hathor—and perform Hathoric musical and dance rituals
throughout the night. The musical and dance rituals described in this lengthy hymn to
Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 49, textnote e, has suggested that iihm is an unusual
orthography oflhb (Wb. 1, 118.12-17), "to dance."
174
Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 49, textnote i, has suggested that bn(n) (Wb., 1,
460.5) is used figuratively ("be effusive") rather than literally ("overflow").
175
For discussion of 1hy-wrb as a form of the god Ihy who presents libation offerings to his mother Hathor,
see Cauville, BIFA091 (1991): 99-117.
176
Hathor's epithet, the "Golden One," refers to the solar aspect of this goddess; for discussion of Hathor as
the Golden One, see Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 47-94; Darnell, SAK24 (1997): 35-48, especially 42, footnote
47; Darnell, in Friedman, etal., JARCE 36 (1999): 27-29, with references; Darnell, in David and Wilson,
eds., Inscribed Landscapes, pp. 113-114; Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen,
Vol. 4, pp. 180-182. The hymn to the Golden One in the temple of Medamud similarly describes the
performance of nocturnal musical and dance performances for the goddess; for transliteration and
102
the Golden One take place throughout the entire night and are closely associated with the
nocturnal journey of the solar disk through the underworld. The rituals begin in the early
evening (during hiwy and mSrw) around the time of sunset when torches for the nocturnal
rituals are lit and the solar disk descends into the western horizon—an act that the
Egyptians viewed as a sexual union between the solar deity and the sky goddess.177 The
rituals continue into the deep night (w$3w) and conclude with the appearance of the
healthy, happy, and uninjured king at sunrise in the horizon (3h.t) of the eastern side of
the sky (hr Bby n p.t) where the rebirth of the solar deity takes place. As the womb that
carries and protects the solar deity, Hathor plays an important role in the rebirth of the
solar deity; in the hymn in the bottom register in Scene 4, the Golden One protects the
king and ensures his wellbeing in the eastern horizon.178 Thus, by associating himself
with the solar deity's rebirth in the eastern horizon, the king is able to experience a
renewal of his royal power during the Sed Festival. The song of the chantresses describes
the moment of renewal when Amenhotep III exits the House of Rejoicing and the solar
translation of the Medamud Hymn with detailed commentary, see Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 47-94, with
references. For the description of the division of the night in the nocturnal rituals of the Medamud Hymn,
see especially Darnell, op. cit., pp. 49-53, 57-61.
177
For discussion of the setting of the sun as a sexual union between the solar deity and the sky goddess
Nut, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 151. For Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival palace, the "House of
Rejoicing," as a symbol for the western horizon, i.e., the symbolic sexual consort of the solar deity at
sunset, see Section 2.1.0, footnote 11. For discussion of the lighting of torches to mark the beginning of
nocturnal Hathoric celebrations in the evening, see Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 51-52, with references.
Hathor—in the form of the bovine sky goddess—is already associated with the celestial night sky in the
Predynastic Period on the famous Gerzeh Palette (Cairo 34173); for a discussion of early images of the
bovine sky goddess, see Radwan, in Czerny, ed., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 1,
pp. 275-285, with references.
178
For discussion of Hathor as the solar eye and womb of the solar deity, see references collected in
Section 1.1.2, footnote 94.
103
deity exits the underworld through the eastern horizon of the sky: "The double-doors are
open, so that the god may go forth pure."179
Three lion-masked men appear at the far left of the bottom register of Scene 4
(Fig. 148d); these lion-masked men have large, pendulous breasts and rolls of fat on
their bellies—body-features that resemble depictions of male "fecundity figures" and
depictions of the god Bes.181 A similar lion-masked figure appears in the Sed Festival
Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A Wilson, p 88, has noted a parallel for this line in the tomb of the
vizier Antefoker's wife Senet (Davies and Gardiner, Tomb ofAntefoker, pi 23)
wn ri wy p tpri ntr
"The double-doors of heaven are open, so that the god may go forth "
Another notable parallel appears in the texts of the Festival of Sokar at Medinet Habu (Epigraphic Survey,
Medinet Habu,No\ 4, pi 226,1 1, Gaballa and Kitchen, Onentaha 38 (1969) 9,64)
wn r j wy p tpri ntr wrb ti
"The double-doors of heaven are open, so that the god may go forth' May you be pure'"
A similar exclamation also appears in the ritual text of the Festival of Sokar that is recorded on Papyrus
Louvre I 3079, col 114,1 93 (Goyon, RdE20 (1968) 84,89)
wn ri wyp tpri ntr
"The double-doors of heaven are open, so that the god may go forth'"
Mikhail, GM82 (1984) 36, with references, notes that wn r> wy p tpri ntr "is an invocation which is
typical of the processions of the dead or their statues " For the "double-doors of heaven" as the doors of a
shrine, temple, or palace, see Cerny, JEA 34 (1948) 120, Goyon, op cit, p 96, note 75, Wente, in Studies
in Honor of John A Wilson, p 88, footnote 38, Darnell SAK 22 (1995) 62, Leprohon, in Hawass and
Richards, eds , The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Vol 2, pp 83-94 The double-doors that are
mentioned in this exclamation from Scene 4 of the tomb of Kheruef likely refer to the gateway of
Amenhotep's palace, the "House of Rejoicing," at Malqata, Amenhotep III and Tiye are shown leaving the
palace in Section 2 1 l,Scene5 Brovarski, Onentaha Ad (1977) 107-115, notes that the double-doors of
heaven represent the entrance to the underworld in the western horizon Since the lengthy hymn to the
Golden One emphasizes the nocturnal journey of the solar deity through the underworld, the double-doors
also likely refer to the eastern horizon where the solar deity exits the underworld and is reborn in the
morning The unusual dancing that takes place in the scenes accompanying this hymn is appropriate since
acrobatic dancing is often associated with major gateways in ritual processions, for discussion of dancing at
the gateways of religious structures during ritual processions, see Darnell, in Epigraphic Survey, Reliefs
and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple, Vol 1, p 18, with references
180
For discussion of these lion-masked men in the tomb of Kheruef, see Wente, in Studies in Honor of John
A Wilson, pp 86-87, Sourdive, La mam dans I Egypte pharaomque, pp 118-120, Meeks, in Luft, ed , The
Intellectual Heritage of Egypt, p 426, Volokhine, BSEG 18 (1994) 83-84
181
Barnes, Fecundity Figures, pp 112-116, has suggested that the term "fecundity figures" should replace
the inaccurate term "Nile gods" that has traditionally been used to describe a class of deities with large,
pendulous breasts and rolls of belly-fat For a discussion of the iconographic features of this class of
deities, see Baines, op cit, pp 83-111,117-145 In a scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the
valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, two male fecundity figures carry divine offerings—
including "seeds of the cedar tree" (pr wt r$) and "figs" (d?b w)—for the king, for discussion of this scene,
see Section 2 2 2, Panel 11 For the similarity of representations of fecundity figures and representations of
the god Bes, see Baines, op cit,pp 127-131 For further discussion of the iconography of Bes, see also
Altenmuller, in LA 1, cols 720-723, Bosse-Gnffiths, JEA 63 (1977) 98-106, Romano, BES 2 (1980) 39-
104
reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 147b);182 additionally, examples of lion-masked
figures also appear in the Old Kingdom in contexts that are not clearly associated with
the Sed Festival—for example, in a relief from the mortuary complex of Sahure at Abusir
(Fig. 154).183 The identification of these lion-masked figures as early prototypes for the
god Bes is not certain; however, Bes's later iconographic association with lions does
strongly suggest that the lion-masked figures are representatives of Bes.184 In the myth of
the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun, Bes dances for the goddess during her
winter journeys in regions to the south of Egypt in order to placate her and coax her to
return to Egypt; through his role in this myth, Bes became especially linked to the lands
56; Malaise, in Israelit-Groll, ed., Studies in Egyptology presented to Miriam Lichtheim, Vol. 2, pp. 681-
689; Dasen, Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece, pp. 57-60; Volokhine, BSEG 18 (1994): 81-95; Malaise,
in Redford, ed., Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, pp. 179-181.
182
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 15, no. 5. Gohary, in Redford, ed., Akhenaten Temple Project,
Vol. 1, p. 67, pi. 85, block 4, has suggested that two celebrants, depicted in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak, are also "priests with masks"; for further discussion of
these two figures, cf also Sourdive, La main dans I'Egyptepharaoniques, pp. 125-128. However, these
two celebrants are actually female musicians with unguent cones on their heads; for similar depictions of
female musicians on talatat blocks of Akhenaten, cf. D'Auria, in Freed, etal., eds., Pharaohs of the Sun, p.
210, cat. nos. 29, 31.
183
For an example of a lion-masked figure in the reliefs of Sahure's mortuary complex at Abusir, see
Borchardt, Grabdenkmal des Konigs Saihu-Re, Vol. 2, pp. 38-39, pi. 22. For further discussion of lion-
masked figures that appear in contexts not clearly associated with the Sed Festival, see also Capart, BIFAO
30 (1931): 73-75; Bonnet, Reallexikon der dgyptischen Religionsgeschichte, p. 109; James, Hieroglyphic
Texts from Egyptian Stelae, Vol. 1, p. 26, pi. 25.3; Wild, Les Danses sacrees, pp. 76-77,100-101; Vandier,
Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 402-403, fig. 209; Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, pp. 86-87;
AltenmUller, in LA 1, cols. 720-721; Bosse-Griffiths, JEA 63 (1977): 103-104; Sourdive, La main dans
I'Egypte pharaonique, pp. 48-69, 111-132; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 129-130, with references;
Dasen, Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece, pp. 57-58, with references; Volokhine, BSEG 18 (1994): 82-
84, with references. For further discussion of the significance of ritual masks and masking in ancient Egypt
and the Eastern Sahara, see bibliography collected in DuQuesne, Discussions in Egyptology 51 (2001): 20-
21; for further discussion of masks, cf. also Vercoutter, Dictionnaire archeologique des techniques, pp.
593-594; Huard, RdE 17 (1965): 54-56; David, BACE2 (1991): 33-40, especially pp. 37-39; Krzyzaniak
and Kroeper, Archeo-Nil 1 (1991): 59-61; Soleilhavoup, Archeo-Nil 1 (1991): 43-58; Assmann, in
Schabert, ed., Die Sprache der Mas ken, pp. 149-171; Morenz Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte 5 (2003): 212-
226.
184
For the identification of the lion-masked figures as representatives of Bes and general discussion of the
iconography of Bes, including his leonine features, see primarily Volokhine, BSEG 18 (1994): 81-95. For
the uncertainty of these lion-masked figures' association with Bes, see especially Baines, Fecundity
Figures, pp. 129-130.
105
of Nubia and Punt.185 As an extension of his role in the myth of the wandering goddess,
Bes is especially linked to the goddess Hathor, to rites of Hathoric music and dancing, to
the protection of the solar child and Harpocrates, and to childbirth in general.186 The
arm-shaped baton carried by one of the lion-masked men in the tomb of Kheruef alludes
to Nebet-Hetepet as the hand of Atum—/. e., the means by which Atum creates Shu and
Tefnut in the Heliopolitan creation myth.187 Thus, the lion-masked men who appear at
the rear of the musical and dance sequence in the bottom register of Scene 4 further
emphasize the themes of rejuvenation and solar rebirth.
The invocation of Sobek in the short hymn in Scene 4 emphasizes the
rejuvenation that the king experiences under the protection of Sobek at the celebration of
For Bes's role in the myth of the wandering godess of the eye of the sun and Bes's association with Punt
and Nubia, see Junker, Der Auszug der Hathor-Tefnut aus Nubien, p. 86; Daumas, Les mammisis des
temples egyptiens, pp. 139-143; Malaise, in Israel it-Gro 11, ed., Studies in Egyptology presented to Miriam
Lichtheim, Vol. 2, pp. 693-698, 702, with references; Meeks, in Luft, ed., The Intellectual Heritage of
Egypt, p. 433; Dasen, Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece, pp. 61-63, with references; Volokhine, BSEG
18 (1994): 86-89. Since Bes is strongly linked to Punt, the lion-masked Bes figures in the tomb of Kheruef
may in fact be related to the bearded dwarf identified as a "dancer of Punt" in the reliefs of Amenhotep
Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 120-121); for a similar
interpretation of this dancing dwarf at Soleb, see Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte pharaonique, pp. 124-
125.
186
For these associations of Bes, see especially Altenmuller, LA 1, cols. 721-722; Pinch, Orientalia 52
(1983): 412-413, with references; Pinch, Votive Offerings to Hathor, pp. 290-292; Malaise, in Israelit-
Groll, ed., Studies in Egyptology presented to Miriam Lichtheim, Vol. 2, pp. 699-714; Dasen, Dwarfs in
Ancient Egypt and Greece, pp. 67-75, 77-80. Bes also appears as a motif utilized in tattoo design by
women—particularly musicians and dancers—during the New Kingdom; for tattoos of Bes and their
connection to female musicians and dancers, see Keimer, Remarques sur le tatouage dans I'Egypte
ancienne, pp. 40-44; Poon and Quickenden, BACE 17 (2006): 128-130.
187
For the arm-shaped baton in general, see primarily, Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte pharaonique, pp.
1-132, 181-213, with references. For the use of the arm-shaped baton by lion-masked men at the Sed
Festival, see Sourdive, op. cit, pp. 111-128. Sourdive, op. cit., pp. 122-123, 181, affirms Hickmann's
suggestion that this baton symbolizes the hand of Hathor and has protective powers over the dangers of
nautical navigation and domestic life; for further discussion, cf Hickmann, BIE 37 (1954-1955): 81-122,
especially pp. 105-106; Hickmann, BIE 37 (1956): 151-190. In discussing the use of the arm-shaped baton
in the so-called mirror-dance, Hickmann, op. cit., pp. 159-160, links the baton to Nebet-Hetepet's
appearance as the hand of Atum, with which Atum masturbates and thereby creates the second generation
of deities, Shu and Tefnut, in the Heliopolitan creation myth; on this connection, cf. also Kinney, in
Donovan and McCorquodale, eds., Egyptian Art: Principles andThemes in Wall Scenes, pp. 194-195. For
further discussion of Nebet-Hetepet's role in the self-creation act of Arum in the Heliopolitan creation
myth, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7.
106
the Sed Festival.188 A parallel to this hymn to Sobek appears in the Middle Kingdom
tomb of the vizier Antefoker's wife Senet: mi Sbk n ln.i-it=f-ikr ir=k mrr.t=f, "Come,
Sobek, to Antefoker, that you may do what he desires!"189 The last part of the invocation
of Sobek in both hymns ("that you may do what he desires") almost certainly alludes to a
passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 317 in which the deceased king takes the form of
Sobek:190
h^-imSbks^Ni.t
wnm=i m ri=i
wsS=i nk=i m hnn=i
ink nb mtw.t
it hm.wt m-r hi=sn
r-s.t mrr-i hft S?r ib=i
"It is as Sobek, the son of Neith, that I appear.

It is with my mouth that I eat.
It is with my penis that I urinate and copulate.
I am the lord of semen,
who seizes the wives from the hand of their husband,
188
For Sobek and the crocodile as symbols of renewal, regeneration, eternity, and time, see Kakosy,
MDAIK20 (1965): 116-120, with references. For Sobek's associations with the gods Re, Osiris, and
Horus, see Beinlich, Das Buch vom Fayum, Vol. 1, pp. 319-322; Leitz, Lexikon der dgyptischen Gotter und
Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 6, pp. 258-260. According to Beinlich, loc. cit., Re can take the form of a
crocodile swimming through the nwn-waters of the underworld during the critical time from sunset to
sunrise when the god is mysteriously regenerated. In the records of the Khoiak Festival in the Temple of
Dendera, Horus takes the form of a crocodile to deliver the body of Osiris from the water to the temple
(Cauville, he temple de Dendara: Les chapelles osiriennes, Vol. 1, p. 23):
Hr in.n=fhr.w-ntr n Wsir hr mw m hrwpn m irw=fn sbk
r hts m Hw.t-Wsir
m rn=fn Sbk nb 'Imiw m Hw.t-ih.t
"It was in the form of a crocodile that Horus brought the divine body of Osiris on this day,
in order to complete the rites in the temple of Osiris
in his name of Sobek, lord of Imau, in the temple of the cow."
Thus, Sobek, as the most prominent crocodile god, is associated with the regeneration of Osiris that takes
place in the «wn-waters during the nocturnal journey of Re.
189
Davies and Gardiner, Tomb of Antefoker, pi. 23. Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 88-
89, footnote 39, has already noted the similarity of the hymns to Sobek in the tomb of Kheruef and in the
tomb of the vizier Antefoker's wife Senet.
190
Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, p. 261, § 510a-510d. For discussion of the use of the
perfective participle (it) to refer to a habitual action of the king in this passage, see Allen, The Inflection of
the Verb in the Pyramid Texts, p. 445, § 639. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 317, cf Allen,
The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 60, Spell W222. For a similar description of the king appearing as
Sobek, cf. also Coffin Texts Spells 268 and 285.
107
whenever I desire and according to my wish."
This passage describes the sexual potency of Sobek in terms of its rejuvenating effect
upon the deceased king during his period of regeneration in the underworld. In the
opening scene of the Litany of Re, a serpent and a crocodile act as protectors of the solar
deity in the dangerous realm of the underworld.191 In a Sed Festival relief of Ptolemy II
from Medamud, two men carry crocodile statues before the enthroned king (Fig. 155);
the incorporation of the crocodile imagery in this scene probably similarly emphasizes
the protection and rejuvenation of the king at the Sed Festival.192 The hm-ntr priest of a
crocodile god, who appears in the several scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre
at Abu Gurob, probably protects the king and assists in his rejuvenation (Fig. 156).
SCENE 5: PROCESSION OF THE ROYAL COUPLE FROM THE PALACE 1 9 4
In a scene to the left of Text 1 in the top register of the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's
first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, Amenhotep III and Tiye depart from the palace
of the House of Rejoicing at Malqata and begin to walk in a lengthy procession (Fig.
For the authoritative interpretation of the serpent and snake in the opening scene of the Litany of Re as
"emissaries" of the solar deity, see Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian
Unitypp. 273-274, with references.
192
For the offering of crocodile statues to the king at the Sed Festival of Ptolemy II at Medamud, see
Sambin and Carlotti, BIFAO 95 (1995): 451, fig. 23; Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 384, fig. 1.5.
193
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, pis. 4-5, nos. 1 lb, 12a, 12c;
Vol. 3, pi. 15, no. 252. For discussion of this priest's title, see Von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu
den Reliefs aus dent Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, p. 55.
194
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 42 and 44, pp. 49-51. For discussion of this scene, see
Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 570-571, fig. 304; Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 84, 90-
91; Kemp and O'Connor, Inter-national J'our-nal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3
(1974): 132-133; Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 26; Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., Theaterwesen und
dramatische Literatur, pp. 66-67, fig. 18; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 216;
Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, p. 66; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval
Nature of Egyptian Kingship, p. 272; Preys, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International
Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 911-919, fig. 2; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 58-
59, fig. 8.
108
157). The procession's ultimate destination is most likely the Birket Habu—i.e., the
artificial harbor where the towing of the solar barque takes place in Scene 6. Ten royal
officials, who are organized into two rows of five, lead the procession and carry the
standards of "the gods who are at the Sed Festival, who are in the retinue of his majesty."
Amenhotep III wears a broad collar, the short Sed Festival robe, the white crown, and a
fillet adorned by a falcon and a uraeus; like in Scene 1 and Scene 6, the tail feathers of
the solar falcon sprout forth from the king's robe and indicate the divinization of the king
in Scene 5.195 The goddess Hathor does not appear alongside the king in Scene 5;
however, in this scene Tiye wears the so-called Hathoric uraeus that the goddess Hathor
previously wore in Scene 1. Thus, in Scene 5 Tiye most likely appears as a human
manifestation of the goddess Hathor.196
Amenhotep III:
ntr nfr nb ti.wy Nb-M3r.t-Rc

s3 Rc mr=f'Imn-htp hkS-Wls.t
di cnh d.t
r
h .t m [km3ty] in nsw.t
Junior god, lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre,

Son of Re, his beloved, Amenhotep Ruler of Thebes,
given life forever.
Appearance in [the Sed Festival robe]197 by the king.
Wadjet:
WMy.t. di=s rnh dd wis
Wadjet, as she gives life, stability, and dominion.
Tiye:
195
For detailed discussion of this outfit's association with the solar falcon, see Section 1.1.2.
196
For a similar interpretation of the divinity of Tiye in this scene, see Preys, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of
the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 911-919.
197
For kmity as a designation of the royal Sed Festival robe, see Wb. 5, 38.11.
109
iry(.t)-pc.t wr.t hsw.t
hnw.t Srrf.w Mhw hm.t-nsw.t wr.t mr.t-f
Tiy cnh.ti
hF.tm [...] d.t sp2
Noblewoman, great of praise,

Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt, chief wife of the king, whom he loves,
Tiye, may she live.
Appearance in [...] forever and ever.
Protection of King:
[...] h?=fnb mi Rr rc-nb

[...] all surround him like Re every day.
Palace:
r
h=f n pr hcy
His palace of the House of Rejoicing.
Divine Standards:198
Wp-wlw.t [....] nb [...] nb [...] nb [...] d.t

Wp-wlw.t Mhw
Nhn n nsw.t
Dhwty
Hr
ntr.w imy.w hb-sd wnny.w m Sms.w hm-f
Wepwawet, [...] all [...] all [...] all [...] forever;

Wepwawet of Lower Egypt;
Nekhen of the king;199
Thoth;
Horus.
The gods who are at the Sed Festival, who are in the retinue of his majesty.
Officials/Standard-Bearers:
hm-ntr
The same group of standards appears at the front of the solar barque in Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
199
For the now outdated interpretation of this standard as the placenta of the king, see with caution
Seligman and Murray, Man 11 (1911): 165-171. For a much more sensible interpretation of this standard
as the royal throne cushion, see Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 34-39, with
references.
110
hm-ntr
hm-ntr
hm-ntr
hry-hb hry-tp
Priest;
Priest;
Priest;
Priest;
Chief Lector Priest.
hm-ntr
hm-ntr
hry-nws
[...]
Priest;
Priest;
Insignia-bearer;
[-];
The king's departure through the gates of the House of Rejoicing at Malqata
symbolically mirrors the solar deity's exit through the gates of the underworld in the
eastern horizon of the sky after his nocturnal journey. Upon departing the underworld,
the solar deity is reborn as the solar disk in the morning. Through his ceremonial
costume, Amenhotep III identifies himself with the solar falcon and indicates that he too
shares in solar rebirth during the rites of his first Sed Festival. In the Sed Festival reliefs
of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, the king's departure from his Sed Festival
palace prefaces the performance of the Konigslauf (Fig. 27) and the royal palanquin
procession (Figs. 80-81).200 Numerous scenes from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first
Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb depict the king and queen arriving at the entrance to
For discussion of the Konigslauf sequence from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre (von Bissing and
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 33b, 34), see Section 2.2.3, Scene 8; Section
4.3.3. For discussion of Niuserre's departure from the Sed Festival palace prior to the royal palanquin
procession (von Bissing and Kees, op. cit, Vol. 2, nos. 39-43), see Section 2.2.3, Scene 11; Section 1.1.2.
Ill
the palace in order to rest (htp) after performing various rituals (Fig. 158).201 These
scenes from the Temple of Soleb probably allude to the solar deities's entrance into the
underworld through the western horizon of the sky at sunset, which the Egyptians
interpreted as a sexual union between the solar deity and the sky goddess.202 Amenhotep
Ill's departure from the palace in Scene 5 of the reliefs of his first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef represents the end result of the process of renewal that begins at
sunset—i.e., the rebirth of the solar disk in the eastern horizon at sunrise.
SCENE 6: TOWING OF THE SOLAR BARQUE 2 0 3
At the far left of the top register of the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, Tiye and Amenhotep III stand inside a kiosk on the deck
of the divine night barque of the solar deity (Fig. 159). Four royal officials, including
Kheruef, accompany the royal couple on board the night barque. On shore a large crew
of officials takes up a long prowrope and tows the barque along the waters of a
ceremonial harbor.
zul
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 94-95, 99-101, 105-106, 110-111, 115-116,120-121,126-127, 129, 131-
132.
202
The name of Amenhotep Ill's palace, "House of Rejoicing," alludes to the sexual union of the solar
deity and the western horizon at sunset; for discussion of sexual symbolism of the term House of Rejoicing,
see Section 2.1.0, footnote 11.
203
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 44-46, pp. 52-54. For discussion of this scene, see Wente, in
Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 84, 90-91; Kemp and O'Connor, International Journal of Nautical
Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 132-133; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a
Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 215-216; Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, pp.
69, 71, fig. 21; Roberts, Hathor Rising, p. 26; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian
Kingship, pp. 272-274; Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign,
pp. 86-87; Johnson, JEA 82 (1996): 67; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 6; Cabrol,
Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, pp. 195, 199, fig. 50; Brovarski, The Senedjemib Complex, Vol. 1, p. 98;
Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos Staat, p. 232; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 58, 93; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun'sArmies, pp. 22-23; Karlshausen, L'iconographie
de la barque processionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire, p. 114. For the suggestion that the images
of the king and queen in the barque in Scene 6 are actually statues, see Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., loc. cit;
Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., loc. cit.; Kemp, loc. cit.
112
The Towers of the Night Barque:
smr.w nw stp-s? rnh(.w) wdS(.w) snb(.w) sr.w wr.w nw ... \T)mn

st?=s[ri] nsw.t [m m]sk[t.t] ...
hn-n[=f\ ...
As for the companions of the palace, l.p.h., the officials, chiefs of... [A]mun,
th[ey] tow the king [in the n]ig[ht barque]...,
after [he] has alighted ...
imy-ri wrr.wt mh.t.t
wr.w
Overseer of the northern administrative divisions,
Great ones,
Officials in the Night Barque:
hrp ch sS-nsw.t imy-rt pr n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t mr.t-fTiy Hry.w=f [mSc hrw]

[iry-pr.t h^.ty-c] smr wr.ty
[tl-ty] s?b rty.ty
hry-hb hry-tp
Controller of the palace, royal scribe, and steward of the chief wife of the king,
whom he loves, Tiye, Kheruef, [justified];
[Nobleman, count], sole companion;
[Vizier], he of the curtain, dignitary;
Chief lector priest.
Divine Standards in the Night Barque:
Wp-w3w.t Mhw
[Wp-w?w.t]
Nhn n nsw.t
Hr
Dhwty
Wepwawet of Lower Egypt,

[Wepwawet],
Nekhen of the king,
Horus,
Thoth.
Amenhotep III and Tiye in the Night Barque:
113
... Nb-M?.t-Rc
... 7[mn]-htphk3W3s.t
[htp ms]kt.t in nsw.t
... Nebmaatre,
... A[men]hotep, Ruler of Thebes,
[Occupying the ni]ght barque by the king.
Hieroglyphic Text of Year 30:
hsb.t 30 ?bd 3 Smw [sw] ...

[h]r [hm n Hr] ki nht If [m] mir.t di cnh
Nb.ty smn hp.w sgrh ti.wy
[Hr nbw] rS hpS hwy St.ty.w
nsw.t-bl.ty nb ti.wy Nb-M3r.t-Rr
s3 Rr lmn\-htp hkl Wls.t]
... nht si 'Imn
r htp tnti.t n.t ms sw m hb-sd
ir(.i).n=fhr imn.t n(.t) niw.t
$sp tp-wi.t in [hm=fr tr] n hcpy rS
r hn.t ntr.w hb-sd
... mry Imn
hn Py.w... [m m]skt.t nfnd.t...
Year 30, third month of Shomu, day ...,

[un]der [the majesty of Horus], victorious bull, who appears [in] truth, given life;
Two ladies, who establishes laws, who pacifies the two lands,
[Golden Horus], strong of forearm, who smites the Asiatics,
King of Upper & Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre,
Son of Re, Amen[hotep, Ruler of Thebes];204
... victorious, Son of Re,
to occupy the tnti. t-dais of the one who created him at the Sed Festival,
which he constructed on the west bank of Thebes.205
Making of the journey by [his majesty at the time] of high Nile,
to transport the gods of the Sed Festival by rowing,
... beloved of Amun.
The rowing of those of Pe .... [in the ni]ght barque and the day barque ...
Amenhotep Ill's titulary in this scene is comprised primarily of typical formulaic epithets; for discussion
of the individual epithets and their connection to royal ideology, see Schade-Busch, Zur Konigsideologie
Amenophis'III., especially pp. 10-30.
205
Without the emendation of the text to ir(.t).n-f, the meaning of this line is uncertain. The expression
"Sed Festival that he performed" {hb-sd ir.n=f) is grammatically possible; however, this expression does
not make sense temporally since it suggests that the Sed Festival had already been completed by the time
Amenhotep III occupied the tntl.t-dais. The proposed interpretation of this line ("tnrt.t-dais ... that he
constructed") solves this temporal problem.
114
hd tl <n>
StS st
rdi.t wdl=sn r rhr.w-sn
ir.t n-sn wp.t-r?
rdi.t mSr ... iwi.w wnm.w hr m ...
... nb nsw.t tS.wy ntr.w
nb.w hb.w-sd r£>.w wr.t
di rnh mi Rr d.t
That the day is about to dawn is <for>:206

towing them;
causing that they proceed to their stations;
the performance of the Opening of the Mouth for them;
causing the sacrifice of... oxen and small cattle, a thousand of...
... [for whom Amon-Re,] lord of the thrones of the two lands,
and all the gods [decreed] very many Sed Festivals,
given life like Re forever.
The primary theme of the nautical procession in Scene 6 is the rejuvenation of the
divinized king, who is transformed into the solar deity through the rites of the Sed
Festival.207 Like in Scenes 1 and 5, Amenhotep III wears a short Sed Festival robe with a
feather-shaped adornment as an indicator of his transformation into the solar falcon.208
The goddess Hathor does not appear in Scene 6; however, Tiye appears alongside the
king as the embodiment of the human and divine aspects of Egyptian queenship.209 The
rejuvenation of the king in Scene 6 is linked primarily to the rebirth of the solar deity
after the god's nocturnal journey through the underworld; additionally the king's
206
For a discussion of the proper grammatical use of the expression hd ti in Egyptian, see Gilula, in Studies
in Honor of George R. Hughes, pp. 75-82. While several different grammatical interpretations are possible
here, n has been restored to create an emphasized prepositional phrase with the following four infinitives.
207
For a similar interpretation, see especially Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 90-91;
Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 272-274; Johnson, in O'Connor and
Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 86-88; Johnson, JEA 82 (1996): 67; Hornung
and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 58, 93; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-
23.
208
For a discussion of the king's costume in this scene as evidence of his divine transformation into the
solar falcon, see Section 1.1.2.
209
For a similar interpretation of divine and human attributes of Tiye in this scene, see primarily Preys, in
Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 911-919.
115
rejuvenation results from the hieros gamos and from the performance of the Opening of
the Mouth ceremony.
Already transformed into the solar deity, as his costume in Scene 6 indicates,
Amenhotep III stands with Tiye in the solar night barque as a large crew of royal officials
tows the barque through the waters of a ceremonial harbor at Thebes.210 Though Scene 6
depicts only the night barque, the text accompanying the scene indicates that both the
night barque (mskt.t) and the day barque {nfnd.i) of the solar deity were used during the
nautical procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. The use of the day barque and
the night barque at the Sed Festival clearly links the nautical procession to the perpetuum
mobile of the solar deity's cyclical journey through the underworld at night and through
the sky during the day.211 In all likelihood, Amenhotep III attempted to mirror the solar
deity's east-to-west daily journey and west-to-east nightly journey by traveling back and
forth between the artificial harbors he constructed on the west bank and the east bank of
the Nile at Thebes (the Birket Habu and the Eastern Birket).212 The text accompanying
Scene 6 specifies that the ritual boat procession took place at daybreak—i.e., the time
when the sun rises in the eastern horizon after the completion of the solar deity's
The network of waterways that Amenhotep III constructed for the rituals of his Sed Festivals included
artificial harbors on both banks of the Nile—the Birket Habu on the west bank and the Eastern Birket on
the east bank. For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's contraction of a large ritual waterway at Thebes, see
Section 2.1.0; Section 7.5.
211
For similar intepretation of the significance of the night barque and day barque used during the boat
procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st
ed., pp. 215-216; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 272-274; Darnell and
Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23. For further discussion of the boat procession's connection to
the solar cycle at the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, see Section 2.1.0; Section 2.1.1, Text 1; Section
7.4.2; Section 7.4.3. For Egyptian religious beliefs concerning solar deity's journey through the
underworld at night, as expressed in the underworld books, see primarily Hornung, Die Nachtfahrt der
Sonne.
212
For the route of Amenhotep Ill's boat procession including stops in the Birket Habu and the Eastern
Habu, see Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 22-23.
116
nocturnal journey through the underworld. According to the religious beliefs of the
ancient Egyptians, the deceased could hope to gain renewed life by associating himself
with the solar deity during the god's nocturnal journey; however, during the celebration
of his first Sed Festival, Amenhotep III gained the special ability to rejuvenate himself
while still alive through his ritual journey on the solar night barque.
Several elements of the decoration of the night barque in Scene 6 support the
interpretation of the scene as a representation of the symbolic rebirth of Amenhotep III as
the solar deity at daybreak. The prow of the night barque in Scene 6 is adorned with the
solar mat, a decorative element of the solar barque that is made from woven marsh plants
(Phragmites communis) or beaded cloth that mimics these plants; the colors of the plant's
red stems and green leaves probably symbolize the illuminating and regenerative aspects
of the journey of the solar deity.214 The depictions of the solar barque in the various
hours of the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night in the tomb of Ramesses VI
suggest that the solar mat is especially linked to the nocturnal journey of solar deity and
to the periods of transition between the day and the night—i.e., sunrise and sunset.215
As Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23, point out, the appearance of the living king
on the solar day barque is not unusual; however, a ritual procession on the night barque is quite unusual for
the living king. Thus, according to Darnell and Manassa, op. cit, p. 23, the ritual boat procession of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival reflects a startling new contribution to Egyptian royal ideology: "The
rituals enacted at Malqata ensured that Amenhotep III was not simply rejuvenated like previous rulers who
celebrated jubilees, but that he also underwent the transformation and physical journey that no ruler should
actually experience until after death."
214
For discussion of the solar mat adorning the prow of the solar barque, see primarily Thomas, JEA 45
(1959): 38-51; Goebs, GM165 (1998): 57-71, with references. Patch, JARCE 32 (1995): 93-116, suggests
that the royal beaded apron that is sometimes adorned by a swallow-shaped amulet (sii.t) derives from the
solar mat and symbolizes solar rebirth; for further discussion of this royal beaded apron, cf. also Grimm,
ZAS 166 (1989): 138-142; Grimm, GM 115 (1990): 33-45; Hellinckx, JEA 83 (1997): 109-125. For
discussion of the ancient Egyptian religious understanding of the connection between the growth of plants
and the light of solar rays, see Wiebach-Koepke, in Waitkus, ed., Diener des Horus, pp. 283-306; Wiebach-
Koepke, SAK 38 (2009): 355-378; Wiebach-Koepke, in Maravelia, ed., En quite de la lumiere, pp. 51-70.
215
For a similar conclusion regarding the solar mat in the depiction of the Book of the Day and the Book of
the Night in the tomb of Ramesses VI, see Goebs, GM 165 (1998): 57-71. For the Book of the Day and the
117
The three 8w-feathers that appear at the feet of the officials on the barque just to the left
of the solar mat in Scene 6 of the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival probably
symbolize the radiant qualities of the solar barque in the waning moments of the night
just before sunrise; in the Book of the Night in the tomb of Ramesses VI, j?w-feathers
appear on the solar mat only in the twelfth hour of the night.216 The child who appears
among the budding marsh plants above the solar mat of the night barque in Scene 6 is the
solar child—i.e., the reborn, rejuvenated form of the solar deity who appears in the
eastern horizon at sunrise.217 Thus, the depiction of the solar mat, the solar child, and the
Sw-feathers at the prow of the night barque in Scene 6 suggests that this scene represents
the concluding moments of the nocturnal journey of the solar deity when the rejuvenated
solar deity prepares to exit the night barque and board the day barque. If Amenhotep
Ill's boat procession began and ended on the west bank of the Nile at Malqata, where his
Sed Festival palace was located, then the king would have boarded the night barque in the
Book of the Night in the tomb of Ramesses VI, see Piankoff, Le Livre dujour et de la nuit; Piankoff, The
Tomb of Ramesses VI, Vol. 1, pis. 149-159,186-196. In the depiction of the Book of the Day in the tomb
of Ramesses VI, the solar mat is present on the prow of the solar day barque in the first, second, eleventh,
and twelfth hours of the day; in the depiction of the Book of the Night in the same tomb, the solar mat is
present on the prow of the solar night barque in every hour of the night except the first. For further
discussion of the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night, cf. also Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian
Books of the Afterlife, pp. 116-135, 178-179, with annotated bibliography. For a new textual edition of the
various versions of the Book of the Night with translation and commentary, see Roulin, Le Livre de la Nuit,
Vols. 1-2. For a new textual edition of the various versions of the Book of the Day, see MUller-Roth, Das
Buck vom Tage.
216
For discussion of the four ^-feathers that appear on the solar mat in the twelfth hour of the Book of the
Night in the tomb of Ramesses VI, see Goebs, GM165 (1998): 64.
217
For the identification of the young child, who appears above the solar mat on the prow of the night
barque in the Book of the Night in the tomb of Ramesses VI, as the solar child, see Goebs, GM 165 (1998):
60, 62-63, 65. For further discussion of the solar child who appears amongst marsh plants on the solar
barque, see Feucht, SAK11 (1984): 401-419, especially 411.
218
In depictions of the solar deity's transfer from the night barque to the day barque at sunrise, the two
barques face each other prow to prow; the prows of both barques are typically adorned with the solar mat.
For discussion of scenes depicting the solar deity's transfer from one barque to another, see Thomas, JEA
42 (1956): 65-79, with references.
118
Birket Habu in the final hours of the night, traveled across the Nile to the east bank,
boarded the day barque in the Eastern Habu at sunrise, and traveled back across the Nile
to Malqata as the resplendent, reborn solar child. Thus, Scene 6 depicts the king shortly
before his transfer to the day barque and his solar rebirth.
The text of Scene 6 indicates that Amenhotep III occupied the tnrt.t-dais in the
third month of Shomu during regnal year 30; however, the royal boat procession is said to
have taken place during the time of the "high Nile" (hrpy r3)—presumably around the
beginning of the New Year when the inundation of the Nile Valley occurred.219 From a
practical perspective, the flooding of the Nile would have made travel on the Nile easier
and provided Amenhotep III with good access to the Birket Habu and the Eastern Birket
during the nautical procession of his first Sed Festival.220 The performance of this ritual
barque procession during the period of inundation also links the ritual to the myth of the
wandering goddess of the eye of the sun, whose return to Egypt marks the beginning of
the inundation, the New Year, and a period of celebration.221 When properly channeled,
For discussion of the date(s) of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1. According
to Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum SedFest, p. 39: "Aus mehreren Bezeugungen aber wird
deutlich, dass man mit einem Sedfest eine besonders hohe Niluberschwemmung verbunden hat—ob nur als
Idealvorstellung oder auch in der (nachgebesserten) Realitat, bleibe dahingestellt."
220
For discussion of the relative ease of navigation on the Nile during the inundation season, see Bonneau,
La crue du Nil, pp. 96-101; Darnell, in Johnson, ed., Life in a Multi-Cultural Society, pp. 70-71, with
references. Kemp and O'Connor, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater
Exploration 3 (1974): 109, note that a canal, marked by mounds of sand on either side, extends from the
eastern side of the Birket Habu towards the Nile, but does not reach all the way to the Nile. Kemp and
O'Connor, loc. cit., suggest that it is "probable that the canal was actually quite long but that its spoil
heaps, considerably smaller than those produced by the harbour itself, were destroyed by centuries of
cultivation following the abandonment and silting up of the canal." However, based on their
reconstructions, Kemp and O'Connor, op. cit., p. 128, ultimately conclude that "it would not appear likely
that the Birket Habu was usable for ships during low Nile." Thus, the Birket Habu may have been used
primarily for rituals that occurred during the inundation; during this period, floodwaters would have
extended far enough west to fill the Birket Habu and its associated network of canals with water.
221
The Egyptians celebrated the return of the wandering goddess, the beginning of the inundation period,
and the New Year with festivals, e.g., the Festival of Drunkenness on day 20 of the first month of Akhet;
for discussion of the return of the goddess and associated festivals, see, e.g., Verhoeven and Derchain, Le
119
the power of Sakhmet, the violent leonine form of the wandering goddess, had a great
creative potential and could assist the king during the ritual renewal of royal power at the
Sed Festival.222 After the return of the pacified wandering goddess to Egypt, a hieros
gamos took place between Hathor and the solar creator god.223 Having transformed into
the solar falcon during the rites of his first Sed Festival, Amenhotep III takes the place of
the solar deity during the hieros gamos; as the embodiment of divine queenship, Tiye
plays the role of Hathor during this sexual union.224 Through the hieros gamos, the
creative powers of the solar deity are transferred to the king, who is then able to
rejuvenate himself. The inundation waters that the wandering goddess brings with her to
Egypt mirror the chaotic state of the cosmos before the original creation act; the hieros
gamos inspires the creator god to create, and, as a result, new life springs forth from the
225
nwft-waters.
Like the solar barque procession and the hieros gamos, the performance of the
Opening of the Mouth ceremony also serves as a ritual method of rejuvenation in Scene
6. The text describing the performance of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony in Scene
voyage de la deesse libyque; Kessler, SAK 15 (1988): 171-196; Spalinger, SAK20 (1993): 289-303;
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 47-94; Darnell, SAK 24 (1997): 35-48; Inconnu-Bocquillon, Le mythe de la Deesse
Lointaine a Philae. For a recent discussion of the cult of the Nile and the inundation, see Prell, SAK 38
(2009): 211-257.
222
For the potentially beneficial aspects of the angry form of the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun,
see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 57-61, 84-87.
223
For discussion of the hieros gamos that occurred upon the return of the wandering goddess to Egypt, see
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 57-61, 88-91.
224
For a similar interpretation of the sexual union of the king and queen in Scene 6, see Wente, in Studies
in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 83-91, especially 90-91; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of
Egyptian Kingship, pp. 272-27'4.
225
Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23, similarly compare Amenhotep Ill's boat
procession in the solar night barque to the solar deity's nightly travel through "primordial waters, out of
which creation originally arose," in the fifth hour of the Book of Amduat.
120
6 is—to a certain extent—ambiguous with regard to the identity of the recipients of the
ceremony's rejuvating effects: ir.t n-sn wp.t-ri, "the performance of the Opening of the
Mouth for them." The pronoun "them" probably refers to the divine standards at the
front of the solar barque in Scene 6—i.e., the "gods of the Sed Festival." In a relief from
the Chateau de l'Or at Karnak that probably depicts a scene from the celebration of the
Sed Festival (Fig. 160), Tuthmosis III performs the Opening of the Mouth ceremony for a
divine statue of Amun that is resting within a shrine on the deck of a ceremonial
barque.226 However, the pronoun "them" in the description of the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony in Scene 6 could also possibly refer to the royal couple standing upon the deck
of the solar barque. In Pyramid Texts Spell 407, the Opening of the Mouth ceremony is
performed for the deceased king when he appears as a seated occupant of the "barque of
Re" during a ritual nautical procession through the netherworld.227
In funerary contexts the rites of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony symbolically
brought renewed life to the mummy of the deceased; however, the rites of the Opening of
the Mouth ceremony also effected a similar result when performed upon divine statuary
in Egyptian cultic practice.228 The ritual slaughter of cattle, which also occurs in Scene 6,
is a well-known ritual component of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.229 During the
226
For this scene from the Chateau de l'Or at Karnak, see Traunecker, CR1PEL 11 (1989): 96-99, 106-107,
figs. 4-5. For detailed discussion of the scene's connection to the Sed Festival, see Section 7.4.1.
227
For Pyramid Texts Spell 407, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, pp. 387-391, § 710-
713). For a full translation of this spell, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 93, Spell T284.
For detailed discussion of the symbolism of the nautical imagery in this spell, see Section 7.4.3.
For discussion of the overall purpose and symbolism of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, see Otto,
Das Agyptische Mundoffnungsritual; Roth, JEA 78 (1992): 113-147; Roth, JEA 79 (1993): 57-79; Fischer-
Elfert, Die Vision von der Statue im Stein; Roth, in Redford, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient
Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 605-609.
229
For the ritual slaughter of oxen in Scenes 23-25 and Scenes 43-45 of the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony, see Otto, Das Agyptische Mundoffnungsritual, Vol. 1, pp. 43-55, 96-104; Vol. 2, pp. 73-80, 102-
121
ritual slaughtering of the bull at the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, the presentation of
the foreleg and heart of a bull to the deceased symbolize the destruction of enemies and
the providing of sustenance—both of which were necessary for the renewal of the
deceased individual or the divine statue. The combination of the solar boat procession,
the hieros gamos, and the Opening of the Mouth ceremony during the first Sed Festival
of Amenhotep III brings together several distinct rituals that effect the same result—the
rejuvenation of the king and the "gods of the Sed Festival."
SCENE 7: MUSICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE ROYAL DAUGHTERS 230
Above the officials who tow the night barque in Scene 6, a group of royal women
stands on shore and greets the royal couple on the night barque by shaking various
Hathoric implements (Fig. 161). Unfortunately, the depictions of the royal women and
the accompanying texts that identify them are considerably damaged in this scene. At
least two of the women bear the title s3.t-nsw.t, "royal daughter"; another woman, who is
identified as sn.t-f, "his sister," may possibly be a "royal sister." The royal women in
106; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177; TeVelde, Seth: God of Confusion, pp. 87-89; Gordon and Schwabe, in
Eyre, ed., Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 461-469; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 53-
54. For detailed discussion of the butchery episodes of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 2; Section 5.3.
230
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis. 44-45, pp. 51-53. For discussion of this scene, see Wente, in
Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 84-85; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 89-90; Green, Queens and
Princesses of the Amarna Period, pp. 432-433; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian
Kingship, pp. 272-273; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth International
Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp. 1959-1965, especially pp. 1962-1965; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: he
magnifique, pp. 148-149; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos Staat, pp. 232-233.
231
For general discussion of the daughters of Amenhotep III and Tiye, see, e.g., Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le
magnifique, pp. 141-162. On the title sl.t-nsw.t see Schmitz, Untersuchungen zum Titel sl-njswt; Schmitz,
in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 659-661; Helck, CdE 44 (1944): 22-26; Robins, GM52 (1981): 75-81; Troy, Patterns of
Queenship, pp. 104-114; Robins, Wepwawet 3 (1987): 15-17; Baud, Famille royale etpouvoir, pp. 162-
170, 185-189, 345-350; Fischer, Egyptian Women of the Old Kingdom, pp. 47-48; Dodson and Hilton,
Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, pp. 34-35. On the title sn.t-nsw.t see Schmitz, in LA, Vol. 3,
col. 659; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p. 106; Dodson and Hilton, Complete Royal Families of Ancient
Egypt, p. 35.
122
this scene wear long, diaphanous robes and floral crowns with platform bases;232 they
carry three types of musical implements—sistra, mn/i-necklaces, and gazelle-headed
wands.
Hymn of the Royal Daughters at the Solar Barque Procession:233
s\tl ms.w]-nsw.t [r hS.t] ... [n.t] hn.t
Bringing forward of the] royal [daughters at the front] ... [of] the nautical procession.
[$sp]=k [h?.U] n=t

mskt.t wSr.t rrfnd.t
hn.n-k ntr.w hb-sd
... d.t[=k] [hr] wl.t
\jjf\.w [R*] mn(.w) m tp=k

nhh d.t n hr=k
... you...,
with the result that you [take up the prowrope] of the night barque
and the towrope of the day barque,
after you have transported the gods of the Sed Festival by rowing,
... [your] self [upon] the path.
...you...,
[the diadem] s [of Re] being fixed upon your head,
as eternity and infinite time are before you.
Four Pairs of Royal Daughters .235
232
For discussion of floral crowns worn by royal women of the New Kingdom, see Schafer, Die
altagyptischen prunkgefasse, pp. 12-13,27; Appelt, MDAIK 1 (1930):153-157; Keimer, MDAIK2 (1931):
137-138; Kantor, Plant Ornamentation in the Ancient Near East, pp. 147-148, 159; Wilkinson, Ancient
Egyptian Jewellery, pp. 116-117, 152-154; Troy, Patterns of Queenship, pp. 121-122. Troy, loc. cit,
suggests that the plants adorning these crowns are swamp-plants; she connects this type of crown to Wadjet
and the myth of Horus's birth in the Lower Egyptian Delta. If the plants on the crown are papyri, as
Kantor, loc. cit, has suggested, they may also be related to the ritual of sSS-wid n Hw.t-Hr ("shaking the
papyri for Hathor") and the hieros gamos. Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 57, points out that floral crowns are
associated with nocturnal ritual activity.
233
Very little of the original hieroglyphic text is preserved in the following sections; the transliteration and
translation of the texts are based primarily on the reconstruction of the text by Wente, in Epigraphic
Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pp. 51-53.
234
The restoration of this line in Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 51, poses grammatical
problems, since the dative n=t should go before the direct object; nonetheless, at the present time, Wente's
restoration provides the best reading for this difficult line.
123
sS.t-nsw.t mr.t-f
sl.t-nsw.t mr.t-f
The royal daughter, whom he loves;

The royal daughter, whom he loves.
[ms.w]-nsw.t... [nsw.t] [ir.w] m [sSS.t m dr.t-sn]

m-r [Snfy.t n.t 'Im\n ... nb
...Hr ...
The royal [daughters] ... [the king, playing] with [the sistrum in their hands]
together with [the chantresses of Amu]n ... every ...
... Horus ...
Musical Performance for the King at the Sed Festival:
[wr.t hnr n 7mn-Rr Snfy.t ] ...

[...]=sn ntr-nfr m hb.t hb-sd hm[-f\
h[n] n Srrf dd=sn
iky ... nb.whb-sd
di hn ...
[s]hd ... [nsw].t-[bi.ty] nb tl.wyNb-Mlr.t-Rrdi r
nh
htp-fm w[ii] ...
... [...t] nb [r-dr] ... nb [hm...]
... [s3] Ih.t... mi [R?] d.t sp-2
Great one [of the dance troupe of Amun-Re and the chantresses of] ...,
as they ... the junior god in the rituals of the Sed Festival of [his] majesty.
The musical [performance] of incantation which they sing:
Sistrum-playing ... all the ... of the Sed Festival;
setting the rhythm236 ...;
[illu]minating ... King of [U&LE], lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre, given life,
as he occupies the bfarque]...
... lord of all... every ...
... [protection?] the horizon ... like [Re] forever and ever.
Four Pairs of Royal Women:237
The designation si.t-nsw.t, "royal daughter," which appears above the third and fourth pairs of women,
probably also applies to the first and second pair of women.
236
On the musical expression wdi hn, later dhn, see Bryan, BES 4 (1982): 48.
237
The text above the third and fourth pair of royal women is heavily damaged and unreadable.
124
... [Rwiw]
sn.t=f mr.t=f[$tncy.t] n(.i) Imn Hnw.t-nfr.t
... [Ruiu]rJ*
His sister, whom he loves, [the chantress] of Amun, Henutnofret;
Smcy.t [n.t] Jmn

[ir=s]n Irr.w n(w) ...
[...=s]n ... rl[mri\ ...
The chantresses [of] Amun

[as th]ey [perform] the ceremonies of...
[as th]ey ... unto A[mun]...
The fragmentary hymn sung by the royal daughters in the presence of Amenhotep
III and Tiye at the procession of the solar barque addresses the king as a manifestation of
the solar deity: "[the diadem]s [of Re] are fixed upon your head, as eternity and infinite
time are before you." These "diadems of Re" are the uraeus-serpents adorning the divine
king's crown; as an incarnation of the solar eye goddess, the uraeus-serpent is the
l
daughter of the solar deity and a representation of his fiery power. The sistra, mni.t-
Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 53, note V, tentatively restores Rwiw, the name of
Kheruef s mother, who appears in pis. 72-73.
239
Since the name Henutnofret is not attested as a sister or wife of Amenhotep III, Wente, in Epigraphic
Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, p. 53, note W, suggests that she is the sister or possibly the wife ofKheruef. For
discussion of the sisters and wives of Amenhotep III, see Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, pp. 71-73,
89-137.
240
For discussion of the uraeus as a manifestation of the solar eye goddess, the daughter of the solar deity,
see Allam, Beitrdge zum Hathorkult, pp. 109-112; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 23-25; Borghouts,
Magical Texts of Papyrus Leiden 1348, p. 183; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 47-94; Darnell, SAK24 (1997):
35-48.
241
For discussion of the ritual function of shm-sistra and s.Wi-sistra, see Davies, JEA 6 (1920): 69-72;
Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 384-386; Daumas, RdE 22 (1970): 72-73; Ziegler, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 959-
963; Tutundjian de Vartavan, Wepwawetl (1986): 26-30; Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient
Egypt, pp. 62-65; Pinch, Votive Offerings to Hathor, pp. 135-159; Capel and Markoe, Mistress of the
House, Mistress of Heaven, pp. 99, 123-124; Reynders, in Clarysse, etal., eds., Egyptian Religion: The Last
Thousand Years, pp. 1013-1026; Preys, GM188 (2002): 95-102; Fekri, ASAE 79 (2005): 103-106; Ayad,
125
necklaces,242 and gazelle-headed wands,243 which the royal daughters carry in Scene 7,
are musical instruments typically used in cultic settings to placate the goddess Hathor.
The shaking of the sistra and mn/.f-necklaces mimics the sound of rustling papyri and
alludes to a ritual known as sSS-wld n Hw.t-Hr ("shaking of the papyri for Hathor"); the
God's Wife, God's Servant, pp. 35-51. The rattling of the sistrum, which was similar to the sound of
papyrus rustling in the wind, was connected to the ritual of "shaking the papyri for Hathor" (sSS-wid n
Hw.t-Hr) and the hieros gamos; for discussion of the sound created by the shaking of the sistrum, see
especially Ziegler, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. col. 960; Pinch, op. cit., p. 156; Reynders, in Clarysse, etal., eds., p.
1020; Fekri, loc. cit.. For further discussion of the ritual significance of the sistrum, see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 4a; Section 3.2.2.
242
For discussion of the ritual function of mm'.Miecklaces, see Jequier, Frises d'Objets, pp. 73-77; Barguet,
BIFAO 52 (1953): 103-111; Hickmann, Kemi 13 (1954): 99-102; Vandier, Manuel,Vol 4, p. 386; Leclant,
in Melanges Mariette, pp. 251-284; Daumas, RdE 22 (1970): 69-70; Staehelin, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 52-53;
Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, pp. 63-65; Gosline, Discussions in Egyptology 30
(1994): 37-46; Capel and Markoe, Mistress or the House, Mistress of Heaven, pp. 99-101; Cannuyer, GM
(1997): 11-14; Preys, GM 188 (2002): 95-102; Fekri, ASAE 79 (2005): 99-106; Manniche, BACE 17
(2006): 100-103; Preys, SAK 34 (2006): 357-365; Ayad, God's Wife, God's Servant, pp. 47-49. The
shaking of mm'.?-necklaces created a rattling sound that was probably similar to the shaking of sistra; for the
musical qualities of the ran/.J-necklace, see especially Staehelin, in LA, Vol. 4, col. 52; Manniche, loc. cit;
contra Gosline, op. cit, pp. 39-40. For further discussion of the ritual significance of wn/.r-necklaces, see
Section 2.1.2, Scene 4a; Section 3.2.2.
243
For discussion of the ritual function of gazelle-headed wands, see Petrie, in Quibell, Hierakonpolis, Vol.
1, p. 7; Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, p. 84, footnote 6; Bryan, BESA (1982): pp. 47-48;
Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p. 130; Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 55; Fischer, JARCE 38 (2001): 3-5. For
Early Dynastic examples of gazelle-headed wands see Petrie, Gizeh andRifeh, pi. 4.6-7; Hickmann, BIE 37
(1956): 86; Fischer, op. cit., pp. 3-4, fig. 6. For an image of dancing women striking together pairs of
gazelle-headed wands as musical instruments in the reliefs of the fifth dynasty tomb of Inty at Deshasheh,
see Petrie, Deshasheh, pi. 12. Capart, Primitive Art in Egypt, pp. 275-276, points out that the determinative
for the word dwi.t, "underworld," in Pyramid Texts Spell 504, § 1083a, is a woman's arm holding a
gazelle-headed wand; this determinative suggests that the dance performed with gazelle-headed wands is
associated with the underworld. The gazelle-headed wand may be especially associated with cultic
performances of women of the royal family. For an image of two daughters of Ramesses II wearing
gazelle-headed diadems and carrying gazelle-headed wands at the Temple of Elkab, see Wilkinson, Ancient
Egyptian Jewellery, p. 117, fig. 51. For depictions of royal women carrying gazelle-headed wands in the
Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at the Temple of Bubastis, see Naville, The Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II,
pis. 1, 14, 25. The gazelle is also linked to the rejuvenating aspects of the solar cycle; for discussion of the
gazelles connection to the solar deity and the wandering solar eye goddess, see Troy, op. cit., pp. 129-130;
Darnell, op. cit., pp. 58, 86. The so-called "Gazellenwunderbericht," which is recorded in a rock inscription
of Montuhotep IV in the Wadi Hammamat, emphasizes the regenerative powers of the solar eye goddess
when she appears in the form of a gazelle; for discussion of this inscription, see Shirun-Grumach,
Offenbarung, Orakel und Konigsnovelle, pp. 3-8, with references.
126
soothing sound of the rustling papyrus placates the goddess and typically serves as a
4
prelude to the hieros gamos.
In the Middle Kingdom literary text, the Tale of Sinuhe, the royal daughters—in
requesting that Sesostris I have mercy upon Sinuhe—similarly address the king as a
manifestation of the solar deity, call for the uraeus to be placed upon the king's brow, and
shake sistra and mw>necklaces:245
ist rfin.n=sn mni.wt=sn shm.w=sn s$S.wt=sn

m-r=sn
ms.in=sn st n hm-fdd.in=sn
c
.wy=k r nfr.t nsw.t w3h
hkry.wt n.t nb.t p.t
di Nbw cnh rfnd=k
hnm tw nb.t sbi.w
hd8nf=s
hnt mhw-s
smi twt mrln hm=k
di=tw w3d.t m wp.t-k
shr.n=k twS.w m dw.t
htp n=k Rr nb B.wy
hy n=k mi nb.t r-dr
rift rbi-k sfh s$r=k
imi t?w nntym itm.w
imi n=n hn.t tn nfr.t
mtn pn Sl-mhy.tpd.ty msw m ti-mry
ir.n=fwrr.t n snd-k
rwi.n=ftS n hry.t=k
nn jy.t-hr n mil hr=k
244
For the ritual shaking of the papyri (s$X wid) as a prelude to the hieros gamos, see primarily Munro, Der
Unas-Friedhof Nord-West. 1., pp. 95-118,126-136. For further discussion of the ritual, cf also Balcz, ZAS
75 (1939): 32-38; Montet, Kemi 14 (1958): 102-108; Harpur, GM38 (1980): 53-61; Troy, Patterns of
Queenship, pp. 58, 75; Wettengel, SAK19 (1992): 323-338; Altenmuller, SAK 30 (2002): 1-42; Strudwick,
Texts from the Pyramid Age, p. 420. Munro, op. cit., p. 110, summarizes the key purpose of this ritual:
"Der Terminus z$$-w>d in Hw.t-Hrw) steht zwar als Schlilsselwort fur die Hochzeit und impliziert auch die
intime Vereinigung des Paares."
245
Koch, Erzahlung des Sinuhe, pp. 76-79, B268-B279. For discussion of the hymn's allusions to the
hieros gamos—the sexual union of Sesostris I and his wife—as a means to facilitate creation, life, and
rebirth, see primarily Derchain, RdE 22 (1970): 79-83. For further discussion of the royal daughters' hymn
in Sinuhe, cf. also Brunner, ZAS 80 (1955): 5-11; Westendorf, SAK 5 (1977): 293-304; Goedicke, BSEG 22
(1998): 29-36; Troy, Patterns of Queenship, pp. 58-59; Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt,
pp. 64-65; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 256-263; Gillam, JARCE 32
(1995): 216-217; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 55; Morenz, Die Welt des Orients 28 (1997): 7-17; Gillam,
Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 53-55; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of
the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, p. 1963.
127
nn snd ir.t dg.t tw
"Meanwhile, they took up their mn/./-necklaces, shm-shtxa., and s£?.f-sistra

in their hands.
Then, they presented them to his majesty, and they said:
'May your arms be upon a beautiful thing, enduring king,
(namely) the ornaments of the lady of the sky!246
May the Golden One give life to your nose!
May the lady of the stars be united with you!
May the Upper Egyptian crown travel north,
and may the Lower Egyptian crown travel south,
being joined and united in the utterance of your majesty!
May the uraeus be placed upon your brow!
Your having delivered poor men from evil is
so that Re, the lord of the two lands, might be gracious to you!
Hail to you, and likewise to the lady of all!
Slacken your grip on the scepter! Lay aside the arrow!
Give breath to the one who is suffocating!
Grant this benefaction to us!
As for this sheikh, son of the North Wind, the bowman, who was born in Egypt,
it was through fear of you that he made flight;
it was through dread of you that he left the land!
There will be no one whose face is pale from looking upon you!
There will be no one who is afraid, when the eye sees you!'"
In this hymn from the Tale of Sinuhe, Sesostris I is transformed into Re-Atum; and, in
this form, the king unites with his consort Hathor, who appears in the form of the
queen.247 The hieros gamos is a ritual symbolizing the original creation act of the
Heliopolitan myth. The king plays the role of Re-Atum; the queen plays the role of the
Hathoric goddess Nebet-Hetepet, the female element of creation—the hand of the god,
which he uses for masturbation and self-creation. With the creative power that he
The opening line of the hymn recalls a line in a drinking song recited in the Opet Procession at Luxor
Temple (Darnell, in Epigraphic Survey, Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple, Vol. 1, pp. 12-14, pi. 26,
11. 10-11):
H.t-Hr ir.t nfr.t nfr.wt n Dsr-hpr.w-Rr Stp-n-Rr
"Hathor has done the most wonderful of things for Djeserkheperure-Setepenre."
Both the hymn and the drinking song refer to the hieros gamos of Hathor and the divinized king.
247
For Re-Atum and Hathor as a "Gotterpaar," see Allam, Beitrage zum Hathorkult, pp. 113-116.
248
Since the Egyptian word for hand, dr.t, is feminine, the hand of the god serves as a vaginal substitute in
the self creation act of Re-Atum in the Heliopolitan creation myth. For the role of Nebet-Hetepet in the
128
achieves through his transformation into Re-Atum and through the hieros gamos,
Sesostris I bestows Sinuhe the Asiatic with a symbolic rebirth as an Egyptian.249
The primary function of the royal daughters' musical performance in the Tale of
Sinuhe is to invoke and pacify the goddess through the shaking of their Hathoric musical
instruments. The eight pairs of royal daughters who appear in Scene 7 of the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef most likely play a very similar
role—to invoke and placate the goddess Hathor, so that she might appear in the person of
Tiye and join with Amenhotep III in the hieros gamos; it is precisely for this purpose that
Tiye accompanies the king during the boat procession in Scene 6. In a scene from the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, eight pairs of royal
daughters who carry Hathoric musical instruments and sing a hymn in the presence of the
king and queen during the performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony
probably also fulfill this same role.250 Like the procession of the solar barque at
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony takes place at
daybreak; the performance of these two ceremonies at sunrise emphasizes the solar
rebirth that the king experiences as a result of the hieros gamos and his transformation
Heliopolitan creation myth, see Blackman, JEA 7 (1921): 12-14; Vandier, RdE 16 (1964): 55-146;
Derchain, Hathor Quadrifrons, pp. 45-49; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 60, 91-102; Refai, GM181
(2001): 89-94; Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 394-396, with
references.
249
As Westendorf, SAK 5 (1977): 293-304, notes, Sinuhe's name, which literally means "son of the
sycamore," alludes to Hathor's role in facilitating his rebirth as an Egyptian since Hathor had a well-known
cultic association with the sycamore tree.
250
For the musical performance of the royal daughters in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival
in the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 57, p. 61; for discussion of this scene,
see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4a. For the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival, see Epigraphic Survey, op. cit, pi. 56, pp. 59-61; for further discussion of this scene, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 3.
129
into the solar falcon. During the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony, Tiye stands
directly beside the king; several of the queen's epithets in the scene strongly suggest that
her presence in the scene is an allusion to the hieros gamos.252
The royal daughters of Amenhotep III also appear in representations of the Sed
Festival from several other sources in addition to the reliefs from the tomb of Kheruef. In
several scenes from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of
Soleb, a group of royal daughters carrying Hathoric musical instruments appears beside
the king and queen as the royal couple walks in procession to the king's Sed Festival
palace (Fig. 158). The royal daughters Sitamun, Henuttaneb, and Isis are depicted
carrying Hathoric implements in a fragmentary scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple in western Thebes (Fig. 162). 54 A carnelian
bracelet plaque from the reign of Amenhotep III depicts the royal daughters Isis and
Henuttaneb shaking sistra before the enthroned royal couple; Amenhotep Ill's outfit,
251
For the nautical procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6. The
caption to the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival reads:
srhc dd in nsw.t ds=f
hd 6 n hb.w-sd
"Raising the Djed Pillar by the king himself.
That the day is about to dawn is for the Sed Festival rites."
For further discussion of the significance of the performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at daybreak,
252
For discussion of Tiye's epithets and their connection to the hieros gamos in this scene, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 3.
253
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 94, 97, 121, 124, 127, 130, 131. For discussion of the role of the royal
daughters in these scenes, see Section 3.2.2. In one of these scenes (Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 5, pi. 97),
Amenhotep III issues a tax exemption to people working in the temples of Amun-Re; for transliteration and
translation of this text, which Osorkon II included nearly verbatim in his own Sed Festival reliefs in the
Temple of Bubastis, see Section 2.2.6, Scene 14. The exemption issued by Amenhotep III at his first Sed
Festival applies to the "dance troupe and singers of the House of Amun" (hnr \hrf\ infy.wt n pr-lmri); the
royal daughters carrying Hathoric musical instruments at the king's Sed Festival were likely members of
these groups.
254
Haeny, Untersuchungen im TotentempelAmenophis' III, pp. 107-108, pi. 41; Xekalaki, in Goyon and
Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp. 1961-1962.
130
which consists of the long Sed Festival robe and the double-crown, indicates that the
ritual scene on this plaque is an episode from one of the king's Sed Festivals (Fig.
163). A similar carnelian bracelet plaque, which probably also depicts an episode from
one of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festivals, depicts two royal daughters shaking sistra and
offering notched year-sticks (symbols of long life) to Amenhotep III and Tiye (Fig.
164).256 Like the scenes featuring the royal daughters in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef and in the Temple of Soleb, both of these plaques
likely allude to the hieros gamos of the queen and the divinized king.
Most often the royal daughters appear as seated occupants of palanquins in the
Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Figs. 115-
121);257 however, in several scenes the royal daughters of Akhenaten stand directly in
front of their palanquins (Fig. 165).258 These examples may suggest that the royal
daughters emerged from their palanquins and participated in the rites of the Sed Festival
after being carried to the location(s) where the ritual performances of the Sed Festival
Metropolitan Museum of Art 44.2.1. For discussion of this plaque, see primarily Hayes, BMMA 6
(1948): 272-279; Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 242; Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, p. 443,
fig. 123a; Arnold, The Royal Women ofAmarna, pp. 8-9, fig. 4; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 27, 63; Grover, Studia Antigua 6 (2008): 11-12, fig. 3.
256
Metropolitan Museum of Art 26.7.1340. For discussion of this plaque, see primarily Gardiner, JEA 3
(1916): 73-75, pi. l i e ; Hayes, BMMA 6 (1948): 272-279; Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 242-243, fig.
147 top right; Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptian Jewellery, p. 104, pi. 28b; Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling
Sun, p. 443, fig. 123, pi. 62; Kozloff, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep HI: Perspectives on His
Reign, p. 112, fig. 4.5; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 27; Grover, Studia Antigua 6
(2008): 12-14.
257
Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 41,44.5, 46.4,48.3, 51.6, 52.2, 58;
Gohary, Ahhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 1,2,8, 9, 10, 16, 72, 73; for discussion of these scenes,
see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p. 89; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth
International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, p. 1963. For detailed discussion of the role of royal
women who appear as seated occupants of palanquins at the celebration of the Sed Festival, see Section
3.2.1.
258
Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 44.1,44.4,44.6; Gohary, Akhenaten's
Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 72, 73.
131
took place. For example, in a fragmentary scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of
Akhenaten from the Gempaaten at Karnak, the royal daughters perform the hnw-gesture
before the royal couple and sing a hymn to the king that emphasizes his divinization and
solar transformation at the Sed Festival (Fig. 166):259
[ddmdw in] ms.w-[nsw.t] ...

[ind hr=k] Rr rr nb
ind hr=k bik rc nb
ind hr=k it-n rr [nb]
ind hr=k nsw.t Nfr-hpr.w-Rr wc-n-Rc nb(-i) rnh(.w) wS{.w) snb(.w)

[...].wt=fwr~
iti hkiw
iw sS.w-k n hb-sd ...
... ds=fmi sS.w-f
c r
h ... [...].wt
kfswr hpr.w im=f
ihy hb-sd...
m hb.w-sd mi Rr hnty ntr.w ...
[Words spoken by] the [royal] daughters ...

"[Hail to you], Re, every day!
Hail to you, falcon, every day!
Hail to you, our father, ever [day]!
Hail to you, king Nefer-kheperu-Re, the unique one of Re, (my) lord, l.p.h.,
whose ... is alone,
who takes hold of magic,260
Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 77. For transliteration and translation of the
text with commentary, see Spalinger, in Redford, ed., Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, pp. 29-33, fig. 16;
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 95, pi. 47, Scene 116. In a fragmentary scene from the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb, the royal sons and daughters (ms.w-nsw.t tiy.w hm.wt) are said to
perform the the hnw-gesture four times for the king; see Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 117. For the hnw-
gesture as a jubilant gesture of respect and veneration, see Dominicus, Gesten und Gebdrden in
Darstellungen des Alten undMittleren Reiches, pp. 61-65.
260
Magicians (hry.w hklw) play a prominent role in the reliefs depicting the Sed Festival celebrations of
Amenhotep III at the Temple of Soleb and Osorkon II at the Temple of Bubastis. In several scenes
magicians perform the hnw-gesture for Amenhotep III as he offers incense to a statue of Khnum; see
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 102, 107, 112, 128. For a fragmentary scene in which magicians perform the
hnw-gesture for Osorkon II, as he offers incense to an unknown deity, see Naville, Festival-Hall of
Osorkon II, pi. 13. For two scenes in which magicians carry papyrus rolls—probably containing important
ritual texts—at the Sed Festival of Osorkon II, see Naville, op. cit., pis. 3, 8. A group of magicians sings an
ihy-song at the Sed Festival of Osorkon II that is similar in some regards to the hymn of the royal daughters
in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten (Naville, op. cit., pi. 9, no. 13):
hry.w hkiw dd=sn ...
ihy hb.w-sd n bik d.t sp-2
ihy hb-sd n ... bik
132
when your documents of the Sed Festival...
... himself like his documents.
A lifetime...
who uncovers it/him for the transformation into it/him.
A Sed Festival song ...
in the Sed Festival rites like Re, foremost of the gods..."
ntr.w n pr-cnh phr-sn Sm>w [mhw] m ...

"As for the magicians, they sing ...:
'A Sed Festival song for the falcon forever and ever!
A Sed Festival song for ... the falcon!'
As for the gods of the House of Life, they circumambulate Upper [and Lower] Egypt as ..."
For a discussion of the role of the magicians in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, see Uphill, JNES 24
(1965): 370, 376. For a comparison of the role of magicians in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon and the
role of magic in the royal daughters' hymn in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten, see Spalinger in
Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, pp. 31-32. The word hkiw, "magic," which appears on a relief
fragment from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, may indicate that
magicians also played a role in the performance of the Sed Festival in the Old Kingdom; see von Bissing
and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, pi. 23, no. 57.
261
Young women, who carry bouquets and wear long diaphanous robes and floral crowns, sing ihy-songs in
a scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol.
5, pi. 119):
hrbikSsp.n nb ... [...].w=f
delmdw Ihy hb.w-sd ...
ddmdw {<"} il.n ... r ... nsw .t Nb-Mir .t-Rr
"That the falcon appears in glory is after the lord ... has received his ... !
Words to be spoken: 'A Sed Festival song ...!'
Words to be spoken: 'That... has come is ... to ... the king Nebmaatre!'
These women are most likely the royal daughters of Amenhotep III. A similarly outfitted group of dancers
(rwi.wt), who carry gazelle-headed wands and sistra, sing ihy-songs in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II
at Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 14):
dd mdw hc bik
Ssp.n=fSw.ty nsw.t Wsirkn
si-Bis.t.t mry-lmn di rnh nb
dd mdw ihy hb-sd
ihy hpr hb-sd n Pth-Ti-tnn
"Words to be spoken: 'That the falcon appears in glory is
after he has received the two feathers of the king Osorkon,
son of Bastet, beloved of Amun, given all life!'
Words to be spoken: 'A Sed Festival song!
A Sed Festival song of transformation for Ptah-Tatenen!'"
Another similarly outfitted group of singers (Smry.wt), who carry gazelle-headed wands and sistra, sing ihy-
songs in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II (Naville, op. cit., pi. 25, block 6):
dd mdw hr bik
$sp=f$w.ty nsw.t Wsr-Mir.t-Rr stp-n-'Imn
dd mdw ihy.w hb-sd
ihy hpr.w hb-sd Pth
"Words to be spoken: 'That the falcon appears in glory is
when he receives the two feathers of the king Usermaatra, the chosen one of Amun!'
Words to be spoken: 'Sed Festival songs!
A Sed Festival song of transformations (for) Ptah!'"
For the correction placement of the block containing the hymn of the singers at the Sed Festival of Osorkon
II, see Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 75, fig. 2.
133
The gist of this fragmentary hymn is clear: after the king's consultation of special
magical texts and his subsequent divine transformation at the Sed Festival, the royal
daughters hail him as a manifestation of Re and the solar falcon.
In two scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, the royal
daughters stand in front of the tnfi.t-dais of king (Figs. 69-70).262 In one of these two
enthronement scenes (Fig. 69), the royal daughters carry carry sistra and mni.t-
necklaces;263 the only preserved portion of the caption in front the royal daughters is the
word shtp ("to pacify"), which suggests a link to the royal daughters who pacify (shtp)
the Djed Pillar in Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival and to the royal daughters who
pacify (shtp) the Golden One in the nocturnal Hathoric rites of the Medamud Hymn.264
In another Sed Festival scene related to the hieros gamos and the deification of the king,
the royal daughters and Queen Karoma appear directly above an image of the king and
the goddess Bastet at the Sed Festival of Osorkon II; the royal women carry Hathoric
musical instruments and the king is identified as a manifestation of Amun-Re (Fig.
30):265
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1, 2. For discussion of these scenes, see Uphill, JNES 24
(1965): 371-372; Kaiser, in Aufsatzezum 70. Geburtstagvon HerbertRicke, pp. 102-103; Barta,SAK6
(1978): 29, 35-37; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-FestivalatKarnak, p. 19; Kuraskiewicz, GM151 (1996): 88,
fig. 3; Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 206-207, figs. 7-8. For further
discussion, see also Section 2.2.6, Scenes 4 and 6. The royal daughters carrying Hathoric musical
instruments who appear in Naville, op. cit.,p\. 14, are also said to "pass by and take (their) position" {swl ir
s.t), presumably at the steps of the king's tnti.t-dais.
263
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 1.
264
For pacification of the Djed Pillar by the royal daughters in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4a. For pacification of the wandering goddess by
the royal daughters in the Medamud Hymn, see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 54-55. For discussion of the
sistrum as an instrument to shtp Hathor and Sakhmet, see Ziegler, in LA, Vol. 5, col. 960; Pinch, Votive
Offerings to Hathor, p. 157.
265
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 4. For discussion of this scene, see Uphill, JNES 24 (1965):
373; Barta, SAK6 (1978): 30, 40.
134
hr m shn wnm
r shc.t hm n ntr p[n] Sps 'Imn-Rr nb ns.wt tl.wy
r htp m{m\ s.t=fm hw.t hb-sd
"Appearance in the shrine of food-offerings,

in order to cause the majesty of this noble god, Amun-Re,
lord of the thrones of the two lands to appear,
in order to rest on his thone in the Sed Festival palace."
In a fragmentary scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, the royal daughters
carry Hathoric musical instruments and stand behind the royal couple as Osorkon II
presents the ^.r-offering to an unknown goddess (Fig. 34); in exchange for his offering,
the king likely receives rejuvenating powers and the protection of the goddess.
In the Eastern High Gate of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, a series of reliefs
depicts the king with princesses who wear sandals, broad collars, and platform crowns
with floral adornments, but who are otherwise nude. In one scene, the young women,
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 16. In another scene Osorkon II presents thetf&.J-offeringto
Nekhbet (Naville, op. cit., pi. 3); thus, it seems likely that he presents the $»offering to Wadjet in this
scene. For further discussion of the #?.f-offering scenes in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, see
Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 370, 381; Sambin, L 'offrande de la soi-disant clepsydre, pp. 14-15, 318-324;
Gohary, Akhenaten'sSed-FestivalatKarnak, p. 18; Sambin, BIFAO 95 (1995): 412; Lange, in Broekman,
eta/., eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 205-206, fig. 5. The queen is absent from the #>.r-offering
scenes in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5,
pis. 74, 75, 79, 80, 81); for discussion of these scenes, see Sambin, L 'offrande de la soi-disant clepsydre,
pp. 12-14, 316-317. According to Sambin, op. cit, pp. 383-384, the king receives the protection of the
solar eye goddess during thetffo.r-offeringscenes at the Sed Festival: "...le pharaon offre a la deesse son ka,
c'est- a-dire le substitut terrestre de l'oeil de Re, V oudjat-Sbt, complet, efficace, l'uraeus 'dresse contre ses
ennemis.' ... Le rite de la Sbt est un appel a l'union: celle d'Hathor a Re et a Horus dans le cadre d'une
monarchic divine des origines; heritier de ces premiers rois prestigieux, le pharaon fait appel a la deesse
pour qu'elle renouvelle envers lui son action bienveillante et efficace. Donner et recevoir la Sbt revient,
finalement, a une prise de possession du pouvoir royal."
267
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 8, pis. 630-633, 636-642, 646, 648-654. For discussion of the
young women in these plates, see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 78-79, fig. 51; Callender, BACE 5
(1994): 20; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 55, footnote 41; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of
the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp. 1959-1965. With caution, see also
O'Connor, in Janosi, ed., Structure and Significance, pp. 445-448, who suggests that the term ms.w-nsw.t,
which labels at least one group of young women in these scenes, does not refer to "princesses" or "literal
daughters of the king," but rather "to some other female component of the royal household, a component
enjoying a relatively informal, intimate and even eroticized relationship with the king." For a rejection of
the suggestion that the king had a sexual relationship with the royal daughters, see Helck, CdE 44 (1969):
22-26; Robins, GM52 (1981): 75-81; Troy, op. cit, p. 113. For nude adolescent girls as symbols of
fertility and (re)birth in the New Kingdom, see Manniche, Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt, pp. 40-43; Robins,
in Kampen, ed., Sexuality in Ancient Art, pp. 30-34.
135
who are labeled "royal daughters," sing a hymn to the king that describes his various
body parts as precious minerals and stones (Fig. 167).268 The hymn very likely relates to
the dispersal of mineral wealth—as emanations of the Hatoric goddess of the solar eye—
in foreign lands and in the deserts of Egypt.269 As a manifestation of the solar deity,
Ramesses III himself also has the body of a god. Thus, the role of Ramesses Ill's
daughters in this scene may very well parallel the role of the daughters of Akhenaten in
portraits of the royal family from the Amarna Period; like solar rays extending from the
Aten, the royal daughters appear as manifestations of the light emanating from the
solarized king.270 In their exaltations of the king as the solar deity and in their
invocations of Hathor as the consort of the solar deity, the royal daughters who
participate in the musical rites of the Sed Festivals of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and
Osorkon II also serve as emanations of the solar deity and as uraei adorning the king's
crown.
268
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 8, pi. 648, p. 14. For discussion of this hymn, see Darnell, SAK
22 (1995): 55, footnote 41. Numerous ancient Egyptian texts describe the body parts of various deities as
consisting of precious metals and stones; for discussion of this topic, see, e.g., Klotz, Adoration of the Ram,
pp. 71-73; Smith, On the Primaeval Ocean, pp. 138-141; Zandee, Der Amunhymnus des Papyrus Leiden,
Vol. 1, pp. 349-364. In the opening lines of the Destruction of Mankind, e.g., the body of the solar deity Re
is described thus (Hornung, Agyptische Mythos von der Himmelskuh, pp. 1, 37; Guilhou, La vieillesse des
dieux, pp. 15, 27, note 6): ks.w=fm hd hr.w=fm nbw $n.w=fm hsbdm?, "his bones are silver, his limbs
gold, his hair true lapis lazuli."
269
For this novel interpretation of the royal daughters' hymn, see Darnell, "For I See the Color of his
Uraei" (in preparation). For discussion of the mineral wealth of Egypt and foreign lands as emanations of
the Hathoric solar eye goddess, see Aufrere, RdE 34 (1982-1983): 3-21; Aufrere, Archeo-Nil 7 (1997): 113-
144; Smith, On the Primaeval Ocean, pp. 139-141; Klotz, Adoration of the Ram, pp. 73, 175-185; Darnell,
in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World, p. 46. For discussion of the Egyptian conception of the prismatic
light visible in the newly reborn morning sun as manifestations of the fire-spitting uraeus goddesses who
protect Re and illuminate the sky, see Darnell, SAK24 (1997): 35-48; Darnell, "For I See the Color of his
Uraei" (in preparation); Klotz, loc. cit. For discussion of the association of minerals with the lunar eye in
the ritual of mh wdi.t, "filling the wdl.t-eye"; see Aufrere, L 'univers mineral, Vol. 1, pp. 199-303.
270
For this novel interpretation of the Amarna "family portraits," see Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's
Armies, pp. 34-44, especially 43-44; Darnell, "For L See the Color of his Uraei" (in preparation).
136
2.1.2. TOMB OF KHERUEF: RELIEFS OF AMENHOTEP Ill's 3 SED FESTIVAL
A multi-register tableau depicting the rituals of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival appears to north of the door on the western wall of the West Portico in the tomb
of the Kheruef (Fig. 168). On the far left of the tableau is a scene of homage in which a
group of royal officials presents offerings to the enthroned royal couple, Amenhotep III
and Tiye, in the House of Rejoicing (Scene 1). To the right of this scene, Amenhotep III
presents a vast array of offerings to a statue of the Djed Pillar that rests upon a platform
in a covered kiosk (Scene 2b). Further to the right, Amenhotep III is joined by five
officials and his wife Tiye as he performs the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony (Scene
3); eight pairs of royal daughters stationed to the right of Amenhotep III and Tiye sing a
hymn in priase of the Djed Pillar during the performance of this ceremony (Scene 4a).
Several notable scenes and ritual episodes also appear in the three registers of relief
decoration directly below Scene 2b, Scene 3, and Scene 4a. For example, the preparation
and transport of offerings for the Djed Pillar appear in the first and third registers (Scene
2a); a sequence of music and dance rituals commemorating the Raising of the Djed Pillar
appears in the first and second registers (Scene 4b); the driving of cattle around the walls
of a sacred precinct takes place in the far right portion of the third register (Scene 5); and
the performance of ritual combat, including boxing and stick-fighting, takes place in the
second register (Scene 6).
One of the most intriguing and controversial aspects of the reliefs of Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef is their possible connection to the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, an illustrated Middle Kingdom papyrus that served as the
271
For the scenes and texts of Amenhotep Ill's third festival, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pp.
54-66, pis. 47-63.
137
script and stage directions for the performance of a royal ritual during the reign of
Sesostris I.272 The 138 columns of retrograde hieroglyphic text on the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus are annotated with a list of props and cast members who perform the
rituals in each scene; many of the scenes also have an accompanying image that
illustrates the rituals that are performed in each individual scene. According to Kurt
Sethe, who produced the original text edition of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, the
papyrus describes two related rituals: the burial of the recently deceased king Amenemhat
I and the coronation of the new king Sesostris I 273 Largely because the celebration of the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony occurs in both the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus
and the reliefs of the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef, several
scholars have rejected Sethe's interpretation and suggested that the Dramatic Ramesseum
Papyrus actually served as a script for the celebration of the Sed Festival by Sesostris I.
Recently, however, this interpretation of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus as a script for
For the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see primarily Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp 81-264, pis 1-22,
Lorand, Le papyrus dramatique du Ramesseum For discussion of the various ritual episodes that appear in
this papyrus, cf also Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp 123-139, Gasper, Thespis Ritual Myth and
Drama in the Ancient Near East, pp 383-403, Helck, Orientaha, 23 (1954) 383-411, Altenmuller, JEOL
19(1966) 421-442, Barta, Z4S 98 (1970) 9-12, Altenmuller, in LA, Vol l,cols 1132-1140, Barta, SAK4
(1976) 31-43, Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and his Cult, pp 111-113,163-165, van der Vhet, BSAK3
(1988) 405-411, Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp 47-53, Hornung and Staehelin,
Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp 94-95, Quack, ZAS 133 (2006) 72-89, Rummel, SAK34 (2006) 396-398,
Gestermann, in Rothohler and Manisah, eds , Mythos & Ritual Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp 27-52,
Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisah, eds , op cit, pp 231-255
273
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp 81-264, especially pp 92-96
274
For the Raising of the Djed Pillar in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see Sethe, Dramatische Texte,
pp 147-160, Scenes 12-15,11 41-52, pp 249-250, Images 7-9 For the suggestion that the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus describes the celebration of the Sed Festival of Sesostris I, see Helck, Orientaha 23
(1954) 383-411, especially pp 408-411, Altenmuller, JEOL 19(1966) 421-442, especially pp 441-442,
Barta, ZAS 98 (1970) 9-12, Barta, SAK A (1976) 31-43, Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient
Egypt, pp 47-53, 85-87
138
the celebration of the Sed Festival has rightly been questioned, criticized, and rejected by
several scholars.275
Although there are several notable similarities between the ritual performances of
the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus and the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, these
similarities are not substantial enough to suggest that both describe the same festival.
Rituals from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef that
also occur in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus include the ritual slaughtering of a bull
(Scene 2a), the presentation of animal sacrifices to the Djed Pillar (Scene 2b), the
Raising of the Djed Pillar (Scene 3), music and dance rites (Scene 4), the
circumambulation of cattle and donkeys around a ritual complex (Scene 5), ritual combat
(Scene 6), and the offering of jewelry (Scene l). 276 The use of similar rituals at the royal
coronation and the Sed Festival is not surprising since the performance of the coronation
ceremony formally legitimized the king's right to rule and the Sed Festival reaffirmed the
king's right to continue his reign.277
Amenhotep Ill's unique approach to planning his Sed Festival rites relied on
ancient prototypes for various rituals, but also infused these ancient rites with new
For a critical review and summary of previous interpretations of the royal ceremony that is described in
the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see primarily Quack, ZAS 133 (2006): 73-89, especially pp. 79-85;
Gestermann, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 27-52,
especially pp. 47-48; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 94-95; Lorand, Lepapyrus
dramatique du Ramesseum, pp. 50-70, 85-102. For the conclusion that the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus
describes the coronoation rites of Sesostris I, see primarily Quack, loc. cit.; Gestermann, in Rothohler and
Manisali, eds., loc. cit.
276
Discussion of the parallel scenes from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus appears infra, this section, in
Scenes 1-6.
277
For legitimization as an important component of the royal coronation ceremony, see Barta,
Untersuchungen zur Gottlichkeit des regierenden Konigs, pp. 44-61, 124-125. Though both the coronation
and the Sed Festival served to legitimize the king's rule, the Sed Festival is not a reenactment of the
coronation ceremony as has been suggested by Barta, op. cit., pp. 62-73; Barta, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 531-
533; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 32-33; von Beckerath, MDAIKM (1991): 29;
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 8, footnote 28.
139
symbolic meaning. In this way, the scenes and texts of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef demonstrate both archaism and innovation.279 The
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony was not traditionally one of the rites of the Sed
Festival; since no other major Sed Festival reliefs are known to have incorporated Osirian
imagery or mythology in such a prominent way, the celebration of this Osirian ceremony
at the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III is quite unusual.280 Though Osiris did not
traditionally play an important role in the Sed Festival, ironically, Amenhotep Ill's reason
for including Osirian rituals into his Sed Festival celebration may have been connected to
his efforts to archaize his Sed Festival celebration. The rituals typically associated with
the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony—including music and dance rituals, ritual
combat, the slaughter of sacrificial animals, and the driving of cattle around a religious
structure—are similar to rituals traditionally performed at the Sed Festival in the
Predynastic, Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic periods.281 In connecting these archaic
Sed Festival rituals to their later Osirian counterparts, Amenhotep III added a new layer
of symbolic meaning to the ancient rites of the Sed Festival.
SCENE 1: PRESENTATION OF GIFTS TO THE ENTHRONED ROYAL COUPLE 2 8 2
278
For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's claim that he celebrated his first Sed Festival "in accordance with the
documents of ancient times," see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
279
For discussion of the archaic Sed Festival rituals on which Amenhotep III likely based many of the
rituals that took place at the performance of his three Sed Festivals, see Chapters 3-7.
280
For discussion of the general lack of Osirian influence on the rituals of the Sed Festival, see Section
1.1.2; Section 2.1.2, Scene 3. Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 216, considers
Amenhotep Ill's inclusion of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at his third Sed Festival to be "entirely fitting,"
but novel and without historical precedent.
281
For brief discussions of the Predynastic, Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic Sed Festival rituals that
served as prototypes for the ritual performances of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.2,
Scenes 1-7. For lengthier discussions of these archaic Sed Festival rituals, see also Chapters 3-7.
282
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 49, 51, pp. 54-58. For discussion of the enthroned royal
couple in this scene, see Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 90-91; Aldred, JEA 55 (1969):
73; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 65-66; Morkot, Wepwawet2 (1986): 1-9; Walker, Aspects of the
140
In Scene 1, Amenhotep III and Tiye are enthroned within a kiosk on top of a
stepped tntl.t-platform (Fig. 169a); the royal kiosk in this scene is very similar to the
kiosk that appears in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef.283 The king's costume in this scene includes the blue crown, a broad collar, and
a long kilt with a bull's tail and a sporran attached to the waist; the king's sporran is
decorated with a leopard's head and twin uraei.284 In his hands, Amenhotep III carries
symbols of royal power and divinity: an rnh-sign, the M?-scepter, and the nh?hi-f[ai\.
Tiye wears a floor-length diaphanous robe, a broad collar, and a double-plumed crown
with twin uraei; the uraei that adorn Tiye's crown are further adorned with the white and
red crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. In her hands, Tiye carries symbols of
queenship and divinity: an cnh-sign and a lotus flower.286 The tomb owner Kheruef leads
a group of nine officials to the House of Rejoicing in order to present a vast array of
Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 266-269; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 6,
fig. 1; Roth, Gebieterin aller Lander, pp. 21-29, figs. 1,4. For a discussion of New Kingdom royal
enthronement scenes in which the king appears in a similar kiosk, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 544-
571, with references; Aldred, op. cit., pp. 73-81; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 741-757.
283
For discussion of the similar Ml. /-platform and kiosk that appear in the depiction of Amenhotep Ill's
first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 1.
284
Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep HI: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 87, suggests that
"the appearance of the shebyu- and wa/z-collars around the king's neck" in this scene and in other images of
the king from his "fourth-decade monument decoration" represents "an official statement that Amenhotep
HI had united with the sun god while still alive, as a consequence of his first jubilee rites in year 30."
285
Morkot, Wepwawet 2 (1986): 2, remarks that "Tiye is the first queen shown wearing the Sbyw-collar,
usually given as part of the 'gold of honour'"; for further discussion of the queen's collar, cf also Johnson,
in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 90, footnote 151.
286
Green, Amarna Letters 2 (1992): 33-35, notes that "Tiye is one of the first queens to be regularly
portrayed holding the ankh, a prerogative of deities."
141
offerings to the enthroned royal couple, including jewelry and other worked goods that
are decorated with precious metals and stones (Fig. 169b).
Appearance of the King:
hF.t nsw.t hr s.t wr.t mi it=fRr rr nb
Appearance of the king on the great throne like his father Re every day.288

Hr ki nht hF m rnir.t
nsw.t-bl.ty nb ti.wy nb hF.w Nb-M3r.t-Rr
si RC n h.t=f mry=f'Imn-htp hki-Wls.t
ti.tRr hnttlwy
di rnh dd wis mi Rr
Horus, victorious bull, who appears in truth;

King of Upper & Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, lord of appearances, Nebmaatre;
Bodily son of Re, his beloved, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes;
Image of Re in front of the two lands;
Given live, stability, and dominion like Re.
Protection of the King:
s3 rnh hi-fmi Rr
The protection of life surrounds him like Re.289
Royal Titulary on the Right Side of the Kiosk:
Hr ki nht whm hb.w-sd

[smn].n Imn hr s.t wr.t
nsw.t-bi.ty hki pd.t psd.t nb tl.wy Nb-M3r.t-Rr
si Rr mr=f'Imn-htp hkS WSs.t
mry Pth-Skr nb Sty.t di rnh d.t
Horus, victorious bull, who repeats the Sed Festival ceremonies,

whom Amun has [establish]ed upon the great throne;
Heavy damage to Kheruef and to accompanying members of the royal retinue here is likely the result of
a damnatio memoriae. For discussion of damnatio memoriae in the tomb, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 2,
footnote 100.
288
For discussion of this line, see Feucht, SAK11 (1984): 414.
289
For the translation of the first two words of this formula as a genitival construction (i.e., "protection of
life"), see Darnell, in Epigraphic Survey, Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple, Vol. 1, p. 1, note d.
142
King of Upper & Lower Egypt, ruler of the Nine Bows, lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre;
Son of Re, whom he loves, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes;
beloved of Ptah-Sokar,290 lord of Shetyt,291 given life forever.
Royal Titulary on Right Side of the Kiosk:
Hr ki nht wts hb.w-sd

mr.n 'Imn r [nsw].t [...]
nsw.t-bi.ty nb ti.wy nb ir.t Ih.t Nb-M3('.t-Rr
s? Rc mr=f'Imn-htp hki W3s.t
mry [Wsir hki] d.t di cnh mi Rc
Horus, victorious bull, who raises Sed Festivals,

whom Amun has preferred to [any other kin]g;
King of Upper & Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, lord of performance, Nebmaatre;
Son of Re, whom he loves, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes;
beloved of [Osiris, ruler of] eternity, given life like Re.
Nine Bows on the Base of the Tnt3.t-Flatform:292
H3.w nbw.t
T? Srrf.w
Sht 'Bm
TlMhw
Pd.tyw Sw
Thnw
Iwnty.w Sty
Mnty.w nw St.t
Aegean Isles;
Schat;
Upper Egypt;
Sekhet-Yam;
Lower Egypt;
Those of Pedju-Shu;
Tjehenu;293
For the syncretism of Ptah and Sokar, see Sandman-Holmberg, The GodPtah, pp. 123-147; Brovarski,
in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 1059-1060; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 10-14; Leitz, Lexikon der
cigyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 3, pp. 175-176.
291
For "lord of Shetyt" as an epithet of Ptah-Sokar, see Leitz, Lexikon der cigyptischen Gotter und
Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 3, pp. 755-756.
292
The same group of nine bound prisoners appears on the base of the platform of Amenhotep Ill's Sed
Festival kiosk in the tomb of Khaemhat (Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pis. 76b, 77c) and in the tomb of
Surer (SSve-Soderbergh, Private Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pis. 30, 34; Davies, 10 (1915): 228-236, fig. 4).
This particular group of foreigners is a standardized list of the Nine Bows that appears in several other 18th
Dynasty Theban private tombs; for discussion of this list, see Wildung, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 472-473.
143
Nubian nomads;
Mentiuof Asia.
Like the enthronement scene in Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival from the tomb
of Kheruef, the king's titulary in the homage scene from the reliefs of his third Sed
Festival is nonstandard and contains several unique epithets.294 In Scene 1, Amenhotep
III bears three separate and unique Horus names: "victorious bull, who appears in truth";
"victorious bull, who repeats the Sed Festival ceremonies"; and "victorious bull, who
raises Sed Festivals." In the enthronement scene from Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, the syncretized creator god Horus-Tatenen-Amun-Min
appeared prominently in the king's titulary;296 however, in the homage scene of his third
Sed Festival, the creator god Amun-Re takes a position of prominence in Amenhotep
Ill's titulary. At his third Sed Festival, Amenhotep III bears the epithets: "image of Re in
907 908
front of the two lands"; "whom Amun has [established upon the great throne"; and
"whom Amun has preferred to [any other kin]g."299 The emphasis on Amun-Re in the
royal titulary recalls changes to the king's titulary in scenes from the Opet Festival at
293
For an important lexicographical study of terms for Libya and Libyans, see Manassa, The Great Karnak
Inscription ofMerneptah, pp. 82-85.
294
For a discussion of Amenhotep Ill's titularly in the enthronement scene of his first Sed Festival from the
295
Bell, JNES 44 (1985): 285, footnote 181, compares the accumulation of Horus names by Amenhotep III
during his third Sed Festival to the accumulation of Horus names by Seti I at Abydos.
296
Section 2.2.2, Scene 1.
297
For ti.t Rr and ti.t Rr hnt ti.wy as epithets of the king in the New Kingdom, see Kuentz, Le petit temple
d'Abou Simbel, Vol. 1, p. 133, note 45; Grimal, Les termes de lapropagande royale egyptienne, pp. 128-
133; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 43-44; Schade-Busch, Zur
Konigsideologie Amenophis' III, pp. 11, 15.
298
For similar epithets of Amenhotep III, see Schade-Busch, Zur Konigsideologie Amenophis' III, pp. 205-
206,243.
299
For a similar epithet of Amenhotep III, see Schade-Busch, Zur Konigsideologie Amenophis' III, p. 229.
144
Luxor Temple; in these scenes from Luxor Temple, the king's union with Amun-Re
rejuvenates the king in a fashion similar to the rituals of his Sed Festival.300 Amenhotep
Ill's titulary in Scene 1 also references the syncretized god of the underworld Ptah-Sokar-
Osiris; emphasis on Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and Amun-Re in this scene provides a strong and
clear link to the Solar-Osirian unity. Through the mysteries of the Solar-Osirian unity,
the king—typically the deceased king—hoped to achieve resurrection and
regeneration.301 However, during his Sed Festivals, Amenhotep III was able to share in
the rejuvenating powers of the Solar-Osirian unity while still alive.
A dominant theme that appears in several aspects of the text and imagery of Scene
1 is the suppression of foreign enemies by the king. The king's epithet "ruler of the Nine
Bows"302 is represented in a hieroglyphicized way by the decoration on the base of the
throne platform in this scene. The nine bound enemies on the platform are under the
king's control; they are literally under the king's feet. The placement of bound enemies
at the king's feet in Scene 1 alludes to the king's role as military leader—an aspect of
kingship emphasized at the Sed Festival particularly during the Predynastic,
Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic periods. In a similar way, the depictions of the
durbar of Akhenaten in the tombs of Meryre II and Huya included images of bound
Nubian rebels to affirm the military power of the king; in the context of the durbar these
For titulary changes and union with Amun-Re during the Opet Festival at Luxor Temple, see Bell, JNES
44 (1985): 281-290. For further discussion, see also Section 2.1.1, Scene 1.
301
For further discussion of the Solar-Osirian unity in relation to the enthronement scene of Amenhotep
Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 1, with references.
302
For this epithet of Amenhotep III, see Schade-Busch, Zur Konigsideologie Amenophis' III, pp. 179-180.
303
For further discussion of the military aspects of the celebration of the Sed Festival in all periods, see
Chapter 6.
145
images of bound Nubians also memorialize Akhenaten's successful military campaign in
Nubia in regnal year 12.304
Titulary of Tiye:
iry.t-pr.t wr.t hsw.t hnw.t n.t U.w nb.w

hnm.t nsw.t If m mF.t
hm.t-nsw.t wr.t mr.t=fTiy
r
nh.ti mS.ti rnpi.ti d.t
Noblewoman, great of praise, mistress of all lands,

who joins the king, who appears in glory;
The chief wife of the king, whom he loves, Tiye;
May she live, be renewed and be youthful forever!305
Text on Tiye's Throne:
hm.t-nsw.t wr.t mr.t=fTiy

r
nh.ti dd.ti rnpi.ti rc nb
ptpt hls.t nb.t
Chief wife of the king, whom he loves, Tiye;

May she live, be enduring and be youthful every day!
Trampling every foreign land.
Nekhbet:
Hd.t Nhn
White One of Hierakonpolis.306
For images of Akhenaten's durbar in the tombs of Meryre II and Huya, see Davies, Rock Tombs of El
Amarna, Vol. 2, pis. 37-40; Vol. 3, pis. 7, 13-15. For discussion of the significance of these durbar scenes,
see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 125-131, 134-135, 184,208-209, with
references. Darnell and Manassa, op. cit, p. 127, conclude regarding the durbar of Akhenaten: "The
perpetuation of the world and the solar cycle depended on Egypt's domination of hostile, foreign groups ...
When foreigners from all corners of the Egyptian cosmos bow to Akhenaten and present him with their
tribute, Akhenaten is transformed into the sun god himself."
305
A similar wish, rnh.ti mi.ti rnpi.ti mi Rr rr nb, appears as an epithet of the god's wives of Amun in the
Third Intermediate Period; for discussion of this epithet, see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 177, 188.
306
For the title "White One of Hierakonpolis," which likely alludes to Nekhbet's connection to the white
crown of Upper Egypt, see Van Voss, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 366-367; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 117-
118, with references; Leitz, Lexikon der dgyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 5, pp. 606-607.
Though Nekhbet more commonly appears as a vulture, the depiction of her found here, as a uraeus wearing
the white crown of Upper Egypt, is also attested elsewhere, e.g., in the tomb of Nefertari (Desroches-
Noblecourt, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 192-193, fig. 6).
146
The enthronement and of Tiye and Amenhotep III side by side in this scene likely
alludes to the hieros gamos of the divinized king and queen at the Sed Festival. A
caption labeling the queen suggests that she appears as the sexual partner of the king:
hnm.t nsw.t hr m mir.t, "who unites with the king, who appears in truth."307 Several
stative forms in the iscription associated with Tiye in this scene express wishes
concerning the rejuvenation of the queen—namely, that she "live, be renewed {rni.t'i) and
be youthful forever" and that she "live, be enduring and be youthful every day."308 These
307
Morkot, Wepwawetl (1986): 2, suggests that "Tiye acquires royal divine power through this
association" with the king, i.e., the hnm-union. According to Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p. 45, and
Callender, SAK 22 (1995): 43-46, the verb hnm has sexual connotations and alludes to the hieros gamos of
the king and queen. The verb is used in a hymn sung by the royal daughters in the Tale of Sinuhe (Koch,
Erzdhlung des Sinuhe, p. 77, line B271) to refer to the hieros gamos of the king and Hathor:
r
.wy=k r nfr.t nsw.t wih hkry.wt n.t nb.tp.t
di Nbw rnh rfnd-k hnm tw nb.t sbi.w
"May your arms be upon a beautiful thing, enduring king, ornaments of the lady of the sky!
May the Golden One give life to your nose! May the lady of the stars be united with you!"
In a study of the use of the verb hnm in ritual inscriptions of the New Kingdom, Gulyas, SAK32 (2004):
159-169, concludes that hnm "describes a physical contact... that aims at realizing a transmission of
power." In the context of Amenhotep's Sed Festival, the physical contact between the king and queen
implied by the verb hnm leads to a transfer of rejuvenating power.
308
In the Litany of Re, the verb miwi ("sich erneuern," Wb. 2,25.16-19 and 26.1-4) is used in a description
of the renewal of the bi of Horakhty (Hornung, Das Buch der Anbetung des Re im Westen, Vol. 1, pp. 196-
199):
twt is Hr-ih.ty
mi.w b? pn n ih mnh
shm.w imy.t dr.ty=f
in=sn ntr.w wr.w ri.w r=i
hry=sn im=i
hkn=sn m imy.t r.wy=i sn
di=sn n=i si=sn
wd=sn n=i cnh.w=sn
iw=i hc m bi ih.ty s.ty Rr imy p.t
wd=sn n=i wd.wt
mic=sn wi m didi.t=sn
wbi=i sbi np.t n ti mi it=i Rr
'"Oh, you are Horakhty,
when this bi of the excellent ih is renewed,
when that which is in his hand is renewed!'
So say the old and great gods to me.
That they are joyful is over me;
That they rejoice is in that which was in my two arms,
with the result that they give their protection to me.
It is to me that they entrust their lives,
when I appear in glory as the bi of the horizons, the successor of Re, who is in they sky.
It is to me that they issue decrees,
147
wishes emphasize the queen's youthfulness and rejuvenation; as such, they mirror the
Sed Festival's emphasis on the rejuvenation of the king and the renewal of kingship.
Several elements of Tiye's costume in Scene 1, such as her crown with its twin uraei,
allude to the queen's association with female divinity—particularly the uraeus-form of
the daughter of the solar deity.309 Tiye's association with the uraeus also connects the
queen with Hathor since the uraeus is a manifestation of the Hathoric solar eye
goddess.310
The decoration adorning Tiye's throne in Scene 1 emphasizes the queen's
association with goddess Sakhmet, the violent leonine form of the Hathoric solar eye
goddess. An image of a bound Asiatic woman and a bound Nubian woman tied to the
sml-tl.wy emblem appears in the decorated area between the legs of Tiye's throne; this
image serves as a hieroglyphicized rendering of Tiye's title hnw.t n.t tl.w nb.w, "mistress
of all lands."311 In an image decorating the armrest of Tiye's throne, the queen herself
when they lead me in their council.

It is like my father Re that I open the door of heaven and of earth."
As the son and successor of Re, Horakhty is able to experience the same renewal as Re in this text.
Similarly, in the text of Scene 1 from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef, Tiye shares in the renewal of Amenhotep III. For the use of the verb m'wi in various
religious texts describing the rejuvenation of the solar deity during the night, see Zandee, JEOL 27 (1981-
1982): 20-22.
309
Troy, in Ziegler, eds., Queens of Egypt: From Hetepheres to Cleopatra, pp.154-170, especially 158-159,
suggests that 18th Dynasty queenship was strongly associated with Hathor and emphasized the "multi-
generational role of the queen" as mother, consort, and daughter of the divine king. For a similar
discussion of 18th Dynasty queenship and the symbolism of queenly crowns and regalia, see also Troy,
Patterns of Queenship; Green, Amarna Letters 2 (1992): 28-41.
310
On the uraeus's association with Hathor and the solar eye, see Troy, Patterns of Queenship, pp. 20-25;
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 47-94; Darnell, SAK24 (1997): 35-48.
311
Morkot, Wepwawet2 (1986): 2, comes to a similar conclusion regarding the connection between the title
"mistress of all lands" and the decoration between the legs of Tiye's throne. The heraldic plants of Upper
and Lower Egypt are often tied to the .wij-hieroglyph by Hapy gods or by Horus and Seth; however,
because of their association with the Lower Egyptian red crown and the Upper Egyptian white crown, the
Two Ladies—Wadjet and Nekhbet—are also connected to the symbolism of the smi-t'.wy. For these
goddesses' association with the sml-ti.wy, see Desroches-Noblecourt, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in
Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 191-197. The smi-tl.wy scene in the tomb of Kheruef likely
148
appears as a sphinx trampling an Asiatic woman and a Nubian woman; the goddess
Nekhbet protects the queen as she performs this militaristic activity. The image of the
queen as a sphinx in Scene 1 alludes to her association with the violent lioness form of
the Hathoric solar eye goddess, Sakhmet; a similar image of Tiye as a sphinx appears on
a carnelian bracelet plaque in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig. 170).312 The
decoration of Tiye's throne in this scene is similar to the decoration of Amenhotep Ill's
throne in Sed Festival scenes from the tombs of Khaemhat (Fig. 171) and Surer (Figs.
172-173); however, in the tombs of Khaemhat and Surer, the king himself appears as a
sphinx trampling male foreign enemies.313 The Sw.^-sunshade that shades the queen in
Scene 1 further indicates the divinity of Tiye.314
alludes to Tiye's connection with the Two Ladies and the Hathoric solar eye goddess. On the Two Ladies'
association with the solar eye, see Troy, op. cit., pp. 66, 115-131. For discussion of the title hnw.t ti.w
nb.w, "mistress of all lands," see Roth, Gebieterin aller Lander, pp. 11-16,19-20.
312
For discussion of the depictions of Tiye as a sphinx in this scene from the tomb of Kheruef, on a
carnelian bracelet plaque (MMA 26.7.1342), and in a relief from the Temple of Sedeinga, see Leibovitch,
ASAE 42 (1943): 93-105; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 65-66; Morkot, Wepwawetl (1986): 1-9;
Green, Amarna Letters 2 (1992): 36; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 6, fig. 1; Darnell and
Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 34; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le Magnifique, pp. 98-99, with references;
Roth, Gebieterin aller Lander, pp. 14-15, 19-20, 26-29, 43-49, figs. 1, 4, 6, 10-12; Hoffmann, CRIPEL 27
(2008): 51-52; Grover, StudiaAntigua 6 (2008): 11. As Roth, op. cit., p. 20, notes: "In Gestalt der
schreitenden Lowin spielt Teje die Rolle des vernichtenden Sonnenauges Hathor-Tefnut."
13
For discussion of the image of the Amenhotep III as a sphinx on the depiction of the royal throne in the
tomb of Khaemhat (Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 3, pis. 76b, 77c), see Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde,
pp. 402-403, cat. no. El 63; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International
Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 749-750, with references. For discussion of the images of the Amenhotep III
as a sphinx on the depiction of the royal throne in the tomb of Surer (Davies, BMMA 10 (1915): 228-236,
fig. 4; Save-Soderbergh, Private Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pis. 30, 35), see Schoske, op. cit., pp. 402-403,
cat. no. E161; Martin-Valentin, op. cit., pp. 742-744, with references. The base of Amenhotep Ill's Sed
Festival kiosk in the tomb of Surer is decorated with alternating images of the king as a human smiting the
enemy and as a sphinx trampling the enemy; for these images of the king, see Save-S6derbergh, op. cit.,
Vol. 1, pis. 30-33.
314
For the sunshade as a marker of divinity and royalty, see Bell, in Posener-Krieger, ed., Melanges Gamal
Eddin Mokhtar, Vol. 1, pp. 33-35; Morkot, Wepwawet 2 (1986): 2. Bell, op. cit, p. 33, notes that the
sunshade, when it appears in association with a sphinx, has the function of "animating it as a manifestation
of the divine power of Re." The term $w.t-Rr serves as the designation for a type of unroofed solar temple
used during the New Kingdom. During the Amarna Period, this type of temple seems to have been
especially associated with women of the royal family; the tomb of Huya depicts Akhenaten and Tiye
attending a religious celebration in a Sw.t-Rc temple at Akhetaten. For the Sw.t-Rr temple during the
149
The Presentation of Gifts to the King:
sB mnw.w wr.w cSl.w m-blh hm=f

in imy-rS pr n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t Tiy sS-nsw.t Hry.w=f
Bringing forward many great monuments before his majesty

by the steward of the chief wife of the king, Tiye, the royal scribe, Kheruef.
hrp mnw.w rdl.t m-blh

r rniw n ntr nfr
smnh kl.wt
mi wdd.wt mrr.n hm-fm ir.t
ist htp ib n nb tl.wy
m ir.t mnw.w r3.w wr.w
shkrpr=fm dcmw m k(r)h.wt nb.t nn dr r=sn
iw=w r$?.w r smn-sn m sS.w
wdi.w wsh.w mh m hsbd
m rj.wt nb.t Spss.t
bB.w tmm ir.t
in iry-pr.t hy.ty-c smr nfr r rd.w s.t
mh-ib mnh n ity
imy-ib Hr m pr=f
shnt.n nsw.t r wr.w r=f
hrr nb tj.wy hr bi.t=f
sS-nsw.t
imy-ri pr n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t Tiy rnh.ti
Hry.w=f
mir-hrw hs.w mr.w m-bih hrn=f
m htr n mil mnw.w
Offering monuments (for) placement before (the king)

for the inspection of the junior god;
Embellishing products
according to the criteria that his majesty preferred for manufacture;
Now the heart of the lord of the two lands is pleased
with the production of great and large monuments,
and the decoration of his house with electrum and with all vessels without limit,
Amarna Period, see Cabrol, Amenhotep IB: Le Magnifique, pp. 102-104, with references; Morkot, op. cit,
p. 2, with references.
315
Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, p. 57, with references, has pointed out parallels to this
text in the reliefs of the tombs of Userhat (Theban Tomb 47), Surer (Theban Tomb 48), Amenhotep-Sise
(Theban Tomb 75), and Heqareshu (Theban Tomb 226). The recipient of the gifts in the reliefs from the
tombs of Userhat, Heqareshu, and Surer is Amenhotep III; however, in the version of the text from the
tomb of Amenhotep Sise, Tuthmosis IV is the recipient of the gifts. For further discussion of the version of
this text in the tomb of Surer, see also Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 742-744, 754. A partial parallel to this scene also appears in
Theban Tomb 73; for this version of the scene, see Save-S6derbergh, Private Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pis.
1-2.
150
they being too numerous for the recording of them in writing:
pectorals and broad collars inlaid with lapis lazuli
and with all sorts of costly stones,
treasures that had never been manufactured;
by the nobleman, count, good companion at the steps of the throne,
excellent confidant of the sovereign,
favorite of Horus in his house,
whom the king has promoted above those greater than he,
with whose character the lord of the two lands is content,
the royal scribe,
steward of the chief wife of the king, Tiye, may she live,
Kheruef,
justified, praised and beloved before his majesty,
in the duty of inspecting monuments.
hsb.t37
st-> smr.w rdl.t m-b?h
m hb-sd 3-nw n hm=f
in iry-pc.t hi.ty-r smr rS n mrw.t sS-nsw.t
imy-ri pr n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t Tiy rnh.ti
Hry.w=fmSr-hrw [... r...]
Year 37:
Bringing forward companions (for) placement before (the king)
at the third Sed Festival of his majesty,
by the nobleman, count, beloved great companion, royal scribe,
Kheruef, justified [...].
[...] n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t [...]
[...] of the chief wife of the king [...]
hsb.t 37
sti it.w-ntr rdl.t m-b?h
m hb-sd 3-nw n hm-f
In iry-pr.t h?.ty-c smr c3 n nb B.wy
whmw-nsw.t tpy n imy rh sS-nsw.t
imy-ri pr n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t Tiy cnh.ti
Hry.w[=fmir-hrw] [...]
Year 37:
Bringing forward god's fathers317 (for) placement before (the king)
For discussion of this line, see Vernus, Essai sur la conscience de I'Histoire dans I'Egypte pharaonique,
p. 60.
317
For discussion of the use of the title it-ntr ("god's father") during the period of time from the Old
Kingdom to the New Kingdom, see Habachi, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 825-826; Baud, Famille royale etpouvoir
151
at the third Sed Festival of His Majesty,
by the nobleman, count, great companion of the lord of the two lands,
first royal herald of the one who is in the palace, royal scribe,
Kheru[ef, justified] [...].
A considerable number of decorated objects (including jewelry and glassware)
have been excavated at the site of Malqata; however, none of these finds can be clearly
linked to the objects depicted and described in Scene l.318 The Prunkgefafi carried by
Kheruef in this scene is decorated with a lotus flower and a pair of gazelle heads; an
image of the seated king clasping papyri and lotuses from a dense mass of foliage appears
above the rim of the bowl.319 The decorative scheme of the Prunkgefafi in Scene 1 is
sous I'Ancien Empire egyptien, Vol. 1, pp. 148-150, with references. The word ntr ("god") in the title refers
to the king. During the 18th Dynasty, the title could refer to blood relatives and in-laws of the king, as well
as the male officials in the royal court who were responsible for tutoring the crown prince. For the latter
class of individuals, see H. Brunner, ZAS 86 (1961): 90-100. Since Tiye's father Yuya—the father-in-law
of Amenhotep HI—held the title it-ntr, he may be one of the individuals bearing this title at Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival. For the titles of Yuya, see Berman, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III:
Perspectives on His Reign, p. 5; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 51.
318
For discussion of decorated objects from Amenhotep Ill's festival constructions at Malqata, see Hayes,
Scepter of Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 244-255; Keller, Journal of Glass Studies 25 (1983): 19-28; Ziegler, Queens
of Egypt, pp. 261-263. For discussion of jewelry from the reign of Amenhotep III (including pectorals and
necklaces), see Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep HI and his World, pp. 434-451;
Kozloff, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 111-118. For
discussion of Prunkgefafie and pectorals in general, see references collected by Wente, in Epigraphic
Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, p. 57.
319
In the image of the king on top of the Prunkgefafi, Amenhotep III wears the round wig; a uraeus-serpent
adorns the brow of the king in this image. Baines, JEA: Reviews Supplement 71 (1985): 47, suggests that
the "composition" of this offering bowl from the tomb of Kheruef "alludes to the zml tiwj motif and to that
of Horus in the marshes, and in the latter respect constitutes a forerunner for the largely Graeco-Roman
occurrence of youthful deities, such as Ihy and Harsomtus, on the lotus." In statues depicting Amenhotep
III as the child god Neferhotep, the king typically wears the round wig and the double crown with a uraeus
at his brow; examples of this type of statue include Cleveland Museum of Art 1961.417 and Museum of
Fine Arts-Boston 1970-636. These youthful representations of Amenhotep III were most likely
commissioned by the king for his Sed Festival celebrations; the youthfulness of the king in these statues
probably alludes to the rejuvenation experienced by the king during the Sed Festival. For a discussion of
these youthful statues of Amenhotep III, see Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, pp. 189-161, 198-
202; Vandersleyen, BSFE 111 (1988): 9-30. For further discussion of statues of the youthful king as an
allusion to the child form of the solar deity and his rebirth at sunrise, see Rossler-Kohler, in Studien zu
Sprache undReligion Agyptens, Vol. 2, pp. 929-946, with references; Feucht, SAK 11 (1984): 401-419. An
image of a child above the prow of the solar night barque in the boat processional scene from the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef represents the solar child at sunrise; the image of
the king above the Prunkgefafi in Scene 1 likely serves a similar function. For discussion of the solar child
152
reminiscent of the decoration on faience bowls known as "marsh bowls" or
"Nunschale."320 The outside of a "marsh bowl" is typically decorated with lotus flowers;
the inside of the bowl usually contains depictions of both marsh flora and fauna.321 As
cultic objects associated with the bovine form of the goddess Hathor, "marsh bowls"
emphasize rebirth and highlight the goddess's maternal relationship with the king.
The texts of Scene 1 indicate that the materials used for the production of the
jewelry offered to the king were costly stones and metals. According to the religous
beliefs of the Egyptians, the bodies of the gods and goddesses were made out of precious
minerals, stones, and metals; thus, such materials were thought to be imbued with divine
power.322 Gold was particularly associated with the sun god Re and with Hathor, who
sometimes bore the epithet "Golden One," which emphasizes the solar attributes of the
goddess; Egyptian texts often refer to gold as "the flesh of the gods."323 As the daugther
of Re, the goddess Hathor had a special connection to precious metals and stones; the
great mineral wealth of Egypt was thought to emanate from goddess in the form of the
who appears above the prow of the night barque in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
320
For a description of the decorative schemes of "marsh bowls" and a discussion the symbolic significance
of their decoration, see Pinch, Votive Offerings to Hathor, pp. 308-315, with references; Straufi, Die
Nunschale: Eine Gefdfigruppe des Neuen Reiches.
321
For the lotus flower as a symbol of the birth of the sun, see StrauB, Die Nunschale: Eine Gefdfigruppe
des Neuen Reiches, pp. 72-76; Brunner-Traut, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 1091-1096; El-Khachab, JEA 57 (1971):
132-145; Schlogl, Der Sonnengott aufder Bliite; Dittmar, Blumen undBlumenstrdufie, pp. 132-133. For
the papyrus motif on these bowls as a symbol of the fertility of Hathor, see StrauB, op. cit, pp. 77-79. For
papyrus as a symbol of regeneration and life, see Dittmar, op. cit., pp. 133-143.
322
For discussion of the body parts of the gods as precious metals and stones, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7,
footnote 268.
323
For the solar aspects of gold, see Daumas, Revue de 1'histoire des religions 149 (1956): 1-17; Aufrere,
L 'univers mineral, Vol. 2, pp. 353-406. Hathor is invoked as the "Golden One" in a lengthy hymn from the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef; for a discussion of the solar attributes
of Hathor in this hymn, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
153
solar eye. Thus, the presentation of jewelry to Amenhotep III in Scene 1 strongly
alludes to the deification of the king and emphasizes his association with the falcon form
of the solar deity.325
Perhaps paralleling the offering of jewelry to Amenhotep III in the reliefs of his
third Sed Festival, the god Horus is the recipient of chains of carnelian and faience in two
scenes from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus.326 In Scene 23 of the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus, Horus seizes a chain of carnelian (hrs.t) from the god Seth. 27 The
identification of the carnelian in the text as ir.t dSr.t, "red eye," suggests that the carnelian
may represent the eye of Re. The color red is associated with the glowing light of the
morning sun in the eastern horizon of the sky; the red glow of the solar eye also alludes to
blood and, thus, to the destructive power of the angry solar eye goddess who protects
Re.328 In Scene 24, Horus receives a chain of faience (thn.t) from the "daughters of
Horus," who are also called "women of Libya" in the text.329 The identification of the
For discussion of the Egyptian understanding of the vast mineral wealth in Egypt and foreign lands as an
emanation of the Hathoric solar eye goddess, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnote 269.
325
Horus the Behdetite, a falcon god, who often appears as the winged solar disc, is often described as slb-
Sw.ty, "colorful of plumage"—a term that likely alludes to the radiant light of the solar deity at sunrise; for
detailed discussion of the term slb-Sw.ty in connection with the feather adornments of the royal Sed
Festival robe, see Section 1.1.2.
326
As the god most closely associated with kingship in Egypt, Horus probably serves as a stand-in for the
king in the rites of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus.
327
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 180-185, Scene 23,11. 72-75. For discussion of the scene, see also
Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschriftfur Jan Assmann, pp. 253-254;
Gestermann, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 41.
328
For red as the color of the light emanating from the rising sun in the eastern horizon, see Darnell, The
Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 72-73, 136. For the color red as an allusion
to the destructive power of the bloodthirsty solar eye goddess who protects Re and, see Darnell, op. cit., p.
197; Darnell, SAK24 (1995): 41-42. According to Aufrere, L'universmineral, pp. 553-560, red cornelian
and other red stones symbolize the flames of the goddess of the eye of the sun, with which the angry
goddess—often in leonine or serpentine form—burns the enemies of Re.
329
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 185-189, Scene 24,11. 76-79. For discussion of this scene, see also
Gestermann, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 41.
154
faience in the text as ir.t=fw?d.t, "his green eye," suggests that faience may represent the
Wadjet Eye—the uninjured (wM.t) eye of Horus that was commonly used as a protective
amulet.330 As a substitute for lapis lazuli and turquoise, faience had the same symbolism
as these authentic stones—primarily rebirth, regeneration, fertility, and the inundation.331
The identification of the daughters of Horus who deliver the green eye to Horus as
Libyan women is probably an allusion to the Libyan women who dance for the
wandering goddess of the eye of the sun; the return of the goddess to Egypt marked the
beginning of the inundation season and the New Year.332 The carnelian and faience
necklaces that Horus receives in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus most likely represent
the solar eye and the lunar eye—/. e., the left eye and right eye of the supreme cosmic
deity.333
330
In contrast to the red solar disk of morning and day, the solar disk may be green in color while traveling
through the Nun-waters of the underworld at night; see Brunner, in Gorg and Pusch, eds., Festschrift Elmar
Edel, pp. 54-59. Ir.t Hr wid.t is an offering of green sir-fruit in Pyramid Texts Spells 162 and 190; in
Pyramid Texts Spell 186, ir.tHr wid.t designates a type of bread offering. During the Graeco-Roman
Period, ir.tHr wid.t (Wb. 1, 107.18-19) refers to a type of wine used in offerings. According to Poo, Wine
and Wine Offering in the Religion of Ancient Egypt, pp. 24-25, the offering of this type of wine likely
"implied the rejuvenating power that creates prosperity"; for a similar intepretation of the regenerative
qualities of wine offerings in the Graeco-Roman Period, see also Germond, BSEG 27 (2005-2007): 49-50,
with references.
331
For faience as a substitute for turquoise and lapis lazuli, see Nicholson and Peltenburg, in Nicholson and
Shaw, eds., Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 178, with references; Aufrere, L'univers mineral, pp. 521-537.
For the symbolism of turquoise and lapis lazuli, see Aufrere, L 'univers mineral, pp. 463-517. For further
discussion of the semiotics of the colors red and green in ancient Egypt, see Gautier, Archeo-Nil 7 (1997):
9-15.
332
For discussion of female Libyan dancers at the Sed Festival and their connection to the wandering
goddess of the eye of the sun, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 3; Section 3.1.3.1. Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 80,
footnote 172, points out Sakhmet's association with Libya by noting her epithet hry(.t)-Thn.w, "chief of the
Libyans."
333
Alternately, the carnelian might represent the bloody, injured eye of Horus; the faience would then
represent the healed form of the eye of Horus. For discussion of the solar and lunar eyes of the supreme
deity, see Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 305-308, 416-417;
Darnell, SAK24 (1997): 35-48, with references; Borghouts, in Studien zu Sprache undReligion Agyptens,
Vol. 2, pp. 703-716. Darnell, SAK24 (1997): 35-48, describes a type of apotropaic amulet that combines
the symbolism of the eye of Horus (in the form of the Wadjet Eye) and the eye of Re ("the angry wandering
eye in her form of Bastet-Sothis, the mistress of the New Year"); these amulets probably celebrate the
heliacal rising of Sothis, which marks the New Year and the beginning of the inundation season.
155
SCENE 2: PRESENTATION OF OFFERINGS TO THE DJED PILLAR
Scene 2a depicts the preparation and transport of offerings for the Djed Pillar; the
reliefs of this scene appear in the first and third registers of relief decoration below
Scenes 1, 2b, 3, and 4a. In Scene 2b, Amenhotep III presents an impressive assortment
of offerings to the anthropomorphic cult statue of the Djed Pillar; the reliefs of this scene
appear just to the right of Scene 1.
SCENE 2A: PREPARATION & TRANSPORT OF OFFERINGS 3 3 4
To the left of Scene 5 in Register 3, two royal acquaintances and two god's
fathers load offerings onto a barque docked at a quay next to a clump of papyrus reeds
(Fig. 174).335 Four royal acquaintances walking on shore carry offerings for placement
on two additional barques docked at another quay further to the left; on a raised floor in
the area between the four royal acquaintances and their destination, a butcher removes the
foreleg of a sacrificial bull. At the second quay, two royal acquaintances and two god's
fathers load the offerings onto two barques. A group of officials headed by Kheruef
stands on shore—possibly awaiting the arrival of the barques and offerings at a quay on
the western side of the Birket Habu at Malqata.336 A possible parallel to the
334
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 58, 59, 61, 63, pp. 61, 63, 65.
335
The clumps of papyrus may allude to the use of papyrus-stalks in stick-fighting bouts in the reliefs of the
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Section 2.1.2, Scene 6). Clumps of papyrus
also appear to the right of the dancing women and the royal women seated in palanquins in the depiction of
the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead; for discussion of these plants on the Scorpion Macehead, see
primarily Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues, p. 33, with references. The presence of the papyrus plants in
Scene 2a and in the Scorpion Macehead calls to mind the ritual shaking of the papyri (sSS-wid) and, thus,
may similarly symbolize rebirth and rejuvenation. For further discussion of the shaking of the papyrus
ritual, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7; Section 3.2.2.
336
For detailed discussion of the ritual landscape and waterscape of Amenhotep III at Malqata, see Section
2.1.0; Section 7.5. For identification of the various implements carried by the officials waiting at the quay
in this scene, see Fakhry, ASAE 42 (1943): 485. The fourth official carries a snake-headed wand and a
mallet. The mallet carried by this official is similar to the one used by Akhenaten in a fragmentary scene
from Karnak to hammer a stake (Redford, in Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, p. 77,
pi. 18.6). For discussion of snake-headed wands as apotropaic, magical implements, see primarily Darnell,
156
representations of the unloading products from boats in Scene 2a appears in a series of
scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at the Temple of Soleb; in these
scenes from Soleb, several royal officials busy themselves with the loading and
unloading of cattle, marsh plants, birds, wine jars, and metal ingots from a group of boats
at a quay (Fig. 175).337
Loading of First Barque with Offerings in Third Register:
itp ih.t nb.t nfr.t wcb.t r wB.w in it.w-ntr
Reception of all sorts of good and pure products for the barques by the god's fathers.
(f)h-nsw.t
Royal acquaintance338
SAK22 (1995): 88-89, footnote 219, with references; Willems, Coffin ofHeqata, pp. 125-131. Several
magical implements, including a snake-headed wand, magical knives, and a small statuette of a lioness-
masked woman holding two snake-headed wands, were discovered in a Middle Kingdom tomb at the site of
the Ramesseum; the cache also contained a collection of papyrus rolls that included the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus. For the magical objects discovered in this cache at the Ramesseum, see primarily
Quibell, Ramesseum, p. 3, pis. 2-3; Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, pp. 222-233;
Darnell, loc. cit; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 53; Quack, ZAS 133 (2006): 72-73.
For further discussion of magical wands and knives from the Middle Kingdom, see also Altenmuller, Die
Apotropaia unddie Gbtter Mitteldgyptens; Altenmuller, WdO 14 (1983): 30-45; Altenmuller, SAK13
(1986): 1-27; Koenig, Magie etmagiciens dans I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 85-98; Vol3, in Polz, etal., MDAIK
55 (1999): 390-399; Perraud, BIFAO 102 (2002): 309-326; Hubai, SAK37 (2008): 169-198. The king uses
a long, straight, snake-headed rod and a long, wavy, snake-tailed rod in the ritual "driving of the calves"
(hw.t bhs.w); for detailed discussion of this ritual and the snake-shaped rods used by the king during the
performance of the ritual, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 5.
337
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 86-93, 134-137; for further discussion of these scenes from Soleb, see
Section 2.2.4; Section 7.2.
338
Interpretation of the title (r)h-nsw.t (with the orthography: Gardiner Sign M23 over Gardiner Sign Aal)
has proven problematic and controversial; for an overview of literature on this term, see Baud, Famille
royale etpouvoir sous I'Ancien Empire egyptien, Vol. l,pp. 107-118, with references. Wb. 2, 446.9-15
and 447.1-3 lists this particular orthographic writing as an example of the title rh-nsw.t, "royal
acquaintance." Fischer, MMJ12 (1978): 8, footnote 40, suggests that the original reading of this
orthographic writing of the title may have been iry-h.(t) nsw.t or h(nms)-nsw.t. As Baud, op. cit., pp. 114-
116, notes, this title is most often associated with officials who carry or manipulate ropes in royal rituals,
e.g. in the Raising of the Djed Pillar in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef (Section 2.1.2, Scene 3). Based on this association, Baud suggests a novel interpretation of the
title: "sachant meme que le signe h peut representr une corde roulee en pelote, sa mise en relation avec les
fonctions susmentionnees suggere tout simplement une lecture du hieroglyphe composite comme h-nswt, a
traduire par manipulateur de corde du roi, a defaut du neologisme encordeur du roi." Baud's suggestion is
sensible and may in the end be correct; however, to avoid confusion, the standardized translation "royal
acquaintance" is used here. According to Bohleke, JARCE 39 (2002): 160: "Though it died out in the joint
reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, the rank 'king's acquaintance' seems to have been resurrected
157
it-(ntr)
it-ntr
(God's) father
God's father
smn dr.t=k
Steady your hand.
Ssp r wyh m pi wi?
Receiving for stowing in the barque.
(r)h-nsw.t
(r)h-nsw.t
Royal acquaintance
Royal acquaintance
Transport of Offerings for Loading in Second and Third Barques in Third Register:
fil.t ty.w hnk.t kl.w Spd.w rnp.wt nb.t ndm.t bnr.t

ih.t nb.t nfr.t wrb.t r wB.w
The carrying of bread, beer, oxen, fowl, all sorts of sweet and pleasant plants,
and all sorts of good and pure products to the barques.
(r)h(.w)-nsw.t
Royal acquaintance(s)
Butchering of Bull in Third Register:
sft di.w r stp.w

hrp di.w r wB.w wrb sp-2 hr r.wy nsw.t
Butchery was performed upon the choice cuts;

The offering was placed upon the barques, doubly pure, under the authority of the king.
Loading of Second and Third Barques with Offerings in Third Register:
through the research in connection with Amenhotep Ill's jubilees, which aimed to hearken back to
ancient—and more 'authentic'—precedents." According to Gorre, ZAS 136 (2009): 8-18, rh-nsw.t takes on
a new meaning as a religious title in the Graeco-Roman Period after falling out of use as a courtly title
during the early Ptolemaic Period.
158
it.w-ntr
Ssp t?.w hnk.t k3.w Spd.w
ih.t nb.t nfr.t wcb.t rdi.t r wB.w
3tp ih.t nb.t nfr.t wrb.t r wB.w
sw pn n srhr dd
The god's fathers,

who receive bread, beer, oxen, fowl,
and all sorts of good and pure products (for) placement upon the barques,
who load all sorts of good and pure products upon the barques
on this day of Raising the Djed Pillar.
(r)h-nsw.t
hrp stp.w r wB
Royal acquaintance;
Bringing choice cuts to the barque.
(r)h-nsw.t
Royal acquaintance
Ssp ih.t nb.t [i]n it.w-ntr
Reception of all sorts of products by the god's fathers.
it-ntr
God's father
Royal Officials Awaiting the Delivery of Offerings at the Quay in Third Register:
smr.w nw pr-r3 cnh(.w) wd?(.w) snb(.w)

iry.w-rd.wy n nb B.wy
wnnyw m Sms.w ntr nfr
sS-nsw.t niyc mr—f
mh-ib mnh n nb tl.wy
imy-rS pr n hm.t-nsw.t wr.t Hry.w=f m?-hrw
Companions of the Pharaoh, l.p.h.;

Attendants of the lord of the two lands,
who are in the retinue of the junior god;
True royal scribe, whom he loves,
Excellent confidant of the lord of the two lands;
Steward of the chief wife of the king, Kheruef, justified.
iry.w n nb-tl.wy Sms.w ity nht
Officials of the lord of the two lands, who serve the victorious sovereign.
159
Transport of Unloaded Offerings in Register 1:
ms t3 hnk.t rnpw.t nb.t ndm.t bnr.t

ih.t nb.t nfr.t wcb.t n k!>=k Pth Skr dd n Wsir
Bringing of bread, beer, all sorts of sweet and pleasant plants,

all sorts of good and pure products for your ki, Ptah-Sokar, Djed Pillar of Osiris.
(r)h-nsw.t
(r)h-nsw.t
(r)h-nsw.t
(r)h-nsw.t
Royal acquaintance
Royal acquaintance
Royal acquaintance
Royal acquaintance
The butchery sequence in Scene 2a depicts a butcher removing the foreleg of a
sacrificial bull; a royal acquaintance to the left of the butcher carries away the bull's
foreleg for placement on a ceremonial barque loaded with a wide variety of food-
offerings.340 The slaughtering of a sacrificial bull in this scene probably symbolizes the
destruction of enemies, the subjugation of chaos, and the providing of nourishment (in
the form of meat offerings). In Scene 2b and Scene 3, the king offers "choice cuts" from
the slaughtered bull to the Djed Pillar, which appears in the form of a cult statue of the
syncretized underworld deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.
The earliest attested depiction of the butchering of a sacrificial bull at the Sed
Festival appears in a Predynastic painted tableau on the wall of Tomb 100 at
The offerings carried by these officials include several symbolically charged objects, e.g., offering tables
with ^/-pillars as legs, bundles of papyrus stalks, groups of fettered water birds, "Vj/j-signs, and lotus
flowers. For these groups of offerings as apotropaic symbols and symbols of renewal and regeneration, see
Arnst, in Arnst, ed., Begegnungen: Antike Kulturen im Niltal, pp. 19-53.
340
Two fragmentary relief blocks from Amenhotep Ill's mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile at
Thebes depict an official carrying a bull's foreleg at the king's Sed Festival; see Haeny, Untersuchungen im
TotentempelAmenophis'III, pi. 40, nos. 95-96.
160
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131c).341 Fragmentary scenes of butchery also appear in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (Fig. 176). In these
scenes from Abu Gurob, the butcher slits the throat of a sacrificial bull and removes one
of the forelegs of the bull; a priest carries off the bull's butchered foreleg as an offering.
The man who slaughters the bull in this scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre is
identified as imnh Snd.t, "the butcher of the Acacia (House);343 the caption to the butchery
scene reads: stp Ssr, "cutting up the sacrificial bull."344 Additionally, the slaughter
sacrificial bulls appears in several scenes in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from
341
For a detailed discussion of the butchery scene in Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Quibell and Green,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pi. 76), see Section 5.3.1. The slaughtering of the bull takes place next to an
architectural feature that closely resembles later depictions of the />ra-pillar. Other ritual motifs in the
tableau include musical and dance performance, a boat procession, ritual combat, the hunting of desert
game animals, and the Konigslauf. Similar rituals are also performed at the third Sed Festival of
Amenhotep III in reliefs of the tomb of Kheruef, including a boat procession (Scene 2a), music and dance
rituals (Scene 4), and ritual combat (Scene 6).
342
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 361-373. For discussion of this scene, see
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 113, footnote 1; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 165-166; Fischer, Orientalia 29 (1960):
182-183, fig. 5. For further discussion, see also Section 2.2.3, Scene 3; Section 5.3.1.
343
Fischer, Orientalia 29 (1960): 183, follows Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 113, footnote 1, in suggesting
that the phrase Sd.t hr (or mh.t hr) that appears to the right of imnh Snd.t on block 361 belongs "to an
independent inscription." The meaning of the phrase is not entirely clear, but perhaps Sd.t hr means
"pulling on (a rope)," as in the Eloquent Peasant, Bl, 194-195 (= old Bl, 164; Parkinson, The Tale of the
Eloquent Peasant, p. 29):
m sbn
ir=k hmw
Sd hr nfry.t
"Do not go off course!
May you guide the steering oar!
Pull on the tiller rope!"
For discussion of the participation of a "dwarf of the Acacia House" in the Sed Festival of Osorkon II, see
Section 3.1.1.1.
344
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, pi. 23, nos. 372-373. The phrase (r)di.t-r,
"giving the arm," appears on the latter block above the man who stands to the left of the butcher. This
same phrase is also spoken by a sm-priest who reaches his hand out towards the sacrificial bull during the
butchery sequence in Scenes 23 and 43 of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony (Otto, Das Agyptische
Mundoffnungsritual, Vol. 1, pp. 44, 96; Vol. 2, pp. 73, 102). According to Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, p.
128, when the priest extends his hand toward the bull in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, he "points
out and marks the beast for slaughter." For further discussion of the phrase rdi.t-r and the gesture
represented by this phrase, see Dominicus, Gesten und Gebarden, pp. 91-93.
161
the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Fig. 177). Like the butchery scenes from
Niuserre's Sed Festival, the slitting of the sacrificial bull's throat and the removal of the
bull's foreleg are both depicted in the butchery scenes from Akhenaten's Sed Festival
reliefs. Scenes depicting the slaughter of sacrificial bulls are not present in the extant Sed
Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis; however, in one scene, the king presents
butchered oxen as offerings to the gods of Egypt (Fig. 178).346 At the Sed Festivals of
Niuserre, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II, the context for the slaughtering of bulls is less clear
than in the tomb of Kheruef; however, the Djed Pillar does not appear to be the recipient
of the "choice cuts" of the slaughtered bull in any of these kings' Sed Festival reliefs.
The butchery scene in the representation of the Sed Festival in Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis also lacks any clear connection to the Djed Pillar.
The butchery sequence in Scene 2a from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef appears directly below a dance ritual performed by four
women identified as hmw.t inn.w hr whl.t, "women brought from the oasis"; these
women wear leather-bands across their chests and perform a dance move in which they
raise their arms above their heads.347 The outfits and dance movements of these women
are similar to those of a group of dancers, known as "the dance troupe of the Acacia
House" (hnr n Snd.i), who are depicted in several Old Kingdom tomb reliefs (Figs. 179-
182); this group of dancers appears most often in association with scenes depicting the
345
For further discussion of the scenes of butchery from the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten (Smith and
Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 73.1, 75.1-2), see Section 2.2.5, Scene 3; Section 5.3.1.
346
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 7-8. The caption to the scene reads: ir.t htp-di-nsw.t (n) ntr.w
hnt hw.wt ntr.w n{.w) hb-sd, "Performance of the htp-di-nsw.t formula (for) the gods in front of the
enclosures of the gods of the Sed Festival."
347
For further discussion of these women, their outfits, and their dance movements, see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 4b; Section 3.1.3.1.
162
ritual slaughter of a bull and the preparation of food offerings. The Acacia House was
an abattoir of the mortuary cult and a sanctuary of the goddess Sakhmet; the butchered
meats from the Acacia house served as nourishment for the deceased and as offerings to
pacify the violent goddess Sakhmet.349 The combination of dancing women and butchery
in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef strongly
parallels the butchery and dancing rites of the mortuary cult at the Acacia House. The
identification of the butcher in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre as a "butcher of the
Acacia (House)" further links the butchery rites of the Sed Festival and the Acacia
House.350 Thus, the butchery sequence at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival very likely
shares the same symbolic function as the Acacia House sequence—to channel the violent
power of Sakhmet to destroy potentially dangerous enemies and to facilitate rebirth and
rejuvenation through an association with the regenerative properties of the solar cycle.
A text from reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef
records the performance of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony for the divine standards
of the Sed Festival gods during the procession of the solar barque; the ceremony includes
the sacrifice of "oxen and small cattle."351 The Opening of the Mouth ceremony is not
348
For the hnr n Snd.t ("dance troupe of the Acacia House"), see Edel, Das Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in
den Begrabnisriten; Wild, in Les danses sacrees, p. 91; Nord, in Simpson and Davis, eds., Studies in
Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan, p. 141; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 54-55; Kinney, Dance,
Dancers and the Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom, pp. 23-25; Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal.,
eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp. 212-219; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in
preparation). For further discussion of Old Kingdom depictions of the dancing women of the Acacia house
and their relationship to butchery rituals of the mortuary cult, see also Section 3.1.1.1; Section 5.3.1.
349
On the dual role of the Acacia House as an abattoir of the mortuary cult and a sanctuary of the goddess
Sakhmet, see Edel, Das Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in den Begrabnisriten, especially pp. 19-22.
350
For discussion of the the man who slaughters sacrificial bulls in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre as
the "butcher of the Acacia (House)," see supra, this section.
351
For the performance of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony and the associated ritual sacrifice of cattle
at the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
163
directly mentioned in the bull-slaughtering scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's
third Sed Festival; however, the symbolism of the slaughtering of the bull in the scene is
likely related to the symbolism of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. During the
Opening of the Mouth ceremony, the foreleg and heart of a sacrificial bull were removed
by a butcher in the presence of a sm-priest, a lector priest, and a woman identified as a
"kite" idry.t). The "kite" in the scene probably performed a "bird-dance" that was
intended to mimic the flapping of the wings of a bird; during this dance, the "kite" would
have raised her arms above her head like the female dancers who appear in
representations of the Acacia House and in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef.353 The butchery ritual at the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony probably originated from a Predynastic hunting ritual; thus, the "kite" in this
scene represents a scavenger bird hovering over a recently felled game animal.354 A
similar ritual involving the ritual slaughter of a sacrificial bull appears in Scenes 3 and 4
of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus; however, the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus
mythologizes the ritual by identifying the human and animal actors as deities.355 The
significance of the mythological identification of the various actors and animals is
352
For the ritual slaughter of oxen in Scenes 23-25 and Scenes 43-45 of the Opening of the Mouth
106; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177; TeVelde, Seth: God of Confusion, pp. 87-89.
353
For further discussion of the "bird-dance" and its connection to the "kites" at the Opening of the Mouth
and other mortuary rituals, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4b; Section 3.1.1.3.
354
Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177, has suggested that the butchery episodes of the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony and the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus originate in a "pre-mythical hunting scene." According to
Otto, loc. cit, the woman labeled dry.t "represents a carrion bird circling above the slain animal, with its
shrieking interpreted as speech."
355
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 109-119, Scenes 3-4,11. 8-14; pp. 246-247, Image 2. For discussion of
these scenes, see also Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177, especially 168,171-172; Altenmuller, JEOL 19
(1966): 438-440; van der Vliet, BSAK3 (1988): 407, footnote 14; Gestermann, in Rothohler and Manisali,
eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 38; Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., op.
cit., pp. 236-238; Lorand, Lepapyrus dramatique du Ramesseum, pp. 134-135.
164
uncertain and controversial since, in this regard, the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus
apparently breaks from tradition by identifying the god Thoth as the sacrificial bull.
However, in Scene 41 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, Thoth slaughters a sacrificial
bull that clearly represents Seth:357
Dhwty pw iti=fSth n Wsir

fd.n=fn=fhpS=f
"The one who brings Seth to Osiris is Thoth,
after he has removed his foreleg for him."
The slaughtering of Seth in Scene 41 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus is likely
intended to punish Seth for his transgressions against Osiris and to prevent him from
committing any further misdeeds.
After the butchery sequence of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, the foreleg
and heart of the bull were offered to the statue of the deceased; this sequence imbued the
deceased with nourishment and power in order to effect his rejuvenation and
58
reanimation. The foreleg and heart of the bull are both included in the offerings
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 109-119, may be correct in suggesting that Thoth should be understood as
the butcher, not the sacrificial bull, in Scenes 3-4 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus. However, Otto,
JNES 9 (1950): 171-172, has criticized Sethe's "conception of a changeless myth with the roles of the gods
clearly defined" and his "conviction that these roles in a dramatic play must maintain a uniform character."
Instead, Otto, he. cit, has suggested that Thoth is correctly identified as the sacrificial bull in the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus despite the existence of numerous ritual bull-slaughtering scenes in which Thoth
consistently plays the role of butcher.
357
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 230-233, Scene 41,11. 126-129.
358
The Egyptian word hpS (written with the hieroglyphic sign for the foreleg of a bull) can mean "Arm,
Kraft" (Wb. 3, 268.10-269.19) or "(Vorder)schenkel" (Wb. 3, 268.4-8); both senses of the word seem to be
appropriate for the offering of the bull's foreleg at the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. For the orientation
of the bull's foreleg hieroglyph in various contexts, see Fischer, Orientation of Hieroglyphs, Vol. 1, pp.
121-127. Gordon and Schwabe, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 461-469, suggest that the foreleg was removed from the sacrificial bull while the animal
was still alive at the Opening of the Mouth ceremony; according to these authors, the Egyptians interpreted
the twitching muscles of the recently amputated bull's foreleg as a type of magical life-force that could be
transferred to the deceased. For discussion of the offering of the foreleg and heart of a bull at the Opening
of the Mouth ceremony as a ritual of renewal and rejuvenation, see Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 53-54.
For further discussion, also also Section 5.3.1. For discussion of the overall purpose of the Opening of the
Mouth ceremony, see Otto, Das Agyptische Mundoffnungsritual; Roth, JEA 78 (1992): 113-147; Roth, JEA
165
presented to the Djed Pillar by Amenhotep III in Scene 2b. In addition to providing
nourishment that ultimately facilitates the rejuvenation of the deceased, the slaughter of
the sacrificial bull also symbolizes the defeat of enemies during a critical period of
transition.359 The symbolism of the butchery sequence and the offering of "choice cuts"
to the Djed Pillar at the Sed Festival is likely very similar to the symbolism of the
offering of the bull's heart and foreleg to the deceased at the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony. The slaughtering of the bull symbolizes the destruction of enemies, and the
offering of meat provides nourishment that is necessary for the regeneration of Osiris.
In addition to meat from the sacrificial bull, several varieties of flowers and
vegetables are loaded onto barques for transport to the area designated for the offering
ritual. The offering of rnp.wt-plants emphasizes the themes of rejuvenation and
regeneration since the word rnp.wt is etymologically related to the word rnpi, "to be
young."360 One of the varieties of rnp.wt-plants included in the offerings being loaded
79 (1993): 57-79; Fischer-Elfert, Die Vision von der Statue im Stein; Roth, in Redford, ed., The Oxford
Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 605-609.
359
The speech of the lector priest to the statue of the deceased receiving the bull's foreleg and heart in
Scene 23 and 43 of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony stresses that the butchered bull was an enemy of
the deceased (Otto, Das Agyptische Mundoffnungsritual, Vol. 1, pp. 46-47, 98-99; Vol. 2, pp. 74, 102; Otto,
JNES9 (1950): 167-169, fig. IE):
iim.n(=i) n=k sn
in(.n=i) n=khfty.w=k
hnk=f hr=k
ngi.n(=i) n=k sw tm
mrrr ntr pf
"For you have (I) bound them (i.e., the sacrificial animals).
For you have I brought your enemies,
he being laid out under you.
For you have I slaughtered him completely.
'Do not rise up against that god!'"
360
Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, p. 179, suggests that the rnp.wt-plants
offered by Herihor to Amun-Re in a scene from the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak are "symbolic of
rejuvenation" based on an etymological link to the adjective-verb rnpi, "to be young" (Wb. 2, 432.11-22,
433.1-31, 434.1-8). For the offering of rnp.t-plants to Osiris and Isis at Sebbenytos, see Koemoth, Osiris et
les arbres, pp. 37-38. For a detailed discussion of the "offering of rnp.t-p\ants" (rdi.t rnp.wt) in the wall
reliefs of Egyptian temples, see Dittmar, Blumen und Blumenstrausse, pp. 79-108.
166
onto the barques is onions. Onions (hd.w) have a special connection to the god Sokar-
Osiris and play an important cultic role at the Khoiak Festival. Worn as necklaces by
celebrants and offered to Sokar-Osiris and the deceased on the 25th and 26th nights of
Khoiak, onions helped to facilitate the regeneration of the corpse of Osiris by means of
their purifying and illuminative qualities.362 The light understood to emanate from the
onions served an apotropaic function in protecting Osiris from Apophis and other
serpentine enemies during the period of time leading up to the Solar-Osirian unity and the
subsequent reanimation of Osiris. At Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival, the onions
presented as offerings to the Djed Pillar most likely play a similar apotropaic role; they
help to protect the underworld deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris from his enemies and to facilitate
the regeneration of the god.
SCENE 2 B : GRANTING OF OFFERINGS BY THE KING 3 6 3
To the left of the enthronement scene in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef is a scene depicting the presentation of offerings to a
mummiform, anthropomorphic cult statue of the Djed Pillar (Fig. 183). The royal
benefactor Amenhotep III stands before the Djed Pillar's kiosk with a vast assortment of
offerings arranged on two offering tables or platters. The king's outfit in this scene
consists of the blue crown, a broad collar, a pair of armlets, a pair of bracelets, a pair of
361
For a detailed discussion of onions and their significance at the Khoiak Festival of Sokar-Osiris, see
Graindorge, RdE 43 (1992): 87-105. The discussion of the significance of onions in this section is based
primarily on Graindorge's article. For discussion of the connection between the Khoiak Festival and the
Raising of the Djed Pillar, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 3.
362
According to Graindorge, RdE A3 (1992): 90, onions were understood to have illuminative qualities
based on a word-play between hd.w ("onions," Wb. 3,212.5-9) and hd ("to be white or bright," Wb. 3,
206.14-18, 207.1-27, 208.1-6).
363
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 54, pp. 58-59.
167
sandals, and a kilt with a bull's tail attached to the back of the waist. In his left hand,
Amenhotep III carries an rnh-sign; with his right hand, he presents the offerings to the
Djed Pillar. The top platter of offerings contains, onions, bread, cuts of beef, fowl, a calf,
and a bouquet of flowers; the bottom platter contains the carcasses of a butchered oryx
(m3-hd) and an ox (iwl). A nms.t-jar and two additional bouquets of flowers rest on
stands within the kiosk just in front of the statue of the Djed Pillar. The mummiforrn,
anthropomorphic statue clasps a nhlhi-flail and hki-scepter in his hands and wears a
double-feathered cnd.ti-crovm that is adorned with a solar disk and twin uraei.366
Offering to the Djed Pillar:
sm?r r3b.t c3.t

m iwS.w wnd.w ih.t nb.t nfr.t wrb.t
n Wsir hid d.t
Presenting great offerings

consisting of oxen, short-horned cattle, and all sorts of good and pure products,
to Osiris, Ruler of Eternity.367
ntr nfr nb tl.wy Nb-M3r.t-Rc

s3 Rc n h.t=f'Imn-htp hB W3s.t
d.t Rr hnt tS.wy mr.n=fr nsw.t nb
di rnh mi Rr
Junior god, lord of the two lands, Nebmaatre;

Bodily son of Re, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes;
Amenhotep Ill's outfit in this scene is similar to the one he wears in Section 2.1.2, Scene la.
365
In a rite of purification during during Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, the "daughters of the
chieftains" to offer cool water to the king from nms.t-jars and s(n)b.t-vases; for discussion of this scene, see
Section 2.1.1, Scene 3; Section 3.1.2.
366
According to Amann, WdO 14 (1983): 52-53, the statue of the Djed Pillar in this scene "bildet das
fruhste bekannte Beispiel fur einen mit Augen und Armen versehenen Djed-Pfeiler"; the anthropomorphic
statue of the Djed Pillar with eyes, arms, W.r/-crown, crook, and flail is a manifestation of the god Osiris.
367
For hki d.t as an epithet of Osiris, see Leitz, Lexikon der dgyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen,
Vol. 5, pp. 531-532. For discussion of the 23 rd Dynasty temple at Karnak that is dedicated to Osiris, Ruler
of Eternity, see Redford, JEA 59 (1973): 16-30.
168
Image of Re in front of the two lands, whom he preferred to any (other) king,
given life like Re.
s3 cnh nb hS=fmi Rr
The protection of all life surrounds him like Re.
Vulture Above King:
Wldy.t nb.t pr-nw
Wadjet, lady of the Per-Nu shrine.
Offerings Given by the King:
ml-hd
twS
hnk.t nb.t ndm.t bnr.t
Ih.t nb.t nfr.t wrb.t
Oryx;
Ox;
All sorts of sweet and pleasant offerings;
^r»R
All sorts of good and pure products.
Words Accompanying the Offering:

dd mdw di.n(=i) n=k dfi.w
dd mdw di.n(-i) n=k hw
Words to be spoken: "I have given provisions to you."
Words to be spoken: "I have given food to you."
Personified Djed Pillar:
htp m shn inb.w in ntr pn hft srhr dd
Resting in the walled shrine by this god at the time of Raising the Djed Pillar.
dl-fnh nb ?w.t-ib nb(.t) snb nb

Wsir hnty m hw.t Skr ntr r3 nsw.t rnh.w
For discussion of this list of offerings, see Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian
Kingship, p. 164, footnote 317; Walker, loc. cit., suggests that the description of these offerings as ndm
bnr emphasizes the offerings' ability to pacify the god.
169
As he gives all life, all joy, and all health,
^f\Q ^70
Osiris, foremost in the temple of Sokar, great god, king of the living ones.
si rnh nb r-hi—fnb mi Rr
dd wis snb hr ns.t it-fGb
The protection of all life surrounds him entirely like Re;

Stability, dominion, and health upon the throne of his father Geb.
iw n=k rnh dd wSs

hki-k hr ns.t Gb Wnn-nfr s3 Nw.t
rs-wdi m pr=fn imh.t
Life, stability, and dominion belong to you,

^71
so that you may rule upon the throne of Geb, Onnophris, the son of Nut,
IT) ^7^
who awakes uninjured in his house of the netherworld.
The offerings presented to the Djed Pillar in Scene 2b include several types of
meat and fowl, including oryx, ox, and geese; the depiction of the preparation of these
offerings in Scene 2a includes the ritual slaughter of a sacrificial bull. Similarly, the
offering of a goose and a young goat follows the slaughtering of a sacrificial bull in some
369
For hnty m hw.t Skr (variant: hnty hw.t Skr) as an epithet of Osiris, see Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen
Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 5. pp. 838-839. By the Old Kingdom, Osiris was already connected
to Sokar, e.g., in the Pyramid Texts; for discussion of this early association of Sokar and Osiris, see
Brovarski, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 1060-1061; Mikhail, GM 82 (1984): 25-26, with references. The mortuary
temple of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes included a sacred precinct called "the
temple of Sokar" (hw.t-Skr); for discussion of this temple, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 1, footnote 54.
370
For nsw.t rnh.w as an epithet of Osiris, Onnophris, and Re, see Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter
und Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 4, p. 323.
371
In an 18th dynasty private stela (Berlin Museum 7769), Nakht and his wife Mut-nofret praise Amenhotep
III as a manifestation of the deity Onnophris; for discussion of this stela, see Radwan, MDAIK29 (1973):
71-76.
372
For rs wdi as an epithet of the resurrected Osiris, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 1, footnote 47. For discussion
of the sign used to write rs wdi in this passage, see Berlandini, in Zivie, ed., Memphis etses necropoles au
nouvel empire, p. 28.
373
For imh.t as "a designation of the netherworld realm of Sokar," see Wente, in Epigraphic Survey, Tomb
ofKheruef, p. 59, note e. Meeks, Annee Lexicographique, Vol. 3, p. 22, catalogue entry 79.0234, regards
imh.t as a designation for '"la source' du Nil du Nord puis, par extension, Pentree du royaume des morts."
Klotz, Adoration of the Ram, p. 122, footnote 368, notes: "In the Fourth and Fifth Hours of the Amduat, Re
travels through the Land of Sokar (ti skr) along the 'roads of Imhet.'"
170
versions of Scenes 23-24 and 43-44 of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.374 The
presentation of these butchered animals as food offerings at the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony symbolizes the subjugation of chaos and the providing of nourishment for the
deceased. The offering of oryx (mi-hd) and geese to the Djed Pillar in Scene 2b most
likely symbolizes the destruction of the enemies of the syncretized underworld deity
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.375 As a desert game animal, the oryx is connected in Egyptian
religious thought to Seth, the god of confusion.376 In order for the regeneration of Osiris
to occur during the Raising of the Djed Pillar, the enemies of Osiris needed to be
supressed and kept at bay.377 Foremost among these enemies was Seth, the god
responsible for the dismemberment of his brother Osiris; in punishment for his misdeeds,
374
Otto, Das Agyptische Munddffnimgsritual, Vol. 1, pp. 43-51, 96-101; Vol. 2, pp. 73-78, 102-105. For
further discussion of these scenes, see also Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177; Graindorge, JEA 82 (1996): 88-
89; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, p. 93, footnote 81.
375
For the offering of animals in general as a symbol of the destruction of enemies, see Junker, ZAS 48
(1910): 69-77; Kees, Bemerkungen zum Tieropfer der Agypter undseiner Symbolik, pp. 71-88; Eyre, The
Cannibal Hymn, pp. 52-57,170-171. For the specific symbolism of the offering of geese in connection
with the destruction of enemies, see Junker, in Firchow, ed., Agyptologische Studien: Hermann Grapow
zum 70. Geburtstaggewidmet, pp. 171-175; Stork, LA, Vol. 2., cols. 373-376; Eggebrecht, LA, Vol. 2., cols.
371-372; Graindorge, JEA 82 (1996): 88-89, with references; Meurer, Die Feinde des Konigs in den
Pyramidentexten, pp. 151-152; Arnst, in Arnst, ed., Begegnungen: Antike Kulturen im Niltal, pp. 19-53,
especially pp. 31-32. A ritual in which the king cooks a goose on a brazier before a deity may suggest the
fiery destruction of enemies; for discussion of this ritual, see Eggebrecht, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 848-850, with
references; Assmann, in Biderman and Scharftstein, eds., Interpretation in Religion, pp. 94-96; Eyre, The
Cannibal Hymn, pp. 38-39,110.
376
For the sacrifice of the oryx as a Sethian enemy of Horus and Osiris, see Derchain, Le sacrifice de
I'oryx; Stork, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 319-323, with references; Germond, BSEG 13 (1989): 51-55; Labrique, in
Clarysse, eta/., eds., Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years, Vol. 2, pp. 883-902; Meurer, Die Feinde
des Konigs in den Pyramidentexten, p. 150, footnote 3; Griffiths, in Verhoeven and Graefe, eds., Religion
und Philosophie im Alten Agypten, p. 153, footnote 16. In his study of the ritual sacrifice of the oryx in the
Graeco-Roman Period, Derchain, op. cit., pp. 28-29, concludes: "L'antilope ayant ete indentifiee avec Seth
devient naturellement l'ennemi type, et en particulier celui de l'oeil d'Horus, dans les textes tardifs."
377
For discussion of the regeneration of Osiris during the Raising of the Djed Pillar, see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 3.
171
Seth—in the form of a sacrificial animal—was forced to carry Osiris and was then
slaughtered.378
Oryxes are also included as offerings in the Sed Festival reliefs of other kings;
however, the context for these offerings is not as clearly understood as in the tomb of
Kheruef. In a scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru at Dahshur, the king conducts
an inspection of the stalls where living oryxes are kept (Fig. 184). This inspection
scene does not show the slaughter of the oryxes; however, the scene very likely alludes to
the sacrifice of these animals at the Sed Festival of Snofru. A talatat block of Akhenaten
from Karnak Temple depicts a royal palace with facilities for animal husbandry (Fig.
185); although this relief has not been previously linked to Akhenaten's Sed Festival, the
facilities depicted on the block may have been utilized for butchery rituals at the king's
Sed Festival.380 In a courtyard to the right of the cattle pen on the far left of talatat block,
a man attends to two pairs of oryxes feeding at troughs; this scene perhaps parallels the
royal inspection of oryx stalls at Snefru's Sed Festival. The mention of oryxes in a
fragmentary inscription from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis may also
refer to the slaughter of these animals as part of the procession of the barque of Amun.381
378
For Seth's murder of Osiris and his subsequent punishment, see, e.g., TeVelde, Seth: God of Confusion,
pp. 81-98; Meurer, Die Feinde des Konigs in den Pyramidentexten, pp. 101-191. Eyre, The Cannibal
Hymn, pp. 168-169, notes that in a Late Period magical stela (Kestner Museum 1935.200.445; Derchain,
RdE 16 (1964): 19-23), "Seth is threatened with burning and mutilation by Sakhmet and by the eye of
Horus, and it is then threatened that he will eat the enemy of the eye of Horus—that is to say, himself as an
oryx." For discussion of the Raising of the Djed Pillar as a celebration of the triumph of Osiris over Seth,
see Altenmttller, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 1101-1103.
379
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 101-104, figs. 99-104; Edel, in Der
Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 206-208, fig. 4. According to
Edel's reconstruction of the scene, the caption reads: m" md.wt n(.t) mi.w-hd.w rnh(.w), "Inspecting the
stalls of living oryxes."
380
Anus, BIFAO 69 (1971): 73-79, block 3.
381
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 13, no. 5. The relevant text reads: mi.w-hd.w n it=f'Imn [...],
"oryxes of his father Amun [...]." For further discussion of this scene, see Section 2.2.6, Scene 13.
172
A group of butchery and offering scenes from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus
relates directly to the ceremonial Raising of the Djed Pillar; as such, they provide
important comparative material to illuminate the significance of the butchery and offering
scenes connected to the Raising of the Djed Pillar at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival
in the tomb of Kheruef. In Scenes 12-13 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, a goose
101
and a young goat are decapitated and offered to the Djed Pillar:
hpr.n hnk n Dd
m tp n ib mtp n smn
Hr pw shm
dd.t=fir.w n=f
dd mdw wdi.tw n(=i) [s]$d
hnk 2 sh.t
Gb dd mdw (n) Dhwty
wdi n=ftp=fsp 2
tp Sth
hnk tp n lb tp n smn
hw.t nbw
"It happened that an offering was made for the Djed Pillar
consisting of the head of a kid and the head of a goose.
The powerful one is Horus,
for whom that which he speaks is done.384
Words to be spoken: 'To me does one extend the fillet.'
— two offerings of grain.
382
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 147-156, Scenes 12-13,11. 41-47; pp. 249-250, Images 7-8. For
discussion of these scenes, see also Kees, Bemerkungen zum Tieropfer der Agypter und seiner Symbolik,
pp. 72-75; Helck, Orientalia 23 (1954): 390-391; Junker, in Firchow, ed., Agyptologische Studien:
Hermann Grapow zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet, pp. 173-174; Altenmuller, JEOL 19 (1966): 429-430,
440-442; Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and his Cult, pp. 111-113; Altenmuller, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 1101-
1102; van der Vliet, BSAK 3 (1988): 405-411; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 50;
Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, p. 93, footnote 81; Meurer, Die Feinde des Kbnigs in den Pyramidentexten, pp.
150-151; p. 155, footnote 4; p. 199 footnote 6; Gestermann, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos &
Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 38; Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., op. cit.,pp. 243-244.
3
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 153-156, Scene 13,11. 46-47. For further discussion of this scene, see
Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 243-244;
Lorand, Lepapyrus dramatique du Ramesseum, pp. 126-128.
384
Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 243-244,
has recently questioned Sethe's interpretation of this line and offered a new translation: "Horus ist das,
dessen Zorn machtig ist, der fur sich gehandelt." The papyrus is fragmentary in this section of text;
however, the traces of ink in this line (Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pi. 4,1. 46) appear to support Sethe's
dd.t=f("was er sagt") rather than Schneider's dnd=f (udessen Zorn").
173
Geb speaks to Thoth:
'Extend his head to him two times!'
— the head of Seth
— the offering of the head of a kid and the head of a goose
— temple of gold."
Thus, the text of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus clearly equates the offering of the
decapitated goose and young goat with the subjugation of the god Seth.
SCENE 3: THE RAISING OF THE DJED PILLAR 3 8 5
To the left of Scene 2b is a scene depicting the rites of the Raising of the Djed
Pillar at the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III (Fig. 186). During the performance of
this ritual, Amenhotep III—with the assistance of a group of four attendants—raises a
large statue of the Djed Pillar onto a pedestal by pulling a rope that is attached to the
pillar. The group of attendants who assists the king during the Raising of the Djed Pillar
includes an unlabeled official who guides the pillar onto the pedestal and three royal
acquaintances who pull a rope that is attached to the pillar. A kneeling god's father
who appears directly in front of the Djed Pillar is responsible for arranging a platter of
offerings that includes bread, beer, beef, fowl, flowers, and onions.387 In the portion of
the scene above these offerings, a sm-priest and a master craftsman bow their heads
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 56, pp. 59-61. For discussion of this scene, see van de Walle,
La nouvelle Clio 5-6 (1954): 293-297; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 116-118; Wente, in Studies in
Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 83, 90-91; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 72-74; David,
Religious Ritual at Abydos, p. 248; Altenmuller, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 1101-1103; Barta, Untersuchungen zur
Gottlichkeit des regierenden Konigs, pp. 63-67; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 51-69; van Dijk, OMRO 66
(1986): 13; van der Vliet, BSAK3 (1988): 405-411; Mostafa, GM109 (1989): 43; Kemp, Ancient Egypt:
Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 216; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 271-276,295-297,
404-410; Walker, Aspects of the Primaeval Nature of Egyptian Kingship, pp. 274-276; Negm, Discussions
in Egyptology, 57 (2003): 69-70; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 85-86; Hornung
and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 93.
386
Since the unlabeled official standing behind the Djed Pillar wears the same outfit as the it-ntr ("god's
father") who presents offerings to the statue, he may also be a god's father.
387
The offerings on the tray in this scene are similar to the offerings that appear on the top tray in Section
2.1.2, Scene 2a.
174
respectfully towards Amenhotep III as the sacred rite is performed.388 Standing dutifully
behind the king, Tiye clasps a lotus flower in her right hand and a fe-scepter in her left
hand.389
ntr nfr nb ti.wy Nb-M3r.t-Rc

si Rr [...] ['Imn-htp hkl WSs.t]
di cnh [...]
S'3 [.J
Junior god, lord of the Two Lands, Nebmaatre;

Son of Re, [...] [Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes];
given life [...],
who glorifies [...].
s3 cnh nb dd wis nb r-h?=f {nb} mi Rr d.t
The protection of all life, all stability, and dominion surrounds him like Re forever.
Titulary of Tiye:
iry.t-pr.t wr.t hsw.t hnw.t n.t tl.w nb.w mh.t ch m mrw.t

hm.t-nsw.t wr.t mry.t=fTiy
r
nh.tl rnpi.ti rc nb
Noblewoman, great of praise, mistress of all lands, who fills the palace with love,
chief wife of the king, whom he loves, Tiye,
may she live and be youthful every day!
Tiye's epithet, "she who fills the palace with love," likely alludes to the hieros
gamos of the king and the queen; the result of the royal couple's sacred union is the
rejuvenation of the king and transfer of the creative powers of the solar deity to the
388
For bowing as a gesture of respect, see Dominicus, Gesten undGebdrden, pp. 21-25.
389
For the /jfs-scepter as ritual object associated with queenship during the New Kingdom, see Troy,
Patterns of Queenship, pp. 83-85.
175
king.390 The exclamation cnh.ti rnpi.ti r f nb ("May she live and be youthful every day!")
suggests that the queen herself also experienced the same renewal as Amenhotep III
during the rites of the Sed Festival.391
Raising the Djed Pillar:
srhr dd in nsw.t
ir.n=fn it-fSkr Wsir ntr ri hry-ib Sty.t
di-frnh nb dd wis nb snb nb lw.t-ib nb(.t)
dfi.w nb(.w) dbh.w m hb-sd
ml it=fHr-tS-nn
The Raising of the Djed Pillar by the king,

which he did for his father Sokar-Osiris, the great god, residing in Shetyt,392
so that he might give all life, all stability and dominion, all health, all joy,
and all provisions required in the Sed Festival
like his father Horus-Tatenen.393
srhr dd in nsw.t ds=f

ir=fdi cnh mi Rc d.t nhh
The Raising of the Djed Pillar by the king himself,

that he may achieve "given life" like Re forever and ever.
srhr dd in nsw.t ds=f

hd t? n hb.w-sd
The Raising of the Djed Pillar by the king himself.

That the day is about to dawn is for the Sed Festival rites.394
(r)h.w-nsw.t
Royal acquaintances
390
For the queenly epithet mr.t rh m mrw.t and its allusion to the hieros gamos, see Troy, Patterns of
Queenship, pp. 100, 184, no. A4/2. For further discussion of this epithet of Tiye and its connection to the
hieros gamos, see Sections 3.2.2.
391
A similar description of the renewal of Tiye's youthfulness appears in Section 2.1.1, Scene 1.
392
For hry-ib Sty.t as an epithet of Sokar-Osiris, see Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und
393
For the significance of the syncretized deity Horus-Tatenen in the inscriptions of Amenhotep Ill's first
Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 1, footnote 45.
394
For discussion of the grammar and meaning of this line, see Gilula, in Studies in Honor of George R.
Hughes, pp. 81-82; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 55.
176
The Djed Pillar:
[Pth-Sk]r-Wsir
[Ptah-Soka]r-Osiris395
wnn s? cnh nb r-hi-fmi Rc rr nb
It is every day that the protection of all life shall surround him like Re.
Performance of Ceremonies:
st? sm wr hrp hmw.t

rdi.t chc=sn r rd.w s.t
r ir.t irr.w n schr dd m-b?h nsw.t
Bringing forward of the sm-priest and the master craftsman.

Causing them to stand at the steps of the throne
to perform the ceremonies of the Raising of the Djed Pillar before the king.
sm
wr hrp hmw.t
Sm-priest;
Master craftsman.
Offering to the Djed Pillar:
rdi.t htp-ntr hnk n dd
Giving a divine offering and making offering to the Djed Pillar.
hnk m t? hnk.t
Making an offering consisting of bread and beer.
The name of the syncretized triad Ptah-Sokar-Osiris is written out clearly in Section 2.1.2, Scene 5. For
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, seeLeitz, Lexikon der dgyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 3, pp. 176-
396
A biographical text on a funerary stela of the master craftsman Pl-Sri-n-Pth (Psen-Ptah III) indicates that
one of the roles of master craftsmen during the Ptolemaic Period was to produce golden jewelry for the Sed
Festival; along with several other notable achievements from his life, Psen-Ptah III describes how he
personally presented a golden collar and a uraeus to Ptolemy X on the occasion of the king's Sed Festival.
For the section of his funerary stela in which Psen-Ptah III describes his role in the Sed Festival of Ptolemy
X, see Reymond, From the Records of a Priestly Family from Memphis, p. 142, no. 18b, 1. 8; Derchain, in
Clarysse, eta/., eds., Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years, Vol. 2, pp. 1157-1158.
177
ih.t nb.t nfr.t wrb.t
All sorts of good and pure things.
It-ntr
God's Father
The performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony by Amenhotep III
during the rites of his third Sed Festival is the only known example of the performance of
this ceremony at a celebration of the Sed Festival. The Raising of the Djed Pillar
ceremony, however, does appear in several other contexts, including the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus,397 the Coffin Texts,398 the Book of the Dead,399 reliefs from several
New Kingdom and Late Period private tombs at Thebes and Memphis,400 a relief from
the First Hall of Osiris in the Temple of Seti I at Abydos,401 and festival calendars
recording the events of the 30th day of the Khoiak Festival.402 In each of these various
397
For the Raising of the Djed Pillar in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see Sethe, Dramatische Texte,
pp. 156-160, Scenes 14-15,11. 48-52; p. 250, Image 9.
398
The Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony occurs in Coffin Texts Spells 337 and 338.
399
The Raising of the Djed Pillar occurs in Book of the Dead Spells 18, 19, and 20.
400
For depictions of the Raising of the Djed Pillar in reliefs from several New Kingdom and Late Period
private tombs at Thebes and Memphis, see Mikhail, GM 83 (1984): 59, with references; van Dijk, OMRO
66 (1986): 7-20; Mostafa, GM 109 (1989): 41-50, with references; Graindorge-Hereil, Le DieuSokar, Vol.
1, pp. 273-278, 408, footnote 181; Negm, Discussions in Egyptology 57 (2003): 68-70, with references;
Assem, in RoGler-KQhler and Tawfik, eds., Die Ihr vorbeigehen werdet... wenn Tempel, Grdber und
Statuen spree hen, pp. 51-58.
401
For the depiction of the Raising of the Djed Pillar in a relief from the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, see
Calverley and Gardiner, The Temple ofKingSethos at Abydos, Vol. 3, pi. 8; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals,
pp. 116-117; David, Religious Ritual at Abydos, p. 226, Scene H, pp. 246-252; Amann, WdO 14 (1983): 52;
Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 58-59; van Dijk, OMRO 66 (1986): 15; Park, Discussions in Egyptology 32
(1995): 75-84.
402
The Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony occurs on the 30th day of Khoiak in several sources, including
the festival calendar of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu (Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 3, pi. 160;
Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, Vol. 5, pp. 171-172; El-Sabban, Temple Festival Calendars of Ancient
Egypt, pp. 113-115); the festival calendar at Edfu (Chassinat, Le temple d'Edfou, Vol. 5, p. 351; Alliot, Le
Culte d'Horus a Edfou au temps des Ptolemees, pp. 216, 226; El-Sabban, op. cit., p. 175); the festival
calendar at Dendera (Chassinat, Le mystere d'Osiris au mois de Khoiak, pp. 260, 695-705, 756-757;
Cauville, Le temple de Dendara: Les chapelle osiriennes, Vol. 1, pp. 16, 23, 24); and the festival calendar
178
contexts, the performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar is linked to Osirian
mythology; the rite primarily symbolizes the resurrection of Osiris and the triumph of
Osiris over Seth.
The performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at the Khoiak
Festival provides important context for understanding the significance of the Raising of
the Djed Pillar ceremony at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival. The Djed Pillar appears
in the tomb of Kheruef as a manifestation of the syncretized underworld deity Ptah-
Sokar-Osiris; similarly, the Djed Pillar is a manifestation of Osiris in the Raising of the
Djed Pillar ceremony at the Khoiak Festival. The rites of the Khoiak Festival are
primarily concerned with the death and dismemberment of Osiris at the hands of his
brother Seth and the reanimation of the corpse of Osiris.403 During the performance of
the rites of the Khoiak Festival, Osiris's death and subsequent regeneration are linked to
the annual agricultural cycles of Egypt; as the final month of the season of inundation,
Khoiak was the month in which the receding floodwaters revealed cultivable fields
at Esna (Sauneron, Esna II: Le Temple d'Esna, p. 128; Sauneron, Esna V: Les fetes religieuses d'Esna, p.
16; El-Sabban, op. cit., p. 163). For further discussion of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in these
festival calendars, see van de Walle, La nouvelle Clio 5-6 (1954): 283-297; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp,
116-117; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 72-74; AltenmUller, in LA, Vol. 1, col. 1101, with
references; Daumas, in LA, Vol. 1, col. 958; David, Religious Ritual atAbydos, pp. 248-250; Mikhail, GM
83 (1984): 51-69; van der Vliet, BSAK 3 (1988): 406; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 270-
271,277-278; Tooley, JEA 82 (1996): 174-175, with references; Gillam, Performance and Drama in
Ancient Egypt, p. 105; Jauhiainen, Do Not Celebrate Your Feast Without Your Neighbours, pp. 113-114.
403
For an overview of the Osirian rites of the Khoiak Festival and the related Festival of Sokar, see
Chassinat, Le mystere d'Osiris au mois de Khoiak, Vols. 1-2; Barguet, Le papyrus N. 3176 (s) du Musee du
Louvre; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 69-90; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 1-76; Daumas,
in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 957-960; Goyon, BIFAO 78 (1978): 415-438; Mikhail, GM81 (1984): 29-54; Mikhail,
GMS2 (1984): 25-44; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 51-69; Cauville, BSFE 112 (1988): 23-36; Graindorge-
Hereil, RdE 43 (1992): 87-105; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 169-437; Graindorge-Hereil,
JEA 82 (1996): 83-105; Quack, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 921-930; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 79-80, 100-108; Eaton,
SAK 35 (2006): 75-101; Jauhiainen, Do Not Celebrate Your Feast Without Your Neighbours, pp. 112-118;
Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, eds., Thutmose III: A New Biography, pp. 143-144.
179
covered with high quality fertile silt. The Raising of the Djed Pillar, which occurs on
the morning of the 30th day of Khoiak, is the culmination of an entire month of Osirian
rituals; the rite corresponds to the most important moment of the celebration of the
Khoiak Festival—i.e., the reanimation of the corpse of Osiris.405 At the performance of
the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in the scenes from the tomb of Kheruef and the
Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Amenhotep III and Seti I participate directly in the physical
act of erecting the Djed Pillar; by performing this ceremony, each of these kings ritually
assumes Horus's role as protector of his father Osiris.406 When the king offers butchered
At Dendera the agricultural rites of the Khoiak Festival included the creation of two molds in the shape
of the god Osiris; the two molds were filled with soil and barley seeds, watered over the course of 12 days,
and then joined together to symbolize the corpse of Khentimentiu. This image of the corpse of
Khentimentiu was embalmed and symbolically buried in a temple niche. For discussion of the performance
of this ritual at the Khoiak Festival at Dendera, see, e.g., Chassinat, Le mystere d'Osiris au mois de Khoiak,
Vol. 1, pp. 54-63; Cauville, BSFE 112 (1988): 23-36; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p.
105. For discussion of these Osiris-shaped molds (the so-called "corn mummies" or "Kornosiris"), see
primarily Seeber, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 744-746; Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and His Cult, pp. 163-170;
Raven, OMRO 59-60 (1978-1979): 251-296; Raven, OMRO 63 (1982): 7-38; Spalinger, in Berger el-
Naggar, ed., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp. 363-377; Tooley, JEA 82 (1996): 167-179; Raven, in
Clarysse, etal, eds. Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years, pp. 227-239; Kurth, GM166 (1998): 43-
50; Quack, WdO 31 (2001): 5-18; Centrone, in Piquette and Love, eds., Current Research in Egyptology
2003, pp. 11-23; Centrone, in Dann, ed., Current Research in Egyptology in 2004, pp. 20-33; Quack, in
Fitzenreiter, ed., Das Heilige unddie Ware, pp. 325-331; Minas, MDAIK 62 (2006): 197-213, especially
208-210; Fritz, SAK 35 (2006): 103-124; Jauhiainen, Do Not Celebrate Your Feast Without Your
Neighbours, p. 113: Picchi, in Maravelia, ed., En quite de la lumiere, pp. 121-132.
405
In the texts of the Khoiak Festival at Dendera, the Raising of the Djed Pillar is described as such
(Chassinat, Le mystere d'Osiris au mois de Khoiak, Vol. 2, pp. 756-757; Cauville, Le temple de Dendara:
Les chapelles osiriennes, Vol. 1, p. 24; Gardiner, JEA 2 (1915): 123):
iry,bd-4Smw [sw rrky]
srhrDdmDdw
hrwpfy n smi ti n Wsir im=f
m Bt-nbh.w m tph.t hr iSd.w
dr-ntt hrw pfy ii.tw If.w-ntr n Wsir im=f
m-ht krs.t Wsir
"As for the fourth month of Shomu, [the final day]:
The Raising of the Djed Pillar in Busiris
on that day of the interment of Osiris therein
in the mound of «M-plants in the cavern under the /ft/-trees
since on that day the divine body of Osiris came therefrom
after the burial of Osiris."
406
The caption to the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in the tomb of Kheruef identifies Sokar-Osiris as
the father of the king. For the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in the First Osiris Hall at Abydos, see
references collected supra, this section, in footnote 401. In the scene directly to the right of the Raising of
180
animals to the Djed Pillar in Scene 2b from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the Tomb of Kheruef, he avenges the the murder of Osiris by destroying the
god's Sethian enemies.
The Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony is celebrated in Book of the Dead Spells
18-20 as part of the vindication of Osiris against his enemies;407 in Spell 18 Thoth
vindicates Osiris during the night of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony.408
Similarly, in Coffin Texts Spells 337 and 338, Thoth vindicates Osiris against his
the Djed Pillar ceremony at Abydos, Seti I offers two long strips of cloth to the Djed Pillar (which is
identified as Wsir Dd Spss, "Osiris, noble Djed Pillar"); the caption to this scene links the king to Horus by
identifying Osiris as his father (Calverley and Gardiner, The Temple of King Sethos at Abydos, Vol. 3, pi.
8): rdi.t mnh.t n it=fWsir, "Giving cloth to his father Osiris." For discussion of this scene see Bleeker,
Egyptian Festivals, pp. 116-117; David, Religious Ritual at Abydos, p. 226, Scene I, pp. 246-252; Amann,
WdO 14 (1983): 52; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 58-59; Park, Discussions in Egyptology 32 (1995): 75-84.
407
For discussion of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in Book of the Dead Spells 18-20, see van der
Vliet, BSAK3 (1988): 410; Altenmuller, mLA, Vol. 1, col. 1101, with references; Graindorge-Hereil, Le
Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 273-274, 278-279.
408
Book of the Dead Spell 18 (Lapp, Catalogue of Books of the Dead in the British Museum, Vol. 3, pi.
45):
/Dhwty sm->r-hrw Wsir r hfty.w=f
smir-hrw Wsir NN r hfty.w=f
m didi.t r}.t imy.t Ddw
grh pwy n srhr Dd m Ddw
r
ir didi.t i.t imy.t Ddw
Wsirpw
is.tpw
Nb.t-hw.tpw
Hr pw nd-hr it=f
ir srhc Dd m Ddw
Ifh pw n Hr hnty Hm
iw=sn h? Wsir m mrw hbs.w
"Oh Thoth, who justifies Osiris against his enemies!
Justify Osiris NN against his enemies
in the great council that is in Busiris
(on) this night of Raising the Djed Pillar in Busiris!
As for the great council that is in Busiris,
it is Osiris,
it is Isis,
it is Nephthys,
it is Horus, who protects his father.
As for the Raising of the Djed Pillar in Busiris,
it is the upper arm of Horus, foremost of Letopolis,
when they {i.e. his arms) surround Osiris like a piece of cloth."
181
enemies during the night of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony. The enemies
whom Thoth thwarts during this ceremony are not identified in the relevant passages
from the Book of the Dead and the Coffin Texts; however, since Seth was the foremost
enemy of Osiris in myths of his death and resurrection, the generic term "enemies" that is
used in these passages most likely refers to Seth. In Scenes 14-15 of the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus, the subjugation of Seth clearly coincides with the Raising of the
Djed Pillar ceremony:410
hpr.n srhr Dd in (r)h.w-nsw.t

Hr pw w[d].n=fn ms.w=f[s]chr [Dd]
Hr dd mdw in) ms.w-Hr
[di(.tw) dd]=fhr=f
[Sth] hr Wsir rmi
schrDd
js.t Nb.t-Hw.t dd mdw (n) ms.w-Hr
hn hrshr
ms.w-Hr
(r)h.w-nsw.t
For discussion of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in Coffin Texts 337-338, see van der Vliet,
BSAK3 (1988): 410-411, with references; AltenmUller, in LA, Vol. 1, col. 1101, with references. The
relevant section of Coffin Texts Spell 337 reads (DeBuck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 4, pp. 331-332):
/ Dhwty smir=k hrw Wsir r hfty.w=fm
didi.t ri.t imy.t Hm

grh pfn srhr Dd m Hr-wr
r
didi.t i.t imy.t P Dp
grh pfn srhr Dd.wy
"Oh Thoth, may you justify Osiris against his enemies in:
the great council that is in Letopolis

(on) that night of Raising the Djed Pillar in Her-wer;
the great council that is in Pe and Dep
(on) that night of Raising the Two Djed Pillars."
410
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 156-160, Scenes 14-15,11. 48-52; p. 250, Image 9. For discussion of the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see also Schneider, in Rothohler
and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 244-245; Gestermann, in Rothohler
and Manisali, eds., op. cit., pp. 36-38; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 128; Helck, Orientalia 23
(1954): 389-391; AltenmUller, JEOL 19 (1966): 430, 440-442; Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A.
Wilson, pp. 83, 90-91; Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and his Cult, pp. 111-113; AltenmUller, in LA, Vol.
1, cols. 1101-1102; David, Religious Ritual at Abydos, p. 248; Barta, Untersuchungen zur Gottlichkeit des
regierenden Konigs, pp. 63-67; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 51-69; van Dijk, OMRO 66 (1986): 12, 15; van der
Vliet, BSAK3 (1988): 405-411; Graindorge-Hereil, Le DieuSokar, Vol. 1, pp. 271-272, 407-408; Gillam,
Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 50; Lorand, Le papyrus dramatique du Ramesseum, pp. 126-
128..
182
wr-m?.w
"It happened that the Djed Pillar was raised by the royal acquaintances.
The one who or[der]ed his children to [ra]ise [the Djed Pillar] is Horus.411
Horus speaks (to) the children of Horus:
'[May] his [remaining] under him [be caused]!'412
— [Seth] under the weeping Osiris
— the Raising of the Djed Pillar
Isis and Nephthys speak (to) the children of Horus:
'Be energetic according to the plan!'413
— the children of Horus
— the royal acquaintances
— the greatest of seers"
hpr.n wdi.w nwh r Dd

Sth pw Sc (m) wd Hr n ms.w=f
Hr dd mdw (n) ms.w-Hr
di(.tw) chc=fh[wy.w]
Sth [h]w[y.w]
(r)di.t ks(.w) (n) Dd
"It happened that a rope was extended to the Djed Pillar.414

The one who is slaughtered by the order of Horus to his children is Seth.
'May his standing, being defeated], be caused!'
— Seth, the [de]fe[ated] one
— causing of bowing (to) the Djed Pillar"
411
Though he does not offer a new interpretation of the text, Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds.,
Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 244, rightly questions the reconstruction of this line in
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 156: "Horus ist das, der seinen Kindern befohlen hat, [den Seth aufjzurichten
[unter Osiris]."
412
The translation of this heavily damaged line is based on the textual reconstruction of the Sethe,
Dramatische Texte, pp. 156-157.
413
The translation of this line is based on a new interpretation proposed by Schneider, in Rothohler and
Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 244-245: "Seid energisch mit dem
Vorhaben!" The translation offered by Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 156-159, poses significant
difficulties and requires several emendations of the text: "schiebt (ihn) dem Gefallenen unter."
414
Schneider, in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 245, notes
that the nwh-rope is used for the punishment of Apophis in Book of the Dead Spell 39. According to
Schneider, loc. cit., the nwh-rope "wird in der vorliegenden Szene vielleicht einfach unten an den Pfeiler
gelegt oder an den Pfeiler angebunden und damit Osiris als Strafmittel zur Verfugung gestellt." Another
possibility is that the nwh-rope was used to erect the Djed Pillar in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, as in
the Raising of the Djed Pillar scene from the tomb of Kheruef.
183
Based primarily on Sethe's questionable reconstruction of the heavily damaged text of
Scene 14, several scholars have suggested that the Djed Pillar represents Seth in the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus; according to this interpretation, the Djed Pillar is
subjugated in the text and forced to carry the body of Osiris.415 Such an interpretation is
unlikely since in other contexts the Djed Pillar typically represents Osiris or a related
syncretized form of the underworld deity.416
Like the nautical processional scene in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at his third Sed
Festival takes place at daybreak.417 The performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at
sunrise emphasizes the theme of solar rebirth and evokes an Egyptian iconographic motif
that is common beginning in the 18th Dynasty: the image of a solar disk resting on the
raised arms of a Djed Pillar (or on the arms of an rnh-sign surmounting a Djed Pillar).
415
For the Djed Pillar as Seth in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 153-
154, Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 387, note 84; van Dijk, OMRO 66 (1986): 15; van der Vliet,
BSAK3 (1988): 409.
416
Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and His Cult, pp. 111-113, has rightly questioned Sethe's assertion that
the Djed Pillar represented Seth in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus: "One may assume with equal, if not
more, reason that Seth is imagined as bound to the djed-colunrn." More recently, Schneider, in Rothohler
and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 244-245, has also criticized Sethe's
interpretation of the Raising of the Djed Pillar scenes in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus and asserted
that the Djed Pillar represents Osiris, not Seth. For discussion of the Djed Pillar as an Osirian symbol, see,
e.g., Amann, WdO 14 (1983): 46-62.
417
For the barque procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
418
The hymns sung during the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep
III make further allusions to solar rebirth and to the solar barque; for discussion of these hymns, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 4. For discussion of images of the Djed Pillar carrying the solar disk, see Hellinckx, SAK 29
(2001): 70-74; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 51; Asmann, Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom, p. 43;
Assmann, Der Konig als Sonnenprtester, p. 45; Assmann, Liturgische Lieder, pp. 60-63; Schafer, ZAS 71
(1935): 15-38.
184
This iconographic motif symbolizes the raising of the solar disk by the Osirian Djed
Pillar in the eastern horizon of the sky at sunrise.419
As already noted, the performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival is the only attested performance of this ceremony at the Sed
Festival. Neither Osiris nor Osirian myths appears to have played a substantive role in
the various Sed Festival rites performed by any other Egyptian ruler.420 Because of its
clear Osirian symbolism, the performance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at
the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III is curious; the decision to incorporate this
ceremony into the celebration of the Sed Festival appears to be an innovation of
Amenhotep III.421 However, several of the rituals that accompany the Raising of the
Djed Pillar at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival are known to have been performed at
the Sed Festival as early as the Predynastic Period; these rituals include the driving of
Cf. Book of the Dead Spells 15-16, in which Osiris receives and hails the solar disk at sunset and raises
it up at day-break. For discussion of these spells, see van Dijk, OMRO 66 (1986): 13-14; Budek, SAK 37
(2008): 19-48. For the related final scene of the underworld books, see Hornung, MDA1KZ1 (1981): 217-
226.
420
For a similar conclusion regarding Osirian myths' relative lack of influence on the rites of the Sed
Festival, see references collected in Section 1.1.2, footnote 70. Beginning in the New Kingdom, however,
certain aspects of the iconography of Osiris and the iconography of the Sed Festival have a mutual
influence upon each other; for discussion of the mutual influence of Osirian and Sed Festival iconography
in the New Kingdom and later, see Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 63-64, 76. On a
New Kingdom sarcophagus from Deir el-Bahari (Berlin Museum 11978), Osiris is enthroned in the double
Sed Festival kiosk and participates in various Sed Festival rites; for discussion of the decoration of this
sarcophagus, see MQller, ZAS 39 (1901): 71-75; Moret, Du caractere religieux de la royaute pharaonique,
pp. 269-273; Petrie, Researches in Sinai, pp. 184-185; Kees, Der Opfertanz, pp. 37-39, 269, 277, 283;
Gardiner, loc. cit.; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 367, note 2; Blackman and Fairman, JEA 36
(1950): 76-77; Redford, JEA 59 (1973): 25; Zivie, in Hommages a la memoire de Serge Sauneron, Vol. 1,
pp. 495-496; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 68, no. A128; Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and
Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur VAncien Empire et la necropole de Saqqdra dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol.
2, p. 317; Eissa, MDAIK 58 (2002): 238, fig. 14; Hornung and Staehelin, op. cit., pp. 48, 76.
421
Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 216, similarly suggests that the performance
of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival was innovative and novel.
185
cattle, the ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals, hand-to-hand combat, and music and
dance rituals.422
SCENE 4: PERFORMANCE OF MUSIC & DANCE RITUALS
To the right of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony is a scene in which eight
pairs of royal daughters stand directly behind the royal couple and sing a song of praise to
the Djed Pillar (Scene 4a). Interspersed among the depictions of ritual combat in Scene 5
and the depictions of offering bearers in Scene 2a, several groups of men and women
engage in ritual performances of music and dance (Scene 4b) in the first and second
registers of relief decoration below Scenes 2b, 3 and 4a.
SCENE 4A: HYMN OF THE ROYAL DAUGHTERS 4 2 3
Each of the sixteen royal daughters stationed behind the royal couple at the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony carries a mni.t-necklace and a sistrum in her hands
and wears an outfit consisting of a long diaphanous robe, a platform crown, and a broad
collar (Fig. 187).424 Additionally, the royal daughters in this scene wear their hair in one
of two closely related hairstyles, each of which features a long extension of hair at the
side of the head. The hairstyles and outfits of the royal daughters in Scene 4a are very
For a diachronic study of these Sed Festival rituals, see Chapters 3-7.
423
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKhernef, pi. 57, p. 61. For discussion of this scene, see Brunner-Traut, Der
Tctnz im Alten Agypten, p. 52; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 56; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 89-90; Kozloff,
in Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and his World, pp. 290-291, cat. no. 57;
Anderson, in Sasson, ed., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 4, pp. 2566-2567; Xekalaki, in
Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp.
1959-1965; Ziegler, in Ziegler, ed., Queens of Egypt: From Hetepheres to Cleopatra, pp. 69, 256, cat. no.
256; Teeter, in Teeter and Johnson, eds., Life of Meresamun, p. 28.
424
The royal daughters who greet the royal couple during the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep
Ill's first Sed Festival also carry sistra and m«/.?-necklaces; see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7.
186
similar to those of the ms.w wr.w ("daughters of chieftains") the royal daughters in the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef.425
Hymn of the Royal Daughters to the Djed Pillar, Top Row:
ms.w-nsw.t swl$ dd Spsy
The royal daughters who honor the noble Djed Pillar.426
n k?=k sSS.wt
n hr=k nfr mni.wt shm.w
wbn=k dd Spsy [...] Wsir Skr nb Sty.t
s$$.t-s\stxdL for your ki\
mm'.Miecklaces and 5#m-sistra for your good face,
as you rise, oh noble Djed Pillar [...], Osiris-Sokar, lord of Shetyt.
Hymn of the Royal Daughters to the Djed Pillar, Bottom Row:
ms.w-nsw.t shtp dd Spsy
The royal daughters who please the noble Djed Pillar.427
dw3 Pth Skr dd n Wsir ntr r3 hry-ib Sty.t

in ms.w-nsw.t
Praise of Ptah-Sokar, the Djed Pillar of Osiris, the great god, who resides in Shetyt,428
For discussion of the ritual significance of the outfits and hairstyles of the ms.w wr.w and the ms.w-nsw.t
who participate in Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.1, Scenes 3, 7.
During the New Kingdom, these outfits and hairstyles were typically worn by young, unmarried women
who held the Hathoric cultic titles, such as nfr.t ("beautiful one") and hkr.t-nsw.t ("royal ornament").
426
For discussion of the term Dd Spsy, "noble Djed Pillar," see primarily Junker, Die Onurislegende, pp.
64-66; Sandman-Holmberg, The GodPtah, pp. 154-166; Goedicke, JEA 41 (1955): 31-33; Kakosy, JEA 66
(1980): 48-53; Amann, WdO 14 (1983): 51, footnote 19; van Dijk, OMRO 66 (1986): 13-16; Berlandini, in
Zivie and Leclant, eds., Memphis etses necropoles au nouvel empire, pp. 23-33; Berlandini, RdE 46
(1995): 25-28; Hellinckx, SAK29 (2001): 71, footnote 39; Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und
427
A possible parallel to this line of text and to this scene appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II
at Bubastis (Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 1, no. 2); in this scene four royal daughters who
carry sistra and w«/.r-neclaces stand behind the kneeling queen at the steps of the royal dais of the
enthroned king. The only preserved portion of the hieroglyphic text in front of the queen reads shtp, "to
pacify." This caption could also allude to the pacification of the Golden One by the royal daughters during
the nocturnal Hathoric rites of the Medamud Hymn; for discussion of the pacification of Hathor in this
hymn, see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 54-55.
428
In the Book of Amduat, Shetyt (Wb. 4, 559.3-21) is the subterranean cavern of Sokar where regeneration
of the dead takes place at night; for discussion of Shetyt, see Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp.
36-38, with references; Mikhail, GM82 (1984): 27-28. Shetyt (Sty.t, variant Sti.t) may be related to an
187
by the royal daughters.
At Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, similarly outfitted royal daughters shake
sistra and ran/.?-necklaces in order to facilitate the hieros gamos of the divinized royal
couple during the procession of the solar barque.429 In Scene 4a from the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, the royal daughters'
proximity to the royal couple at the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony might suggest a
similar significance for the hymn and musical performance of the royal daughters in this
scene. Tiye's epithet, "she who fills the palace with love," in Scene 3 lends further
support to such an interpretation. However, the hymn sung by the royal daughters in
Scene 4a seems to refer primarily to the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony and the
regeneration of Osiris in the underworld at night—a theme that does not have any clear
link to the hieros gamos. A close reading of the hymn itself provides a curious
description of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony; the royal daughters hold their
Hathoric implements to the face of the syncretized underworld deity as the Djed Pillar
"rises" (wbn). The use of wbn to describe the movement of the Djed Pillar is at first
curious since the verb wbn (Wb. 1, 292.9-16; 293.1-22; 294.1-3) typically describes the
rising of celestial bodies in the sky, such as the solar disk in the morning. This
description of the Djed Pillar "rising" in Scene 4a parallels the Raising of the Djed Pillar
at daybreak in Scene 3; the reference to the "rising" Djed Pillar in Scene 4a is probably a
textual allusion to images of an anthropomorphic Djed Pillar carrying the solar disk in its
Egyptian word for "womb" (Sti.t, Wb. 4, 555.3) since both are places where metamorphosis and the
development of new life take place. For discussion of the word Sti.t, "womb," see Manniche, BACE 17
(2006): 100.
429
For discussion of the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section
2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2; Section 7.4.3. For discussion of the royal daughters who greet the royal
couple at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7; Section 3.2.2.
188
upraised arms at sunrise. With this emphasis on solar renewal in the hymn of the royal
daughters in mind, the shaking of sistra and mn/.f-necklaces by the royal daughters in
Scene 4a very well may facilitate the hieros gamos of the divinized king and queen as a
means to transfer the creative powers of the solar deity to the divinized king.431
SCENE 4B: ADDITIONAL MUSIC & DANCE SEQUENCES 432
At the far left of the first register, three male singers clad in long robes invoke the
gods Ptah and Re in a hymn in praise of Amenhotep III; directly to the right of these
singers, ten male dancers clad in kilts perform a ritual dance that is linked to the Raising
of the Djed Pillar ceremony (Fig. 188a). To the right of this group of dancers, four more
male singers clad in long robes intone a hymn describing the solar deity's journey
through the underworld (Fig. 188a). At the far right of the first register, eight more male
dancers clad in kilts perform a ritual connected to the Raising of the Djed Pillar (Fig.
188b).
At the far left side of the second register, a group of 12 women engage in a ritual
performance of music and dance as part of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony (Fig.
188c). Four pairs of female singers clad in long formfitting robes lead the performance
by clapping their hands and striking tambourines; to the right of these musicians, four
For discussion of this iconographic motif, see references collected in Section 2.1.2, Scene 3, footnote
418.
431
For the imbuing of the creative powers of the solar deity to the king as a result of the hieros gamos, see
Section 2.1.1, Scenes 6-7; Section 3.2.2.
432
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis. 59, 61, 63, pp. 62-63. For discussion of the dance sequences
and hymns in this scene, see Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten, p. 52; Wild, in Les danses sacrees,
pp. 45-48; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 454-457; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 72-73;
Wente, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 90-91; Mikhail, GM 83 (1984): 56-60; Graindorge-
Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 14-17; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 801-
803, cat. nos. S3.96-S3.97; Teeter, in Teeter and Johnson, eds., Life ofMeresamun, pp. 28-29, 42.
189
female dancers clad in long kilts, broad collars, and leather bands raise their arms above
their heads during the performance of an elaborate dance.
Hymn of the Four Male Singers on the Left Side of the First Register:433
hrPth
dw3(=i) tw ir=k
sk?(=i) tw hmw m imw
dmd=k ti>
iry-k phr=f
hs tw Rr hr nfrw=k
mi mrr=k B.t r3.t Nb-M?c.t-Rr
mi n=n
skS=n sw
May Ptah appear,

so that (I) might praise you extensively,
(and) so that (I) might exalt you, oh steering oar in the ship.
May you unite the land,434
so that you might achieve the traversing of it.
May Re favor you on account of your perfection,
as you love the great office, oh Nebmaatre.
Let us come,
so that we might exalt him.
Smr.w
Chanters.
Ten Male Dancers on the Left Side of the First Register:
ir.t nn hft-hr dd
Performing this in front of the Djed Pillar.
Hymn of the Four Male Singers on the Right Side of the First Register:435
wn c.wy hr.t Skr
For additional translations of this hymn, cf. also Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 73; Mikhail,
GM83 (1984): 56-57.
434
The verb dmd ("vereinigen," Wb. 5, 45.7-12) may be used in descriptions of the uniting of the various
constituent parts of Egypt itself, as well as in descriptions of the uniting of foreign lands under the king of
Egypt.
435
For additional translations of this hymn, cf. also Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 73, with
references; Redford, JARCE 3 (1976): 50-51; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 57.
190
Rr mp.trnp
r
h 'Itm m m?n=k
r
bS.ti m Ih.t
mh.n=k tS.wy m nfrw=k mi p.t
sty.ti m thn.t
mi ms.n.tw—k m itn mp.t
The double-doors of the underworld are opened, oh Sokar,

while Re is rejuvenated in the sky.
May Arum appear while looking upon you,
as you glitter in the horizon,
having filled the two lands with your beauty like the sky,
(and) as you gleam with faience,
like when you were born as the solar disk in the sky.
hs(.w)
Singer(s).
Eight Male Dancers on the Right Side of the First Register:
ir.t nn irr.w hft-hr dd Spsy imy hw.t Skr

hrw pn n srhr dd n Wsir
Performing these rites before the noble Djed Pillar, which is in the temple of Sokar.
This day of Raising the Djed Pillar of Osiris.
Eight Female Singers on the Left Side of the Second Register:
Smry.t nty hr Smr.w

hft ir.t irr.w n srhr dd
Chantresses who chant

at the time of the performance of the rites of the Raising of the Djed Pillar.
Four Female Dancers on the Left Side of the Second Register:
hmw.t inn.w hr whi.t r srhr dd
Women who were brought from the oasis for the Raising of the Djed Pillar.
The first hymn sung by the male singers in front of the Djed Pillar invokes Ptah
and describes the king as the steering-oar {hmw) of a ship; this nautical imagery is most
likely an allusion to the barque of the solar deity Re, whom the singers call upon to favor
191
Amenhotep III later in the hymn. Furthermore, the singers call upon the king to unite
the land and to circle around it; this portion of the hymn probably refers to the circuit of
the solar deity through the firmament.437 The identification of the king as a steering-oar
For references to hmw ("das Steuerrudder," Wb., 3, 80.16-81.10) in Egyptian texts, see Jones, Glossary
ofAncient Egyptian Nautical Terms, p. 200. In Coffin Texts Spell 361, the "steering-oar of Re" is the
source of control over water (de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 5, pp. 15-16):
shm m mw
ink hmwpw n Rr
shtp=fnfr.t im=f
iwty npi=fn mw
iwty nwh=fn sd.t
ink Biby shm m mw
"Control over water.
I am this steering-oar of Re,
with which he pacified the perfect goddess,
which is not soaked because of water,
(and) which is not scorched because of flame.
I am Babi who has control over water."
In Pyramid Texts Spell 470, the deceased king identifies himself with the steering-oar and the solar falcon
traveling through the firmament (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p. 7, § 916a-917c); for
transliteration, translation, and detailed discussion of this passage from the Pyramid Texts, see Section
7.4.3. For hmw, "steering-oar," as a component of divine barques, see also Pyramid Texts Spell 505;
Coffin Texts Spells 182, 332, 398, and 404; Book of the Dead Spell 99. In Book of Dead Spells 141 and
148, the four steering oars of the solar barque in the underworld are associated with the four cardinal
directions—north, west, east, and south. The reference to the boat in the hymn from Scene 4b of the reliefs
of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef may also allude to the procession of the hnw-
barque of Sokar at the Festival of Sokar; for discussion of the procession of the barque of Sokar, see
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 4, pis. 221,223,226; Gaballaand Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969):
4-6, 8-13, 51-71; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 75-81; Brovarski, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 1066-1067;
Graindordge-Hereil, RdE 43 (1992):87-105; Graindorge-Hereil, he Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 17-33, et
passim; Graindorge-Hereil, JEA 82 (1996): 83-105; Eaton, SAK 35 (2006): 80-84.
437
Phr {Wb., 1, 546.11) describes the movement of the rays of the solar disk, e.g., in Papyrus Harris I, 25.3-
5 (Erichsen, Papyrus Harris I, p. 29,11. 7-10; Grandet, Papyrus Harris I, Vol. 1, p. 258):
iiw n=k Rr-Tmw
nb-r-dr
kmiw wnn.wt
wbn mp.t
shd m t> pn
stw.wt=fphr imn.w
imn.tyw hr=sn r=k
wnf=sn n mil nfr.w=k
hr-nb.w(t) hrw n ptri=k
ntk irip.ttl
"Praise be to you, Re-Arum,
the lord of all,
who created that which exists,
who rises in the sky,
who shines in this land,
(and) whose rays circle the hidden places!
As for the westerners, their faces (turn) to you.
It is upon viewing your perfection that they rejoice.
192
and the description of the king's uniting and traversing of the land probably allude to the
ritual performance of the Ruderlauf—a well-known Sed Festival ritual in which the king
ran a ceremonial course while carrying the hp.t-oar of Re.4 8 Additionally, the
combination of solar and Osirian imagery in this hymn very likely alludes to the Solar-
Osirian unity—i.e., the mythological event by means of which the solar deity experiences
regeneration and ultimately rebirth in the underworld.439 In the context of this hymn, the
beneficiary of the regnerative effects of the Solar-Osirian unity is Amenhotep III.
In the second hymn of Scene 4b, the "double-doors of the underworld" could refer
to either the entrance or the exit to the underworld; however, the mention of the birth of
the solar disk in the final line of the hymn suggests that the doors probably represent the
portal from which Re exits the underworld as the reborn solar disk in the morning. In
several lines of the second hymn, the singers extol the radiant beauty of the solar disk
(itn), which "glitters in the horizon" (rbl.ti m 3h.t) and "gleams with faience" (sty.ti m
thn.t). The hymn's glowing description of the newly born solar disk recalls Amenhotep
Ill's epithet "Nebmaatre is the dazzling solar disk" (Nb-M3r.t-Rr itn thn); Amenhotep III
adopted this epithet in regnal year 30 to reflect the deification that he experienced during
All people are joyful upon seeing you.

You are the one who makes the sky and the land."
For a similar description of the movement of the rays of the solar disk, see Epigraphic Survey, Medinet
Habu, Vol. 4, pi. 231,11. 38-39. Grandet, Papyrus Harris I, Vol. 2, p. 112, note 454, also observes this
parallel from Medinet Habu, but mistakenly gives reference as Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 6.
438
For detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of the Ruderlauf, see Section 4.1.2.
439
For further discussion of the Solar-Osirian unity, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 1,
footnote 55.
193
the rites of his first Sed Festival.440 The invocation of Sokar in the context of the solar
imagery of this hymn clearly alludes to the Solar-Osirian unity.441
As noted above, the women who dance and sing at the Raising of the Djed Pillar
ceremony in Scene 4b appear directly above a scene depicting the ritual slaughter of a
sacrificial bull (Scene 2a); the combination of dancing and ritual slaughter also
commonly occurs in the rites of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony and in the mortuary
rites of the Acacia House.442 The dancing women at the Raising of the Djed Pillar in the
tomb of Kheruef raise their hands over their heads as part of a dance that is intended to
mimic the movements of birds flapping their wings.443 The members of the hnr n Snd.t
("dance troupe of the Acacia House") perform a similar "bird-dance" during the ritual
slaughter of a bull as part of the mortuary rites of the deceased in reliefs from several Old
Kingdom tombs (Figs. 179-181).444 This "bird-dance" probably developed from a
Predynastic hunting ritual; echoes of this hunting ritual are preserved in Spells 23 and 43
440
For Amenhotep Ill's epithet Nb-Mir.t-Rr ttn thn, "Nebmaatre is the dazzling solar disk," see Redford,
JARCE 13 (1976): 51; Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign,
pp. 88-90, footnote 146, with references; Johnson, in Fried, etal., eds., Pharaohs of the Sun, p. 43.
Redford, loc. cit, notes that this epithet was also "applied variously to the palace at Malkata, to the royal
barge, and to a company in the army." For further discussion of the development of the solar disk (itn) as a
component of Egyptian religious and royal iconography and ideology, particularly during the reign of
Akhenaten, see Redford, op. cit., pp. 47-61; Redford, JARCE 17 (1980): 21-38.
441
For discussion of the equation of the regenerated god Sokar with the rising sun in this hymn, see
Graindorge-Hereil, LeDieuSokar, Vol. l,pp. 14-17; Brovarski, mLA, Vol. 5, col. 1061; Gaballaand
Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 73, with references; Mikhail, GM83 (1984): 57.
442
For further discussion of the relationship between the bull-slaughtering ritual and the ritual performance
of the dancing women in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see
Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a; Section 3.1.1.1; Section 5.3.1.
443
For detailed discussion of dancing with raised arms as mimicking birds, see Section 3.1.1.
444
For detailed discussion of the ritual peformances of the Acacia House, see references collected in
Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a, footnote 348. For further discussion of the ritual dance of the "dance troupe of the
Acacia House," see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a; Section 3.1.1.1; Section 5.3.1.
194
of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. In these scenes from the Opening of the
Mouth ceremony, women identified as "kites" mimic the movements and shrieking
sounds of carrion birds hovering around a fallen game animal. A long row of men
engaged in bouts of ritual combat appears to the right of the dancing women in Scene 4b
in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef.446 Similarly,
female dancers and musicians appear alongside scenes depicting hand-to-hand combat
and the ritual slaughter of a sacrificial bull in a Predynastic representation of the Sed
Festival in Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131).447
In the same way that the "dance troupe of the Acacia House" is linked to the
angry lioness goddess Sakhmet, the women who dance at the Raising of the Djed Pillar in
the tomb of Kheruef are also probably linked to the wandering goddess of the eye of the
sun.448 The dancing women in Scene 4b from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
445
Otto, Das Agyptische Mundoffnungsritual, Vol. 1, pp. 43-47, 96-99; Vol. 2, pp. 73-76, 102-103. For the
suggestion that these scenes from the Opening of the Mouth ceremony are based on a Predynastic hunting
ritual, see Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177. For further discussion of the "kites" at the butchery episode of
the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a; Section 3.1.1.3; Section 5.3.1.
446
For discussion of the ritual combat scene of the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 6; Section
6.3.
447
For detailed discussion of the female musicians and dancers in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 76-77), see Section 3.1.1.2. For detailed
discussion of the ritual combat scenes in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Quibell and
Green, op. cit, Vol. 2, pi. 76), see Section 6.3. For detailed discussion of the depiction of the ritual
slaughter of a bull in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Quibell and Green, op. cit., Vol. 2,
pi. 76), see Section 5.3.1.
448
For the Acacia House's connection to Sakhmet, see Edel, Das Akazienhaus undseine Rolle in den
Begrdbnisriten, pp. 19-22. The Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony is related to the myth of creation and
the myth of the wandering solar eye goddess. The "august Djed Pillar" and the "female Djed Pillar" can
represent Shu and Tefnut-Sakhmet-Hathor—the second generation of deities in the Heliopolitan version of
the creation myth; the second deity in this pair represents the lion-headed, wandering goddess of the eye of
the sun. For discussion of these associations, see Junker, Die Onurislegende, pp. 64-66, 105-108,113;
Gutbub, Textes fundamentaux de la theologie de Kom Ombo, Vol. 1, pp. 291-292, textnote e, and pp. 442-
446; Altenmuller, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 1102-1103; van Dijk, OMRO 66 (1986): 15; Berlandini, in Zivie and
Leclant, eds., Memphis et ses necropoles au nouvel empire, pp. 23-33; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar,
Vol. 1, p. 407, footnote 180; Berlandi, RdE 46 (1995): 25-28; Klotz, Adoration of the Ram, p. 150, footnote
75.
195
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef wear a distinctive Libyan outfit comprised of broad
collars, long kilts, and leather straps on their chests; the association of these dancers with
Libya and the Western Desert is also confirmed by the identification of the dancers as
"women brought forth from the oasis."449 In the Medamud Hymn to Hathor, there is a
strong connection between dancing Libyans and the worship of Hathor as the wandering
goddess of the eye of the sun.450 The invocation of Hathor in this context probably
alludes to the hieros gamos of the divinized king (as Re) and the divinized queen (as
Hathor) during the Sed Festival.451 The hieros gamos imbued the king with creative
powers that facilitated his rejuvenation at the Sed Festival; the references to the Raising
of the Djed Pillar and the birth of the morning sun in the two hymns of Scene 4b similarly
emphasize the rejuvenation of the king at the Sed Festival.
SCENE 5: DRIVING OF CATTLE AROUND THE WALLS 4 5 2
At the far right of the third register, six men clad in kilts and equipped with sticks
goad a group of eleven cows and twelve donkeys around the walls of a ritual structure—
presumably at Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival complex at Malqata (Fig. 189).453
449
For discussion of this style of dress—particularly the leather straps across the women's chests—as
Libyan, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 160. Libyan women appear in Scene 24
of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus (Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 185-189, Scene 24,11. 76-79), in
which there they are involved in the presentation of faience to Horus as a symbol of the v«Rr-eye of Horus;
for further discussion of this scene, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 1.
450
For the connection between dancing Libyans and the worship of Hathor, see Darnell, SAK22 (1995):
47-94, with references.
451
For detailed discussion of the significance of hieros gamos at the Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scenes
6-7; Section 3.2.2.
452
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 61, 63, p. 66. For discussion of this scene, see Gaballa and
Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 73-74; Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and his Cult, pp. 164; Egberts, GM
111 (1989): 42; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp. 272-273,296-297,410-412; Egberts, In
Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, p. 371.
453
For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival complex at Malqata, see Section 2.1.0; Section 7.5.
196
The Driving of the Cows in the Third Register:
phr=sn inb.w sp-4

hrw pn n srhc dd Spsy imy Sty.t
May they circumambulate the walls four times

on this day of Raising the noble Djed Pillar, which is in Shetyt.
m-ir Sm n hr—t
Do not go in the direction of your face,
iSm
Go.
The Driving of the Donkeys in the Third Register:
phr—sn Inb.w sp-4

hrw pn n srhr dd Spsy n Pth Skr Wsir
May they circumambulate the walls four times
on this day of Raising the noble Djed Pillar of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.
The texts describing this scene, in which herdsmen drive a group of donkeys and
cows around the walls of a ritual construction four times, clearly link the ritual to the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony. However, the significance of these animals'
circumambulation and its connection to the Raising of the Djed Pillar is not immediately
clear. Possible parallels to this ritual include: the a ritual involving the trampling of grain
by donkeys and bulls in Scene 9 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, a royal ritual
called hw.t bhs.w ("the driving of the calves"), a royal ritual from the Palermo Stone
called phr hi inb ("circling around the wall(s)"), a ritual from the Festival of Sokar called
phr inb.w ("circumambulating the walls"), a ritual from the Festival of Sokar called hw.t
r
3 ("driving of the donkey"), and a ritual involving the counting of herds of cattle that
have seized as war booty.
197
An intriguing possible parallel to the driving of donkeys and cows at Amenhotep
Ill's third Festival appears in a fragmentary scene from the Dramatic Ramesseum
Papyrus in which a group of animals tramples grain on a threshing floor; the fragmentary
text of Scene 9 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus reads:454
hpr.n (r)di.t it hr sp.t

hpr[.n] [t\n.{f)w tiy.w
ffit=sn hr=f\
[Hr pw nd-fit=fWsir]
Hr dd mdw (n) [hty.w Sth]
h[i\...
h(wi) [Wsir]
[•••] [lb]
Hr dd mdw (n) hty.w Sth

m hwi it-fpn
h(wi) Wsir
hbi ntr
it
Hr dd mdw (n) Wsir
h(wi).n(=i) n=k h(wi).w <t>w
ht[y.w] Sth
ih.w
Hm
Hr dd mdw (n) Wsir
im CJC isd=f r=k
Sth
r
l.w
pr.t r kbhw
"The placing of barley upon the threshing floor occurred.

It happen[ed] that male animals were [brjought,
so that [they] might lea[p upon it].
[The one who avenges his father is Horus.]
Horus speaks to [the followers of Seth]:
'0[h] ...'
[...]
454
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 134-138, Scene 9,11. 29-33. For discussion of this scene, see Kees,
Farbensymbolik in dgyptischen religiosen Texten, pp. 473-474; Junker, Der sehende undblinde Gott, pp.
53-55; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 127-128; Helck, Orientalia 23 (1954): 386,408-410;
Altenmuller, JEOL 19 (1966): 425,430, 438; Griffiths, The Origins of Osiris and his Cult, pp. 163-165;
van der Vliet, BSAK 3 (1988): 409; Egberts, GM 111 (1989): 41-42; Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, pp. 366,
370-372; Tooley, JEA 82 (1996): 174; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 49-50;
Quack, ZAS 133 (2006): 80; Lorand, Lepapyrus dramatique du Ramesseum, pp. 130-133.
198
—beating of [Osiris]
—[...] [kid]
Horus speaks to the followers of Seth:

'Do not beat (or thresh) this father of mine!'
—beating (or threshing) of Osiris
—destruction of the god
—barley
Horus speaks to Osiris:
'It is for you that (I) have beaten those who beat (or thresh) you.'
—followers of Seth
—bulls
—Letopolis
Horus speaks to Osiris:
'May the evil influence that he spits against you not exist!'455
—Seth
—donkeys
—ascending to the sky"
In this scene from the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, the grain represents Osiris, the
bulls represent the followers of Seth, and the donkeys represent Seth himself. Horus
beats these Sethian animals as a punishment for their beating of Osiris—i.e., the threshing
of the grain; and, in so doing, Horus thwarts Seth from having an evil influence upon
Osiris. At the end of the scene, Horus forces Seth to go up to the heavens—presumably
with Osiris on his back.456 A depiction of bulls and donkeys appears below the text of
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 134, translates this line: "sein Geifer soil nicht sprudeln gegen dich."
Sethe, op. cit, p. 138, points out several passages from the Pyramid Texts in which the spittle of Seth is
described in similar terms, e.g., Pyramid Texts Spell 247, § 261; Spell 455, § 850; Spell 593, § 1628. For
further discussion of the spittle of Seth and its effect—both positive and negative—on Osiris, see TeVelde,
Seth: God of Confusion, pp. 85-86, 89.
456
The application of the phrase "ascending to the sky" to Seth is curious since Seth is clearly inimical to
Osiris in this scene. However, as several other scholars have pointed out, the carrying of the threshed grain
by the donkey is a metaphor for the carrying of the corpse of Osiris by Seth; for this interpretation, see
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 138, note 33c; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 128; Griffiths, The
Origins of Osiris and his Cult, p. 164; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 50. Such an
explanation has a firm basis in the Pyramid Texts; in Pyramid Texts Spell 593, the great Ennead of gods
forces Seth to carry Osiris (Sethe, Die altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p. 361, § 1627b-1628c):
sk.n n=kGb ri=k
nd.ntwpsd.tri.t
wdi.n=sn n-k St$ hr=k
hnk=fhr=k
hwi.n=sn rir=f isd=f ir=k
199
Scene 9 in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus.457 Only the first word of the fragmentary
caption is preserved: phr, "circumambulating." However, the caption describes the
movement of these animals in a fashion similar to the movement of the donkeys and
cows in Scene 5 from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef. Since phr (Wb. 1, 544.12-547.7) refers to circular movement, the image
associated with Scene 9 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus may depict a ritual in
which donkeys and bulls symbolically thresh grain by walking in a circle around a
threshing floor.458 Alternately, the movement of the "circumambulating" donkeys and
bulls may correspond to their "ascending to the sky" with Osiris on their backs; this ritual
would then symbolize the resurrection of Osiris.
The ritual of "circumambulating the walls four times" by donkeys and cows in the
tomb of Kheruef also bears similarities to a ritual known as hw.t bhs.w, the "driving of
the calves."459 In most depictions of this ritual, the king holds a coil of rope and a wavy
"Just as Geb wipes your mouth for you,

so does the great Ennead protect you.
It is for you that they have placed Seth under you,
so that he might be burdened with you.
They have prevented his evil influence, which he spat against you."
For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 593, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 217-
218, Spell M206.
457
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 248, pi. 14, Image 5.
458
For a discussion of Old Kingdom depictions of the threshing of grain by cattle, see Vandier, Manuel,
Vol. 6, pp. 164-175.
459
For the ritual driving of the calves, see primarily Egberts, GM111 (1989): 33-45, with references;
Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, pp. 205-374, 386-388,432-433,435-441, with references. For
further discussion of the driving of the calves, cf. also Kees, Bemerkungen zum Tieropfer der Agypter und
seiner Symbolik, pp. 470-476; Blackman and Fairman, JEA 35 (1949): 98-112; Blackman and Fairman,
JEA 36 (1950): 63-81; Alliot, Le Culte d'Horus a Edfou au temps des Ptolemees, pp. 463-465; Chassinat,
Le mystere d'Osiris au mois de Khoiak, pp. 655-667; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 73-74;
Kurth, in LA, Vol. 6, cols. 749-754.
200
rod in one hand and a serpent-headed rod in the other hand.460 The four bull-calves of
various colors that typically stand in front of the king during this ritual are each restrained
by means of a rope attached their forelegs. The driving of the calves ritual likely
experienced significant changes in meaning over the course of its long history of
celebration (from the Old Kingdom to the Roman Period); however, in its origin, the
ritual was probably an amalgamation of several formerly separate agricultural, pastoral,
and Osirian rites.461 The ritual's connection to the Sed Festival is uncertain; however, the
driving of calves does appear as one of several vignettes on a New Kingdom sarcophagus
depicting the Sed Festival of a deceased individual identified as Osiris.462
The two agricultural themes that appear most commonly in the texts of the driving
of the calves ritual are the threshing of grain and the trampling of worms.463 The two
serpent-shaped staffs that the king carries during the ritual likely symbolize the
destruction and trampling of worms; the wavy rod and the serpent-headed rod probably
respectively represent the tail and the head of a bisected worm.464 The serpent-headed
rod that a royal official carries in the small register directly below the enthronement of
460
For various depictions of the ritual known as the driving of the calves, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning,
Vol. 2, pis. 76-121.
461
For a critical survey of all previous interpretations of the symbolic meaning of the driving of the calves
ritual, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, pp. 335-374, 386-388, 432-433, 435-441. The conclusions
presented in this section concerning the major themes of the ritual largely follow Egberts, loc. cit.
462
For the depiction of the driving of the calves at the Sed Festival of Osiris on a New Kingdom
sarcophagus from Deir el-Bahari, see Moller, ZAS 39 (1901): 71-75, pi. 5; Blackman and Fairman, JEA 36
(1950): 76-77.
463
For discussion of the agricultural themes of the driving of the calves ritual, see Egberts, In Quest of
Meaning, Vol. 1, pp. 340-345, 363-374,435-441. Egberts, op. cit, pp. 372-373, is skeptical that the
driving of the calves was originally connected to threshing since the vignettes depicting the ritual do not
correspond to other known depictions of threshing. Egberts, op. cit., pp. 438-440, concludes that the
"message of the references to threshing and the destruction of worms obviously concerns the abundance
and good quality of the harvest."
464
For a similar interpretation of the staffs carried by the king during the ritual, see Egberts, GM111
(1989): 33-45. Egberts notes that worms and snakes are often interchangeable in Egyptian iconography.
201
the king and queen in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef (Fig. 174) is at least superficially similar in appearance to the serpent-headed rod
that the king typically carries during the performance of the driving of the calves ritual.465
However, since the depiction of the driving of donkeys and cattle is so far-removed from
the image of the official with the snake-headed rod in the tomb of Kheruef, there is no
clear link between the driving of donkeys and cattle and the trampling of worms.
In several versions of the driving of the calves ritual, the calves are said to hh is,
"seek the grave"; this expression likely refers to a simulated search for the grave of Osiris
that was intended to conceal the grave's true location and to protect Osiris from his
enemies.466 At the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Shetyt, the cavern/tomb of
Sokar-Osiris, serves as the place where the regeneration of the solar disk takes place;467
thus, a ritual concerned with the protection of the tomb of Osiris would be particularly
appropriate in the context of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival. However, since donkeys
typically appear as Sethian animals in Egyptian religious texts and iconography, the
donkeys depicted in the tomb of Kheruef are probably not participating in the
concealment of the tomb of Osiris—an act that would benefit Osiris.
465
The official who carries a snake-headed rod at the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of
Kheruef appears in a row of officials in Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a. The snake-headed rod that this official
carries is shorter and more curved than the snake-headed rod that the king typically carries in depictions of
the driving of the calves ritual.
466
For discussion of the Osirian themes of the driving of the calves ritual and the significance of the phrase
hh is, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, pp. 345-374; 435-441. Egberts, loc. cit., concludes that hh
Is means "to seek the grave," not "to tread the grave," as several other scholars have suggested.
467
For discussion of Shetyt as a place of regeneration, see references collected in Section, 2.1.2, Scene 4a,
footnote 428.
468
For the donkey's association with Seth, see, e.g., Newberry, JEA 14 (1928): 223-224; TeVelde, Seth:
God of Confusion, pp. 7-26; Brunner-Traut, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 27-30; Ward, JNES 37 (1978): 23-34. In
Upper Egyptian Predynastic rock art, e.g., at Vulture Rock at Elkab, the donkey appears as an enemy of the
solar barque; for discussion of these Predynastic rock art images of donkeys and boats, see Huyge, in
Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia Gifts of the Desert, pp. 192-206, especially 197-201.
202
The four calves that appear in the driving of the calves ritual probably represent
the four cardinal points. The text of several versions of the ritual emphasizes the king's
control over the four corners of the sky or land; these four corners probably symbolize
the entirety of the cosmos.469 In a version of the driving of the calves ritual from Edfu,
Horus offers control of the cosmos to Ptolemy IV (Fig. 190):470
dl.n-i n=k
ifd n nn.t
wsh n ti
bw nb mSS.n Jfy.ty
"It is to you that I have given

the four (corners) of the sky,
the breadth of the land,
and every place upon which the two luminaries have looked."
The vignettes accompanying this ritual consistently show the king driving all four calves
at the same time. However, in several different depictions of the ritual, the title of the
ceremony is hw.t bhs.w sp 4, "driving of the calves four times"; this title would seem to
indicate that the king actually performed the ritual four times.471 The location for the
performance of the driving of the calves ritual is specified as "in the temple" in several
versions of the ceremony, including the earliest attested version of the ritual from the
mortuary temple of Sahure at Abusir.472 Thus, with regard to the number of times the
For discussion of the theme of the four cardinal points in the driving of the calves ritual, see Egberts, In
Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, pp. 338-339, 368-369.
470
For this version of the driving of the calves ritual from Edfu, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1,
pp. 291-294, doc. B.a-Ptol.4-Ed.l, with references. In another version of the ritual at Edfu (Egberts, op.
cit., Vol. 1, pp. 324-325, doc. B.a-Ptol.lO-Ed.l), Horus presents the "four corners of the land" {ifd n ti) to
Ptolemy X.
471
For examples in which the title of ritual is hw.t bhs.w sp 4, "driving of the calves four times," or a
similar variant, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, p. 272, doc. B.a-XIX.2-Ka.l; pp. 283-284, doc.
B.a-XXX.3-Hi.l; pp. 298-299, doc. B.a-Ptol.4-Ed.3; pp. 314-317, doc. B.a-Ptol.9-Ed.l.
472
For examples in which the driving of the calves ritual is described as taking place m hw.t-ntr, "in the
temple," see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, p. 257, doc. B.a-V.2-Abu.l and doc. B.a-V.9-Sa.l; p.
281, doc. B.a-XXV.6-Ka.l and doc. B.a-XXV.6-Kaw.l.
203
ritual was performed and the location where the ritual was performed, the driving of the
calves ritual corresponds to the ritual of circumambulating the walls by donkeys and
cattle in the tomb of Kheruef. While similarities between the two rituals do exist, these
similarities do not provide convincing evidence to argue that the overall symbolic
significance of each ritual is the same.
Scene 5 in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef may also relate to a ritual called phr hi inb, "circling around the wall(s)."
According to the royal annals of the Palermo Stone, several Egyptian rulers from the Old
Kingsom are known to have performed this ritual in the first year of their reigns.473 The
significance of phr hS inb in this context is uncertain; however this royal ritual may be
connected to a similarly named ritual performed at the Festival of Sokar. During the
celebration of the Festival of Sokar at Medinet Habu, a group of priests carried the hnw-
barque of Sokar around the walls of the temple during a ritual called phr inb.w,
"circumambulating the walls";474 this ritual likely corresponds to the procession to the
For examples of the ritual phr hi inb, "circling around the wall(s)," on the Palermo Stone, see
Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 92, 94-95. For discussion ofphr hi inb, see Bleeker,
Egyptian Festivals, pp. 95-96; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 15-16, 18-19; Goedicke, in
Posener-Krieger, ed., Melanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, Vol. 1, pp. 317-324; Godron, Etudes sur VHorus
Den, pp. 34, 37-38, 115; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 210; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the
Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 38, 46-47, 49. Goedicke, in Posener-Krieger, ed., loc.
cit, translates phr hi inb as "the one who had turned behind the wall" and unconvincingly inerprets this
phrase as a reference to "the deceased king" at the time of his interment (smi.t-ti.wy). Jimenez-Serrano,
loc. cit., suggests that phr hi inb corresponds to the performance of the Konigslauf'at the Sed Festival;
however, such a correspondence is not supported by any textual examples in which the action of the king's
ritual run is described as phr hi inb.
474
In Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 4, pi. 223,11. 1-2, the king follows behind the barque of
Sokar in a ritual procession:
sti Pth-Skr-Wsir r phr inb.w
in nsw.t ds=f
Sms ntr r iw.t=f m-ht phr=f inb.w
in nn
"The bringing forward of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris to circumambulate the walls
by the king himself.
Following the god at his return after his circumambulation of the walls
by this one (i.e., the king)."
204
tomb of Osiris on the 26th day of Khoiak in the ritual text of Papyrus N. 3176 (S) from
the Graeco-Roman Period.475
The rituals of the 26th of Khoiak in the great festival calendar of Horus at Edfu
include the slaughtering of a "wild donkey of the Temple of Seth" in the presence of
Osiris.476 The symbolism of this ritual is clear; the donkey is a Sethian enemy of Osiris
and, as such, the donkey is slaughtered. A text from the Ramesside tomb of Ramose
(Theban Tomb 166) suggests that the driving and ritual slaughter of a donkey occur on
In Epigraphic Survey, op. cit., Vol. 4, pi. 226,11.41-44, several priests purify the processional route of the
barque of Sokar with incense and libations during the circumambulation of the walls of the temple. For
discussion of the ritual of "circumambulating the walls" on the 26th day of Khoiak during the Festival of
Sokar, see Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 6, 9, 52-54, 61-62, 66-71; Alliot, Culte d'Horus a
Edfou au temps des Ptolemies, pp. 799-803; Goyon, BIFAO 78 (1978): 432-433; Cauville, BSFE 112
(1988): 31-33.
475
For the rituals of the 26th of Khoiak in Papyrus N. 3176 (S), see Barguet, Le papyrus N. 3176 (s) du
Musee du Louvre, pp. 21-22,24-25; for further discussion of these rites, see also Mikhail, GM 82 (1984):
33.
476
The description of the ritual slaughter of a donkey the 26th of Khoiak in the great festival calendar of
Horus at Edfu reads (Alliot, Culte d'Horus a Edfou au temps des Ptolemees, pp. 206, 210; Graindorge-
Hereil, Le dieu Sokar, Vol. 2, Text 39):
Ibd 4 Iht sw 26 irw nb n hb Skr mtrn dwi.w
rdi.t wdn.w rSi.w m-blh Wsir
ini.t r> Smi n pr Sth
ini.t [...]
Ssp rbb.t (i)n msn.w
[...] in nsw.t
smi m-blh Wsir
"Fourth month of Akhet, day 26, every ceremony of the Festival of Sokar, at the time of morning:
the presentation of numerous offerings in the presence of Osiris;
the bringing of a wild donkey of the Temple of Seth;
the bringing of [...];
the taking up of the harpoon by the harpooners;
[the arrival?] by the king;
the slaughtering in the presence of Osiris."
For discussion of the ritual slaughter of the donkey in this text, see Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38
(1969): 25, 73-74; Goyon, BIFAO 78 (1978): 431, footnote 1; Graindorge-Hereil, op. cit, Vol. 1, pp. 256-
258; el-Sabban, Temple Festival Calendars of Ancient Egypt, p. 171. A commemorative inscription
recorded in Western Thebes by a group of ironworkers from Armant suggests that the ritual sacrifice of
donkeys at the end of the Festival of Sokar was performed as late as the fourth century CE; for discussion
of the significance of this inscription, see primarily Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes, pp. 592-
205
the same day as Sokar's circuit around the walls during the Festival of Sokar. The
driving of the donkey(s) around the temple and the circling of the walls by Sokar, thus,
appear to be complementary rituals at the Festival of Sokar. Very likely, Sokar's circuit
of the walls symbolizes the rebirth of the solar form of Sokar at sunrise in the eastern
horizon;478 the driving and subsequent slaughter of the Sethian donkey, thus, probably
correspond to the punishment of solar enemies and the souls of the damned in the
underworld at the eastern horizon of the sky.479
Like the rituals hw.t <7 and phr inb.w that were performed on the 26th day of
Khoiak at the Festival of Sokar, the circumambulation of the walls by the donkeys and
cattle in Scene 5 from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef most likely symbolizes the punishment of Sethian enemies in the eastern horizon
at the same time as the resurrection of Sokar-Osiris as the newborn morning sun at
477
Hofmann and Seyfried, MDAIK 51 (1995): 38, 41, fig. 6:
[ir.Mw] n[=i] s[.i\ m n[Sm.i\ ml Sms.w Hr
Ssp=i snh (for: sih) m w Pkr mi srh.w Sps.w
nls=tw (sn) m hb Skr hrw phr inb.w
hwi=i ri phr=fhw.t
dii=i sw m nm.t Inpw
"[May a] thr[one] be [made] for [me] in the n[$m.t]-barque like the Followers of Horus,
so that I may receive a grant of land in the district of Paqer like the noble mummies,
(whom) one invokes at the Festival of Sokar on the day of circling the walls.
It is when it circles the temple that I drive (or smite) the donkey.
It is in the abattoir of Anubis that I pierce it."
For further discussion of the driving and slaughter of the donkey in this passage from the tomb of Ramose,
see also Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 61-62; Graindorge-Hereil, Le dieu Sokar, Vol. 1, pp.
133, 278; Vol. 2, Text 43c.
478
Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 61-62, also interpret this ritual text as an allusion to the
rebirth of the solarized Sokar. For the interrelationship of Sokar and Re, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4b,
footnote 441.
479
For the eastern horizon as the place of the punishment of Apophis and the souls of the damned, see
Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 24-25, 137-138, 145, 176, 319,
373-374, 389-390.
206
daybreak. A similar ritual involving the driving of cattle also appears in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre from his solar temple at Abu Gurob; the scene is damaged but
clearly depicts several rows of cattle, including long-horned bulls and rams (Fig. 191).481
The labels above two of the long-horned bulls suggest that these animals may be
sacrificial animals symbolizing Sethian enemies: Sb.t ("butchered meat offering") and
bw.t Inpw ("abomination of Anubis").482
Similarly, a long-horned bull and a ram appear together in the depiction of the
Sed Festival of Narmer on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60); these animals appear next to
a bound man in the register directly below the running ritual on the macehead.483 The
numbers next to these figures on the Narmer Macehead suggest that the scene represents
an accounting of cattle (400,000), caprids (1,422,000), and human captives (120,000);
since the human figure is a bound prisoner, these tallies most likely indicate an
accumulation of war booty seized by Narmer.484 A similar record of war booty from the
Scene 5 of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival, thus, complements the imagery of the hymns of Scene
4b; these hymns emphasize the connection between the rebirth of the solar disk and the regeneration of
Sokar-Osiris.
481
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 13-16. For further
discussion of this scene, see Section 2.2.3, Scene 9; Section 5.4.
482
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 14, 16. According to
Wb. 5,437.3-5, Sb (variant Sb.t) can refer to the "zerstuckelten Gliedern des Nilpferdes" as a symbol of the
god Seth. The expression bw.t 'Inpw also appears in line 7 of the First Immediate Period stela of Merer
(Cerny, JEA 47 (1961): 6-7): ny dd{=i) grg r rnh bw.t Inpw, "(I) did not speak a falsehood against a
person—an abomination of Anubis." For further discussion of this passage, see Goedicke, JEA 51 (1965):
43, footnote 5.
483
For detailed discussion of the depiction of cattle on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991):
224, fig. 1), see Section 5.4.
484
For a similar interpretation of this scene as an accounting of war booty, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p.
604; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, p. 99. This interpretation is preferable to that of Millet, JARCE 27
(1990): 57-58, who instead interprets the scene as a census of all the cattle and people in Egypt. A biennial
cattle count (tnw.t) played an important role in regnal year dating during the Early Dynastic Period and Old
Kingdom, e.g. in the royal annals of the Palermo Stone and associated fragments; for discussion of the
cattle count, see Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 113-114; Redford, Pharaonic King-Lists, Annals
and Day-Books, pp. 88-89; Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 64, 67.
207
Protodynastic Period may be recorded on the so-called Libyan Palette (Fig. 192); the
three rows of long-horned bulls, donkeys, and rams on this palette probably represent the
war booty seized by the king during a successful military expedition to Libya.485 The
representations of livestock in the ritual scenes on the Narmer Macehead and the Libyan
Palette suggest that seized domestic livestock was an important aspect of military victory
and royal ritual in the Protodynastic Period. New Kingdom representations of sacrificial
cattle often show their horns curved and decorated in such a way that the cattle appear to
represent members of the Nine Bows—the traditional enemies of the Egyptian state.486
Thus, the slaughter of sacrificial cattle could symbolize the destruction of Egypt's
enemies. The ritual driving of cattle at the Sed Festival may have originally been
connected to a post-battle victory celebration during which the defeated enemy's
livestock was confiscated, driven back to Egypt, counted, and celebrated.
In incorporating an Osirian ritual of driving donkeys and bulls into his third Sed
Festival, Amenhotep III cleverly added a new layer of symbolic meaning to a pre-existing
Sed Festival ritual in which the driving of cattle represented the king's economic wealth
and his triumph over Egypt's enemies. The number of times these cattle were driven
around the walls at Malqata (i.e., four) probably represents the four cardinal points and
For a similar interpretation of the Libyan Palette, see Baines, in Potts, eta/., eds., Culture through
Objects, pp. 31-32. For further discussion of the Libyan Palette, see primarily Cialowicz, Les palettes
egyptiennes, pp. 56-57, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 229-233; Gundlach, Die
Zangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger Bevolkerung, pp. 19-33; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient
Egyptian Kingship, p. 112; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 180-182; Bagh, in Czerny, eta/.,
eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2, pp. 15-16; Bietak, Cahiers de Recherche de
I'Institut de Papyrologie de Lille 8 (1986): 29-35.
486
For discussion of numerous examples of this motif, see Leclant, MDAIK14 (1956): 128-145. The Sed
Festival talatat blocks of Akhenaten preserve portions of several scenes in which fattened cattle are driven
and/or counted; see Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, p. 143, pi. 71,
Assemblage A0049; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 36, 52, 55, 100; Redford, Akhenaten
Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 55.
208
symbolizes the king's control over the entirety of the cosmos and his ability to defeat
enemies of the state in every direction.
SCENE 6: PERFORMANCE OF RITUAL COMBAT 4 8 7
In the second register below Scenes 2b, 3, and 4a in the reliefs of Amenhotep III
third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, depictions of bouts of hand-to-hand combat
(Fig. 193) take up the entire area to the right of the music and dance rituals of Scene 4b.
The overall movement of Scene 6 is to the left; the scene is divided into two distinct
sections, each of which includes multiple bouts of hand-to-hand combat, as well as a
group of non-combatants.488 The first section of Scene 6 depicts five bouts of hand-to-
hand combat and a group of three non-combatants. The first three bouts of the this
section feature pairs of boxers; the fourth and fifth bouts feature pairs of stick fighters
who strike at each other with papyrus stalks. The second section of Scene 6 similarly
includes four bouts of hand-to-hand combat and a group of two non-combatants. The
first three bouts of this section feature a pair of boxers; the final bout is a melee featuring
three stick fighters.489
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 59, 61, 63, pp. 63-64. For discussion of this scene, see
primarily Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 341-344, 346-348, with references. For
further discussion, cf also Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 178-179, with references; Touny and
Wenig, Sport in Ancient Egypt, pp. 22,25-26; Mikhail, GM&3 (1984): 57-58; Decker, Sports and Games of
Ancient Egypt, pp. 84-88; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 565-566, doc. M2; p. 572, doc. Nl;
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 74, footnote 141; Borghouts, in DuQuesne, ed., Hermes Aegyptiacus, p. 44; Beck,
BACEU (2000): 12; Decker, in Ulf, ed., Ideologic Sport, Aussenseiter, pp. 120-121, 129-134;
AltenmUller, SAK 30 (2002): 31-33; FSrster, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 82, footnote 38; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 273, note 107. A fragmentary ritual combat scene featuring a bout between two
Nubian boxers appears in a Sed Festival relief of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak; for
this relief, see Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pi. 106.
488
Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 341-344, suggests that the non-combatants in
this scene are judges who referee the stick fighting matches; however, such an interpretation is unlikely to
be correct since the first pair of non-combatants do not actually face in the general direction of any of the
combatants.
489
All but four of the combatants in Scene 6 wear a kilt with a sporran attached to the front of the waist—a
style of garb that specifically allows the wearer to move vigorously without constriction or obstruction; the
209
First Group of Non-Combatants:
hry-hb
hsw(.w)
nn hfty=k
Lector Priest.
Singers.
"You have no enemy!"
First Pair of Boxers:

c
mn.t
ndr
it.n Hr m hr mSr.t
Boxing.
"Strike!490
Horus, appearing in truth, has triumphed!"
Second Pair of Boxers:

r
mn.t
it.n Hr m hr mSc.t
Boxing.
"Horus, appearing in truth, has triumphed!"
Third Pair of Boxers:

r
mn.t
it.n Hr m hc m?r.t
Boxing.
First Pair of Stick Fighters:
rmt.w P
ndr
shade-bearers and runners who appear in the representation of the Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead
(Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 224, fig. 1) wear a very similar outfit. For detailed discussion of the runners on
the Namer Macehead, see Section 4.3.1.
490
Ndr (Wb., 2, 382.18-383.25) typically means "to grasp," "to seize," or "to hold." However, in
specialized contexts (e.g., hunting and warfare), ndr takes on the extended meaning "to hit or strike (with
an object)"; for this extended meaning of the word, see Griffiths, JEA 62 (1976): 186-187; Forster, SAK 34
(2006): 141-158.
210
Men of Pe.
"Strike!"
Second Pair of Stick Fighters:
rmt.w Dp
ndr sp [2]
Men of Dep.
"Strike, strike!"
Second Group of Non-Combatants:
nn hfty-k
"You have no enemy!"
Fourth Pair of Boxers:

r
mn.t
it.n Hrm hr m?c.t
Boxing.
Fifth Pair of Boxers:

c
mn.t
it.n Hrm hr nSc.t
Boxing.
Sixth Pair of Boxers:

r
mn.t sp 2
ndr sp 2
Boxing, boxing.
"Strike, strike!"
Melee of Three Stick Fighters:
ndr
"Strike!"
The victorious party in five of the six boxing matches is identified as Horus: it.n
Hr m hc m?c.t, "Horus, appearing in truth, has triumphed!"491 The texts do not identify
the opponent whom Horus defeats in each of these ritual combat bouts; however, two
scenes from the Dramatic Ramesseum indicate that ritual combat bouts served as
reenactments of the mythological struggle between Horus and Seth. In Scene 18 of the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, a child of Horus and a follower of Seth engage in a bout
of hand-to-hand combat (cmw) that parallels the hand-to-hand combat {mrf) of Horus and
Seth:492
hpr.n mrf
Hr pw rhl=f hrf Sth
Gb dd mdw (n) Hr Sth
c
mw lb
Hr Sth rh3
mrf
Hr dd mdw (n) ms.w Hr
n-tn is rmw ib
ms Hr hty Sth rhi
r
mw
"It happened that there was hand-to-hand combat.

The one whose fighting is with Seth is Horus.
Geb speaks to Horus and Seth:
'Swallow the heart!'493
—Horus and Seth fighting
491
The identification of the victor of these boxing matches as "Horus" may suggest that Amenhotep III
himself successfully participated in the ritual combat bouts at his third Sed Festival.
492
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 166-167, Scene 18,11. 56-58; p. 252, Image 12. For discussion of this
scene, see Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 128-129; Helck, Orientalia 23 (1954): 391-392;
Altenmuller, JEOL 19 (1966): 434; Beck, BACE 11 (2000): 7; Quack, ZAS 133 (2006): 88; Schneider, in
Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, p. 246; Gestermann, in
RothOhler and Manisali, eds., op. cit., p. 39; Lorand, Le papyrus dramatique du Ramesseum, pp. 125-126.
493 r
m ib, "to swallow the heart," is an idiomatic expression meaning "to keep secret" or "to repent" (Wb. 1,
184.14-15). Most modern translators follow Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 166-167, note 57a, in
translating the expression "vergessen" or "to forgive"; in this way, the scene might represent a
reconciliation or peace agreement between the two warring factions, Horus and Seth. However, Schneider,
in Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschriftfiir Jan Assmann, p. 246, offers a new
translation of the expression ("ohnmachtig werden") and suggests that rmw ib is an exhortation to Horus
and Seth to fight until the defeat of one of the combatants due to exhaustion.
212
—hand-to-hand combat
'As for you, swallow the heart!'
—child of Horus and follower of Seth fighting
—hand-to-hand combat
In Scene 38 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, the children of Horus carry nfiS.t-
sticks, and the followers of Seth grasp (?)m^-sticks;494 the accompanying vignette to the
scene depicts a stick fighting bout between two individuals identified as shn.w-Sh:495
hpr.n ir shn.w-Sh m-r mcSwy

Hr dd mdw (n) ms.w Hr
shn=tn it(=i) [pn]
ms Hr
shn.w-Sh
Dhwty
ms.w Hr dd mdw in) [hty.w Sth]
tni (S)ms.w=t<n> rp.t
hpd.w=t<n> n cw.t phr(.w) [hl=f]
tni {T)ms.w [n.w] hty Sth
iri (w-0 mrSw(y)
Hm
"It happened that the shn.w-Sh performed with the nftt./-sticks.

'May you seek this father of mine!'
—child of Horus
—shn.w-Sh
—district of Thoth
The children of Horus speak (to) [the followers of Seth]:496
494
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 223-225, Scene 38,11. 117-119; p. 257, Image 24. For discussion of this
scene, see Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 133, 136; Junker, Der sehende undblinde Gott, pp. 52-53;
Altenmuller, JEOL 18 (1964): 271-279; AltenmUller, JEOL 19 (1966): 428, 433, 438-439; Barta, SAK4
(1976): 39-42; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 86-87; Borghouts, in DuQuesne, ed.,
Hermes Aegyptiacus, pp. 44-45; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 339-341;
Altenmuller, SAK 30 (2002): 31-32; FQrster, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 82-83, footnote 38; Gestermann, in
Rothohler and Manisali, eds., Mythos & Ritual: Festschrift fur Jan Assmann, pp. 38-39.
495
For a critical review of all possible translations of the title shn-3h, see El-Sayed, BIFAO 88 (1988): 63-
69.
496
Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp. 223-225, pi. 21, reconstructs the opening of line 119: "Die Horuskinder
sprechen Worte zu [Nut]: 'erhebe deine Kinder zum Himmel."' Based on an alternative reconstruction of
the text of the top portion of line 119, Altenmuller, JEOL 18 (1964): 274-275, renders this passage: "Die
Horuskinder sprechen Worte zu den Gefolgsleuten des Seth: Erhebet eure ms-Holzer zum Himmel." Ink
traces on this heavily damaged section of the papyrus are inconclusive; however, the mention of the
213
'Raise your (:Oms-sticks to the sky,
while your buttocks belong to goats who circle [around it].'
—raising the (/Jms'-sticks of the follower of Seth
—performing with the mrRf-sticks
—Letopolis"
Scene 38 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus describes a stick fighting bout between
the children of Horus and the followers of Seth; the exhortation of Horus to the children
of Horus ("May you seek this father of mine!") may indicate that the stick fighters who
represent the children of Horus act to protect Osiris.498 The meaning of the speech of the
children of Horus to the followers of Seth is not clear, but the former group appears to be
challenging the latter group to a fight.499 The phrase "goats who circle [around it]"
"followers of Seth" later in this scene seems to confirm Altenmiiller's reconstruction of the text. For a
photo of the relevant portion of the papyrus, see Sethe, op. cit., pi. 10.
497
In Pyramid Texts Spell 324 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, p. 267, § 522-523), the
deceased king strikes a female hippopotamus and a female donkey with an ims-stick and a «/-plant,
respectively. For discussion of this passage from the Pyramid Texts, see Junker, Der sehende und blinde
Gott, p. 72, footnote 2; Altenmiiller, JEOL 18 (1964): 275-276; Meurer, Die Feinde des Konigs in den
Pyramidentexten, pp. 218-220, with references; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp.
338-339, 344. The female donkey and hippopotamus appear as enemies of the deceased king in Pyramid
Texts Spell 324; however, Piccione's assertion that they are "Sethian animals" is probably incorrect since
typically only the male of each of these species is associated with Seth. For the male donkey's association
with Seth, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 5, footnote 468. For the male hippopotamus's association with Seth,
see Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus Hunting as a Religious Motive, pp.
25-45, with references; Stork, in LA, Vol. 4, col. 504, with references. The female hippopotamus often
appears as a goddess who is celebrated at a festival known as hb Hd.t, the Festival of the White
Hippopotamus Goddess; for discussion of this festival, see Save-Soderbergh, op. cit, pp. 45-55; Kaiser,
MDA1K44 (1988): 125-144; Pawlicki, Etudes et Travaux 14 (1990): 15-28; Altenmiiller, in Berger el-
Naggar, ed., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 29-44; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, Vol. 2, pp. 117-123;
Kaiser, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 2, pp. 451-459; Kaiser,
MDAIK53 (1997): 113-115. According to Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 88-91, the wandering solar eye
goddess is "changed from the roaring lioness of the desert to the great and protective riverine beast of
Nubia," i.e. a female hippopotamus whose return to Egypt brings about the New Year and the inundation of
the Nile; for further discussion of the hippopotamus as a manifestation of the wandering solar eye goddess,
see Darnell, in David and Wilson, eds., Inscribed Landscapes, pp. 111-112, with references. For discussion
of the significance of hippopotamus hunting in Predynastic royal iconography, see Section 5.1; Section 7.2.
498
In Pyramid Texts Spells 20, 579, 637, and 659, Horus seeks (shn) his deceased father Osiris in order to
protect his corpse and to assist in his regeneration. Similarly, Isis and Nephthys seek (shn) Osiris in
Pyramid Texts Spell 535. For discussion of the use of the term shn in these Pyramid Texts spells, see
Altenmiiller, in Clarysse, ed., Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years, Vol. 2, p. 755.
499
For a similar interpretation, see Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 340.
214
recalls the circumambulating donkeys and bulls that thresh grain in Scene 9 of the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus; the reference to these goats may provide a link between
hand-to-hand combat rituals and the driving of cattle.500
The performance of a ritual with nfil.t-sticks also occurs at Letopolis in Pyramid
Texts Spell 469:501
Ppi pn wS htf iwf=f

nfr n Ppi pn hrf rn=f
c
nh Ppi pn hnr k3=f
hsr-fdw.t tp.t-c.wy Ppi
shr=fdw.t imy.t-ht Ppi
mi nfB.wt hnty Hm
shr.(w)t dw.t tp(.t)-c.wy=f
hsr.{w)t dw.t imy.t-ht=f
"This Pepi has become hale along with his flesh.

It is good for this Pepi along with his name.
This Pepi will live along with his ki.
Just as it drives away the evil that is in front of Pepi,
so too does it remove the evil that is behind Pepi,
like the mrR/-sticks of the foremost of Letopolis,
which expel the evil that is in front of him,
and drive away the evil that is behind him."
In this passage "the nfB.t-sticks of the foremost of Letopolis" are used as weapons to
protect the deceased king from the damaging influence of evil. The source of this "evil"
is not identified; however, Pyramid Texts Spell 469 and Scene 38 of the Dramatic
Ramesseum Papyrus are similar in their description of the use of nfB.t-sticks to protect
Osiris from evil at Letopolis. Thus, both texts probably allude to a mythical event in
500
For discussion of Scene 9 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 5.
501
Sethe, Die altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p. 2, § 908a-908g. For discussion of this passage, see
Junker, Der sehende undblinde Gott, pp. 72-73; Altenmtiller, JEOL 18 (1964): 271-279; Meurer, Die
Feinde des Konigs in den Pyramidentexten, pp. 117, 257, with references; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson,
eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 339-341. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 469, cf. Allen, The Ancient
Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 124-125, Spell P319b.
215
which Horus battled with Seth at the cultic center of Letopolis in order to protect the
corpse of his father Osiris.502
In Chapter 63 of Book 2 of his Histories, Herodotus indicates that he himself
observed the performance of a stick fighting ritual at the entrance to a temple at
Papremis.503 According to Herodotus's native Egyptian guides, this ritual was based on a
myth in which the god Ares (possibly Horus) stormed the temple at Papremis with his
club-wielding followers in order to gain access to his estranged mother (possibly Isis) and
to have sexual intercourse with her.504 If Herodotus's understanding of the mythical
context for this ritual is correct, then the stick fighting ritual at Papremis has no clear
connection to the ritual combat episodes recorded in Pyramid Texts Spell 468 or in
Scenes 18 and 38 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus.
Two pairs of stick fighters in the tomb of Kheruef are identified as "men of Pe"
and "men of Dep"; both of these titles refer to the Lower Egyptian cultic center of
The primary god of the cult center of Letopolis was a warlike falcon god, who was associated with
Horus since the Old Kingdom; for Horus of Letopolis, see Junker, Die Onurislegende, pp. 40-44; Junker,
Der sehende undblinde Gott, pp. 45-58; Gomaa, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 1009-1011, with references;
Altenmuller, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 41-46, with references.
503
For commentary on Herodotus, Histories, Book 2, Chapter 63, see Lloyd, Herodotus BookII, Vol. 2, pp.
285-286; Lloyd, in Murray and Moreno, eds., A Commentary on Herodotus Books I-IV, pp. 279-280.
504
Altenmuller, JEOL 18 (1964): 271-279, attempts to link the ritual combat episode recorded by
Herodotus to the stick fighting rituals in Scene 38 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus and in Pyramid
Texts Spell 469. Altenmuller unconvincingly argues that Papremis and Letopolis are the same town; and,
based on this assumption, Altenmuller links each of these ritual combat episodes to mythical accounts of
Onuris and the cult center of Letopolis—for which, see Junker, Die Onurislegende, pp. 40-44; Junker, Der
sehende undblinde Gott, pp. 45-58. Altenmtiller's interpretation of Herodotus, Histories, Book 2, Chapter
63—particularly his equation of Papremis and Letopolis—has not gained universal acceptance and remains
controversial; for a recent critical survey of commentary on this ritual, see Borghouts, in DuQuesne, ed.,
Hermes Aegyptiacus, pp. 43-52, with references. Borghouts concludes that the Papremis ritual probably
corresponded to "a New Year celebration of local tailoring" and symbolized the triumphant restoration of a
"chief god" to the throne "after a period of cosmic decline." Further support for such an interpretation is
provided by a 26th Dynasty New Year's flask decorated with a pair of stick fighters; for discussion of this
flask, see Fazzini, JSSEA 28 (2001): 55-57. Additionally, in the hymn to Hathor at Medamud, club-
wielding Nubians dance for the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun during her return to Egypt, which
marks the beginning of the inundation season and the New Year; for discussion of these club-wielding
Nubians, see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 64-65, 69, 73-74.
216
Buto.505 In Pyramid Texts Spell 482, the Souls of Pe perform a stick-dance while
lamenting the death of Osiris, extolling Horus for avenging Osiris's death, and foretelling
the resurrection of Osiris:506
rwi n-k bj.w P

hwi-sn n-k iwf-sn
shf=sn n=k r.wy=sn
nwn=sn n-k m smi.w-sn
idd-sn n Wsir
Sm n=k iw n=k rs n-k sdr n=k
mn.ti m cnh
r c
h mii=k nn
r c
h sdm=k nn
Ir.n n-k s?=k
ir.n n-k Hr
hwi.n=fn=k hwi tw
k3s.n=fn=k kis tw
wdi-fsw hr s3.t=k imy.t Kdm
"It is for you that the Souls of Pe dance with sticks.507

It is for you that they beat their flesh.
It is for you that they clasp their hands in fists.
It is for you that they pull their side-locks.
It is to Osiris that they speak:
'Go and come!
Wake up and sleep that you might become enduring in life!508
505
For Buto as a cultic center in Lower Egypt, see Altenmuller, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 887-889, with
references.
506
Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 64-66, § 1005-1008. For discussion of this
passage, Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 340, 344; Meurer, Die Feinde des Konigs
in den Pyramidentexten, pp. 118, 139, 173,238, and 250. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 482,
cf. Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 130-131, Spell P333.
507
The determinative for the word rwi ("sich bewegen," Wb., 2,406.7-10) is the upper body of a man
grasping two sticks. Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 130, Spell P333, translates rwi as
"drum" rather than "dance with sticks."
508
Allen, The Inflection of the Verb in the Pyramid Texts, p. 276, § 409, offers a different interpretation of
these two lines:
Sm.n=k iw.n=k
rs.n=k sdr.n=k
mn.ti m rnh
"Though you have gone away, you have returned.
After going to sleep you have awakened,
established in life."
Allen's intepretation is certainly grammatically possible; however, in grammatical parallel to the passage
that follows ("Stand up that you might see this! Stand up that you might hear this"), Sm, iw, rs, and sdr are
probably imperatives followed by a stative result clause (mn.ti m rnh). Though mi is the most commonly
217
Stand up that you might see this!
Stand up that you might hear this,
(namely) that which your son did for you,
(namely) that which Horus did for you!
It is for you that he beat the one who beat you.509
It is for you that he bound the one who bound you,
while placing him under your daughter, who is in Qedem."'
In this passage the stick-dance of the lamenting Souls of Pe parallels the beating of Seth
by Horus. The stick fighting of the Butic men of Pe and Dep in the tomb of Kheruef
similarly alludes to the Horus's punishment of Seth for his mistreatment of Osiris.510
The texts describing the performance of stick fighting and boxing at the third Sed
Festival of Amenhotep III do not explicitly refer to the struggle between Horus and Seth
as the mythological basis for these rituals; however, the ritual combat episodes of the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus and the Pyramid Texts clearly allude to the mythical battle
between Horus and Seth. The dominant ritual focus of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival is the Raising of the Djed Pillar—a ceremony that emphasizes the regeneration
and resurrection of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.511 The Osirian imagery of Amenhotep Ill's third
used imperative form of the verb iw ("to come") in Old Egyptian, iw is also attested as an imperative form
of this verb; for the use of iw as an imperative form in Old Egyptian, see Edel, Altagyptische Grammatik,
pp. 295-296, § 609.
509
Horus speaks a similar line to Osiris in Scene 9 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus: h(wi).n(=i) n=k
h(wi).w <t>w, "It is for you that (I) have beaten those who beat (or thresh) you." In this passage from the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, "those who beat you" are the followers of Seth, the bulls that trample
Osiris; for discussion of this passage, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 5.
510
For a similar interpretation of the symbolic significance of the terms "men of Pe" and "men of Dep,"
which identify two pairs of stick fighters in the tomb of Kheruef, see Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds.,
Gold of Praise, p. 344; Decker, in Ulf, ed., Ideologie, Sport, Aussenseiter, pp. 133-134.
511
For discussion of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival, see
Section 2.1.2, Scene 3. The use of papyrus stalks in place of wooden sticks in the stick fighting rituals of
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival further emphasizes the theme of regeneration since papyrus was a well-
known symbol of renewal and rebirth in Egypt. For a similar interpretation of the use of papyrus stalks as
ritual combat weapons in the tomb of Kheruef, see Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 84-86.
For papyrus, in general, as a symbol of rebirth, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 1, footnote 321. Altenmiiller, SAK
30 (2002): 31-33, posits that the stick fighting with papyrus stalks in the tomb of Kheruef might relate to
the ritual of shaking the papyri {sSS wld)—a ritual that emphasizes the theme of renewal and occurs as a
218
Sed Festival and the identification of the victor of the ritual combat bouts as Horus
strongly suggest that these bouts represent the mythical struggle between Horus and
Seth.512
In addition to their connection to Osirian myths and the conflict between Horus
and Seth, the ritual combat scenes of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival also have
another important symbolic significance. These scenes affirm the king's role as
maintainer of order in the cosmos; the king is able to suppress chaos in the world by
means of his army's military campaigns in foreign lands.513 The depiction of the Nine
Bows on the platform of the royal tnrt.t-dais in the scene of homage to the king in the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef strongly alludes to
the royal prerogative to suppress chaos by defeating Egypt's foreign enemies.514 The
members of the Egyptian military who participated in ritual combat bouts at Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival acted as representatives of the king and as an extension of the
king's own military prowess in order to suppress chaos and (re)establish cosmic order.515
prelude to the hieros gctmos. For further discussion of the shaking of the papyrus ritual, see references
collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnote 244.
512
For a similar conclusion, see Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 341-344; Decker,
in Ulf, ed., Ideologie, Sport, Aussenseiter, pp. 129-134.
513
According to Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 208-209, scenes of ritual combat at the
durbar of Akhenaten in regnal year twelve in the tomb of Meryre II and at the Window of Appearances of
Ramesses III at Medinet Habu "reinforced the image of the ruler as warlord." For the ritual combat scenes
from Akhenaten's durbar in the tomb of Meryre II, see also Davies, Rock Tombs ofElAmarna, Vol. 2, p.
40, pis. 37-38; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 555-556, doc. L28; p. 566, doc. M3; pp. 572-573,
doc. N2; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds. Gold of Praise, p. 344; Decker, in Ulf, ed., Ideologie, Sport,
Aussenseiter, pp. 135-138. For the ritual combat scenes of Ramesses III (and Ramesses II) at Medinet
Habu, see also Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, pis. 111-112, 127b; Decker and Herb, op. cit, p. 558,
doc. L31; pp. 559-561, doc. L34; pp. 569-570, doc. M9; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., op. cit., pp.
345-346; Decker, in Ulf, ed., op. cit., pp. 139-143. For further discussion of these scenes, see Chapter 6.
514
For discussion of this the decoration on the platform of this dais, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 1.
515
While all of the ritual combat participants in the tomb of Kheruef appear to be Egyptian, the participants
in the ritual combat scenes from the tomb of Meryre and Medinet Habu included both Egyptians and
219
Ritual combat already appears as an expression of Egyptian royal military prowess in the
Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131e)516 and on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (Fig. 58).517 Thus,
Amenhotep Ill's decision to include bouts of ritual combat at the celebration of his third
Sed Festival may reflect the king's interest in performing his Sed Festival in accordance
with archaic prototypes; however, by imbuing these military rituals with allusions to
Horian and Osirian myths, Amenhotep III added an innovative new layer of symbolic
mean to the performance of ritual combat at his Sed Festival.
2.2. OVERVIEW OF M A J O R SED FESTIVAL RELIEF PROGRAMS
2.2.0. INTRODUCTION
The Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef provide the
most complete account of the various rituals that were typically performed at the
celebration of the Sed Festival. Over the course of pharaonic Egyptian history, many
kings chose to commemorate their Sed Festival celebrations with wall-reliefs in temples;
however, an exhaustive catalogue and detailed discussion of all extant Sed Festival reliefs
and texts are beyond the scope of this dissertation.518 Section 2.2 presents a general
discussion and overview of six major Sed Festival relief programs from the Old
Kingdom, New Kingdom, and 3 rd Intermediate Period: the subterranean relief panels of
foreigners. For discussion of the ethnicity of the participants in the ritual combat scenes from the tomb of
Meryre II and Medinet Habu, see the references collected in Section 2.1.2, Scene 7, footnote 513.
516
For a detailed discussion of the scenes of ritual combat in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pi. 76), see Section 6.5.
517
For a detailed discussion of the scenes of ritual combat on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (Seidlmayer,
in Schulz and Seidel, eds., Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, p. 26, fig. 31), see Section 6.5.
518
For the most complete catalogue of Sed Festival reliefs from the pharaonic period, see Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 13-32; Hornung and Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 16-49.
220
Djoser from his Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara (Section 2.2.1); the Sed Festival
reliefs of Snofru from the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Section 2.2.2);
the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre from his solar temple at Abu Gurob (Section 2.2.3);
the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the Temple of Soleb (Section 2.2.4); the Sed
Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten at Karnak (Section 2.2.5); and the Sed
Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the Temple of Bubastis (Section 2.2.6). Several of these
Sed Festival relief programs were originally larger and more comprehensive than the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef; however, these detailed relief
programs have unfortunately survived in a fragmentary form that prevents a complete
reconstruction of the full sequence of rituals.
2.2.1. STEP PYRAMID COMPLEX OF DJOSER AT SAQQARA 519
A series of six subterranean relief panels at Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at
Saqqara depicts the Konigslauf and the king's visit to the ceremonial shrines of Upper
and Lower Egypt during the celebration of the Sed Festival; the series consists of three
panels below the Step Pyramid itself and three panels below the so-called South Tomb
(Fig. 25). The shrines that are depicted in these panels may correspond to the pr-wr
The primarily publications of the subterranean relief panels from the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at
Saqqara are Firth, etal, Excavations at Saqqara: The Step Pyramid, Vol. 2, pis. 13-17, 38-44; Lauer, La
pyramide a degres, Vol. 2, pis. 34-37. For discussion of the Sed Festival scenes on these relief panels, see
primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 1-42, with references; Kees, in NGWG 1929, No. 1, pp. 57-64;
Jequier, CdE 27 (1939): 29-35; Lauer, MonPiot 49 (1957): 1-15; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
Alten Agypten, pp. 32-33, docs. A6-A8; Kahl, etal., Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 50-53, 76-79. For
further discussion, cf. also Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 884-889, 912-919; Munro, ZAS 86 (1961): 67-68;
Goelet, Two Aspects of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 305-314; Baines, Fecundity
Figures, pp. 44-45, fig. 14; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 6-7; Lauer, in Berger, etal.,
eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, pp. 183-198; Friedman, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of
William Kelly Simpson, pp. 337-351; Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 41-43; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals,
pp. 45,47-49; Baud, Djeser et la Hie dynastie, pp. 172-177, fig. 46; Blumenthal, ZAS 130 (2003): 6;
Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 194-195, 227-229,
292-294, 336-338; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 29-35; Wengrow, Archaeology
of Early Egypt, pp. 229-231; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 15; Winter, in Czerny,
ed., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, pp. 451-452.
221
shrines and pr-nw shrines that line the eastern and western sides of the Sed Festival Court
in the southeastern corner of the Step Pyramid complex.520 The archaeological discovery
of semicircular stone boundary markers in the Southern Court and in the court of the
"Maison du Sud" indicates that the Step Pyramid complex originally contained at least
two courses for the performance the Kdnigslauf; both courses are laid out along the north-
south axis of the complex.521 The placement of the subterranean relief panels underneath
the Step Pyramid (at the northern edge of the Southern Court) and underneath the South
Tomb (at the southern edge of the Southern Court) strongly suggests that the Southern
Court was the primary site for the performance of the Kdnigslauf at the Sed Festival of
Djoser; the orientation of the images of the walking and running king on these panels
clearly indicates that the king traveled from north to south within the Southern Court
during the performance of the Kdnigslauf.522 The north-to-south path of Djoser's run
likely mirrors the north-to-south route of migratory birds during the months of autumn;523
similarly, the north-to-south path of Djoser's run probably also mirrors the north-to-south
For discussion of the shrines of the Sed Festival Court in Djoser's Step Pyramid complex, see primarily
Firth, etal, Excavations at Saqqara: The Step Pyramid, Vol. 1, pp. 67-70; Lauer, Lepyramide ddegres,
Vol. 1, pp. 130-145; Vol. 2, pis. 55-67; Lauer, Histoire monumentale despyramides d'Egypte, Vol. 1, pp.
144-154; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 920-926; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed.,
pp. 58-62, 71; Stadelmann, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 2, pp.
787-800, with references; Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 33-48; Baud, Djeser et la Ille dynastie, pp. 103-115,
figs. 27-28.
521
For reconstructions, detailed measurements, and discussion of the stone boundary markers from
Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, see primarily Lauer, in Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp.
183-198; Decker, in Gamer-Wallert and Helck, eds., Gegengabe: Festschrift fur Emma Brunner-Traut, pp.
64-65; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 33-34, doc. A9; Decker, Pharao undSport, pp. 12-17.
522
For detailed discussion of the subterranean relief panels of Djoser as evidence for the path of the
Kdnigslauf'in the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, see infra, this section; Section 4.3.4.
523
For the ancient Egyptians' awareness of the routes of migratory birds, see primarily Egberts, JEA 77
(1991): 57-67, with references; for a detailed discussion of the connection between the Kdnigslauf and the
autumnal route of migratory birds, see Section 4.2.1.
222
nautical journey of the solar barque through the cosmic sky between midnight and
noon.524
The six subterranean relief panels from Djoser's Step Pyramid complex each
share the same basic layout and have several notable iconographic features in common.
First, the caption to each panel appears in a column of text on the left side of the panel.
Second, the left-facing image of the king is the central figure in each panel. Third, the
falcon form of Horus Behedeti hovers protectively over the king in each panel. Fourth,
a group of apotropaic symbols appears behind the king in each panel. Fifth, human-
527
armed cnh-signs and vWs-scepters function as shade-bearers for the king in each panel
524
For discussion of the north-to-south route of the solar barque between midnight and noon, see primarily
Thomas, JEA 42 (1956): 65-79; or a detailed discussion of the connection between the Konigslauf and the
nautical journey of the solar deity, see Section 4.1.
525
For discussion of the falcon hovering over the king in these panels as a protective deity, see Blumenthal,
ZAS 130 (2003): 6. The falcon is identified as Bhd.ty, the "Behdetite," in Panel 4. In Panels 1,2, 3, and 5,
the falcon carries a Sn-r'mg; in Panels 4 and 5, the falcon carries an r«/?-sign. The falcon in these panels
may actually symbolize the king himself; for discussion of statues of the king as manifestations of the god
Horus, see Blumenthal, op. cit, pp. 19-26.
526
The two half-sky signs that appear behind the king in these panels probably represent the edges of the
sky and the doors that regulate the flow of the waters of the kbhw within the cosmos. Spencer, JEA 64
(1978): 54-55, suggests that these symbols represent half/?./-signs. Westendorf, in Gamer-Wallert and
Helck, Gegengabe: Festschriftfur Emma Brunner-Traut, pp. 348-354, agrees with Spencer's suggestion
that these symbols are half p. /-signs that represent the corners of the sky; secondarily, Westendorf suggests
that the symbols also represent door-pivots. Millet, GM173 (1999): 11-12, agrees with Westendorf s
interpretation of the symbols as door-pivots but rejects the interpretation of these symbols as half p./-signs.
The opening of the "door of the sky" is connected to the waters of the kbhw in the Pyramid Texts; for
discussion of this connection, see Allen, in Simpson, ed., Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt, p. 8,
fn. 53. Friedman, in Der Manuelian, ed. Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, p. 340,
interprets the two halfp./-signs behind Djoser in the subterranean relief panels from the Step Pyramid
complex as a "dual form suggesting the upper and netherworlds, pt and Nwt."
527
Ostrich-feather Swy.t-fms are used in Panels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6; lotus-leaf (nfy.t) fans are used in Panel 5.
According to Bell, in Posener-Krieger, ed., Melanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, Vol. 1, pp. 33-35, the
appearance of the shade-bearers in the presence of the king indicates divine presence and celebrates "the
divinity of the king ... as a living incarnation of the sun god Re." According to Friedman, JARCE 32
(1995): 21, fn. 104, with references, the lotus-leaf (nfy.t) shaped fans used in Panel 5 serve as a source of
"air, wind or breath" at the Konigslauf. For discussion of the anthropomorphic rnh-signs and vWs-scepters
that carry shades in Djoser's subterranean relief panels, see Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte pharaonique,
pp. 420-426; Friedman, op. cit., pp. 20-21. The shape and solar symbolism of the w'is-scepter evolved from
representations of giraffes and serpopards in the Predynastic Period; for discussion of the w^-scepter's
evolution from earlier Predynastic iconographic motifs, see primarily Westendorf, in Festgabe fur Dr.
223
Sixth, Djoser's Horus name Ntry-h.t appears in a serekh directly in front of the king in
each panel.528 Seventh, the standard of Wepwawet is carried or fixed in the ground in
front of the king in each panel.529
In Panel 1 (Fig. 25)—the northernmost of the six panels—Djoser visits an Upper
Egyptian shrine before the start of the Konigslauf. rhc (hr) pr-wr Hr Bhd.t, "Stopping (at)
the pr-wr shrine of Horus of Behdet."530 The king wears the white crown of Upper Egypt
and the so-called archaic wrap-around garment with a bull's tail attached to the back of
his waist. The mks-staff and piriform mace, which Djoser carries in Panel 1,
respectively serve as symbols of the king's religious and military authority532 Along with
Walter Will, pp. 204-206; Westendorf, in Moers, etal., eds., jn.t dr.w: Festschrift fur FriedrichJunge, pp.
721-722; Darnell, in Allen and Shaw, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology, forthcoming.
528
The head-ware of the Horus falcon perched on top of the serekh changes from panel to panel.
529
For further discussion of the significance of the Wepwawet standard at the Sed Festival, see Section
4.3.3. During the king's visit to sacred shrines in Panels 1, 5, and 6, the throne cushion standard and the
Wepwawet standard are fixed in the ground in front of the king. For further discussion of the throne
cushion standard, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 5, footnote 199. In Panels 2 and 3, a
personified w^s-scepter carries the Wepwawet standard in front of the running king. As the king concludes
his run in Panel 4, the Wepwawet standard rests on a small platform that is raised slightly above ground
level.
530
For discussion of Panel 1, see primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 18-22, fig. 12; Kahl, etal., Die
Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 52-53, doc. Ne/Sa/22. In Panel \,pr-wr is written ideographically;
however, in Panel 6, pr-wr is written phonetically and contains a determinative of a slightly different shape.
For discussion of the god Horus of Behdet and his association with kingship and the cultic center of Edfu,
see primarily Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 5, pp. 253-255, with
references; Gardiner, JEA 30 (1944): 23-60; Otto, in LA, Vol. 1, col. 683; Schenkel, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 14-
25; Barta, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 33-36; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 37-41.
For discussion of the etymological origin of the word Bhd.t, which probably originally refers to a throne,
see primarily Westendorf, GM 90 (1986): 85-86.
531
For discussion of the archaic wrap-around garment, see Giza-Podgorski, Studies in Ancient Art and
Civilization 2 (1992): 27-34; Vogelsang-Eastwood, Pharaonic Egyptian Clothing, pp. 88-94; Friedman,
JARCE 32 (1995): 21. Friedman, loc. cit., notes the similarity of Djoser's outfit in this panel and Narmer's
outfit on the Narmer Palette. For discussion of the bull's tail as an indicator of the taurine transformation
of the king during the performance of the Konigslauf and other active rituals at the Sed Festival, see Section
1.1.1; Section 4.3.3; and Section 5.2.3.
532
The earliest forms of the hieroglyph dsr (Gardiner Sign List D45) feature an arm—probably the arm of
the king—carrying the mks-staff. For discussion of the wfa-staff s connection to the religious functions of
the king, see primarily Fischer, MM/13 (1979): 24-25; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 20, footnote 100.
The piriform mace appears as a symbol of royal military authority as early as the Predynastic Period; for
224
the typical apotropaic symbols that appear behind the king in all six panels, an image of a
human-armed w^-scepter restraining a bound scorpion appears behind Djoser in Panel

, 533
The next panel in the sequence—Panel 2 (Fig. 25)—depicts the king's run
between two sets of semi-circular boundary markers in the Southern Court of the Step
Pyramid complex at Saqqara.534 In order to facilitate the vigorous movement of the
Kdnigslaufm this panel, Djoser removes the archaic wrap-around garment and wears a
less restrictive outfit that is comprised of an apron, a bull's tail, and the white crown. The
nh3h3-flai\ and m&s-container, which Djoser carries during this ritual run, serve as
symbols of the king's divinely bestowed royal authority.535 The caption to Panel 2
discussion of the piriform mace as a symbol of royal military authority, see primarily Cialowicz, Les tetes
de massues des periodes predynastique et archaique dans la vallee du Nil, pp. 1-68; Gilbert, Weapons,
Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 35-41; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 80-91; Kohler, in Van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant,
pp. 499-513.
533
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 21-22, with references, similarly concludes that the wis-scepter and
scorpion are apotropaic symbols in Panel 1. For further discussion of the vWs-scepter and scorpion in this
panel, see Baines, Fecundity Figures, p. 45, who tentatively suggests that the scorpion is performing a
gesture of adoration. For more detailed discussion of the scorpion as an apotropaic symbol in
representations of the Konigslauf, see Stoof, Skorpion und Skorpiongottin im alten Agypten, pp. 87-103.
534
Lnschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 50-51, doc. Ne/Sa/20.
535
Before its use as a symbol of royal power, the nhlhi-flail may have originally been used as a shepherd's
whip in Predynastic Egypt. For discussion of the nhihi-f\ai\ as a royal symbol, see primarily Fischer, LA,
Vol. 2, cols. 516-517; Sourdive, La main dans I'Egyptepharaonique, pp. 136-173; Wessetzky, in Studia in
Honorem L. Foti, pp. 425-429; Perdu, RdE 56 (2005): 151-157. The wfo-container, which the king often
carries during the Konigslauf, may have contained a property-transfer document known as the imy.t-pr.
Several different explanations have been posited for the significance of the mfe-container in the context of
the Konigslauf; however, the most convincing suggestion is that the document gives the king divine
permission to rule over the country of Egypt. For discussion of therafcs-container,which was originally
known as the H/w-container, see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 144-145;
Spiegelberg, ZAS 53 (1917): 101-104; Staehelin, Untersuchungen zur agyptischen Tracht im Alten Reich, p.
162; Mysliwiec, BIFAO 78 (1978): 174-176; Barta, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 20-22; Fehlig, SAK 13 (1986): 66;
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 22-24; Koemoth, CdE 71 (1996): 216; Stadelmann, in Grimal, ed., Les
criteres de datation stylistiques, pp. 367-368. For discussion of the imy.t-pr document, see primarily
Godecken, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 141-145; Mrsich, &4AT2 (1974): 189-212; Mrsich, SAK3 (1975): 201-226;
Mrsich, in Studien zu Sprache und Religion Agyptens, Vol. 1, pp. 561 -611; Menu, in Geus and Thill, eds.,
225
indicates that the king passes a ceremonial shrine during the course of the run: ch-hd
wr.w, "the White Chapel of the Great Ones."536 The baboon that rests on top of the
shrine-determinative for rh-hd wr.w in the column of text to the left of the king is most
likely a representation of the god Hd-wr ("Great White One"). Since the god Thoth is
prominently linked to the White Chapel in Pyramid Texts Spells 611, 665, and 665B, the
baboon deity Hd-wr is most likely a manifestation of Thoth.538 Like the baboon that
appears in a representation of the Konigslauf of Den on a seal impression from the tomb
of Hemaka (Fig. 153), the baboon in Panel 2 offers the running king a small bowl that
contains an unknown beverage or food offering.539 Caches of votive baboon figurines
dating to the Predynastic, Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic periods have been
Melanges offerts a Jean Vercoutter, pp. 249-262; Logan, JARCE 37 (2000): 49-73; Ganley, Discussions in
Egyptology 55 (2003): 15-27; Ganley, Discussions in Egyptology 56 (2003): 37-44.
536
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 24-26, similarly reads this inscription as rh-hd wr.w, "the White Shrine of
the Great Ones." Goelet, Two Aspects of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 305-314,
suggests another possible reading of the caption to Panel 2: wr.w ch-hd, "the Great Ones of the rh-hd."
Kahl, etal., Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 50-51, disregard the Ti-shrine and interpret the text as the
name of the baboon god Hd-wr. w. Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 43, suggests that the caption to Panel 2
refers to the ancient Egyptian name for Memphis: nb-hd wr.w, "white-wall (residence) of the great ones."
For detailed discussion of other representations of the king running past a shrine associated with a baboon
deity during the performance of the Konigslauf, see Section 4.2.2.
537
For discussion of the baboon deity Hd-wr, see primarily Kaplony, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 1078-1080;
Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pp. 107-110, with references; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 24-26;
Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 285; Goelet, Two Aspects of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old
Kingdom, pp. 286-292, 300-303, 305-336.
538
For discussion of the significance of Thoth and the White Chapel in Pyramid Texts Spells 611, 665, and
665B, see Goelet, Two Aspects of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 313-315. For
discussion of Pyramid Texts Spells 219,262, 475, and 600, which also reference the White Chapel, see
Kees, in NGWG 1929, No. 1, pp. 61-64; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 24-26.
539
For discussion of the baboon that presents an offering to the running king on a seal impression of Den
from the tomb of Hemaka, see primarily Emery, Tomb of Hemaka, p. 64, fig. 26, cat. no. 434; Kees, in
NGWG 1938, pp. 21 -30; Blackman, Studio Aegyptiaca 1 (1938): 4-9; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1950): 987;
Kaplony, Kleine Beitrdge zu den Inschriften der dgyptischen Friihzeit, pp. 92, 94; Goelet, Two Aspects of
the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 310-312; Eaton-Krauss, Representations of Statuary in
Private Tombs of the Old Kingdom, pp. 90-91; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere undder Konig, Vol. 1, p. 72;
Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, p. 241; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 69; Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the
Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, pp. 505-506. For further discussion of the image of the baboon on this seal
impression, see also Section 4.2.2.
226
discovered at Elephantine, Hierakonpolis, Abydos, Tell el-Daba, and Tell Ibrahim Awad
(Figs. 194-195); these baboon figurines are most likely representations of the baboon
deity Hd-wr.540 The leather straps worn on the chest of the baboon in Panel 2 are an
element of clothing typically worn by Libyans and Egyptian dancers.541 The Libyan
dancers who accompany the wandering goddess of the solar eye during her return to
Egypt in the Medamud Hymn also wear leather bands on their chests.542 Thus, the
leather straps worn by the baboon may allude to Thoth's role in the myth of the
wandering goddess of the solar eye; in this myth, Thoth pacifies the angry goddess and
coaxes her back to Egypt.543 A year label from the reign of Semerkhet depicts a seated
baboon with an offering bowl below the "White Chapel of the Great Ones" at the
540
For discussion of these Predynastic, Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic votive baboon figurines, see
primarily Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, pp. 68-73, with references; Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at
the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, pp. 504-508; Winter, in Czerny, ed., Timelines: Studies in Honour
of Manfred Bietak, pp. 447-454, with references. One of the Early Dynastic artifacts discovered at Tell
Ibrahim Awad is a faience model of boat with seven baboon figurines seated inside; Sherkova, in Hawass,
ed., loc. cit, suggests that this model is an "illustration" of the four baboons who accompany the solar night
barque during its trip through the underworld in Book of the Dead Spell 126. For further discussion of the
role of the baboons in Book of the Dead Spell 126, see also Donnat, in Aufrere, ed., Encyclopedic
religieuse de I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 1, p. 214. Two Early Dynastic statues of baboons bear the names of
the Egyptian monarchs Narmer and Meritneith; for discussion of these statues, see primarily Kaplony,
Kleine Beitrage zu den lnschriften der agyptischen Fruhzeit, pp. 91-98; Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, p. 69;
Krauss, MDAIK 50 (1994): 223-230. Primarily because of the royal inscriptions on these two Early
Dynastic baboon statues, some scholars have suggested that images of baboons represent the deceased
ancestors of the king; according to such an interpretation, these baboon deities offer legitimacy to the
reigning king during the rites of the Sed Festival. For discussion of baboons as the deceased ancestors of
the king, see primarily Helck, Orientalia 19 (1950): 427-431; Helck, Archiv Orientdlni 20 (1952): 80-83;
Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 987; Dreyer, op. cit, p. 69; Helck, Untersuchungenzur Thinitenzeit, pp. 9-11;
Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 60; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 25-26;
Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 43.
541
For discussion of leather straps as an element of Libyan garb, see references collected in Section 2.1.1,
Scene 4, footnote 160.
542
For discussion of the Libyan dancers who accompany the wandering goddess of the solar eye during her
return to Egypt, see primarily Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 64-80.
543
For discussion of Thoth's role in the myth of the wandering goddess of the solar eye, see Darnell, SAK
22 (1995): 84, 92, with references; Brunner-Traut, Altagyptische Tiergeschichte undFabel, pp. 34-41.
227
ceremonial procession of a sacred barque (Fig. 104);544 the three pellet-shaped objects
above the bowl in the outstretched front paws of the baboon provide an important clue
regarding the contents of the bowl.545 Since Thoth has a well-attested association with
the lifegiving and nourishing properties of the doum-palm and its nuts, the pellet-shaped
objects most likely represent doum-nuts.546
In Panel 3 (Fig. 25)—the last of the three panels beneath the Step Pyramid—
Djoser carries the nhlhl-flail and the mfe-container while he runs between the boundary
markers of the Southern Court.547 The headware worn by the king in this fragmentary
panel has not been preserved; however, the extant portion of Panel 3 clearly indicates that
Djoser has removed the apron and the bull's tail. The king's outfit for the Konigslauf in
Panel 3 consists of merely a penis sheath—most likely because the strenuous physical
exertion of the run required less restrictive clothing during this phase.548 The caption to
544
For discussion of this label from the reign of Semerkhet, see primarily Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals
in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 96-97, fig. 57; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 25,
footnote 132; Kaplony, Kleine Beitrdge zu den Inschriften der dgyptischen Friihzeit, p. 130, no. 83;
Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, p. 505.
545
No text identifies the contexts of the offering bowl held by the baboon in this scene or in similar scenes.
Based on the large number of wine jars discovered within Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex, Helck,
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 9-10, reasonably proposes that the baboon offers wine to the king
during the performance of the Konigslauf. Vikentiev, BIE 32 (1951): 202-209, has suggested that the
pellets above the bowl in the label of Semerkhet are seeds that the baboon throws under the feet of the
running king during the performance of the Konigslauf Alternatively, Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 139-145,
has also suggested that the baboon offers pellets of silphium to the king to stimulate and invigorate him
during the performance of the Konigslauf
546
For a more detailed discussion of the offering of doum-nuts and/or doum-nut juice to the king during the
performance of the Konigslauf see Section 4.2.2.
547
For discussion of Panel 3, see primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 26-29, fig. 16; Kahl, etal, Die
Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 50-51, doc. Ne/Sa/18.
548
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 26, notes that in Panel 3 "Djoser makes an even more forceful run, his arm
and leg muscles bulging with effort." When performing strenuous activities, marines, boat workers,
fisherman, fowlers, herdsmen, and dancers often wear only a sporran; this non-restricting outfit allows the
wearer a full range of vigorous motion during strenuous activities. For discussion of this outfit, which is
also worn by the three men who perform the group run at the Sed Festival ceremony depicted on the
Narmer Macehead, see Perdu, RdE 56 (2002): 157-162.
228
this scene suggests that Djoser has crossed the southern court and is nearing the end of
his run: hr knb.t rsy(.t) imn(.t), "at the southwestern corner."549 The "southwestern
corner" mentioned in the caption to Panel 3 probably refers to the South Tomb of the
Step Pyramid complex—i.e., the location of Panels 4-6.
Panel 4 (Fig. 25)—the northernmost panel below the South Tomb—depicts a
scene very similar to Panel 3. 550 In Panel 4, Djoser runs vigorously between two sets of
boundary markers while carrying the nh3hl-flail and the mfe-container; the king once
again wears the white crown and a penis sheath as he performs the Konigslauf A
personified wis-scepter behind the king's rear foot performs the /mw-gesture as a symbol
of respect for the king.551 An cnh-sign appears in front of the king's right foot; this sign
is probably a symbol of the renewed life that the king gains as a result of the Konigslauf.
The caption to Panel 4 describes a ceremony that takes place in the vicinity of the South
Tomb after the king has completed his run: ms(.t) hr knb.t rsy(.t) imn(.t), "Dedication in
After considering three possible translations for the hieroglyhic sign depicting the corner of a fortified
wall in this inscription (knb.t, sbh.t, and wsh.t), Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 27-31, concludes that the sign
writes wsh.t. Additionally, Friedman, loc. cit., suggests that the expression hr wsh.t rsy(.t) imn(.t)
designates the southwestern corner of the courtyard. The second hieroglyph in the inscription most closely
resembles Gardiner Sign 014; this sign is most commonly used as an alternative version of Gardiner Sign
013, the ideogram for sbh.t, "gateway." Kahl, etal., Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 50-51, tentatively
suggest that the sign in question is an unusual orthographic writing of Gardiner Sign 038, which
ideographically writes knb.t, "corner." Though far from certain, the latter interpretation seems most likely
because it accurately describes the location of the subterranean passage below the South Tomb where
Panels 4-6 are located. Both Friedman, loc. cit., and Kahl, etal., loc. cit., restore ms(.t) before hr based on
the parallel inscription in Panel 4.
550
51
Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 44-45, fig. 14, notes that depictions of personified vW.s-scepters
performing the /j«w-gesture are "rare" and points out that a similar image of a personified vW^-scepter
appears behind the king during the Konigslauf in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the Valley Temple of
his Bent Pyramid at Dahshur; in this example from Dahshur, the personified wls-scepter is identified as a
JVmw-Libyan (Section 2.2.2, Panel 8). A scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the
Gempaaten Temple at Karnak depicts the royal daughters performing the /mw-gesture before the royal
couple and singing a hymn to the king that emphasizes his divinization and solar transformation at the Sed
Festival (Section 2.2.5, Scene 13); for discussion of this scene and hymn, see also Section 2.1.1, Scene 7;
Section 3.2.2.
229
the southwestern corner." The inscription does not specify what type of object is being
dedicated in the southwestern corner of the southern courtyard; however, the dedicated
object is almost certainly the Wepwawet standard that is placed on a small platform in
front of the king in Panel 4.553 The Horus falcon above the royal serekh in Panel 4 wears
the double-crown of Upper and Lower Egypt; this crown may allude to the double-
enthronement of the king in the red crown and white crown at the conclusion of the
Konigslauf ritual at the Sed Festival.554
In Panel 5 (Fig. 25)—the next panel in the sequence—Djoser once again dons the
archaic wrap-around garment and a bull's tail during a visit to a sacred shrine;
additionally, the king takes up a piriform mace and a staff that are similar in appearance
to the implements he carried during his visit to the shrine of Horus of Behedeti in Panel
l.555 The caption to this panel indicates that the king visits the shrine of a Lower
For the term ms.t as a references to the "production" or "dedication" of a cultic statue or ceremonial
standard, see primarily Schott, GM3 (1972): 35; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 29-36, with references;
Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals, p. 59, with references. Kahl, eta/., Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp.
78-79, offer a more literal translation of ms t: "Gebaren." However, this translation of ms.t poses problems
of interpretation since there is no logical object of the infinitive "Gebaren."
553
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 34-35, notes that an entry on the Palermo Stone for the reign of
Shepseskaf refers to the ms.t ("dedication" or "production") of two Wepwawet standards. For further
discussion of the use of the term ms.t for the "creation" of cultic images or standards in the Palermo Stone,
see Wilkinson, Royal Annals ofAncient Egypt, pp. 90-91,172-176,239-243. All six of Djoser's
subterranean panels depict the Wepwawet standard; and, after being carried in front of the king by
personified a vWs-scepter during the Konigslauf in Panels 2 and 3, the Wepwawet standard is fixed in the
ground in front of the king again in Panel 4.
554
The double-enthronement of the king follows the Konigslauf in a Sed Festival relief of Amenhotep III in
the birth room of Luxor Temple, in a Sed Festival relief of Ramesses II in the Ramesseum, and in a Sed
Festival relief of Ramesses II on a naos from Pithom. For discussion of these double-enthronement scenes,
see Mysliwiec, BIFAO 78 (1978): 171-182, figs. 2-4; Decker and Herb, Bildatlaszum Sport im alten
Agypten, pp. 64, 85-86, 89-90, cat. nos. Al 12-A113, A194, A208; Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): 69, no.
11; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studienzum Sedfest, pp. 28, 61, with references; Rummel, SAK 34
(2006): 384, 392-395, figs. 1.4, 5, 6. For a more detailed discussion of the enthronement of the king that
typically follows the performance of the Konigslaufat the Sed Festival, see Section 4.3.4.
555
For discussion of Panel 5, see primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 36-38, fig. 23; Kahl, eta/., Die
230
Egyptian deity: rhr (hr) pr-nw Hr Hm, "Stopping (at) the pr-nw shrine of Horus of
Letopolis."556 Djoser's visit to this Lower Egyptian shrine probably emphasizes his rule
over Lower Egypt; and, indeed, Panel 5 is the only panel in which Djoser wears the red
crown of Lower Egypt. The similarly outfitted and equipped king wears the white crown
of Upper Egypt and visits an Upper Egyptian shrine in Panel 6 (Fig. 25): chr (hr) pr-wr,
"Standing (at) the pr-wr shrine."557 Thus, the king's visit to a shrine of Lower Egypt in
Panel 5 and his visit to a shrine of Upper Egypt in Panel 6 suggest that the result of his
ritual run is a legitimization of his rule over both constituent parts of Egypt.
2.2.2. VALLEY TEMPLE OF THE BENT PYRAMID OF SNOFRU AT DAHSHUR 558
For the pr-nw shrine as a Lower Egyptian shrine, see primarily Weill, Recherches sur la Ire dynastie et
les temps prepharaoniques, Vol. 1, pp. 83-88; Arnold, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 932-933; Arnold, Encyclopedia
of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, p. 173, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 35-36. The primary god of the cult center of Letopolis was a
warlike falcon god who was associated with Horus since the Old Kingdom; for discussion of Horus of
Letopolis, particularly his battle with Seth to protect the corpse of Osiris at Letopolis, see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 6. Pyramid Texts Spell 688 suggests a connection between Horus of Letopolis and the rebirth of the
deceased Egyptian king (Sethe, Die Altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 505-506, § 2078a-2079d):
ddmdw rhcfdw ipw (r)h.w-nsw.t n(w) Npn
'Imsti Hrpi Dwl-mw.t=f Kbh-snw=f ms.w Hr Hm
kis=sn kis n NNpn
srwd=sn mlk.t n NN
sirr=sn NN n Hprr
hpr-fm gs Bby n p.t
"Words to be spoken: 'It is for this AW that these four royal acquaintances stand,
namely, Imseti, Hapi, Duamutef, and Qebehsenuf, the children of Horus of Letopolis,
so that they might tie the rope-ladder for this AW;
so that they might secure the ladder for AW;
and so that they might cause Nto ascend to Khepri,
when he comes into being in the eastern side of the sky.'"
For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 688, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 292-
293, Spell N522.
557
For discussion of Panel 6, see primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 37-40, fig. 24; Kahl, etal, Die
Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 76-77, doc. Ne/Sa/57. For the pr-wr shrine as an Upper Egyptian shrine,
see primarily Weill, Recherches sur la Ire dynastie et les temps prepharaoniques, Vol. 1, pp. 88-99;
Arnold, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 934-935; Arnold, Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, p. 174, with
references; Friedman, in Spencer, ed., Aspects of Early Egypt, pp. 16-35; Kuhlmann, in Bietak, ed., Haus
undPalast im Alten Agypten, pp. 117-137.
558
For the primary publication of the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru from the valley temple of the Bent
Pyramid at Dahshur, see Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 59-110. For further
discussion of these reliefs, see also Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly
231
A series of reliefs from the northern portico of the valley temple of the Bent
Pyramid at Dahshur records numerous rites from the celebration of the Sed Festival by
Snofru. The reliefs originally appeared as decorative panels on the sides of ten pillars
arranged in two rows in front of a group of six chapels at the northern end of the
courtyard of the valley temple; however, the poor state of preservation of the pillars and
their relief decoration has made reconstruction of the placement and sequence of the
panels very difficult.559 Each decorative panel in this sequence features a large scene
depicting the performance of a ritual at the Sed Festival of Snofru; in several cases, a
smaller secondary scene appears below the major ritual scene in the panel. Portions of
approximately 20 panels have survived in varying states of preservation; in only five
instances can multiple panels be attributed to the same pillar.560 Several of Snofru's Sed
Festival scenes have clear parallels in the subterranean relief panels from the Step
Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara (Section 2.2.1), in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 199-208; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old
Kingdom, pp. 185, 195-196, 198-199, 224, 229-230, 233, 238-239, 243-244, 279-281, 288-289. For further
discussion, cf. also Schott, GM3 (1972): 31-36; Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983): 272; Baines, Fecundity
Figures, pp. 45, 85, 133-134, fig. 45; Stadelmann, Die dgyptischen Pyramiden, pp. 98-100; Gohary,
Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 7; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t: Entstehung und Verehrung einer
Personifikation, p. 44; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 34-35, docs. A10-A14; Blumenthal, ZAS
130 (2003): 6-7; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 15, 59.
559
According to Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 59-60, relief decoration
originally appeared on the southern, eastern, and western sides of the ten pillars; thus, Fakhry has suggested
that the pillars originally recorded 30 scenes from the Snofru's Sed Festival. Based on an examination of
the same archaeological evidence, Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old
Kingdom, pp. 279-281, has suggested that the five pillars in the back row were originally left undecorated
on both the northern and southern sides; thus, according to Cwiek, the pillars originally recorded 25 scenes
from Snofru's Sed Festival. The available evidence does not allow for a definitive conclusion regarding the
total number of scenes or the original sequence of the rituals that were carved on these ten pillars.
560
For discussion of the pillars to which multiple panels can be attributed see Fakhry, Monuments of
Sneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 59-98, figs. 35-95, Pillars A-E. In the following discussion of the
Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in this section, the designations Panels 1-20 are used to refer to the reliefs that
originally decorated the ten pillars in the courtyard of the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur.
These designations are intended to facilitate reference to individual scenes; however, a definitive
reconstruction of the original order of these panels is not possible at the present time.
232
Niuserre from his solar temple at Abu Gurob (Section 2.2.3), and in the Sed Festival
reliefs from the palace of Apries at Memphis.561
Like Djoser's Sed Festival reliefs panels, several scenes from Snofru's Sed
Festival reliefs depict the king visiting shrines and performing the Konigslauf. In Panel 1
Snofru visits a sacred grotto that contains palm trees and religious shrines associated with
the Lower Egyptian cult center Buto (Fig. 29).562 Panel 2 depicts the king's visit to the
Upper Egyptian pr-wr shrine and the Lower Egyptian pr-nsr shrine (Fig. 29). In Panel
3 Snofru wears the short Sed Festival robe and performs an unknown ritual at the Upper
For the Sed Festival reliefs on the gateway of the palace of Apries at Memphis, see primarily Kaiser,
MDAIK A3 (1986): 123-154, pis. 42-48. Kaiser's reconstruction of the reliefs largely supersedes the
original publication of the gateway in Petrie, The Palace of Apries, pp. 5-11, pis. 3-9. For discussion of the
archaizing style and content of these reliefs, see also Lauer, in Berger-El Naggar, ed., Hommages a Jean
Leclant, Vol. 4, p. 195; Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 198-200.
562
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 60-65, figs. 35-42. For further discussion,
see also Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983): 272, footnote 52; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary
Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 195-196; Bietak, in Bietak, etal, eds., Zwischen den beiden
Ewigkeiten, pp. 1-2, 11, fig. 2. Similar depictions of this grotto appear in several Early Dynastic labels that
probably depict rituals from celebration of the Sed Festival. Two labels from the reign of Den depict the
king seated on a throne on top of a stepped dais opposite a similar grotto; for discussion of these labels, see
Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 54 (1998): 163-164; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, pp. 69-70, fig. 37, with references. A label from the reign of Aha also depicts a
similar grotto; for discussion of this label, see primarily Jimenez-Serrano, op. cit., pp. 63-64, fig. 27, with
references; Helck, Untersuchungenzur Thinitenzeit, pp. 152-153; Bietak, in Bietak, etal, eds., op. cit, pp.
1,10, fig. 1; Kaplony, Agypten und Levante 13 (2003): 119-121. The king visits a similar grotto in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb; for this scene, see Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 46. Finally, the
king also visits a similar grotto in the Sed Festival reliefs from the palace of Apries at Memphis; for this
scene, see Kaiser, MDAIK A3 (1986): 131, 140-141, 147,152, figs. 4, 9; Petrie, The Palace of Apries, pi. 6.
This type of grotto typically includes a group of Lower Egyptian shrines and a grove of palm trees; in
several cases, texts accompanying the king's visit to this grotto suggest that it is located in the Lower
Egyptian cult center of Buto. For discussion of the grotto's association with Buto, see primarily Gamer-
Wallert, Die Palmen im Alten Agypten, pp. 114-128; Bietak, in Bietak, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 1-18;
Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 221, 284, 319-320; Servajean, in Aufrere, ed., Encyclopedic
religieuse de I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 1, pp. 227-247; Servajean, in Aufrere, ed., Encyclopedic religieuse de
I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 2, pp. 3-16.
563
see also Blumenthal, ZAS 130 (2003): 6-7; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of
the Old Kingdom, pp. 195-196. For the pr-wr shrine as an Upper Egyptian shrine, see references collected
in Section 2.2.1, footnote 557. For the pr-nsr as a Lower Egyptian shrine, see primarily Weill, Recherches
sur la Ire dynastie et les temps prepharaoniques, Vol. 1, pp. 83-88; Arnold, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 932-933.
233
Egyptian pr-wr shrine and the Lower Egyptian pr-nsr shrine (Fig. 75).5 The king also
wears the Sed Festival robe in the poorly preserved reliefs of Panel 4, which probably
depicts the ritual washing of Snofru's feet prior to the king's visit to a shrine (Fig. 77).565
Panel 5 depicts an episode from the performance of the Konigslauf m which the king runs
between two sets of boundary markers (Fig. 26).566 A similar poorly preserved episode
from the performance of the Konigslauf also appears in Panel 6 (Fig. 26).567 Scene 7
depicts an episode from the Konigslauf 'in which the king runs past the snw.t-shrim (Fig.
26).568 In Panel 8, a human-armed vWs-scepter identified as a JVmvv-Libyan performs the
/mw-gesture behind the king during the performance of the Konigslauf (Fig. 26).569 Panel
9 depicts Snofru's performance of the Apislauf (Fig. 196).570
564
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 85, 88-91, figs. 12-11.
565
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 91-92, fig. 78.
566
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 65-70, figs. 43-47. For further discussion
of this panel, see also Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 34, doc. A10; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in
the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 229-230.
567
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 85-88, figs. 68-71. For further discussion
of this panel, see also Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 34-35, doc. A13; Blumenthal, ZAS 130
(2003): 6-7; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 229-230.
568
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 73, 76-78, figs. 55-57. For further
discussion of this panel, see also Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 34, doc. A l l ; Cwiek, Relief
Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 195-196, 229-230. The snw.t-shr'me
mentioned in the caption to Scene 4 may refer to the so-called "Schlangensteine," a pair of stelae that were
placed at the entrance to cultic sanctuaries, such as the "siidliche Kapelle" atNiuserre's solar temple at Abu
Gurob. For a detailed discussion of the "Schlangensteine" and their significance at the Sed Festival, see
Section 5.2.2.
569
of this panel see also Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 34, doc. A12; Schott, GM3 (1972): 34;
Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, p. 204; Cwiek, Relief
Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 229-230.
570
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 98-100, figs. 96-98. For an improved
reconstruction of this panel, see Schott, GM3 (1972): 31-36. For further discussion of this panel, see also
Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 35, doc. A14; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t: Entstehung und
Verehrung einer Personifikation, p. 44; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the
Old Kingdom, pp. 243-244. According to the reconstruction of Schott, loc. cit, the caption to this panel
234
Several reliefs on the pillars of the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid of Snofru at
Dahshur pertain to the royal inspection of crops and cattle. In Panel 10 Snofru performs
an inspection of fields containing groves of cedar and myrrh trees (Fig. 197).571 Panel 11
depicts the royal inspection of stalls of oryxes (Fig. 197).572 Only a small portion of
Panel 12 is preserved; however, a smaller secondary scene below the main scene depicts
a group of fecundity figures presenting divine offerings—consisting of pr.wt c$ ("seeds of
the cedar tree") and dib.w ("figs")—to the king (Fig. 197).573 The offering of these items
to the king suggests that Panel 12 may have originally depicted the inspection of fields
containing groves of trees.
Another group of reliefs from from the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid of
Snofru at Dahshur depicts a series of rites pertaining to the foundation of sacred buildings
and precincts for use at the celebration of the Sed Festival; Snofru probably performed
these rites at the very beginning of his Sed Festival celebration.574 In Panel 13 Snofru
reads: ir=fir.tphrr Hp, "he performs the ceremony of the Apislauf." For a detailed discussion of the
significance of the Apislauf, see Section 4.3.2.
571
reconstruction of this panel, see also Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly
Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 200-204, fig. 1. For further discussion of this panel, see also Cwiek, Relief Decoration
in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 198-199. According to the reconstruction of
Edel, loc. cit, the caption to this panel reads: mii ird rS wid nhw.t rntyw w>d, "inspecting the growth of
fresh cedar and fresh myrrh trees."
572
reconstruction of this panel, see also Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly
Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 206-208, fig. 4. For further discussion of this panel, see also Cwiek, Relief Decoration
in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 198-199. According to the reconstruction of
Edel, loc. cit, the caption to this panel reads: m" md.wt«(./) mi.w-hd.w rnh(.w), "inspecting the stalls of
living oryxes." For further discussion of this panel and its connection to butchery rituals at the celebration
of the Sed Festival, see Section 5.3.2.
573
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 101, 106-107, fig. 110. For further
discussion, see also Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 85, 133-134, fig. 45; Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed.,
Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 204-206, fig. 3.
574
For the rites associated with the foundation of temples in Egypt, see primarily Montet, Kemi 17 (1964):
74-100; Reymond, The Mythical Origin of the Egyptian Temple; Finnestad, Image of the World and Symbol
235
and the goddess Seshat drive stakes into the ground as part of the temple foundation rites
(Fig. 22).575 The depiction of Snofru and Seshat in a loving embrace in Panel 14
probably also relates to the temple foundation rites (Fig. 22). The king and an
unknown deity also appear in an embrace in Panel 15 (Fig. 198).577
The Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru at Dahshur depict several other notable rituals
from the celebration of the king's Sed Festival. The enthronement of the king in the Sed
Festival kiosk is depicted in two fragmentary panels from these reliefs. In Panel 16
Snofru wears the red crown during his ritual enthronement upon a stepped dais (Fig.
64);578 Panel 17 probably depicts a ritual counterpart in which the king wears the white
crown during his enthronement (Fig. 64).579 The enthronement scenes in these two
panels may have originally have followed the Konigslauf sequence in Panels 1-9. The
god Min appears in a fragmentary ritual scene in Panel 18 (Fig. 198); although the
of the Creator, especially pp. 52-60; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and
the First Dynasty, pp. 26-37.
575
discussion of this panel, see also Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old
Kingdom, pp. 238-239. For discussion of the driving of stakes into the ground as part of the temple
foundation rites, see Montet, Kemi 17 (1964): 78-85, fig. 1. The ritual of driving stakes into the ground
also occurs in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (Section 2.2.3, Scene 1)
and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Section 2.2.5, Scene 1).
576
Kingdom, p. 185.
577
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur,Vo\. 2, Part 1, pp. 101, 104-105, figs. 105-109. For further
Kingdom, p. 185.
578
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 107-108, fig. 111. For further discussion
of this panel, see also Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, p.
233.
579
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 107-108, fig. 112. For further discussion
233.
236
context for Min's appearance is unclear, he probably receives incense and food-offerings
from the king in this panel.580 Panel 19 depicts the hauling of a ceremonial barque that
CO 1
may represent the divine barque of the solar deity (Fig. 199). Finally, the trapping of
birds in a large fowling net takes place in a marshy area in the ritual scene depicted in
Panel 20 (Fig. 141).582
2.2.3. SOLAR TEMPLE OF NIUSERRE AT ABU GUROB 5 8 3
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 107, 109, figs. 113-116. For further
discussion of this panel, see also McFarlane, The God Mm to the End of the Old Kingdom, pp. 133, 193,
cat. no. 214. In the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb, the king offers incense and food-
offerings to Min in several scenes (Section 2.2.4, Register 6).
581
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 91-93, figs. 79-83. The symbolic
significance of this scene may be similar to the boat procession that is depicted in the reliefs of the first Sed
Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Section 2 1.1, Scene 6). For further discussion of the
towing of the ceremonial barque in Panel 19, see Section 7.4.2.
582
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 110, figs. 117-118. For further discussion
224. For detailed discussion of the significance offish and fowl imagery in the rites of the Sed Festival,
see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
583
For the primarily publications of the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre from his solar temple at Abu
Gurob, see Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2; Kees, Das Re-
Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3; von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem
Re-Heihgtum des Rathures, pp 1-115. For other detailed discussions of these reliefs, see Kaiser, in
Aufsatze zum 70 Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp. 87-105; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp.
6-21; VoG, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 75-98. For further discussion,
cf also Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 135-136,281; Borchardt, ZAS 61 (1928): 30-37;
Brunner Traut, Der Tanz im Alten Agypt, pp. 27-28, 53; Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 113, footnote 1;
Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 79-88; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 165-166; Hickman, BIE 37 (1956): 68-
69; Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 271-316; Fischer, Onentaha 29 (1960): 182-183, fig. 5; Munro, ZAS 86
(1961): 68; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 91-123, especially 99-101; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 328-
330, 397-398; Barta, SAK4 (1976): 31-43; Helck, SAK 5 (1977): 47-77; Goelet, Two Aspects of the Royal
Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 316-335; Kaiser, MDAIK 39 (1983): 266-270, 291-293; Adams,
Eretz-Israe121 (1990): 5; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr t Entstehung und Verehrung einer Personifikation, pp.
25-26; Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 10-11; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alten Agypten, pp. 36, 848-849, cat. nos. A18-A19, S10.2; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of
Praise, pp. 262-265; Rochholz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel Struktur, Funktion
und Programm, pp. 255-256; Krol, GM184 (2001): 31-32; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 44-46; Espinel, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of
the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, pp. 216-218; Rummel, Pfeiler seiner Mutter—Be is tand seines Vater, pp.
90-91; Brovarski, The Senedjemib Complex, Vol. 1, p. 98; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary
Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 238, 243, 338; DuQuesne, The Jackal Divinities of Egypt, Vol. 1, pp.
91-93, 103, 114-115, 125-129, 223-227, 423-424; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp.
27-35; Rummel, SAK34 (2006): 385-388; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 16, 51,
59, 61, 91-93; Nuzzolo, SAK 36 (2007): 224-229; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the
237
The 5 Dynasty king Niuserre commemorated the celebration of his Sed Festival
by commissioning two detailed sets of Sed Festival reliefs as part of the decorative
program for his solar temple at Abu Gurob; unfortunately, only a relatively small portion
of the original Sed Festival relief program has survived. The better preserved of the two
sets of reliefs is the "kleine Sedfestdarstellung," which originally appeared on the eastern
and western walls of the small chapel located on the northern side of the large obelisk at
center of the complex.584 Most of the scenes of the "kleine Sedfestdarstellung" have been
reconstructed from relief fragments discovered on the ground in the solar temple;
however, a small portion of the relief decoration was found in situ in its original
placement on the walls of the chapel. The "groBe Sedfestdarstellung" on the walls of the
passageway around the obelisk in the center of the complex is very fragmentary.585
Comparison of the two sets of Sed Festival reliefs suggests that they originally depicted a
similar sequence of scenes. When viewed together, these two sets of reliefs provide a
fairly detailed account of the rituals performed by Niuserre during the celebration of his
Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp. 1962-1963, 1965; Degreef, GM223 (2009): 27-
34.
584
For the location of the "kleine Sedfestdarstellung" and a reconstruction of the sequence of scenes, see
primarily Borchardt, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 1, pp. 15-16; von Bissing and Kees,
Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2; von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs
aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, pp. 1-115; Kaiser, in Aufsdtze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke,
pp. 87-105; Helck, Untersuchungenzur Thinitenzeit, pp. 6-21; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festivalat
Karnak, pp. 10-11; VoG, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtiimern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 88-98. The
reconstruction of the sequence of scenes in Kaiser, loc. cit., greatly improves upon the original
reconstruction in von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2.
585
Because of the fragmentary nature of the "groGe Sedfestdarstellung," this set of reliefs has not received
as much scholarly attention as the "kleine Sedfestdarstellung." For the location of the "groGe
Sedfestdarstellung" and a reconstruction of the sequence of scenes, see primarily Borchardt, Das Re-
Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 1, p. 11; Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3;
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 18; VoG, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtiimern der 5.
Dynastie, pp. 75-88. VoG, loc. cit., has demonstrated that the sequence of scenes in the "groGe
Sedfestdarstellung" largely mirrors the sequence of scenes in the better-preserved "kleine
Sedfestdarstellung."
238
Sed Festival. The reliefs indicate that several of the rituals were actually performed by
the king twice during the ceremony—once while wearing the white crown of Upper
Egypt and a second time while wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt.
The sequence of ritual scenes in the reliefs of the "kleine Sedfestdarstellung" and
the "groBe Sedfestdarstellung" from the solar temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob can be
reconstructed fairly accurately. Scene 1 depicts the king's performance of the temple
foundation rites—including the hoeing of the ground (Fig. 23) and the driving of stakes
(Fig. 24)—at the opening of the Sed Festival.586 Scene 2 depicts the royal inspection of
construction work (Fig. 200) and the counting of cattle (Fig. 201).587 Scene 3 depicts the
ritual slaughter of bulls (Fig. 176) and the presentation of offerings.588 Scene 4 depicts
con
the opening procession (Fig. 202). Scene 5 depicts the lion-furniture sequence (Fig.
91).590 Scene 6 depicts rituals of homage to the enthroned king (Figs. 65, 68)—including
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. lb, 2-6, 8, 56a-b; Kees,
Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 111-112, 291-298, 425. For discussion of Scene 1,
see primarily von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures,
pp. 3-21; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 82-83, 96-97.
587
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. la, 7a, 7c, 9, lOa-b, 56a;
Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 289, 306-308, 310-313. For discussion of
Scene 2, see primarily VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 83, 97. For
further discussion of the cattle-count and driving of cattle at the Sed Festival of Niuserre, see Section 5.4.
588
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 317-347, 361-373. For discussion of
Scene 3, see primarily Sethe, Dramatische Texte, p. 113, footnote 1; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 165-166;
Fischer, Orientalia 29 (1960): 182-183, fig. 5. For further discussion of the butchery sequence in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a; Section 5.3.1; Section 5.3.3.
589
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos 7a-c; Kees, Das Re-
Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 102a-b, 118, 120, 138. For discussion of Scene 4, see
primarily von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, pp.
22-24; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 83-84.
590
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 56a-b, 57-59; Kees, Das
Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 276-278. For discussion of Scene 5, see primarily von
Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, pp. 90-91;
Borchardt, ZAS61 (1928)-30-37; Kaiser, in Aufsatze zum 70 Geburtstagvon Herbert Ricke, pp. 101-105;
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thmitenzeit, pp. 11-12; Rummel, Pfeiler seiner Mutter—Beistand seines Vater,
pp. 90-91, with references; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 84, 97;
239
several performances of the group run in an open courtyard in front of the royal throne.591
Scene 7 depicts the royal visit to the shrine of Min and the royal procession to the throne
(Fig. 203).592 Scene 8 depicts the anointing of the Wepwawet standard and the
performance of the Konigslauf (Fig. 27).593 Scene 9 depicts the display and distribution
of cattle (Fig. 191).594 Scene 10 depicts the washing of the king's feet (Figs. 78-79).595
Finally, Scene 11—the most elaborate of all Niuserre's Sed Festival rituals—depicts the
rites pertaining to the delivery, mounting, and procession of the royal palanquin (Figs.
Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 385-388, with references. For further discussion of the lion furniture sequence in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see Section 5.2.1.
591
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 1 la-b, 12a-c, 27-31, 76;
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 104, 216, 221, 228-229, 241, 252, 254, 256-
262. For discussion of Scene 6, see primarily von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus
dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, pp. 59-84; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 13-14; VoB,
Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 84-85, 97. For discussion of the depiction
of the group run that appears in the royal homage scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see
Section 4.3.1.
592
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 33a-b, 35, 96; Kees, Das
Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 197. For discussion of Scene 7, see primarily Helck,
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 12; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5. Dynastie,
pp. 85-86, 97; Espinel, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, pp.
216-218.
593
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 13,17, 33b, 34, 36-37,
84, 93; Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 112,226,239-240. For discussion of
Scene 8, see primarily von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des
Rathures, pp. 85-90; Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 135-136,281; Goelet, Two Aspects
of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 326-329; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, 6-
11; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, p. 36, docs. A18-A19; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t: Entstehung
und Verehrung einer Personifikation, pp. 25-28; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5.
Dynastie, pp. 85-86, 97. For detailed discussion of the Konigslauf sequence from the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre, see Section 4.3.3.
594
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 13-18,20a-c, 21, 25, 61,
78, 85, 95; Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 264-271. For discussion of Scene
9, see primarily VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 86-87, 97. For
further discussion of the display and distribution of cattle at the Sed Festival of Niuserre, see Section 5.4.
595
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 20c; Kees, Das Re-
Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 105, 194. For discussion of Scene 10, see primarily VoB,
Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 87, 97-98.
240
80-86).596 At the opening of Scene 11, the king emerges from his Sed Festival palace,
dons the Sed Festival robe, and mounts the royal palanquin (Figs. 80-81); at the
conclusion of Scene 11, the king returns to the palace (Figs. 83, 86).597 Several other
improtant rituals also take place during the procession of the royal palanquin—including
the palanquin procession of the royal daughters (Figs. 111-114) and the transfer of a
bow-and-arrow set to the king (Figs. 204-205).599
2.2.4. TEMPLE OF SOLEB: RELIEFS OF AMENHOTEP III600
596
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 38-43,44a-d; 45a-b, 46-
47, 49, 50a-b, 51-52, 55, 100; Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 121-129, 143-
144,179, 183, 186-189. For discussion of Scene 11, see primarily von Bissing and Kees, Untersuchungen
zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, pp. 91-115; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 988; Kaiser,
in Aufsatze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp. 100-101; Barta, Untersuchungen zur Gottlichkeit
des regierenden Konigs, pp. 68-69; Behrens, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 1007-1008; Helck, Untersuchungen zur
Thinitenzeit, pp. 14-17; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 87, 98;
Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 387-388. For detailed discussion of the presentation of a bow and arrow to the
king in this sequence, see Section 6.2.
597
For detailed discussion of the robing of the king at the opening of this sequence and the disrobing of the
king at the end of this sequence, see Section 1.1.2.
598
For detailed discussion of the palanquin procession of the royal daughters in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre at Abu Gurob, see Section 1.1.2; Section 3.2.1.2.
599
For detailed discussion of the transfer of a bow-and-arrow set to the king in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre, see Section 6.2.
600
For the primarily publications of the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep HI from the Temple of Soleb,
see Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pis. 83-86; Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 32-143; Giorgini, op. cit, Vol. 3,
pp. 212-325. For further discussion of the reliefs, see also Wilson, JAOS 56 (1936): 293-296; Van Siclen
III, JNES32 (1973): 290-300; Gohary, Akhenaten'sSed-FestivalatKarnak(London, 1992), pp. 11-16;
Dorman, in Berger, etal, eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 455-470; Galan, JNES 59 (2000):
255-264; Murnane, Amarna Letters 4 (2000): 6-19; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp.
26, 34-35, 39-40, 51, 62-63, 73, 84-85, 88, 91, 93. For further discussion, cf. also Breasted, AJSL 25
(1908): 83-96; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 81, 83, 367, note 5; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp.
91-123, especially 101; Habachi, ZAS 97 (1971): 68, 72; Vernus, BIFAO 75 (1975): 25; Wente, JNES 35
(1976): 278; Barta, SAK6 (1978): 25-42; Sourdive, La main dans I'Egyptepharaonique, pp. 124-125;
Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 2nd ed., pp. 320-322; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t:
Entstehung und Verehrung einer Personifikation, pp. 33-34; Spalinger, JARCE 28 (1991): 29-30; Sambin,
L'offrande de la soi-disant clepsydre, pp. 12-14, 316-324; Leclant, in Quaegebeur, ed., Ritual and Sacrifice
in the Ancient Near East, pp. 235-236; Kessler, in Luft, ed., The Intellectual History of Egypt, pp. 349-353;
Goedicke, Problems ConcerningAmenophis HI, pp. 17-51; Bryan, in Kozloff and Bryan, eds., Egypt's
Dazzling Sun, pp. 106-110; Sambin, BIFAO 95 (1995): 412; Berman, in O'Connor and Cline, eds.,
Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, p. 16; Gozzoli, in Grimal and Baud, eds., Evenement, recit,
histoire officielle, pp. 215-220; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth
241
At the Temple of Soleb in Nubia, Amenhotep III commemorated the celebration
of his first Sed Festival with a detailed set of reliefs on the interior walls of the first court
and on the walls of the gateway connecting the first and second courts. The reliefs from
the gateway depict rites from the actual celebration of the Sed Festival;601 the reliefs on
the interior walls of the first court depict a series of preparatory rites leading up to the
celebration of the Sed Festival.602 The preparatory rites depicted on the rear of the
/TAT
northern wing of the grand pylon include the illuminating of the tnti. /-platform, the
striking of the gates,604 and the procession of the royal palanquin.605 In a a series of
reliefs beside the gateway in the northeastern corner of the first court, Amenhotep III
visits the pr-nsr and pr-wr shrines and presents the $>./-offering to the goddesses Nekhbet
and Wadjet.606
International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp. 1962-1965; Brand, Bibliotheca Orientalis 64 (2007):
615-617; Degreef, GM223 (2009): 27-34.
601
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 85-143; Giorgini, op. cit, Vol. 3, pp. 260-325.
602
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 32-84; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 217-260.
603
Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 84a-b; Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 34-38; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp.
218-223. For further discussion of the ritual performance of the illuminating of the /Mtf.r-platform in the
Temple of Soleb, see Breasted, AJSL 20 (1908): 89; Wilson, JAOS 56 (1936): 293-296; Borchardt, ZAS 72
(1936): 59; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 81; Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 84; Van Siclen, JNES 32
(1973): 291-294; Gohary, Akhenaten'sSed-FestivalatKarnak, p. 12; Goedicke, Problems Concerning
Amenophis III, pp. 22-24; Bryan, in Kozloff and Bryan, eds., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, pp. 108-109; Murnane,
Amarna Letters 4 (2000): 14-15; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 40. The ritual
begins on day 26 of the fourth month of Peret and ends on day 1 of the first month of Shomu; for detailed
discussion of the date(s) of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
604
Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 83b-c; Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 39-61; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp.
223-243. For further discussion of the striking of the gates, see Breasted, AJSL 20 (1908): 89-92; Gohary,
Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 12; Goedicke, Problems Concerning Amenophis III, pp. 21-22;
Bryan, in Kozloff and Bryan, eds., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, p. 109. This group of scenes also includes the
king's visit to sacred precincts and the presentation of offerings to the barque of Amun.
605
606
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 69-82; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 247-258. For discussion of Amenhotep
Ill's presentation of the ^.^-offering to the goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet in this group of scenes, see
Sambin, L 'offrande de la soi-disant clepsydre, pp. 12-14, 316-324. Osorkon II similarly presents the Sb.t-
242
Scenes depicting the rites of the actual celebration of the Sed Festival probably
originally appeared on both the northern and southern sides of the gateway connecting
the first and second courts in the Temple of Soleb. The reliefs from the northern side of
the gateway have survived in a relatively good state of preservation;607 however, only a
very small portion of the reliefs from the southern side of the gateway has survived.608 A
series of scenes on the base of the wall on both sides of the gateway depicts the docking
and unloading of boats at a quay; the products transported on these boats include cattle,
birds, marsh plants, metal ingots, and jars of wine (Fig. 175).609 A similar set of scenes
in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef depicts the
loading and unloading of offerings at the docks of the Birket Habu at Malqata (Fig.
174).610 Eight registers of reliefs depicting the Lower Egyptian rites of Amenhotep Ill's
first Sed Festival appear above the docking scene on the northern side of the gateway
connecting the first and second courts in the Temple of Soleb; in all of these reliefs, the
king wears the red crown of Lower Egypt.611 Presumably, a similar set of reliefs
offering to Nekhbet and Wadjet in his Sed Festival reliefs from the Temple of Bubastis (Section 2.2.6,
Scenes 2, 12).
607
608
609
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 86-93, 134-137; Giorgini, op. cit, Vol. 3, pp. 261, 264-265, 315-316.
610
For a discussion of the scenes from the tomb of Kheruef that depict the transport of offerings of
offerings at the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a.
611
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 94-132; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 265-315. An additional relief
fragment in which the king wears the red crown probably also belongs to the reliefs on the northern side of
the gateway; see Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 5, pi. 139, no. 117; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 319.
243
depicting the Upper Egyptian rites of the Sed Festival appeared on the southern side of
the gateway.612
Each of the eight registers on the northern side of the gateway includes multiple
scenes in which Amenhotep III performs rituals connected to the celebration of his first
Sed Festival. Tiye and members of the royal retinue accompany the king in most of
scenes in these eight registers; in several scenes, the royal daughters also accompany the
king.613 In the concluding scene of each register, the king and queen retire to the Sed
Festival palace in order to rest (Fig. 158).614 Beginning at the bottom of the wall on the
northern side of the gateway, Register 1 appears just above the docking scene at the base
of the wall; Register 8 appears at the very top of the wall. The most important ritual
performance of Register 1 is the royal palanquin procession during which Amenhotep III
issues a royal decree exempting the staff of the Temple of Amun from their normal tax
obligations (Fig. 87).615 Register 2 depicts the chief lector priest's announcement of the
A relief fragment in which the king wears the white crown probably belongs to the reliefs of the
southern side of the gateway; see Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 138, no. 76; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 317-
318.
613
For discussion of the presence of the royal daughters in these scenes from Soleb, see primarily Xekalaki,
in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, pp.
1962-1965, with references; Green, Queens and Princesses of the Amarna Period, p. 431; Roth, in
Brockelmann and Klug, eds., In Pharaos Staat, pp. 229-230.
614
In each register, the king and queen move from right to left; thus, the concluding scene of each register
is on the far left of the wall. For the royal couple's return to the palace at the end of each register, see
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 94, 99, 105, 110, 115, 120, 126, 131.
615
Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 86a-b; Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 94-98; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp.
265-271. For discussion of the scenes in Register 1, see primarily Bara, SAK6 (1978): 30; Gohary,
Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak,p. 13. An almost identical copy of Amenhotep Ill's decree of tax
exemption for the staff of the Temple of Amun appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the
Temple of Bubastis (Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 6). For discussion of these decrees, see
primarily Van Siclen, JNES 32 (1973): 296-299, figs. 1-2; Vermis, BIFAO 75 (1975): 25; Kitchen, The
Third Intermediate Period, 2nd ed., pp. 320-322; Spalinger, JARCE 28 (1991): 29-30; Goedicke, Problems
Concerning Amenophis III, pp. 28-34; Galan, JNES 59 (2000): 255-264; Gozzoli, in Grimal and Baud, eds.,
Evenement, recit, histoire officielle, pp. 215-220, figs. 3-4. For transliteration, translation, and discussion
of the text of this decree, see Section 2.2.6, Scene 14.
244
offering of a boon on behalf of the king and Osiris, the king's visit to an assembled group
of deities, and the king's presentation of offerings to the god Khnum (Fig. 206).616 In
Register 3, the Amenhotep III visits the shrine of Horus (Fig. 207) and presents offerings
to Khnum.617 Register 4 depicts the king's visit to an assembled group of deities, his visit
to the shrine of Horus, and the presentation of offerings to Khnum.618 In Register 5, four
officials participate in the group run (Fig. 208), a group of 24 standard-bearers greets the
king, the king visits an assembled group of deities (Fig. 76), the king visits the shrine of
Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 3, pi. 85b-c; Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 99-104; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp.
271-278. For discussion of the scenes of Register 2, see primarily Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 30; Gohary,
Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 13-14. In one of the scenes from Register 2, Amenhotep III
makes food-offerings and burns incense for the ram god Khnum inside the "shrine of eating" (sh n wnm);
similar scenes depicting the king presenting offerings to Khnum appear in Registers 3, 4, 5, and 7. For
discussion of these offering scenes, see Dorman, in Berger, etal, eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1,
pp. 455-470. The prominence of Khnum in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the Temple of
Soleb may be explained in part by Khnum's strong associations with Nubia and his frequent appearance in
the reliefs of Nubian temples. Khnum's main cult center was in the region of the first cataract of the Nile at
Elephantine; Khnum also served as the main god at Semna/Kumma in the region of the second cataract of
the Nile in Nubia. For Khnum's association with Elephantine, Semna, and Kumma, see, e.g., Otto, in LA,
Vol. 1, col. 951, with references; Badawi, Der Gott Chnum, pp. 22-31; Laskowska-Kusztal, in Engel, etal,
eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 453-462. Khnum is the creator god who fashions the entities of creation
on the potter's wheel; offerings to Khnum by the king during the Sed Festival likely ensure that king is
imbued with the creative powers necessary to effect his own renewal. For discussion of Khnum as a
creator god, see Badawi, op. cit., pp. 49-58; Otto, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 950-954; Assmann, Egyptian Solar
Religion in the New Kingdom, pp. 158-159, with references; Klotz, Adoration of the Ram, pp. 142-143,
150-151, with references. For the evolution of the iconography of Khnum, see Bickel, B1FAO 91 (1991):
55-67; Badawi, op. cit., pp. 16-21. In a scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at the Temple of
Bubastis (Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 7), the king presents offerings to seven ram-headed
gods—each of whom is identified as either ntr r i hnty hb-sd ("great god, foremost of the Sed Festival") or
ntr ri nb hb-sd ("great god, lord of the Sed Festival"). In return for his offerings to these seven ram-headed
gods, Osorkon II receives "all life and dominion," "all health," "all strength," "all victory," "all offerings,"
and "all provisions." According to Kessler, in Luft, ed., The Intellectual Heritage of Egypt, pp. 347-348,
these seven ram-headed gods represent the bl.w of the solar deity. The ram-headed gods in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Osorkon II may also be related to the seven ram-headed gods who assist in the construction of the
temple in the reliefs of Edfu; for discussion of these ram-headed gods at Edfu, see Klotz, op. cit., pp. 142-
143; Rochholz, Schbpfung, Feindvernichtung, Regeneration, pp. 39-42, 51-56. The horns of the ram are
also a component of the royal ?(/-crown, which is sometimes worn by the deified king during the rites of the
Sed Festival; Bell, JNES 44 (1985): 269, footnote, 85, notes several examples of kings wearing "the solar
atef-crown and the ram's horns of Amun" during the celebration of the Sed Festival.
617
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 105-109; Giorgini, op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 278-284. For discussion of the
scenes of Register 3, see primarily Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 14.
618
scenes of Register 4, see Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 14.
245
Horus, and the king presents offerings to Khnum.619 Register 6 depicts the king's
presentation of offerings to Min (Fig. 33) and the Puntite dancing ritual (Fig. 209).620 In
Register 7, the king visits the shrine of Horus and presents offerings to Khnum.621 Most
of scenes in Register 8 have not been preserved; however, like the first seven registers,
Register 8 concludes with the royal couple's return to the palace.622
During the king's visit to the shrine of Horus in Registers 3, 4, 5, and 7,
Amenhotep III receives a lettuce-plant from an attendant: rdi.t rbw ntr n nsw.t,
"presenting the lettuce of the god to the king." To the ancient Egyptians, the lettuce
plant was an aphrodisiac and a fertility symbol most commonly associated with Min, the
ithyphallic god of fertility and male potency.624 Horus's association with fertility and
agriculture is not as well-attested as Min's; however, in a depiction of the "driving of the
619
scenes in Register 5, see primarily Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 14-15. For detailed
discussion of the group run scene in this register, see Section 4.3.1.
620
scenes in Register 6, see primarily Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 15; Sourdive, La main
dans I'Egypte pharaonique, pp. 124-125; Dasen, Dwarfs in Acnient Egypt and Greece, pp. 145-146;
Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 177-178. For further discussion of the rites
concerning Min in this register, see infra, this section. For detailed discussion of the dancing Puntites in
this register, see also Section 3.1.3.4.
621
scenes in Register 7, see primarily Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 15.
622
scenes in Register 8, see primarily Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 15.
623
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 109, 114, 116-117, 129-130.
624
For the lettuce plant and its associations with Min, see primarily Germer, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 938-939;
Germer, SAKS (1980): 85-87; El-Hadidi, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers of Horus, pp. 323-326;
Schulz, Die Entwicklung undBedeutung des kuboiden Statuentypus, Vol. 1, pp. 745-746, with references.
246
calves" by Ptolemy VIII at Edfu, Horus is identified as nb sh.t srd sm.w, "the lord of the
field, who causes the plants to grow."625
In several scenes in Register 6, Amenhotep III visits the shrine of Min to burn
incense and present food-offerings to the god; in two of these scenes, Min appears in
front of the shn.t-tent, a pair of lettuce plants, and the Rf-standard.626 Because of Min's
association with kingship and fertility, Amenhotep Ill's offerings to Min likely ensure the
king's virility during the Sed Festival;627 in return for his offerings to Min, Amenhotep III
receives legitimacy and longevity:
ddmdw
di.n(=i) n-k r hh.w m rnp.wt
ddmdw
di.n(=i) n=k ns.t Gb ii.t 'Itm
"Words to be spoken:
'It is to you that I have given more than millions of years.'
Words to be spoken:
'It is to you that I have given the throne of Geb and the office of Atum.'"
In a relief from Coptos, Sesostris I performs the Ruderlauf in front of Min (Fig. 15); the
caption to this Ruderlauf scene further suggests that Min grants longevity to the king at
the Sed Festival:629
625
For this depiction of the driving of the calves by Ptolemy VIII, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, pp.
303-309, 345, with references. According to Egberts, loc. cit., Horus's titles in this relief emphasize the
"agrarian themes underlying the driving of the calves."
626
For discussion of the shn.t-shr'me of Min and the Rf-standard that appears next to the shrine, see
primarily Munro, Das Zelt-Heiligtum des Min; Gundlach, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 136-137. For further
discussion, see also Eissa, MDAIK 58 (2002): 238.
627
For discussion of Min's association with fertility and kingship, see primarily Gundlach, in LA, Vol. 4,
cols. 136-140; Brunner-Traut, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 141-144; Moens, SAK 12 (1985): 61-73; McFarlane,
BACE 1 (1990): 69-75; Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, pp. 344-345.
628
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 122.
629
For discussion of Sesostris I's Ruderlauf scene from Coptos (UCL 14786), see primarily Petrie, Koptos,
p. 11, pis. 1,9; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alien Agypten, p. 41, cat. no. A38, with
247
it.t hp.t n Mnw ntr c3 hr-ib niw.t=f
ir=f [di rnh]
ddmdw
di.n(=i) n-k ir.t hb-sd
r
nh.timiRc
Seizing the /^-implement for Min, the great god in the midst of his city,
so that he might achieve [a given life].
Words to be spoken:
"It is for you that I have caused the performance of the Sed Festival,
so that you might live like Re."
The appearance of Min in the rites of the Sed Festival is also attested in several sources
from the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom; his connection to the Sed Festival
may even extend as far back as the Protodynastic and Predynastic periods.630
One of the "dancers of Punt" (ihb.w n(w) Pwn.t) in Register 6 from the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb is a bearded dwarf.631 Like the lion-masked
figures who take part in the dancing rituals in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis,
the bearded Puntite dwarf who dances in Register 6 probably represents the god Bes.
references; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 20. For further discussion of the depiction
of the Ruderlauf in this scene, see Section 4.1.2; Section 7.4.3.
630
For discussion of Min's connection to the Sed Festival during the Early Dynastic Period and the Old
Kingdom, see McFarlane, The God Min to the End of the Old Kingdom, pp. 21-22, 137, 140,185,247, cat.
nos. 026, 225, 227. For the depiction of Min in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of his
Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, see Section 2.2.2, Panel 18. For the Min sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see Section 2.2.3, Scene 7. Min standards appear as adornments
of boats in several boat processional scenes from Naqada II D-Ware pottery and Predynastic rock
inscriptions; these boat processions may conceivably be linked to the Sed Festival. For discussion of
Predynastic examples of the Min standard, see McFarlane, The God Min to the End of the Old Kingdom,
pp. 157-173, 373-374, pis. 1-2; Goedicke, MDAIK 58 (2002): 254; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de
Nagada I—Nagada II, pp. 44-45, 173, Designation N5h; Aksamit, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of
Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 560-571, 575, 581, 583, 586-587. For further discussion of the standards on
boats in Predynastic Sed Festival scenes, see Section 7.1.
631
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 120-121.
632
For a similar conclusion regarding the dancing Puntite dwarf in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep
III at Soleb, see Sourdive, La main dans I'Egypte pharaonique, pp. 124-125. For further discussion of the
dancing Puntite dwarf in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb, see also Dasen, Dwarfs in
Acnient Egypt and Greece, pp. 145-146; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 177-178.
248
In this regard, the dancing Puntite dwarf in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at
Soleb probably performs the role that Bes plays in the myth of the wandering goddess of
the solar eye—namely, he dances for the goddess to placate her and to coax her back to
Egypt.633 Bearded Puntites also dance for the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun
during her winter journey outside of Egypt.634 The dancing Puntites at Soleb appear in a
sequence of scenes that primarily pertains to the presentation of offerings to Min. With
regard to their participation in these rites of Min, the dancing Puntites may also represent
the "Nubian of Punt" (Nhsy n Pwn.t) who participates in the Festival of Min at Medinet
Habu635 and/or the Nubians who climb the scaffolding of the the shrine of Min during the
"raising of the bull of the s/m.^-shrine" (srhr k? shn.t).636
2.2.5. GEMPAATEN TEMPLE OF AKHENATEN AT KARNAK 637
For discussion of the lion-masked figures in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of
Kheruef, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4. For discussion of the lion-masked figure in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Osorkon II at Bubastis, see also Section 2.2.6, Scene 7. For detailed discussion of the significance of
dancing Bes-figures at the Sed Festival, see Section 3.1.3.4.
633
For discussion of Bes's role in the myth of the wandering goddess of the eye of the sun, see references
collected in Section2.1.1, Scene4, footnote 185.
634
For a discussion of the Puntites who dance for the wandering goddess, see primarily Darnell, SAK 22
(1995): 64-65, 69-70. 76-79. Darnell, op. cit., pp. 77-79, notes that the Puntites who dance for the
wandering goddess in the hymn from Medamud are called hbs.tyw, "bearded ones."
635
For the Nhsy n Pwn.t who sings a hymn in praise of Min in the reliefs of the Festival of Min at Medinet
Habu, see Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 4, pi. 203; for discussion of the hymn sung by the
"Nubian of Punt," see also Gauthier, Les fetes du dieu Min, pp. 199-204; Gutbub, in Melanges Maspero,
Vol. 1, Fasc. 4, pp. 63-64; Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 64, 78.
636
For discussion of the ritual known as srhr ki shn.t and the Nubians who climb the scaffolding of the
shrine during this ritual, see primarily Gauthier, Les fetes du dieu Min, pp. 142-150; Lacau, CdE 28 (1953):
13-22; Helck, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 454-455; Munro, Das Zelt-Heiligtum des Min, pp. 38-41; Moens, SAK 8
(1985): pp. 66-67; Isler, JARCE 28 (1991): 155-185; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, pp. 123-131,
docs. B1-B24; Feder, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., 4. dgyptologische Tempeltagung, pp. 31-54;
Goedicke, MDAIK 58 (2002): 249-250,254, with references. No scholarly consensus yet exists for the
correct translation of the phrase srhc ki shn.t; for a review of previously suggested translations, see Munro,
op. cit., pp. 39-41; Isler, op. cit., p. 158. For the identification of the climbers of the scaffolding as Nubians
from Punt, see Feder, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., he. cit.; Lacau, op. cit., pp. 21-22.
637
For the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak, see primarily Gohary,
Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 9.1,18.6,
249
In the early years of his reign, before the foundation of a new capital city at Tell
el-Amarna in his fifth regnal year, Akhenaten celebrated a Sed Festival at Thebes; to
commemorate this occasion, Akhenaten decorated the walls of the Gempaaten Temple at
Karnak with scenes from the celebration of his Sed Festival.638 The use of talatat blocks
as a building material for the construction of the Gempaaten Temple and Akhenaten's
other Theban temples facilitated the speedy erection of these monuments; however, these
relatively small stone blocks could also be easily disassembled. After the Amarna
Period, the talatat blocks of Akhenaten's major Theban construction projects—including
the Gempaaten Temple—were disassembled and reused in the Theban construction
projects of later kings, e.g., in the Tenth Pylon, in the Ninth Pylon, in the Second Pylon,
and in the bases of the columns of the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple.640
34.1, 36-77; Gohary, in Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pp. 64-67; Traunecker,
BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4; Spalinger, in Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, pp. 29-33, fig.
16; Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains dAmenhotep IV, pp. 130-132,148-149, 192-193,
pis. 23, 61, Assemblages A0085, A0066. For further discussion of the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten
from the Gempaaten, cf. also Chevrier, ASAE 38 (1938): 605, pis. 109-111; Uphill, JNES 22 (1963): 123-
127; Traunecker, JSSEA 14 (1984): 61-62; Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King, pp. 102-136, especially
122-131; Redford, in Berger, eta/., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol.1, pp. 485-492; Schlick-Nolte and
Loeben, in Schade-Busch, ed., Wege offnen, pp. 270-287; Vergnieux and Gondran, Amenophis IVet les
pierres du soleil, pp. 174-177; Smith, Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, 3 r revised ed., p. 176, with
references; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 7-8; Redford, in Freed, eta/., eds., Pharaohs of
the Sun, pp. 50-59; Martin, SAK 30 (2002): 269-274; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp.
27-28, 37, 63-65, 84, 93-94.
638
The Sed Festival of Akhenaten that is depicted in the reliefs of the Gempaaten Temple took place in the
early years of his reign—probably in his second or fourth regnal year. For discussion of the date of
Akhenaten's Sed Festival at Thebes, see references collected in Section 1.1.4, footnote 125.
639
For discussion of the new construction techniques introduced by Akhenaten for his Theban construction
projects, see, e.g., Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 26, with references; Redford, in Freed,
eta/., eds., Pharaohs of the Sun, pp. 50-59; Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains
d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 1-42.
640
The assemblages of talatat blocks that were reused by later kings in construction projects at Karnak have
been the subject of several major studies: Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1; Redford,
Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2; Redford, JARCE 10 (1973): 77-94; Redford, JARCE 12 (1975): 9-14;
Redford, JARCE 14 (1977): 9-32; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak; Vergnieux, Recherches sur
les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV; Sauneron and Sa'ad, Kemi 19 (1969): 137-178; Sauneron and
Stfad,Kemi2\ (1971): 145-150; Lauffray, eta/., Kemi21 (1971): 64-66; Manniche, Ae/w/21 (1971): 155-
164; Lauffray, Karnak6 (1980): 67-89, pis. 14-19; Azim, Karnak 7 (1982): 19-65; LeSaout and
250
Reliefs from Akhenaten's Theban Sed Festival have been identified on more than
1,500 talatat blocks from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak; previous studies have not
produced any conclusive estimate of the total number of talatat blocks that were part of
Akhenaten's Sed Festival relief program in the Gempaaten Temple.641 Reconstructions
of a limited number of Sed Festival scenes contain reliefs on two or more talatat blocks;
however, most blocks with Sed Festival reliefs cannot be placed within the framework of
a larger scene.642 The Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten Temple
probably originally consisted of two sets of scenes: the Upper Egyptian rites on the
southern wall of the courtyard and the Lower Egyptian rites on the northern wall of the
courtyard.643
Traunecker, Karnak 1 (1982): 67-74; Lopez, Karnak 8 (1985): 245-270. For a convenient summary of the
archaeological work done by various research teams on the assemblages of Akhenaten's Theban talatat
blocks, see Gohary, op. cit., pp. 26-29; Vergnieux, op. cit., pp. 55-64; Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic
King, pp. 63-71, 82-85; Redford, in Freed, etal., eds., Pharaohs of the Sun, pp. 50-53; Vergnieux and
Gondran, Amenophis IV et les pierres du soleil, pp. 1-198. Not all of the talatat blocks of Akhenaten's
dismantled Theban temples were reused in construction projects at Thebes; several scenes from the Sed
Festival of Akhenaten have been found on talatat blocks at sites outside of Thebes—e.g., at Medamud, Tod,
Ashmunein, and Memphis. Most—if not all—of these Sed Festival reliefs were originally from the
Gempaaten Temple at Karnak. For discussion of the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten that have been
discovered outside of Thebes, see Hornung and Staehelin, op.cit., pp. 27-28, with references; Clere, RdE 20
(1968): 51-54; Redford, in Freed, etal, eds., op. cit, pp. 50, 56.
641
For discussion of the difficulty of estimating the total number of blocks that were originally decorated
with Sed Festival scenes, see Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 28-29, 36. For discussion
of the location and groundplan of the Gempaaten Temple, see primarily Redford, in Berger, etal, eds.,
Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol.1, pp. 485-492, with references; Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King, pp.
102-122. Based on excavations in East Karnak, Redford, op. cit., p. 102, suggests that the Gempaaten
Temple "was a simple but vast rectangle, about 130 by 200 (?) meters, oriented toward the east."
642
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 40-119, pis. 1 -56, identifies 165 Sed Festival scenes
containing at least two talatat blocks; Gohary, op. cit., pp. 120-166, pis. 57-110, identifies nearly a
thousand individual blocks with Sed Festival reliefs that cannot be placed within the framework of a larger
scene. Reconstructions of additional scenes with multiple blocks appear in Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986):
23-28, figs. 3-4; Spalinger, in Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, pp. 29-33, fig. 16; Vergnieux,
Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 130-132,148-149, 192-193, pis. 23, 61.
643
For discussion of the division of Akhenaten's Sed Festival scenes into Upper Egyptian rites and Lower
Egyptian rites, see primarily Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King, pp. 122-130; Redford, in Berger, etal,
eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 485-492; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 37-
39.
251
A complete reconstruction of the sequence of rituals depicted in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak is beyond the scope of this
dissertation; however, however several notable scenes are clearly recognizable in the Sed
Festival reliefs of the Gempaaten Temple.644 In Scene 1, Akhenaten drives a stake into
the ground at the temple foundation rites during the opening sequence of the Sed Festival
(Fig. 210).645 Scene 2 depicts the driving of cattle (Fig. 211).646 In Scene 3, royal
officials take part in the ritual slaughter of sacrificial bulls (Fig. 177).647 Scene 4 depicts
the preparation of offerings for the celebration of the Sed Festival (Fig. 212).648 In Scene
5, Akhenaten visits the royal Sed Festival kiosk and the presents offerings to the Aten
(Fig. 213).649 Scene 6 depicts the royal banquet (Fig. 214).650 In Scene 7, the king
departs from the royal Sed Festival palace (Fig. 215).651 Scene 8 depicts the procession
of the lion-shaped palanquins (Fig. 216);652 Scene 9 depicts the so-called lion-furniture
644
The designations of Scenes 1-18 are intended to facilitate ease of reference; however, the order of these
scenes probably does not correspond to the original sequence of rituals in the Gempaaten Temple.
645
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 64, pi. 22, Scene 49; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten
Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 18.6.
646
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 45-46, 80, 101-102, 156-159, pis. 3, 36, 52, 98-100,
Scenes 6, 83, 127-129; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 55.
647
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 69-70, 79-83, 103-104, 106-107, 136-137, 156-159,
pis. 28, 36, 37, 53-54, 56, 85, 98-100, Scenes 58, 81-82, 84-85, 87-89, 130-131, 137-138, 141; Smith and
Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 73.1, 74.
648
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 67, 69, 104-110, 152-157, pis. 25, 27, 54-57, 95-98,
Scenes 53, 57, 132-138, 141, 143-144; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 56, 61.
649
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 69-89, 103-104, 107, 130-137, pis. 28-42, 53-54, 56,
78-85, Scenes 58-102, 130-131, 140; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 36-37,
39.2-3, 73-76.
650
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 65-69, 111-112, pis. 24-26, 59, Scenes 52, 54-56,148;
Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 61-71.
651
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 40-43, 44-47, pis. 1, 3, 5, Scenes 1, 3, 5, 9.
652
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 89-92, 151-152, pis. 43-45, 94, Scenes 103-110; Smith
and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 24, 26.1.
252
sequence (Fig. 217).653 In Scene 10, foreigners pay homage to the king (Fig. 218).654
Scene 11 depicts the performance of the group run by a group of royal officials (Fig.
219).655 Scene 12 depicts the performance of Hathoric music and dance rituals (Fig.
145).656 In Scene 13, the daughters of foreign chieftains present libation offerings to the
king (Figs. 145-146).657 In Scene 14, the royal daughters perform the Anw-gesture and
sing a hymn in praise of Akhenaten (Fig. 166).658 Scene 15 depicts the appearance of the
king at the steps of a ceremonial kiosk (Fig. 220).659 In Scene 16, members of the
Egyptian military engage in ritual bouts of boxing and stick fighting (Fig. 221).660 Scene
653
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 139, pi. 87; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple
Project, Vol. 1, pi. 85.1. For further discussion of the lion-furniture sequence, see Section 5.2.1.
654
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 92-98, 107, 112, pis. 46-49, 56, 59, Scenes 111-113,
115, 118-121, 139,149.
655
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 140-141, pi. 88; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten
Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 53.7.
656
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 98-101, 112-113, 142, 163-164, pis. 50-51, 60, 88,
107, Scene 122-126, 151; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 43, 85.4; Vergnieux,
Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 148-149, 192-193, pi. 61; Traunecker, JSSEA
14 (1984): 61-62; Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14
(1999): 7-8; Manniche, Kemill (1971): 155-164. For detailed discussion of the Hathoric music and dance
rituals in this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4; Section 3.1.2.
657
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 98-101,141-142, pis. 50-51, 88; Smith and Redford,
Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 85.5; Traunecker, JSSEA 14 (1984): 61-62; Traunecker, BSFE 107
(1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4; Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments Thebains d'Amenhotep IV, pp. 148-149,
pi. 61; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 7-8; Roth, in Brockelmann and Klug, In Pharaos
Staat, p. 231. For detailed discussion of the libation offerers in this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 3;
Section 3.1.2.
658
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 95, pi. 47, Scene 116; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten
Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 77; Spalinger, in Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, pp. 29-33, fig. 16.
For tranliteration, translation, and discussion of the hymn of the royal daughters in the Sed Festival reliefs
of Akhenaten, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7; Section 3.2.2.
659
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 61-64, pis. 20-22, Scenes 44-47; Smith and Redford,
Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 77. A similar scene appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II
at Bubastis (Section 2.2.6, Scene 9).
660
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 163,pi. 106. For further discussion of the ritual combat
scenes in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten, see Section 6.3.
253
17 depicts the washing of the king's feet (Fig. 222).661 Scene 18 depicts the procession
of the royal chariot (Fig. 89).662 Finally, in Scene 19, the king appears as a seated
occupant of a hb-shapcd palanquin at the Upper and Lower Egyptian royal palanquin
sequences (Figs. 88-89).663
2.2.6. TEMPLE OF BUBASTIS: RELIEFS OF OSORKON II 664
The Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II originally appeared on the walls of a large
ceremonial gateway connecting the first hall and the second hall of the Temple of
Bubastis. Like several previously discussed Sed Festival relief programs, Osorkon II's
Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 141, pi. 88; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple
Project, Vol. 1, pi. 9.1.
662
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 43-44,47-48, 60-61, pi. 2-3, 19, Scenes 2,11, 42-43;
Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 12, 45.1, 58.
663
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 40-44,47-60,113-116, 120-129, 159-160, pis. 1-2,5-
19,61-63,67-77, 101-102, Scenes 1-2, 10-42, 154-156, 158-159; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple
Project, Vol. 1, pis. 38, 41-42, 44, 46-49, 51-52, 58.
664
The primarily publication of the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II from the Temple of Bubastis are
Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II; Lange, Ritualepisoden: Das Sedfest-Tor Osorkons II. in Bubastis
(in preparation). For detailed discussion of the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, see Habachi,
Tell Basta, pp. 59-70; Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 365-383; Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 25-42; Van Siclen, VA 1
(1991): 81-87; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 18-25; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996):
79-93; Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 73-77; Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan Period in
Egypt, pp. 203-218. For further discussion, cf. also Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 79-88; Montet,
Revue de I'histoire des religions 68 (1952): 129-144; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 91-123, especially
103-106; Uphill, JNES 26 (1967): 61 -62; Kaiser, in Aufsdtze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp.
102-103; Van Siclen JNES 32 (1973): 290-300; Vernus, BIFAO 75 (1975): 25-26; Wente, JNES 35 (1976):
278; Zivie, in Hommages a la memoire de Serge Sauneron, Vol. 1, pp. 487, 494-495; Kaiser, MDAIK 39
(1983): 269-270,292; Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 2nd ed., pp. 320-322; Gamer-
Wallert, Fische und Fischkulte im Alten Agypten, pp. 71-72; Sambin, L 'offrande de la soi-disant clepsydre,
pp. 14-15, 316-324; Von Beckerath, MDAIK 47 (1991): 29-33; Kessler, in Luft, ed., The Intellectual
Heritage of Egypt, pp. 343-349, 353; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 25, 33-34; Decker
and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 722-723, doc. R4.5; Sambin, BIFAO 95 (1995): 412;
Von Beckerath, GM 154 (1996): 19-22; Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur
I 'Ancien Empire et la necropole de Saqqdra dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol. 2, pp. 315,319,325, fig.
2c; Galan, JNES 59 (2000): 255-264; Karkowski, EtTrav 19 (2001): 85-86; Eissa, MDAIK 58 (2002): 236-
238, fig. 16; Gozzoli, in Grimal and Baud, eds., Evenement, recit, histoire officielle, pp. 215-220; Espinel,
in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, p. 218, fig. 2; Gillam,
Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 87-88; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest,
pp. 30, 34, 36,47, 49, 72-73, 76, 87, 92-94; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth
International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, p. 1964; Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 382; Degreef, GM223
(2009): 27-34.
254
reliefs were divided into Upper and Lower Egyptian rites on the basis of the crown that
the king wore during the performance of each individual rite.665 The Upper Egytian rites
of Osorkon IPs Sed Festival probably originally appeared on the southern side of the
ceremonial gateway in the Temple of Bubastis; the Lower Egyptian rites probably
appeared on the northern side of the gateway.666
The opening scenes from the Sed Festival of Osorkon II appear on the front—i.e.,
the eastern side—of the gateway on Walls A and D; unlike the later scenes from Walls B,
C, E, and F, the king wears either the double-crown or the blue crown during the opening
sequence of the Sed Festival. Beginning at the bottom of Walls A and D, Scene 1 depicts
the bestowal of long life and the granting of numerous Sed Festivals to the king by the
various gods and goddesses of Egypt (Fig. 223).667 In Scene 2, Osorkon II presents the
A similar division of rites appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu
Gurob (Section 2.2.3), in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb (Section 2.2.4), and the Sed
Festival reliefs of Akhenaten at Karnak (Section 2.2.5).
The placement and sequence of the scenes proposed in the initial publication of the reliefs by Naville,
Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 28-31, has generally been accepted with only minor modifications. Most
disagreements have focused on the placement and sequence of the Lower Egyptian rites on Wall E and
Wall F in Naville, op. cit., pis. 30-31. For additional relief fragments discovered after the initial publication
of the reliefs, see Habachi, Tell Basta, p. 62, fig. 16; Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 73-77, fig. 1. For
modified reconstructions of the placement and sequence of the scenes on the walls of the gateway, see
primarily Barta, SAK6 (1978): 25-42, pis. 1-4; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 81-87, figs. 3-4;
Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 79-93, figs. 5-8; Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan Period in
Egypt, pp. 203-218, figs. 4-18. According to the reconstruction of Barta, loc. cit, approximately 8% of the
decoration of Wall E has been preserved. Howevever, Van Siclen III, loc. cit., has suggested that much of
Wall E originally functioned as an undecorated "shadow of the door"; thus, according to Van Siclen III,
approximately 33% percent of the decoration of Wall E has been preserved. Lange, in Broekman, etal,
eds., op. cit., pp. 211-214, notes that the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II bear similarities to the reliefs of
Amenhotep III and Niuserre: "in general, episodes on the southern wall are paralleled in the time of
Amenhotep III—represented by the sources Soleb and TT 192—while the episodes occurring on the
northern walls at Bubastis go back to one or more pattern books of the Old Kingdom as can be judged by
their parallels at Abu Gurob."
667
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 3.14-15, 17,28. The reliefs of Scene 1 appear on the base of
Wall A and Wall D; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK6 (1978): pi. 1; Van
Siclen III, VA 1 (1991): 84-85, figs. 3-4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 90, fig. 5; Lange, in Broekman,
etal, eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 204-205, fig. 4. For further discussion of this scene, see also
Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 370; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 18.
255
$>./-offering to the goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet (Figs. 34,224).668 Scene 3 depicts the
first procession of the king to the tntS.t-platform (Fig. 225).669 In Scene 4—a scene that
may be related to the so-called lion-furniture sequence—four pairs of deities greet the
enthroned ruler in the "East," "West," "North," and "South" (Fig. 70).670 Scene 5 depicts
the second procession of the king to the tntB.t-platform (Fig. 226).671 In Scene 6,
Osorkon II is enthroned within a kiosk on the tnti-/-platform (Fig. 69).672 Scene 7
contains an elaborate representation of Hathoric music and dance rituals, the presentation
of libation offerings to the king, the group run, and the procession of the royal daughters
668
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 3.12-13, 16,28. Scene 2 appears directly above Scene 2 on
Wall A and Wall D; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): pi. 1; Van
Siclen III, VA 1 (1991): 84-85, figs. 3-4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996): 90, fig. 5; Lange, in Broekman,
eta/., eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 205-206,214, fig. 5. For further discussion of the scene, see
also Satnbin, L'offrande de lasoi-disant clepsydre, pp. 14-15, 316-324; Uphill, JNES24 (1965): 370;
Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 18.
669
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 2.10-13,28. Scene 3 appears above Scene 2 on Wall A; for the
reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 29, 35, pi. 1; Van Siclen III, VA 1
(1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 90, fig. 5; Lange, in Broekman, eta/., eds., The Libyan
Period in Egypt, pp. 205-206, 214, fig. 6. For further discussion of this scene, see Uphill, JNES 24 (1965):
370-371; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 19.
670
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 2.4-10, 28. Scene 4 appears above Scene 3 on Wall A; for the
reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 29, 35-36, pi. 1; Van Siclen III, VA 7
(1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 90, fig. 5; Lange, in Broekman, eta/., eds., The Libyan
Period in Egypt, pp. 206,214, fig. 7. For further discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 24 (1965):
371; Kaiser, in Aufsdtze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp. 102-103; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-
Festival at Karnak, p. 319. For further discussion of the lion-furniture sequence, see Section 5.2.1.
671
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1.3-6, 28. Scene 5 appears above Scene 4 on Wall A; for the
reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK6 (1978): 29, 36-37, pi. 1; Van Siclen III, VA 7
(1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 90, fig. 5; Lange, in Broekman, eta/., eds., 77ze Libyan
Period in Egypt, pp. 207, 214. For further discussion of the scene, see also Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 371 -
372; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 19.
2
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1.1-2, 1.5,28. Scene 6 appears above Scene 5 on Wall A; for
the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 29, 36-37, pi. 1; Van Siclen III, VA
7 (1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 88, 90, figs. 3, 5; Lange, in Broekman, eta/., eds., The
Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 207, 214, fig. 8. For further discussion of the scene, see also Uphill, JNES24
(1965): 372; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 19.
256
past the throne (Fig. 147). Scene 8 depicts the third procession of the king to the tnti.t-
platform (Fig. 227).674
In the Upper Egyptian rites that appear on the southern side of the gateway (on
Walls B and C), the king wears the white crown of Upper Egypt. The sequence of the
scenes once again moves from the bottom to the top of the wall; each of the scenes in the
Upper Egyptian sequence appears in a register that begins on Wall B and cconcludes on
Wall C. Scene 9 depicts the appearance of the king at the steps of a ceremonial kiosk
(Fig. 228). In Scene 10, Osorkon II anoints the Wepwawet standard inside of a
ceremonial shrine (Fig. 229) .676 Scene 11 depicts the ceremonial censing of a series of
673
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 14, 15, 25.6, 28; Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 73-77, figs.
1-2. Scene 7 appears on Wall D opposite the royal processions and royal enthronement in Scenes 3-5; for
the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK6 (1978): 29, 35-36, pi. 1; Van Siclen III, VA
7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 90, fig. 5; Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan
Period in Egypt, pp. 206-207, 214, figs. 6-7. For further discussion of the scene, see also Uphill, JNES 24
(1965): 381-382; Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 19-20; Decker, Sports and Games of
Ancient Egypt, pp. 33-34; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 722-723, doc. R4.5.
For further discussion of the libation-bearers in this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 3; Section 3.1.2. For
further discussion of the Hathoric music and dance sequence in this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4;
Section 3.1.2. For further discussion of the group run in this scene, see Section 4.3.1.
674
Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pis. 13.4, 28; Habachi, TellBasta, pp. 61-62, fig. 16. Scene8
appears above Scene 7 on Wall D; for the reconstruction and placement of the scene, see Barta, SAK6
(1978): 29, 37, pi. 1; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 89-90, figs. 4-
5. For further discussion of this scene, see also Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 19.
675
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 9.1-6. Scene 9 appears at the base of Wall B; for the
reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK6 (1978): 29, 37-38, pi. 2; Van Siclen III, VA 1
(1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 91, fig. 6. For further discussion of this scene, see
Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 376; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 23. A similar scene appears
in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak; for discussion of this scene,
676
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 9.11-13, 29. Scene 10 appears above Scene 9 on Wall B; for
the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK6 (1978): 29, 38, pi. 2; Van Siclen, VA 1
(1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996): 91, fig. 6; Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan
Period in Egypt, p. 207, fig. 9. For further discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 374;
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 21. The anointing of the Wepwawet standard also occurs
in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob (Section 2.2.3, Scene 8); for detailed discussion of the
anointing of the Wepwawet standard, see Section 4.3.3.
257
standards and pillars by the king (Fig. 230). In Scene 12, the king presents offerings to
the deities of the Ennead, takes part in a purification ritual before the goddess Bastet, and
presents the £&>offering to an unknown deity (Fig. 231). Scene 13 depicts the
appearance of Osorkon II in the hall of eating (Fig. 30), the procession of the barque of
Amun (Fig. 232), and the performance of music rites and ritual prostration (Fig. 233).
Scene 14 depicts the procession of the royal palanquin (Fig. 90), the proclamation of a
decree of tax exemption for the Temple of Amun (Fig. 90), and the royal visit to the
shrine of the Heliopolitan Ennead.680
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 9.7-10, 29. Scene 11 appears above Scene 10 on Wall B; for
the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 29, 38, pi. 2; Van Siclen III, VA 1
(1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996): 91, fig. 6; Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The Libyan
Period in Egypt, pp. 207,214, fig. 10. For further discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 24
(1965): 374-375; Zivie, in Hommages a la memoire de Serge Sauneron, Vol. 1, pp. 487, 494-495; Gohary,
Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 21; Kessler, in Luft, ed., The Intellectual Heritage of Egypt, pp.
343-349, 353; Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur I'Ancien Empire et la necropole
de Saqqdra dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol. 2, pp. 315, 319, 325, fig. 2c. For detailed discussion of
this scene, see Section 5.3.3.
678
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. AbisA, 46/5.12-13, 7, 8,11.6,12, 13.1,29, 31. Scene 12
appears above Scene 11 on Wall B; at the western edge of Wall B, Scene 12 wraps around the corner of the
wall and continues on Wall C. For the reconstruction and placement of Scene 12, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978):
30, 39, pis. 2-3; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 91, 93, figs. 6, 8;
Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 208-209, 215, figs. 11-12. For further
discussion of this scene, see also Sambin, L 'offrande de la soi-disant clepsydre, pp. 14-15, 316-324; Uphill,
JNES 24 (1965): 375-377; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 21-23.
679
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 4.2-4, 5, 6.10-11, 11.4-6, 13.5, 29, 31. Scene 13 appears above
Scene 12 on Wall B and Wall C; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6
(1978): 30, 40, pis. 2-3; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996): 91, 93,
figs. 6, 8; Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 209,215, fig. 13. For further
discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 373-374; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at
Karnak, pp. 20, 22. For discussion of the rectangular rocks that appear on the far right of Wall C in Scene
13, see Espinel, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, p. 218, fig. 2,
who suggests that these rectangular rocks are funerary stelae that mark the boundaries of the royal
necropolis.
680
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 4.1-2, 4Z>is.l4-15, 5.5, 6, 10, 13.5, 29, 31. Scene 14 appears
above Scene 13 on Wall B and Wall C; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6
(1978): 30,40-41, pis. 2-3; Van Siclen III, VA 1 (1991): 84, fig. 3; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 91, 93,
figs. 6, 8; Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 209-211, 215, figs. 14-15. For
further discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, c 372-374; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak,
pp. 21, 23. For transliteration, translation, and discussion of the royal decree of tax exemption in this
scene, see infra, this section.
258
In the Lower Egyptian rites that appear on the northern side of the gateway (on
Wall E and Wall F), the king wears the red crown of Lower Egypt. The sequence of the
scenes once again moves from the bottom to the top of the wall; each of the scenes in the
Lower Egyptian sequence appears in a register that begins on Wall E and concludes on
Wall F. In the lower portion of Wall E and Wall F, the sequence of the Lower Egyptian
rites is difficult to reconstruct because the reliefs are very fragmentary. Scene 15 depicts
the royal procession and the northern procession of the divine barque (Fig. 234).681
Scene 16 depicts the first set of rituals of homage to the enthroned king (Fig. 72).682
Scene 17 depicts the royal procession to the throne and the enthronement of the king
(Fig. 71).683 In Scene 18, the king walks in procession (Fig. 235).684 Scene 19 depicts
the second set of rituals of homage to the enthroned king and the group run (Fig. 74).685
681
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 19.1-2, 25.1,25.5, 27.4. Scene 15 is the lowest reconstructable
scene on Wall E and Wall F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978):
30, 38-39, pi. 3-4; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4.
682
Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pis. 18.10-13, 19.5,20.5-6,24.10. Scene 16 appears above Scene
15 on Wall E and Wall F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK6 (1978): 30,
38-39, pis. 3-4; Van Siclen III, VA 1 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996): 92-93, figs. 7-8.
For further discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 26 (1967): 376-377; Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-
Festival at Karnak, pp. 23-24.
683
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 19.3-4, 20.3-4,20.6,24.9-10, 25.3 30, 31. Scene 17 appears
above Scene 16 on Wall E and Wall F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6
(1978): 30, 38-39, pis. 3-4; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM151 (1996): 92-93,
figs. 7-8. For further discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 26 (1967): 376-377; Gohary,
Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 23-24.
684
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon 11, pis. 23.7-8, 24.7, 24.9, 26.6, 30, 31. Scene 18 appears above Scene
17 on Wall E and Wall F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 30,
38-39, pis. 3-4; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 92-93, figs. 7-8;
Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 210-211, figs. 16, 18. For further
discussion of this scene, see also Uphill, JNES 26 (1967): 377; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at
Karnak, pp. 23-24.
685
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 18.9, 23.5-8, 25.4, 30, 31. Scene 19 appears above Scene 18
on Wall E and Wall F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 30,40-
41, pis. 3-4; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 15\ (1996): 92-93, figs. 7-8;
Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 210-211, fig. 16. For further discussion of
this scene, see Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 24-25.
259
Scene 20 depicts a procession of men carrying fish and birds (Fig. 140).686 Scene 21
depicts the third set of rituals of homage to the enthroned king (Fig. 73).687
The proclamation of a decree of tax exemption for the Temple of Amun in Scene
14 is an almost exact copy of a proclamation that apppears in the reliefs of the first Sed
Festival of Amenhotep III in the Temple of Soleb.688 The version in the Temple of
Bubastis is the better preserved of the two proclamations:689
hsb.t22ibd4 3h.t
hc m hw.t-ntr n Imn ntiy) m hw.t hb-sd
htp hr spi
Ssp hw ti.wy i[n] nsw.t
n hw.t hnr.t pr-Jmn
hrf hw.t hm.wt nb(.t) n(w) niw.t=f
nty(.w) m hm.wt dr hlw it.w
iw=sn m hm.wt m pr nb
htriyv) hr bik-sn hr rnp.t
ist hm=f hr hhy sp c3 n Ihw n it=flmn-Rr
hft sr=f hb-sd tpy n s3=f
htp hr ns.t=f
sr—fn=fcSS.twr{.t) mW3s.t
nb.t pd.t psd.t
686
Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pis. 18.7-9, 22, 30, 31. Scene 20 appears above Scene 19 on Wall
E and Wall F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 30, 40-41, pis.
3-4; Van Siclen III, VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 92-93, figs. 7-8. For
discussion of this scene, see Montet, Revue de I'histoire des religions 68 (1952): 129-144; Gamer-Wallert,
Fische undFischkulte im Alten Agypten, pp. 71-72; Gohary, Akhenaten'sSed-Festivalat Karnak, p. 25;
Karkowski, EtTrav 19 (2001): 85-86. For further discussion of this scene, see also Section 2.2.2, Text 1.
Haeny, Untersuchungen im Totentempel Amenophis' III, pi. 40, block 67, has reconstructed a similar scene
in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III from his mortuary temple in Western Thebes; for further
discussion of this scene, see also Karkowski, op. cit, p. 86, footnote 8.
687
Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon //, pis. 21, 31. Scene 21 appears above Scene 20 on Wall E and Wall
F; for the reconstruction and placement of this scene, see Barta, SAK 6 (1978): 30,42, pi. 3; Van Siclen III,
VA 7 (1991): 85, fig. 4; Kuraszkiewicz, GM 151 (1996): 93, fig. 8. For further discussion of this scene, see
Uphill, JNES 26 (1967): 380; Gohary, Akhenaten 's Sed-Festival at Karnak, p. 25.
688
For the decree of Amenhotep III in the Temple of Soleb, see Section 2.2.4, Register 1. For discussion of
the text of these two nearly identical proclamations, see primarily Uphill, JNES26 (1967): 61-62; Van
Siclen III, JNES 32 (1973): 290-300; Vernus, BIFAO 75 (1975): 25-26; Wente, JNES 35 (1976): 278;
Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 2nd ed., pp. 320-322; von Beckerath, MDAIK41 (1991):
29-33; von Beckerath, GM 154 (1996): 19-22; Galan, JNES 59 (2000): 255-264; Gozzoli, in Grimal and
Baud, eds., Evenement, recit, histoire officielle, pp. 215-220; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 34. 36.
689
Variants from the version of the proclamation in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb
appear in the footnotes to the translation of the text.
260
dd.hr nsw.t m-bih it=f'Imn
iw hw.n(=i) Wls.t hr k?.t=s hr wsh=s
swrb.ti di.ti n nb=s
nn dl(.tw) tS r=s in rwd.w nw pr-nsw.t
hw(.w) rmt.w-s nhh
hr rn wr n ntr nfr
"Year 22, fourth month of Akhet:690

Appearing in the Temple of Amun, which is in the temple of the Sed Festival;
Resting upon the palanquin;691
Commencing the exemption of the two lands b[y] the king;
and the exemption of the musical troupe of the House of Amun,692
and the exemption of all the women of his city (i.e., Thebes),
who have been servants since the time of the forefathers.
They are servants in every house,693
who are taxed through their work annually.
Meanwhile, his majesty is seeking a great event of glory for his father Amun-Re,
when he announces the first Sed Festival for his son,
who rests upon his throne;
and he announces a great multitude for him in Thebes,
the lady of the Nine Bows.
Then the king speaks in the presence of his father Amun:694
'I have exempted Thebes in its length and in its width,
so that it has been purified and given to its lord.
The land will not be bothered by agents of the royal palace.
Its people have been exempted forever
in the great name of the junior god."'
690
The date of Amenhotep Ill's version of the decree is: hsb.tSO Ibd 2 Smw sw 1, "Year 30, second month
of Shomu, day one." The date of Osorkon It's decree ("Year 22") does not correspond to the date of
Amenhotep Ill's decree ("Year 30"); this discrepancy could possibly be the result of a mistake by Osorkon
II's scribe or a mistake by the modern copyist of the inscription. Several scholars have contended that the
date of Osorkon IPs decree should be emended to "Year 30"; for this suggestion, see references collected
in Section 1.1.4, footnote 126.
691
Amenhotep Ill's version of the decree uses the word wts.t (Wb., 1, 384.7-10) rather than spl (Wb. 3,
441.7-9) for "palanquin."
Amenhotep Ill's version of the decree reads: hw.t hnr[.t] Smry.t n(w) pr-'Imn, "(and) the exemption of
the musical troupe and the singers of the House of Amun." For detailed discussion of the hnr as a Hathoric
college of musicians and dancers, rather than a harim of sexual consorts of the king, see primarily Nord, in
Simpson and Davis, eds., Essays in Honor ofDows Dunham, pp. 137-145; Bryan, BES 4 (1982): 35-54;
Ward, Essays on Feminine Titles, pp. 69-80, 150-153; Roth, JEA 78 (1992): 140-144; Callendar, BACE 5
(1994): 7-25; Fischer, Egyptian Women of the Old Kingdom, p. 26; Kinney, Dance, Dancers and the
Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom, pp. 20-23.
693
Amenhotep Ill's version of the decree reads: iw=sn mpr nb, "They are in every house."
694
In Amenhotep Ill's version of the decree, Amun bears the epithet nb ns.wt ti.wy, "lord of the thrones of
the two lands."
261
The text of this decree exempts the female musicians of the House of Amun from the
burden of corvee labor, so that these women may dedicate themselves fully to the work of
the temple.695 The bestowing of this exemption may have also been intended to reward
the female musicians for their participation in the rites of the king's Sed Festival.696
695
For a similar conclusion, see Galan, JNES, 59 (2000): 256.
696
For detailed discussion of the performance of music and dance rituals by women at the celebration of the
Sed Festival, see Chapter 3.
262
CHAPTER 3: Music AND DANCE: HATHORIC RITUALS OF RENEWAL
3.0. INTRODUCTION
A remarkable series of scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in
the tomb of Kheruef depicts the performance of elaborate music and dance rituals during
the celebration of the king's first and third Sed Festival (Figs. 148, 161, 187-188).1 The
primary purpose of the ritual performances of music and dance at Amenhotep Ill's Sed
Festivals—as suggested by the lyrics to the hymns that accompany these performances—
is to invoke Hathor and to effect the regeneration and rejuvenation of the Egyptian ruler
as a divine manifestation of the solar creator god. Both men and women participate in
the performance of music and dance rituals in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in
the tomb of Kheruef; however, the participation of women in these rites is particularly
notable since women do not otherwise typically play an active role in the performance of
rituals at the celebration of the Sed Festival. Female participants in these ritual
performances of music and dance in the tomb of Kheruef notably include both royal
women (Figs. 161,187) and non-royal women (Figs. 148,188c).2
The reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef
are undoubtedly the most elaborate and complete depiction of ritual music and dance at
the celebration of the Sed Festival that has survived to the present day; however, several
1
For detailed discussion of the depictions of music and dance rituals in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first
and third Sed Festivals in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 34, 36, 38, 40,
44-45, 57, 59, 61, 63), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4; Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, Section 2.1.2, Scene 4; Section
3.1; Section 3.2.2.
2
For detailed discussion of the depictions of royal women performing musical rites in the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festivals in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef,
pis. 44-45, 57), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7; Section 2.1.2, Scene 4a; Section 3.2.2. For detailed discussion
of the depictions of non-royal women performing music and dance rituals in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's
first and third Sed Festivals in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, op. cit., pis. 34, 36, 38,40, 59), see
Section 2.1.1, Scene 4; Section 2.1.2, Scene 4b; Section 3.1.1.
263
of the music and dance performances by non-royal women in the reliefs from the tomb of
Kheruf are closely paralleled in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb (Fig.
209), the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten (Fig. 145), and Osorkon II (Fig. 147).3 These
Sed Festival scenes involving the performance of dance rituals by a group of non-royal
women have a long history that dates back to the Predynastic and Protodynastic periods;
in examples of ritual dancing in the depictions of the Sed Festival on the Gebelein Linen
(Figs. 52b-c), the painted tableau of Tomb 100 (Figs. 131d-e), and the Scorpion
Macehead (Fig. 21), groups of presumably non-royal women perform ritual dances
within the larger context of hunting rituals, butchery rituals, nautical processions, military
victory processions, foundation rites, and the palanquin procession of the royal women.4
As part of the celebration of the Sed Festival in the reigns of Amenhotep III,
Akhenaten, and Osorkon II, the daughters of the king play Hathoric instruments and sing
hymns in the presence of the royal couple (Section 3.2.2). In several of the hymns, the
royal daughters praise the king as a divine manifestation of the solar deity; in this regard,
the hymns of the royal daughters likely allude to the transfer of creative energy to the
king during the performance of the hieros gamos—a mysterious rite in which the king,
after transforming into the solar creator god, enters into a sexual union with his divine
consort, who appears in the person of the queen. Perhaps for reasons of decorum, the
reliefs of the Sed Festival never actually depict the actual performance of the hieros
3
For detailed discussion of the depictions of music and dance rituals in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III in the Temple of Soleb (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 120-121), in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Akhenaten in the Gempaaten (Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4), and in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Osorkon II atBubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 14-15), see Section 2.1.1, Scene
4; Section 3.1.
4
For detailed discussion of the depictions of ritual dancing on the Gebelein Linen (Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art
in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pis. 1-2), the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Quibell and
Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 76-77), and the Scorpion Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 225, fig.
2), see Section 3.1.
264
gamos. When not directly involved in the performance of musical rites, the royal
daughters and the queen most often appear as seated occupants of palanquins during the
celebration of the Sed Festival (Section 3.2.1).
3.1. HATHORIC DANCES OF REGENERATION AND RENEWAL
3.1.0. INTRODUCTION
Two important variants of Hathoric dancing can be identified in relevant sources
for the Sed Festival. In one variant, women raise their arms over their head in a form of
dance that mimics birds in the act of flapping their wings; as evidence of the antiquity of
this so-called "bird-dance," depictions of women performing this dance appear in
Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival on the Gebelein Linen and the painted
tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Section 3.1.1). A close examination of
Predynastic and dynastic examples of this dance in Sed Festival and non-Sed Festival
contexts suggests that the dance celebrates the proper functioning of the solar cycle
during the performance of nautical processions and the defeat of enemies during the
performance of hunting rituals, butchery rituals, and military victory rituals. Another
variant of Hathoric dancing that appears in representations of the Sed Festival as early as
the Protodynastic Period is a choreographed dance in which longhaired women toss their
hair and contort their bodies in unusual, acrobatic poses (Section 3.1.2). This particular
dance, which is typically accompanied by the performance of a purifying libation ritual,
appears to emphasize the regenerating aspects of the nocturnal journey of the solar deity.
Of particular importance for both of these variants of Hathoric dancing is their
connection to the goddess Hathor in her role as the goddess of solar eye. During her
winter sojourn to regions far to the southeast of Egypt, and during her return to Egypt
265
leading up to the celebration of the New Year Festival, the wandering goddess of the
solar eye encounters several foreign peoples who perform dances or other rituals in order
to placate or entertain the goddess (Section 3.1.3). Representatives of these foreign
peoples who perform dances and related rituals for Hathor during the celebration of the
Sed Festival include women from the oases and daughters of Mntyw-Libyan chiefs
(Section 3.1.3.1); stick-wielding Nubians (Section 3.1.3.2); Jwn.ty.w-nomads (Section
3.1.3.3); and bearded Puntites and lion-masked Bes figures (Section 3.1.3.4).
3.1.1. DANCING WITH RAISED ARMS: THE BIRD-DANCE & THE HUNT
3.1.1.1. WOMEN OF THE OASIS & THE DANCE TROUPE OF THE ACACIA HOUSE
In the reliefs of the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef,
four women clad in caps, long kilts, broad collars, and leather straps raise their arms
above their heads while performing an elaborate dance at the ceremonial Raising of the
Djed Pillar; eight additional women clad in long formfitting robes keep time for these
dancers by clapping their hands and striking tambourines (Fig. 188c).5 According to the
hieroglyphic text labelling the dancers in this scene, they are "women who were brought
from the oasis for the Raising of the Djed Pillar" (hmw.t inn.w hr whl.t r srhc dd). The
5
For detailed discussion of the dancing women and female musicians in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's
third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraph ic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 59), see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 4b. For further discussion of the dancing women in this scene, see also Brunner-Traut, Der Tcmz im
alten Agypten, p. 52; Wild, in Les danses sacrees, pp. 47-48; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 454-457;
Mikhail, GMS3 (1984): 57; Anderson, in Sasson, ed., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 4, pp.
2566-2567; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 802-803, cat. no. S 3.97, with
references; Teeter, in Teeter and Johnson, eds., Life of Meresamun, pp. 28,42, fig. 33. For general
discussion of the commonly attested ancient Egyptian form of dance involving the raising of the arms
above the head, see primarily Kinney, Dance, Dancers and the Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom,
pp. 9, 54-72, with references. For further disucussion of this dance pose, see also Lexova, Ancient
Egyptian Dances, pp. 21, 36-37, 52; Brunner-Traut, op. cit, pp. 11-12, 14-22, 37-39, 59-61, 68-69;
Settgast, Untersuchungen zu altagyptischen Bestattungsdarstellungen, pp. 21-37, 75-88; Wild, op. cit., p.
40-41, 86-91; Brunner-Traut, RdE 27 (1975): 53; Battels, Formen altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 138-144;
Dominicus, Gesten und Gebdrden in Darstellungen des Alten undMittleren Reiches, pp. 58-61,65-72;
Monnet-Saleh, in Cohen, ed., International Encyclopedia of Dance, Vol. 2, pp. 481-486; Kinney, in
Donovan and McCorquodale, eds., Egyptian Art: Principles and Themes in Wall Scenes, pp. 191-206;
Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, pp. 233-267.
266
clothing worn by these dancers—particularly the leather straps on their chests—is a
distinctive style of dress that is typically worn by Libyans (Fig. 236) or by female female
members of a Hathoric college of dancers and musicians known as the hnr (Figs. 181,
237-243).6
The placement of these female dancers and musicians directly above a scene
depicting the ritual slaughter of a bull in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival
(Fig. 174) suggests that these women's performance may be symbolically linked to
butchery rituals and the preparation of meat offerings.7 In this regard, the female dancers
and musicians who perform at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival may very well be
members of the "dance troupe of the Acacia House" {hnr n Snd.t)—a group of women
that often appears in scenes depicting the ritual slaughter of a bull and the preparation of
meat offerings for the private mortuary cult. In several reliefs from private tombs of the
6
For discussion of leather straps as a component of Libyan garb, see references collected in Section 2.1.1,
Scene 4, footnote 160. For images of Libyans wearing leather straps on their chests, see, e g., Borchardt,
Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pis. 1,5. For detailed discussion of these Libyans who
appear in the reliefs of the mortuary temple of Sahure, see Spalinger, JSSEA 9 (1979): 128, 132-136;
Stockfisch, in Schade-Busch, ed., Wege offnen, pp. 315-325; Baines, in Gundlach, ed., Selbstverstandnis
und Realitat, p. 145; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes, pp. 209-210; Herb,
Nikephoros 18 (2005): 21-37; Hope, in Hawass and Richards, eds., The Archaeology and Art of Ancient
Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 401-402. For depictions of female dancers of the hnr wearing leather straps on their
chests in reliefs from the Old Kingdom, see, eg., Hawass and Verner, MDAIK52 (1996): 183, fig. lb, pi.
55a; Hawass, Secrets from the Sands, pp. 61-62; Cwiek, op. cit, p. 238; Borchardt, op. cit., Vol. 2, pi. 54;
Edel, Das Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in den Begrabnisriten, fig. 4; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport
im alten Agypten, cat. nos. S 3.9, S 3.17, S 3.31, S 3.39, S 3.61. For general discussion of representations
of dancing women in Old Kingdom private tombs, see Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten, pp. 13-
36; Wild, Les danses sacrees, pp. 86-91; Van Lepp, BSAK 3 (1988): 385-394; Bartels, Formen
altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 140-144; Kinney, Dance, Dancers and the Performance Cohort in the Old
Kingdom. For detailed discussion of the hnr as a Hathoric college of musicians and dancers, rather than a
harim of sexual consorts of the king, see references collected in Section 2.2.6, footnote 692.
7
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the ritual slaughter of a bull in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's
third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 59), see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 2a.
8
For detailed discussion of the "dance troupe of the Acacia House" (hnr n Snd.i) and its association with
the ritual slaughter of cattle for the private mortuary cult, see references collected in Section 2.1.2, Scene
2a, footnote 348.
267
Old Kingdom (Figs. 179-181), the dancing women of the Acacia House raise their arms
above their heads in a fashion similar to the dancing women in the reliefs of Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef;9 in at least one relief from the Old
Kingdom (Fig. 181), the dancing women of the Acacia House wear leather straps on their
chests during their performance.10 In addition to its function as an abbatoir of the private
mortuary cult, the Acacia House was also a sanctuary of the goddess Sakhmet; thus, the
butchered meats from the Acacia house served as a form of nourishment for the deceased
and also as an appeasement offering for the violent goddess Sakhmet.''
The dancing women who perform at the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival are not directly identified as members of the "dance troupe of the Acacia
House"; however, allusions to the Acacia House in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre
and Osorkon II suggest that the members of the hnr n Snd.t may have taken part—at least
19
occasionally—in the ritual performances of the Sed Festival. In a scene from the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob (Fig. 176), a man who
participates in the ritual slaughter of a sacrificial bull is identified as a "butcher of the
9
For Old Kingdom reliefs in which the dancing women of the Acacia House raise their arms above their
heads, see Edel, Das Akazienhaus undseine Rolle in den Begrdbnisriten, figs. 1, 3-4; Kinney, Dance,
Dancers and the Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom, pp. 197,203,261.
10
For a relief from the tomb of Pth-htp in which the dancing of the Acacia House wear straps on their
chests, see Edel, Das Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in den Begrdbnisriten, fig. 4; Kinney, Dance, Dancers
and the Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom, p. 197.
11
For discussion of this dual function of the Acacia House and the meat offerings that were produced there,
see references collected in Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a, footnote 349.
12
For a similar conclusion regarding the possible involvement of the staff of the Acacia House in the
celebration of the Sed Festival, see Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern
Sahara, p. 214.
268
Acacia (House)" (imnh Snd.t). Additionally, in two scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs
of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Figs. 34, 147a), one or more dwarfs bear the title nm Snd.t
("dwarf of the Acacia House") or nm Snd.t shm(.t) ("dwarf of the Acacia House of the
powerful one (i.e., Sakhmet)").14 The first word of this title is a homophone of the word
nm, "abattoir" (Wb. 2, 264.1-9); thus, the title itself may possibly allude to the butchery
rituals of the Acacia House.
The symbolic significance of the ritual dance of the women of "the oasis" (who
perform during the ritual slaughter of a bull at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Fesitval) is
most likely similar to the symbolic significance of the ritual dance of the "dance troupe of
the Acacia House" (which performs during the ritual slaughter of a bull in the Old
Kingdom private mortuary cult). In both cases, the dance involving the raising of the
arms probably placates the angry goddess Sakhmet and redirects her potentially
destructive energy towards something positive—namely, the punishment and destruction
of inimical creatures (i.e., desert game animals) and the nourishment of the deceased
invidual and the Djed Pillar during a critical phase of regeneration.15
3.1.1.2. DANCING WOMEN & THE OSTRICH-DANCE
The depiction of the ritual dance performance of the women of "the oasis" in the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef is unique among
representations of the Sed Festival from the dynastic period; however, two of the earliest
13
For discussion the title of the butcher who appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob
(Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 361), see references collected in Section
2.1.2, Scene 2a, footnotes 342-343.
14
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 14, 16.
15
For detailed discussion of this dual significance of butchery rites at the celebration of the Sed Festival,
see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2; Section 5.3.
269
detailed representations of the Sed Festival from the Predynastic Period—the Gebelein
Linen (Fig. 52b) and the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d)—
include depictions of a group of women raising up their arms during the performance of a
dance ritual.16 In the context of these Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival, this
dance pose occurs as part of a grand ritual celebration that includes a nautical procession,
military victory rituals, and hunting rituals. A review of other Predynastic
representations this dance suggests that dancing with raised arms, in fact, almost always
occurs in one of theese three contexts—i.e., at nautical processions, hunting rituals, or
military victory rituals. In most cases, women are the performers of this particular dance
during the Predynastic Period; however, in several Predynastic scenes, men also lift up
their arms in a similar pose as part of a celebratory dance or gesture.
According to a commonly accepted theory regarding the symbolic significance of
dancing with raised arms, the pose of the dancer mimics the general shape of a cow's
head and horns; in this regard, people—especially women—who perform this dance are
thought to evoke the image of the bovine form of the celestial goddess Bat/Hathor, which
appears, for example on the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), the Gerzeh Palette (Fig. 244), a
seal impression from Tomb U-210 at Abydos (Fig. 245), and a stone vessel from
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 246).17 Despite the widespread acceptance of the bovine
For detailed discussion of the dancing women who appear on the Gebelein Linen and the painted tableau
of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see infra, this section.
17
For discussion of this dance as an evocation of the head and horns of the bovine celestial goddess, see,
e.g., Murray, JEA 42 (1956): 92; Baumgartel, Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 81; Baumgartel,
Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 144-146; Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, p.
34; Williams, Decorated Pottery and the Art of Naqada III, p. 51, footnote 194; Hassan, in Friedman and
Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, p. 315; Hassan, in
Goodison and Morris, eds., Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence, p. 106; Wengrow, CAJ11
(2001): 98, 100, endnote 11; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, pp. 277, 283-288;
Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, pp. 233-235, with references; Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer,
etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, p. 215; Kinney, Dance, Dancers and the Performance
270
interpretation of this dance pose, a review of the various Predynastic contexts in which
women and men perform this dance suggests that the raising of the arms above the head
is not intended to mimic the shape of a cow's head and horns, but rather to mimic the
movements of an ostrich flapping its wings.18 Perhaps the strongest evidence to connect
this dance pose to the movements of ostriches is the depiction of a masked man
performing a variant of this dance directly behind a row of three ostriches on the
Manchester Palette (Fig. 247).19 A similar scene in which a dancing man follows closely
behind a walking ostrich appears in a Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 154a
in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 248).20 New Kingdom sources connect the movements of
ostriches to the rising sun and to the appearance of the Egyptian ruler as a divine
manifestation of the solar deity.21 A close review of the Predynastic iconographic
contexts in which ostriches and ostrich-dancing appear strongly suggests that the ostrich
Cohort in the Old Kingdom, p. 9, with references. For discussion of the archaic Egyptian iconography of
the bovine celestial goddess Bat/Hathor on the Narmer Palette (Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a
Civilization, 1st ed., p. 42, fig. 12), on the Gerzeh Palette (Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 444, fig. 297), on a
seal impression from Tomb U-210 at Abydos (Hartung, MDAIK 54 (1998): 201, no. 22), and on an Early
Dynastic stone vessel from Hierakonpolis (Burgess and Arkell, JEA 44 (1958): 6-11), see Hendrickx, in
Hassan, ed., op. cit, pp. 288,298, 310, Appendix H, with references; Radwan, in Czerny, eta/., eds.,
Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 1, pp. 275-276, fig. 1.
18
For the interpretation of the movements of the dancing women in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis as a mimicking of birds, see Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 15, footnote 5; Avi-
Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, The
Hebrew University, Vol. 2, p. 21.
19
For discussion of the dancing masked man and the ostriches on the so-called Manchester Palette
(Manchester Museum 5476), see primarily Cialowicz, Lespalettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et
sans decoration, pp. 42-43, fig. 10, with references; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 191-192,
fig. 31, with references; Hendrickx, CCdE 1 (2000): 25; Morenz, Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte 5 (2003):
217-218, 221, fig. 3.
20
For discussion of the dancing man and ostrich in the Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 154a in
the Wadi Gash, see Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 25, 40, pi. 15.2
21
For discussion of ostriches dancing in honor of the solar deity and the king, see primarily Dautheville,
BIFAO 20 (1922): 225-229; Kuentz, B1FAO 23 (1924): 85-88; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 71, footnote 71;
Darnell, JARCE 36 (1999): 28, footnote 90; Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian
Unity, pp. 480-481, footnote 133.
271
was an elite symbol associated with nautical processions, ritual hunting, military victory
rituals, and solar theology during this period.22
Interspersed among the representations of a royal nautical procession (Figs. 52f-
h), a military victory ritual (Fig. 52f), and a hippopotamus hunt (Figs. 52d-e) on the
Gebelein Linen (c. Naqada IC-IIA) are at least three rows of people performing an
elaborate dance ritual (Figs. 52b-c).23 Due to the fragmentary state of preservation of the
painted linen, the gender of most of the dancers in this scene is uncertain; however, the
three dancers who wear floor-length black kilts that obscure their feet are almost certainly
women.24 The other dancers—several of whom are clearly peforming a dance in which
they raise their arms above their heads—could conceivably be either men or women;
however, in the parallel dancing scene from the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d), the ritual performers are clearly women. Several of the
dancers appear to be standing in a row and holding hands with the dancers who are
For discussion of the symbolism of ostriches in Predynastic iconography, see primarily Hendrickx, CCdE
1 (2000): 21-52, with references; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 142-145, figs. 45, 49; Graff, Les
peintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, pp. 38, 164, Designation Ao2, with references. For detailed
discussion of the ostrich's connection to nautical processions, ritual hunting, military victory rituals, and
solar theology in the Predynastic Period, see infra, this section.
23
For the discussion of the dancing women in the depiction of the Sed Festival on the Gebelein Linen, see
primarily Galassi, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, Nova Series 4 (1955): 6-
9, 12-13, figs. 1-4, 7-9; Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pis. 1-2; Williams and
Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 256; Donadoni Roveri, in Robins, ed., Beyond the Pyramids: Egyptian Regional
Art from the Museo Egizio, Turin, p. 25; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-37, fig. 23;
Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 39-48, fig. 1; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 33; Garfinkel,
Dancing at the Dawn ofAgriculture, pp. 265-267, figs. 11.25, 11.26a; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un
royaume, pp. 155-157, fig. 17; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 109; Hendrickx, etal., in
Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp. 212-219. For discussion of the royal nautical
procession on the Gebelein Linen, see Section 7.1.1; Section 7.4.3. For discussion of the military victory
ritual on the Gebelein Linen, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3. For discussion of the hippopotamus hunt on
the Gebelein Linen, see Section 5.1; Section 7.2.
24
According to the following authors, the larger dancing figures (clad in black kilts) are women and the
smaller dancing figures (possibly clad in white belts) are men: Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian
Museum of Turin, pis. 1-2; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 42; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of
Agriculture, pp. 265-267.
272
positioned directly to their left and right; the dancer on the far left of this row carries an
obscure, poorly preserved object in his/her right hand. A close parallel to this row of
dancers appears in decorative scenes on three other Predynastic ceremonial objects: a
golden knife handle from Gebelein (Fig. 249),25 a bird-shaped D-Ware vessel in a private
collection in Switzerland (Fig. 250),26 and a D-Ware vessel in the Ashmolean Museum
(Fig. 251).27 In all three of these scenes, the dancers who hold hands in a row are women
clad in long kilts; thus, the dancers in the parallel scene on the Gebelein Linen are most
likely women as well. The obscure object that the leftmost dancer in each of these scenes
carries is most likely a fan made of ostrich feathers; thus, the dance performance of this
row of women is very likely intended to mimic the movements of ostriches.
The dance movements of the row of women who raise their arms above their
heads on the Gebelein Linen are similar to the dance poses of three women who extend
their arms outward with their hands pointed straight up in a complex royal scene in the
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d).29 Each of the dancing women
25
Cairo JdE 34210, CG 64868; see Quibell, ASAE 2 (1901): 131-132; Aksamit, in Krzyzaniak and
Kobusiewicz, eds., Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, pp. 325-332, with references.
26
Formerly of the MacGregor Collection (no. 1756); see Aksamit, in Krzyzaniak and Kobusiewicz, eds.,
Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, p. 327, fig. 3; Hendrickx, CCdE 214 (2002): 39, no. 34;
Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 381, cat. no. 564, with references.
27
Ashmolean Museum 1958.345; see Aksamit, in Krzyzaniak and Kobusiewicz, eds., Late Prehistory of
the Nile Basin and the Sahara, p. 327; Hendrickx, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 43, no. 53; Garfinkel, Dancing at the
Dawn of Agriculture, p. 256, fig. 11.17; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 297,
cat. no. 311, with references.
28
Aksamit, in Krzyzaniak and Kobusiewicz, eds., Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, pp.
325-332, similarly concludes that this obscure object is probably a fan.
29
For discussion of the dancing women in the depiction of the Sed Festival in the painted tableau of Tomb
100 at Hierakonpolis, see primarily Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 75-76; Kantor, JNES 3
(1944): 117, fig. 7a; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 563, 569, fig. 375; Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48
(1962): 14-15, fig. 5.13, pi. lb; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 22-24, pi. 7; Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed.,
Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, The Hebrew School, Vol. 2,
pp. 8-10, 18-27; Williams and Logan, JA^S 46 (1987): 255, 277, fig. ll;Helck, Untersuchungenzur
Thinitenzeit, pp. 87-88; Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 39,44, fig. 5; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic
273
in the Sed Festival tableau from Tomb 100 wears a long—possibly diaphanous—ankle-
length white kilt that is outlined in red. Three similarly outfitted women who perform a
musical rite involving the use of clappers in another portion of the tableau (Fig. 131e) are
most likely members of the same ritual performance group—or possibly even the very
same women who perform the ritual dance in this tableau. The main iconographic
motifs that appear in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis are hunting rituals
(Figs. 131b-c, 131g), a butchery ritual (Fig. 131c), a military victory ritual (Figs. 131c),
ritual hand-to-hand combat (Fig. 131e), a royal nautical procession (Fig. 131a), and the
Konigslauf (Fig. 131d).31 The dancing women appear to be most closely linked to the
performance of an intriguing variant of the Konigslauf m which the Egyptian ruler runs
near—or perhaps around—a docked boat from which he disembarks for the performance
of this ritual run. The dance performance of these women probably celebrates the vigor
and physical strength that the Egyptian ruler exhibits during the performance of the
Konigslauf; however, since these women's dance takes place in close proximity to a
Egypt, pp. 37-39, fig. 24d; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 273,275, 278, fig. 1; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn ofAgriculture, p. 267, fig. 11.27c;
Kinney, in Donovan and McCorquodale, eds., Egyptian Art: Principles and Themes in Wall Scenes, pp.
191, 200, fig. 17.1; Cialowicz, La naissance d' un royaume, pp. 158-161, fig. 18.1; Hendrickx, etal., in
Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp. 212-219. The dance pose of these women
has occasionally been tentatively linked to the movements of birds; see references collected supra, this
30
For discussion of the women who perform a musical rite in the depiction of the Sed Festival in the
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see the references collected supra, this section, in footnote
30. For general discussion of clappers as musical instruments in ancient Egypt, see, e.g., Hickmann, BIE
37 (1957): 67-122; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 387-389; Sourdive, La main dans I'Egyptepharaonique,
pp. 181-213; Capel and Markoe, Mistress of the House: Mistress ofHeaven, pp. 101-102.
31
For discussion of the hunting rituals that appear in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see
Section 5.2; Section 7.2. For discussion of the butchery ritual in this tableau, see Section 5.3. For
discussion of the military victory ritual in this tableau, see Section 6.1.1; Section 7.3. For discussion of
ritual hand-to-hand combat scenes in this tableau, see Section 6.3; Section 7.3. For discussion of the
nautical procession in this tableau, see Section 7.1.2; Section 7.4.3. For discussion of the depiction of the
Konigslauf 'in this tableau, see Section 4.1.1.
274
procession of ceremonial barques and an orderly row of four oryxes/ibexes, the dance
probably also celebrates the Egyptian ruler's control over ritual navigation on the Nile
and his control over (potentially chaotic) desert fauna.32 The close proximity of the
rightmost dancer in the group to a wild bird—possibly an ostrich (?)—suggests that her
dance probably mimics the movements of birds.33
The context in which the dancing women appear in the painted tableau of Tomb
100 at Hierakonpolis is similar in many regards to the context in which dancing women
often appear in ritual scenes on the outside of D-Ware pottery; in fact, one of the most
commonly depicted iconographic motifs on D-Ware pottery is an image of a woman with
raised arms who appears to be "floating" above, beside, or below a double-cabined,
crescent-shaped ceremonial barque (Figs. 252-258).34 Two of the most commonly
depicted motifs that appear alongside images dancing women at nautical processions on
D-Ware vessels are rows of long-necked birds (Figs. 252-256) and rows of desert bovids,
For discussion of the row of four oryxes/ibexes above the dancers in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis as a symbol of the royal imposition of order in the cosmos, see Section 5.2.2. For discussion
of the nautical procession at the Sed Festival as a symbol of the Egyptian ruler's control over ritual
navigation, see Section 7.4.
33
The bird above the rightmost dancer in this scene from the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis
possesses a black and white coloration that is consistent with the coloration of ostriches; however, the
bird's short legs proclude a definitive interpretation of this bird as an ostrich.
34
For a catalogue of D-Ware vessels that include depictions of boats, see Gilbert, BACE 10 (1999): 19-37.
For a catalogue of D-Ware vessels that include depictions of human figures, see Hendrickx, CCdE 3/4
(2002): 29-50. For a complete catalogue of all known D-Ware vessels, see Graff, Les peintures sur vases
de Nagada 1'- Nagada II, pp. 252-409, cat. nos. 177-646. For discussion of the women with raised arms
who appear at nautical processions in decorative scenes on the outside of numerous D-Ware vessels, see
primarily Capart, Primitive Art in Egypt, p. 119; Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten, pp. 11-12, fig.
2; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 117, figs. 6b-6e; Baumgartel, Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 145-146,
pi. 13; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 349-356, figs. 237-240; Brunner-Traut, RdE 27 (1975): 53, Motiv 5;
Aksamit, Fontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 162; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt,
pp. 190-191, fig. 9; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, pp. 235, 239, 241, 243, 249-263, figs.
11.7, 11.9, 11.11-11.23; Wengrow and Baines, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egyptat its Origins, Vol. l,pp.
1090-1093; Graff, op. cit, pp. 25-30, 53-58,127, 132, 151, Designation Hfl-11; Lankester, in Friedman
and McNamara, eds., Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic
and Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 127; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal, eds., Proceedings of the
First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
275
such as oryxes, ibexes, antelopes, and gazelles (Figs. 253, 256-258). The identification
of the long-necked birds that commonly appear in D-Ware scenes is an unresolved,
controversial topic; however, in some scenes, the physical features of these birds clearly
indicate that they are ostriches (Fig. 256).36 D-Ware scenes depicting dancing women
and rows of desert bovids do not always include images of a nautical procession (Figs.
251, 259-260); however, scenes with nautical processions are more common that those
without. The men with staffs and shepherd's crooks who often appear in D-Ware scenes
with dancing women and rows of desert bovids are most likely responsible for the actual
physical care of these animals (Figs. 251, 253-258, 260); however, the ritual dance of the
women, which almost certainly mimics the movements of ostriches, probably exerts a
symbolic or religious control over these desert bovids and—by extension—imposes order
in the otherwise chaotic environment of the desert.37 The specialized funerary context in
which D-Ware vessels most often appear suggests that the scenes on these vessels
For a catalogue of D-Ware scenes that include depictions of birds, see Graff, Les peintures sur vases de
Nagada I - Nagada II, pp. 164-165, Designations Ao 1 - Ao 11. For a catalogue of D-Ware scenes that
include depictions of desert bovids (such as oryxes, ibexes, antelopes, and gazelles), see Graff, op. cit., pp.
156-158, Designations Abl-Ab23.
36
In some cases, Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I -Nagada II, pp. 38, 164, Designation Aol,
suggests that long-necked birds are examples of an "echassier." In other cases, Graff, op. cit., pp. 38, 164,
Designation Ao2, suggests that long-necked birds are examples of an "autruche." For further discussion of
the depiction of ostriches in D-Ware scenes, see references collected supra, this section, in footnote 22.
37
For a catalogue of D-Ware scenes that include depictions of men holding staffs, see Graff, Les peintures
sur vases de Nagada I- Nagada II, pp. 152-154, Designations Hm.2, Hm.6, Hm.8, Hm.14, Hm.23. For an
intriguing study of the interrelationship of addaxes, dancing women, and men carrying staffs in D-Ware
scenes, see Graff, CCdE 5 (2003): 35-57. In this study, Graff, loc. cit, concludes that scenes including
these iconographic motifs allude to the renewal of life. In some D-Ware scenes, a man in the company of a
dancing woman appears to hold two short staffs. According to Aksamit, Cahiers de la ceramique
egyptienne 3 (1992): 19, these paired objects are probably castanets (clappers) rather than staffs. The men
who perform a "stick-dance" in a fragmentary scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar
temple at Abu Gurob (Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 274) may function
similarly to the men with castanets in these D-Ware scenes. For discussion of men who perform a stick-
dance in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten, p. 27, footnote
14; Hickman, BIE 37 (1956): 68-69; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 397-398; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas
zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 848-849, cat. no. S 10.2, with references; Kinney, Dance, Dancers and the
Performance Cohort in the Old Kingdom, pp. 94-95, fig. 3.14.
276
represent funerary rites; the depictions of nautical processions, women with raised
arms, and assorted desert fauna on D-Ware vessels are most likely linked to the Egyptian
religious concepts of solar renewal and the regeneration of the deceased.
People—most likely men—with raised arms sometimes appear as occupants of
solar boats in Predynastic rock inscriptions (Fig. 261); in this context the raising of the
arms functions as a celebratory gesture to herald the triumph of the solar deity over his
enemies and the successful navigation of the solar barque through the cosmos.40 A
For discussion of the predominantly—though not exclusively—funerary symbolism and context of D-

Ware vessels, see Aksamit, Fontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 161-164, with references;
Graff, CCdE 5 (2003): 35-57; Graff, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 765-777;
Wengrow and Baines, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. l,pp. 1081-1113, especially p.
1093; Graff, Bibliotheca Orientalis 64 (2007): 259-288; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 84, with
references; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I'— Nagada II, pp. 121-124; Hendrickx and
Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology
(forthcoming).
39
For discussion of nautical processions on D-Ware pottery as representations of funerary rituals, see
primarily de Morgan, Revue anthropologique 30 (1920): 272-282; Hornblower, JEA 16 (1930): 10-18;
Brunner-Traut, RdE 27 (1975): 41-55; Aksamit, Fontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 161-164,
with references; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and Ships, pp. 12-13; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I—
Nagada II, pp. 43-45, with references; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of
the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For discussion of the solar symbolism of the
funerary scene involving boats on D-Ware vessels, see primarily Huyge, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and
Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 200-201. Stressing that D-Ware vessels have not been found in exclusively
funerary contexts, Gilbert, BACE 10 (1999): 30-31, however, strongly disputes the commonly held view
that depictions of boats on D-Ware have "some sort of funerary significance."
40
For discussion of the men with raised arms who sometimes appear as occupants of solar boats in
Predynastic rock inscriptions, see primarily Huyge, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert,
pp. 197-201, Horizons I-II; Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
(forthcoming); Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan
Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion of the men with raised arms who appear as
occupants of solar boats in Predynastic rock inscriptions, see also Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern
Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 25; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn ofAgriculture, pp. 260-261,263-265, fig.
11.24; Wengrow and Baines, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 1090-1091, with
references; Lankester, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Third
International Colloquium on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 127; Zajac, Studies in Ancient Art
and Civilization 12 (2008): 15-16, 19-20; Gatto, British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 13
(2009): 131; Gatto, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 163. Based on a perceived iconographic equivalence with
the women with raised arms who appear above boats on D-Ware pottery, the men with raised arms who
appear as occupants of solar boats in Predynastic rock inscriptions have often been mistakenly identified as
women or goddesses; for discussion of these figures as women and/or goddesses, see with caution Fuchs,
African Archaeological Review 7 (1989): 139, 141,145-146, 151, figs. 19,28; Rohl, Followers ofHorus:
Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 6, figs. 10-13; Wilkinson, in Rohl, ed., Followers ofHorus:
277
person—most likely a woman—with raised arms who stands next to the towers of the
royal barque in a Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash
probably heralds the Egyptian ruler as a manifestation of the solar deity (Fig. 262).41 The
people who perform the "ostrich-dance" in these royal and solar nautical processional
scenes appear to be interchangeable with images of actual ostriches. For example, in a
Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abu Subeira, a pair of ostriches stand near
the stern of a barque that carries the royal falcon standard (Fig. 263).42 In a similar
fashion, a group of three ostriches appears in front of the prow of a piloted solar barque in
a Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor Takar (Fig. 264).43 Both ostriches and
dancing persons who appear at ritual nautical processions most likely have the same
symbolic function—namely, they celebrate the solar deity during his cosmic journey and
they herald the Egyptian ruler during his ritual navigation of the Nile.
The depictions of women performing the "ostrich-dance" in the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis and in the nautical processional scenes on D-Ware pottery
symbolize—in part—the control of desert bovids such as ibexes, oryxes, antelopes, and
gazelles. In several other Predynastic iconographic contexts, dancing women, dancing
men, and ostriches appear to be linked to hunting and to the ritual slaughter of desert
Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. l,pp. 160-161,164-165; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 155-
156.
41
Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, pp. 24-26, pi. 14.2. For detailed discussion of the the
Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash, see references collected in Section
7.1.2, footnote 72. For discussion of the royal barque procession in this rock inscription, see Section 7.1.2;
7.4.2. For discussion of the hippopotamus hunt in this rock inscription, see Section 5.1; Section 7.2.
42
Gatto, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 162-163, fig. 16. For further discussion of the royal nautical
procession in this Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abu Subeira, see Section 7.1.1.
43
Engelmayer, Die Felsgravierungen im DistriktSayala-Nubien, Vol. 1, p. 26, pis. 12.4,45.2. For further
discussion of the symbolism of the helmsman in this rock inscription, see Section 7.4.2, footnote 211.
278
bovids. For example, in the ritual hunting scene that appears on the so-called Hunters
Palette (Fig. 46), an ostrich with outstretched wings out appears directly behind a gazelle
that is attempting to flee from a large group of hunters.44 A similar depiction of an
ostrich with outstretched wings appears in the midst of a chaotic desert hunt on the non-
boss side of a knife handle from Tomb U-503 at Abydos (Fig. 265).45 The general
posture of the hunters on the Hunters Palette—most of whom hold throwsticks, spears, or
bows in their outstretched hands—is vaguely reminiscent of the ostrich with outstretched
wings in this scene. The hunter who grasps a bow in one outstretched hand and the
leashes of four hunting dogs in his other outstretched hand on a C-Ware bowl from the
collection of the Moscow Museum adopts a very similar posture (Fig. 266); so too does
the hippopotamus hunter who grasps a mace and a coil of rope in a Predynastic rock
inscription from the Dominion Behind Thebes (Fig. 267).47 As further evidence that the
hunters on the Hunters Palette may perhaps take on some of the attributes of ostriches
during their desert hunting expedition, they adorn themselves with headdresses made of
For discussion of the hunting scene on the Hunters Palette, see primarily Cialowicz, Les palettes
egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans decoration, pp. 55-56, fig. 24, with references; Davis, Masking
the Blow, pp. 93-118, fig. 28; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 112;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 189-191, fig. 30; Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through
Objects, p. 45; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 165-172; Hendrickx, in Kroeper,
etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 733, 740-744, fig. 11; Hendrickx and Eyckerman,
in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For
discussion of the ostrich on the Hunters Palette, see primarily Hendrickx, CCdE 1 (2000): 25.
45
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, pp. 210-213,225-226, fig. 12; Wengrow, The
Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 183, fig. 9.5 bottom.
46
For discussion of the hunting scene on this C-Ware bowl from the collection of the Moscow Museum,
see Scharff, ZAS 61 (1926): 21-22, pi. 2.2; Scharff, JEA 14 (1928): 267-269, pi. 27.4; Hilzheimer, Antiquity
6 (1932): fig. 10; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 284-285, fig. 192; Kantor, Record of the Art Museum,
Princeton University 12:2 (1953): 77; Hendrickx, CdE 67 (1992): 16-17; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of
Egypt, pp. 171-173, fig. 5a; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, p. 65; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de
Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 196, cat. no. 9; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
47
For the depiction of hippopotamus hunting in a Predynstic rock inscription from the Dominion Behind
Thebes (WHW 353), see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 89, fig. 8; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey,
Vol. 3 (in preparation).
279
ostrich feathers. In addition to providing meat as a source of food, the hunting of
ostriches—which is depicted in several Predynastic rock inscriptions (Figs. 268-269)—
provided the feathers necessary for these elaborate hunting costumes.49
The ostrich with outsretched wings and the fleeing gazelle appear in close
proximity to the grinding area of the Hunters Palette—which may suggest that this
zoomorphic group is linked to the solar eye and the destruction of enemies of the solar
deity.50 A similar grouping of an ostrich and a sacrificial desert bovid appears in close
proximity to the circular grinding area of the Two Dogs Palette (Fig. 50)51 and the so-
called "Gazelle-Goose" Palette (Fig. 270).52 These scenes may also be related to the
depiction of a bird—possibly a stork (?)—and a fleeing lion above the circular grinding
area of the Four Dogs Palette (Fig. 271).53
For discussion of the outfits of the hunters on the Hunters Palette, see references collected in Section
1.1.1, footnote 44. For discussion of the symbolism of feathered headdresses in Liyban dance garb, see
Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 480-481, footnote 133; Darnell,
JARCE 34 (1999): 27-29.
49
For representations of ostrich hunting in Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi Mineh and the
Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, see Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 91, fig.
2; p. 105, fig. 12; p. 106, fig. 12.
50
For discussion of the circular grinding area of Predynastic and Protodynastic slate palettes as an allusion
to the solar eye, see primiarly Westendorf, in.t dr.w - Festschrift fur Friedrich Junge, pp. 713-727;
Westendorf, in Lauffer, ed., Festgabe fur Dr. Walter Will, pp. 204-206; Westendorf, in G5rg und Pusch,
eds., Festschrift Elmar Edel, pp. 432-445.
51
Ashmolean Museum E.3924; see Cialowicz, Lespalettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans
decoration, pp. 43-46, fig. 11, with references; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 240-241,246,
fig. 18; Cialowicz, Lanaissance d'unroyaume,pp. 191-194, fig. 32;O'Connor, JARCE39 (2002): 15-16;
Baines, in Potts, eta/., eds., Culture Through Objects, p. 43; Westendorf, in.t dr.w - Festschrift fur
Friedrich Junge, pp. 713-727; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 180-181,215, fig. 9.3. For
discussion of the ostrich on the Two Dogs Palette, see primarily Hendrickx, CCdE 1 (2000): 25.
52
British Museum 32074; Cialowicz, Les palettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans decoration,
p. 52, fig. 20, with references. The commonly used name for this palette is clearly a misnomer since the
birds on the palette are ostriches.
53
Louvre E 11052; see Cialowicz, Les palettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans decoration, pp.
47-48, fig. 12, with references; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 241-242, fig. 19; Cialowicz,
La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 194-195, fig. 33; O'Connor, JARCE 39 (2002): 11-12; Westendorf, in.t
dr.w - Festschrift fur Friedrich Junge, pp. 713-727.
280
Predynastic clay figurines depicting humans—mostly women—with the facial
features of birds provide another corpus of evidence that suggests that dancing with
raised arms symbolizes the movements of birds in contexts related to ritual hunting and
butchery during the Predynastic Period (Figs. 272-277).54 Beak-nosed human figurines
feature several different orientations of the arms, including an extremely abbreviated
form known as "arm-stumps" (Figs. 274-275).55 The hands of several beak-nosed female
figurines are placed directly below their breasts (Figs. 276-277); examples of figurines
with "arm-stumps" probably allude to this particular orientation of the hands underneath
the breasts.56 Another orientation of the arms that appears in this corpus of beak-nosed
human figurines is the raising of the arms above the head (Figs. 272-273).57 The
iconographic combination of avian facial features and raised arms strongly suggests that
the dance that these female figurines perform mimics the movments of birds.
For discussion of the symbolic significiance of Predynastic beak-nosed human figurines, see primarily
Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp. 212-219. For additional
examples and further discussion of these figurines, see also Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, pp. 6-10;
Hornblower, JEA 15 (1929): 29-47, pis. 6-10; Keimer, Remarques sur le tatouage dans I'Egypte ancienne,
pp. 1-6, figs. 1-5; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 428-435; Baumgartel, Cultures of Predynastic Egypt, Vol.
2, pp. 65-72; Ucko and Hodges, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 26 (1963): 205-222;
Needier, JARCE 5 (1966): pp. 11-17, pis. 5-9; Ucko, Anthropomorphic Figurines of Predynastic Egypt and
Neolithic Crete; Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in The Brooklyn Museum, pp. 335-350; Midant-
Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 175-178, 196-197, fig. 6; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of
Agriculture, pp. 233-235; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 103-105, fig. 5.3. For an
unconvincing interpretation of beak-nosed human figurines as bi-b'vcds, i.e., the living spritis of the
deceased, see with caution Brunner-Traut, RdE 27 (1975): 53-54; El-Yahky, JSSEA 11 (1981): 81.
55
For discussion of Predynastic beak-nosed human figurines with "arm-stumps," see primarily Ucko,
Anthropomorphic Figurines, pp. 188-189. The omission of the limbs might suggest that the purpose of
these figurines was so well understood that even an extremely abbreviated rendering of the human figure
could transmit the symbolic meaning of the figurine. For unconvincing explanations of the significance of
this orientation of the arms, see with caution Baumgartel, Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 70; El-
Yahky, JSSEA 11 (1981): 81.
56
For examples of beak-nosed female figurines with their hands placed underneath their breasts, see
Keimer, Remarques sur le tatouage dans I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 2-4, figs. 1-3.
57
For examples of Predynastic (beak-nosed) female figurines with raised arms, see Needier, Predynastic
and Archaic Egypt in The Brooklyn Museum, cat. nos. 267-272; Keimer, Remarques sur le tatouage dans
VEgypte ancienne, p. 5, fig. 4.
281
Many of the beak-nosed female figurines are decorated with painted designs; the
most common painted decoration in this corpus of figurines is a solid white-colored
design that covers the lower half of the body (Figs. 272, 274).58 Figurines with this
particular painted decoration closely resemble the dancing women who wear long kilts on
the Gebelein Linen (Figs. 52b-c) and in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d).59 Other beak-nosed female figurines feature painted designs
that almost certainly represent tattoos of Nilotic and desert flora and fauna; the geometric
patterns that also appear on these "tattooed" figurines probably represent stylized
elements of landscape and waterscape (Figs. 273,276-277).60 The presence of tattoos on
these beak-nosed female figurines strongly suggests a connection to the goddess
Hathor.61 The depiction of a hippopotamus on the chest of one of the dancing beak-nosed
female figurines may, in fact, be a representation of the the goddess of the eye of the sun
For examples of Predynastic (beak-nosed) female figurines with a solid white painted decoration on their
lower bodies, see Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, nos. 267-273.
For discussion of a possible link between Predynastic beak-nosed female figurines and the dancing
women on the Gebelein Linen and in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see primarily
Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp. 212-219.
60
For a catalogue of Predynastic (beak-nosed) female figurines with painted tattoo-designs, see Hendrickx,
etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, p. 216, Table 2. For discussion of the
tattoo designs that appear on Predynastic (beak-nosed) female figurines, see primarily Keimer, Remarques
sur le tatouage dans I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 1-6; Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., op. cit, pp. 212-
219. For general discussion of tattooing in ancient Egypt, see Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten,
p. 46; Keimer, op. cit.; Bianchi, in Ruben, ed., Marks of Civilization, pp. 21-28; Booth, JEA 87 (2001):
172-175; Poon and Quickenden, BACE 17 (2006): 123-136.
61
For a similar conclusion regarding the Hathoric nature of the tattoos on these Predynastic (beak-nosed)
female figurines, see Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp.
212-219. For discussion of the tattoo and scarification designs that appear on the mummies of a Hathoric
priestess and two Hathoric dancers from Middle Kingdom burials at Deir el-Bahari, see Keimer,
Remarques sur le tatouage dans I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 6-17; Poon and Quickenden, BACE 17 (2006): 124-
127. Images of the god Bes are a common tattoo design for women, particularly musicians, during the New
Kingdom; for discussion of Bes tattoos and their connection to female musicians, see primarily Keimer, op.
cit., pp. 40-44; Poon and Quickenden, op. cit., pp. 128-130.
282
as she returns to Egypt during the time of the inundation for the New Year Festival (Fig.
277).62
The similar depictions of hippopotami on the chests of hunters in a pair of
Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Dominion Behind Thebes probably symbolically
imbue the hunters with the strength of Sakhmet, the violent form of the goddess of the
solar eye, during their hunting expeditions in the desert (Fig. 278).63 Since provenanced
examples of Predynastic beak-nosed female figurines typically derive from funerary
contexts, the symbolism of the figurines is most likely linked to the rites of the mortuary
cult.64 Given the close association between the tattooed female figurines and the angry
form of the goddess of the solar eye, the depictions of desert game animals on these
figurines most likely represent meat offerings of the funerary cult. In this regard, the
Predynastic beak-nosed female figurines are apparently early examples of the "dance
troupe of the Acacia House"—a ritual performance group linked to the Sakhmet and to
the ritual slaughter of cattle from the private mortuary cult.65 The persons of ambiguous
British Museum 58.064; for discussion of the hippopotamus tattoo on this figurine, see Hornblower, JEA
15 (1929): 32-33, fig. 2; Keimer, Remarques sur le tatouage dans I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 3, 6, fig. 2b;
Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypten, cat. no. 29; Darnell, Theban Desert
Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation). For discussion of the hippopotamus as a manifestation of the
wandering goddess of the solar eye, see Darnell, in David and Wilson, eds., Inscribed Landscapes, pp. 111-
63
For a similar conclusion regarding the symbolism of the hippopotami that appear on the chests of hunters
in a pair of rock inscriptions from the Dominion Behind Thebes (WHW 84 and 90), see Darnell, in
Friedman, Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, p. 145, pi. 88; Darnell, in David and Wilson, eds.,
Inscribed Landscapes, pp. 111-112; Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern
Sahara, pp. 216-218, fig. 23; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
64
For discussion of the funerary context and possible funerary symbolism of Predynastic bird-nosed female
figurines, see Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, p. 335.
65
For a similar conclusion concerning the association between Predynastic beak-nosed female figurines
and the "dance troupe of the Acacia House," see Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in
the Eastern Sahara, pp. 212-219. For detailed discussion of connection between the "dance troupe of the
Acacia House" and the Sed Festival, see Section 3.1.1.1.
283
gender who raise their arms in a celebratory gesture in the ritual hippopotamus hunting
scene on a C-Ware vessel from Mahasna (Fig. 279)66 and in the ritual bull-lassoing scene
in a Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 147a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 280) are
probably also members of this ritual performance group. The "bird-dance" of these
persons most likely serves the same symbolic significance as the movements of the
ostriches during the ritual sacrifice of gazelles on the Two Dogs Palette (Fig. 50) and the
"Gazelle-Goose" Palette (Fig. 270).
3.1.1.3. DANCING WOMEN & THE SCAVENGER BIRD-DANCE
The women who perform a dance involving the raising of the arms above the head
in various Predynastic iconographic contexts—particularly in the context of nautical
processional scenes on D-Ware pottery—probably have a ritual function similar to Isis
and Nephthys, the dr(y).ty ("two birds-of-prey") who protect the mummies of deceased
individuals in representations of funerary barque processions in the dynastic period.68 In
Pyramid Texts Spell 531, for example, the deceased king invokes the dr(y).ty to provide a
ferry-boat as a form of transportation in the netherworld.69 In the description of Isis in
Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 226, cat. no. 098, with references; Behrmann,
Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypten, cat. no. 23b.
67
Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pi. 15.1
68
For general discussion of funerary rites and processions of the private mortuary cult, see, e.g.,
Luddeckens, MDAIK11 (1943): 1-188; Wilson, JNES 3 (1944): 201-218, pis. 12-18. For discussion of the
symbolic function of the dr(y).ty ("two birds-of-prey") in rites of the funeral barque procession in the
dynastic period, see Minister, Untersuchungen zur Gottin Isis, pp. 22-71, 201-202; Fischer, Varia, pp. 39-
50; Altenmuller, SAK27 (1999): 7-8, 12-13; Leitz, Lexikon der agyptischen Gotter und
Gotterbezeichnungen, Vol. 7, pp. 630, 632; Coenen and Kucharek, GM193 (2003): 45-50. For a possible
Early Dynastic attestation of the term dr(y).t in a proper name, see Godron, ASAE 54 (1956): 191-194.
69
For Pyramid Texts Spell 531, see Sethe, Die altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p. 209, § 1254a-d.
For a full translation of this spell, see Allen, Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 164, Spell P479. For
discussion of the role of the dr(y).t-birds in the Pyramid Texts, see Garnot, RdE 8 (1951): 71-75.
284
the following excerpt from a hymn to Osiris on an 18 Dynasty stela (of Amenmese), the
goddess similtaneously flaps her wings and performs a ritual dance her brother Osiris:70
Ss.t 3h.t
nd.t sn=s
hh.t sw iwt.t b(3)gg=s
phr.ttlpnm Kiy.t
ny hn.n=s ny gm.t=s sw
ir.t Swy.wt m $w.wt=s
shpr.t tSw m dnh.wy=s
ir.t hnw
mni.t sn=s
"Oh Isis, the #?.?-spirit,

who protects her brother,
who searches for him without ceasing,
(and) who circumambulates this land as a h^y.t-bird.
She does not stop herself until she finds him—
she who creates shadows with her feathers,
she who creates wind with her two wings,
(and) she who performs the /mw-dance—
the mooring post of her brother."
The hymn clearly describes the performance of a ritual dance by Isis in the form of a
dr(y).t-bird positioned at the bow of the funeral barque.
During the performance of the bull-slaughtering ritual at the Opening of the
Mouth ceremony, a butcher removes the foreleg and heart of a sacrificial bull in the
71
presence of a sm-priest, a lector priest, and a woman identified as a dr(y).t-bird. The
ritual function of the dr(y).t-bird in the butchery sequence from the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony most likely derives from an archaic hunting ritual in which a woman
70
Louvre C 286,11. 14-15; Motet, BJFAO 30 (1931): 741-743, pis. 1-2. Forafull translation of the hymn
to Osiris on Stela Louvre C 286, see Assmann, Agyptische Hymnen und Gebete, 2 nd ed., pp. 477-482, cat.
no. 213.
71
For the ritual slaughter of bulls in Scenes 23-25 and Scenes 43-45 of the Opening of the Mouth
106. For detailed discussion of the butchery sequence in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, see Otto,
JNES9 (1950): 164-177; TeVelde, Seth: God of Confusion, pp. 87-89; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 53-
54. For further discussion of the butchery sequence of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony and its possible
links to the butchery sequences of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus and the butchery sequences of the Sed
Festival, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a; Section 5.3.1.
285
performed a dance that mimicked the movements of a scavenger bird flapping its wings,
shrieking, and circling around a felled game animal.72 In the context of the Opening of
the Mouth ceremony, the deceased individual acquires both nourishment and strength
(hpS) as a result of recieving the foreleg of a bull as a food offering; the flapping of the
wings of the dr(y).t-bkd apparently plays an important role in helping to transfer the
beneficial qualities of the meat offering to the deceased individual.73 A possible allusion
to the ritual "dance" of the dr(y).t-bix& appears in connection with the performance of
military victory rituals—including the ritual trampling of an enemy and a ritual
procession of bound enemy captives—on the recto of the Battlefield Palette; in the
bottom portion of this Predynastic royal military victory scene, several carrion birds
circle around the corpses of defeated enemy combatants and peck at their lifeless limbs
and faces (Fig. 57).74 The celebratory gesture involving the raising of the arms above the
head—which the victorious parties perform in the military subjugation scenes on a C-
Ware vase in the collection of the Petrie Museum (Fig. 281), on a C-Ware vase in the
collection of the Royal Museum of Brussels (Fig. 282), and a C-Ware vase from Tomb
U-239 at Abydos (Fig. 48)—is most likely a variant of the "scavenger bird-dance."75
3.1.2. NOCTURNAL DANCES OF THE LONGHAIRED WOMEN OF THE COSMIC SKY
For this novel interpretation of the ritual function of the dr(y).t-bird in the butchery sequence of the
Opening of the Mouth ceremony, see primarily Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177.
73
For detailed discussion of the symbolism of the foreleg of the sacrificial bull in the butchery sequence
from the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, see references collected in Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a, footnote
358.
74
For detailed discussion of the military victory scenes on the recto of the Battlefield Palette (Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 176-179, fig. 26), see Section 6.1.3; Section 6.1.4.
75
For detailed discussion of the military subjugation scenes on the C-Ware vessel in the Petrie Museum
(Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I—Naqada II, p. 243, cat. no. 148), the C-Ware vessel in the
Royal Museum of Brussels (Graff, op. cit.,p. 242, cat. no. 145), and the C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-239
at Abydos (Graff, op. cit, p. 245, cat. no. 155), see Section 6.1.1.
286
The reliefs of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef
contain a scene depicting a complex ritual performance by a large troupe of female
Hathoric musicians and dancers (Fig. 148); an accompanying scene to the right of this
music and dance sequence depicts the performance of a libation ritual by a group of eight
additional women (Fig. 144).76 The libation, music, and dance rituals—all of which are
closely paralleled in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten (Figs. 145-146) and Osorkon II
(Fig. 147)—are part of a single cohesive ritual performance concerned with the
rejuvenating rituals of the hieros gamos and regenerating aspects of the nocturnal journey
of the solar deity.77
At the far right of this sequence, a group of women identified as "daughters of
(foreign) chiefs" and "daughter(s) of the Mnfyw-Libyans" delivers libation offerings to
the king from gold nms.t-jars and electrum s(ri)b.t-vases (Figs. 144-147); the ritual
function of these libation offerings—as described in the accompanying texts—is to purify
the king and provide him with refreshing cool water. In the context of "les rites de l'eau"
of Taharqa at Karnak, the pouring of libation offerings from nms.t-jars and snb.t-v&ses
symbolically represents the floodwaters of the annual inundation of the Nile; these waters
bring life and dominion to Taharqa and to the supreme creator god Amun-Re.78 In
76
Section 3.1.2 contains an overview of the ritual significance of the dance, music, and libation rituals that
appear in the reliefs of the first Sed Festival Amenhotep HI in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey,
Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 32, 34, 36, 38, 40). For transliteration, translation, and detailed discussion of the
hieroglyphic texts that accompany the depictions of these rituals in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep
III, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 3; Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
77
For detailed discussion of the parallel scenes and texts from the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the
Gempaaten at Karnak (Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28, figs. 3-4) and the Sed Festival reliefs of
Osorkon II in the Temple of Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 14-15), See Section 2.1.1,
Scene 3; Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
78
For "les rites de l'eau" of Taharqa at Karnak, see Traunecker, BIFAO 72 (1972): 195-236. For
transliteration, translation, and detailed discussion of relevant excerpts of this text, see Section 2.1.1, Scene
3.
287
several passages from the Pyramid Texts, libation offerings from nms.t-']ars are linked to
the regeneration of Osiris; in Pyramid Texts Spell 536, for example, the libation offerings
that flow from nms.t-jars and rlb.t-}ars fill the divine canal of the netherworld with
water. In addition to providing the proper environment for the regeneration of Osiris,
the waters of the divine canals of the netherworld also provide the proper environment for
the nocturnal journey of the solar barque.80 The identification of the libation carriers as
"daughters of (foreign) chiefs" and "daughter(s) of the Mntyw-Libyans" in the version of
this ritual from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef
suggests that the pouring of libations is symbolically linked to New Year Festival, the
return of the wandering goddess to Egypt, and the ensuing inundation of the Nile; in this
regard, the women who carry libations at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival function as
representatives of the foreign lands through which the goddess travels during her winter
sojourn.81
The ritual performance sequence that follows the offering of libations from gold
nms.t-jars and electrum s(n)b.t-vases includes the singing of several hymns by a troupe of
longhaired female musicians and dancers (Figs. 144-145, 147).82 The first hymn in the
sequence describes the cultivation of a pod of carob seeds as a metaphor for the
protection of the solar disk and the destruction of Apophis and other enemies of the solar
79
For detailed discussion of the ritual significance of the nw^.f-jar in the Pyramid Texts, see refenences
80
For detailed discussion of the divine canals on which the solar barque travels in the netherworld, see
Section 7.5.
For a similar conclusion regarding the association between these libation-bearers and the wandering
goddess of the solar eye, see Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 72-73, footnote 134.
82
For detailed discussion of the hymns of the Hathoric musicians and dancers in the reliefs of the first Sed
Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef, as well as the parallel texts in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Akhenaten and Osorkon II, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
288
deity during the nocturnal journey of the solar deity through the netherworld. In the
second hymn in the sequence, the Hathoric singers pacify the Golden One—a divine form
of the goddess Hathor—and call upon the goddess to protect the king from inimical
creatures and to "make him healthy in the eastern horizon of the sky"—i.e., the place of
rebirth for the solar deity and the place of destruction for the enemies of the solar deity.
The short hymn to Sobek calls upon the god to appear at the Sed Festival—most likely to
protect the king and to imbue him with potency and creative energy during a critical
phase of his symbolic rejuvenation at the Sed Festival.
The ritual performance that accompanies the singing of these hymns at the Sed
Festival ceremonies of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II includes a dance
sequence in which longhaired women clad in kilts, broad-collars, and leather straps toss
their hair and bend their upper bodies forward in a series complicated poses. The most
complete version of this dance sequence appears in the reliefs of the first Sed Festival of
Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Fig. 148); however, the versions of this dance
sequence in the Sed Fesitvals reliefs of Akhenaten (Fig. 145) and Osorkon II (Fig. 147)
closely parallel Amenhotep Ill's version. In a fragmentary scene for the mortuary
temple of Sahure, similarly dressed dancers with long hair also perform a dance move in
For discussion of the eastern horizon as the place of punishment for Apophis and the enemies of the solar
deity, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 140. For discussion of Hathor as the
protective womb and solar disk of Re, see references collected in Section 1.1.2, footnote 94.
84
For detailed discussion of the sybolic significance of the invocation of Sobek in the hymn of the Hathoric
singers at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
85
For detailed discussion of all three versions of this dance sequence, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4. For
further discussion of the version in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 34, 36,
38,40), see also Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 283-284, 306-308; Wild, in Les dames sacrees, pp. 76-77, 100-
101; Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, pp. 85-91; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alien Agypten, pp. 751-752, 799-801, cat. nos. S 2.18, S 3.95; Roberts, Hathor Rising, pp. 26-29.
289
which they bend their upper bodies forward (Fig. 238); although this scene is quite
fragmentary, it is quite clear that the movements of these dancers iare very similar to the
movements of the dancers in the parallel scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II.87 The unusual dance poses of the women in
this sequence probably mimic the goddess of the nocturnal cosmic sky, Nut, when she
appears hunched over with both of her hands and feet touching the ground; in several
examples of this pose, the goddess Nut's long hair falls down in front of her face in a
fashion similar to the dances in the tomb of Kheruef.88 The longhaired women who
appear in similar poses in the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh hours of the Book of the
Night probably also mimic the goddess Nut (Figs. 151-152); in the context of the Book of
the Night, the women who appear in this pose appear to assist in the nocturnal processes
of regeneration and rebirth.89 The tossing of the long flowing hair of the dancers in the
ritual sequence at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival may have an erotically charged
significance that is intended to focus the creative energy of the king on an important act
of self-rejuvenation—perhaps as a prelude to the hieros gamos; in this regard, the tossing
Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pp. 64-65, pi. 54; for discussion of this scene,
see Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im alten Agypten, p. 15, footnote 1; Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A.
Wilson, pp. 87-89; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 848, cat. no. S 10.1; Cwiek,
Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes, p. 238.
87
Wente, in Studies in Honor ofJohn A. Wilson, pp. 87-89, makes this same observation.
88
For discussion of examples of this pose in which the goddess Nut's hair falls down in front of her face,
see Valdesogo-Martin, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, pp.
89
For discussion of the longhaired women who appear in unusual poses in the third, fourth, sixth, and
seventh hours of the Book of the Night, see the references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 154.
290
of hair appears to have the same symbolic function as the ritual shaking of papyrus (s$8-
wSd).90
The three women at the far right of the dance sequence in the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef bend forward and reach their
hands down to the ground; two of the three women in this group appear to hold a water
sign (Gardiner Sign 35) in one of their outstretched hands (Fig. 148a).91 Thus, this group
of women appears to perform the «v«v-gesture—a ritual that the goddess Nut performs in
certain contexts to greet the king just prior to the sacred union between the goddess and
the king at the hieros gamos (Fig. 149).92 The dance pose of the three women at the far
right of this sequence is also similar to the ritual performance of six longhaired goddesses
who pour water onto the heads of ground-dwelling snakes in a scene from the outside of
the second golden shrine of Tutankhamun (Fig. 150); the ritual performance of these
goddesses strongly alludes to the birth of the solar deity after traveling through the body
of the serpent Apophis at the conclusion of his nocturnal journey through the
netherworld. Since the hymn of the carob seed pod and the hymn to the Golden One
both allude to the destruction of Apophis, and since the hymn to the Golden One clearly
pertains to the health and wellbeing of the king "in the eastern side of the sky," it seems
90
For general discussion of the eroticism of long hairstyles for women in ancient Egypt, see references
collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 156. For discussion of the ritual shaking of papyrus as a
prelude to the hieros gamos, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnote 244. For
discussion of the shaking of long hair by women as a symbolic equivalent to the ritual shaking of papyrus,
see Darnell, in Melville and Slotsky, eds., Opening the Tablet Box, p. 117.
91
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 34.
92
For discussion of the «y«y-gesture as a prelude to the performance of the hieros gamos, see references
collected in Section 2.1.1, footnotes 151-152.
93
For the authoritative interpretation of this scene from the second golden shrine of Tutankhamun, see
Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 142-149, pi. 13B. For further
discussion of this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
291
very likely that the dance sequence from the reliefs of the first Sed Festival of
Amenhotep III represents a ritual similar to the pouring of water onto snakes on the
second golden shrine of Tutankhamun.94
Water clearly appears to play an important role in both the dance sequence and
the libation offering sequence in the reliefs of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in
the tomb of Kheruef; the significance of both these sequences may, in fact, be linked to
dedication of the ritual waterway that was specially contracted for the ceremonial
procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival.95 The representation
of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead includes the performance of a ritual dance
by several longhaired women who simultaneously lean forward and clap their hands
together (Fig. 21).96 The dance poses of the longhaired women at the Sed Festival of
Scorpion are not as exaggerated as the poses of the dancing women at the Sed Festival of
Amenhotep III; nonetheless, the dance poses of both sets of women probably have the
same symbolic connection to water and the nocturnal regeneration of the solar deity. The
dance sequence on the Scorpion Macehead appears in close proximity to the palanquin
procession of the royal women in a marshy area next to a ritual canal where a barque
The "shooting of the inverted one" (sti.t irk.t) in the hymn of the carob seed pod is most likely an allusion
to the destruction of Apophis. Similarly, a fragmentary line from the hymn to the Golden One probably
also alludes to the destruction of Apophis:
nn (n=)s bw-k[hb h]ly[.i] [hr] hdnn{.t]
"There is no ha[rm] (to) her when [she de]scends [upon] the unwilling one."
For discussion of these texts as possible allusions to the destruction of Apophis, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4,
footnotes 140, 171.
95
For discussion of the procession of the solar barque at the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, see
Section 2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2; Section 7.4.3. For discussion of the construction of a large network
of ritual waterways for the performance of this nautical procession, see Section 2.1.0; Section 7.5.
96
For detailed discussion of the representation of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead, see
references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 144. For discussion of the dancing women on the
macehead, see especially Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 9, pi. 26c; Cialowicz, Les tetes de
massues des periodes Predynastique et Archaique dans la Vallee duNil, pp. 32-33, fig. 3; Gautier and
Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 105; Gundlach, DerPharao undsein Staat, pp. 63-64, 67, fig. 13.
292
procession takes place; the central scene of the macehead depicts Scorpion hoeing the
ground at the dedication of this ritual waterway.98 Like the Sed Festival of Scorpion,
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival also included the performance of a nautical procession
in a ritual waterway that was specially constructed for the king's Sed Festival. The ritual
dance of the longhaired women on the Scorpion Macehead in the reliefs of Amenhotep
Ill's first Sed Festival may be connected with the ceremonial filling of this newly
dedicated waterway with the floodwaters of the Nile during the inundation."
In fragmentary relief of an unknown 1st Dynasty ruler, the king performs a
foundation ritual in which he hammers a series of stakes into the ground; the fragmentary
state of preservation of the relief does not provide the full context for this foundation
ritual, but the king most likely performs the ritual at the dedication of a newly built ritual
waterway and sacred precinct during the opening rites of the Sed Festival (Fig. 283). 10°
The female libation-bearer who appears in front of the king on this relief fragment very
likely performs a libation ritual similar to the one at the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep
III; the ritual function of this libation offering is to purify the king, to provide the proper
environment for rejuvenation at the Sed Festival, and—perhaps most importantly—to
commemorate the construction of a ritual waterway with the pouring of "floodwaters."

97
For detailed discussion of the significance of the palanquin procession of the royal women on the
Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.2.1.
98
For detailed discussion of the royal foundation rite on Scorpion Macehead and its connection to the
dedication of a ritual waterway and the performance of a cermonial barque procession at the king's Sed
Festival, see Section 7.5.
99
A text from the nautical processional scene in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef specifically notes that the ritual takes place "at the time of high Nile"; see Section 2.1.1.,
Scene 6.
100
For a similar conclusion regarding the ritual significance of this 1st Dynasty fragmentary relief from
Gebelein, see Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und
Programm, pp. 228-230,238, figs. 3-4. For further discussion of the foundation ritual on this relief
fragment, see Section 7.5.
293
Unlike the "daughters of (foreign) chiefs" and the "daughter(s) of the Mntyw-Libyans"
who pour libations for Amenhotep III at his first Sed Festival, the libation-bearer in this
1st Dynasty relief fragment bears a title that almost certainly identifies her as a royal
woman: m33(.t)-Hr, "she who sees Horus."101
3.1.3. HATHORIC DANCING & THE M Y T H OF THE WANDERING GODDESS
3.1.3.0. INTRODUCTION
The emphasis placed upon the performance of the rites of the Sed Festival "at the
time of high Nile"—for example, at the nautical procesion of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival—suggests that timing of the celebration of the Sed Festival may correspond
ideally to the return of the wandering goddess of the solar eye to Egypt.102 The Hathoric
music and dance sequences in the Sed Festival reliefs of various Egyptian rulers—
particularly Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II—include several ritual
performances that appear to be linked to the dances of foreign groups who placate the
wandering goddess of the solar eye during her return from a distant region far to the
southeast of Egypt. In the Medamud hymn to the Golden One (a Hathoric form of the
wandering goddess of the solar eye), the foreign peoples whose ritual performances
placate the goddess and celebrate her return to Egypt include: distinctively dressed
Mnfyw-Libyans; mace-wielding S/yw-Nubians; Jwn.ty.w-nomads who prostrate
themselves before the goddess; and bearded men—most likely Puntites—who declaim
101
For discussion oimii.t-Hr ("she who sees Horus") as a title of royal women, see primarily Troy,
Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 64, 81, 84, 189; Baud, Famille royale etpouvoir, Vol. 1, pp. 303, 311, 339, 341-
344, 358; Sabbahy, GM135 (1993): 81-87; Seipel, Untersuchungen zu den agyptischen Koniginnen, pp.
318-328.
102
For discussion of the text describing the nautical procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival as
taking place "[at the time] of high Nile" ([r tr] n hrpy <7), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6. For discussion of the
period of the inundation as the ideal time for the celebration of the Sed Festival, see Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sed Fest, p. 39.
294
for the goddess. A careful review of documentation for the Sed Festival finds possible
parallels to the ritual dances of these groups in the Sed Festivals of several Egyptian
rulers.
3.1.3.1. Mntyw-LiBYAm & THE WOMEN OF THE LIBYAN DESERT
The dancing women who are clad in a Libyan style with leather straps across their
chests in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef
are most likely members of a ritual performance troupe that is comprised of women from
the oases and other locations in the Libyan Desert to the west of Egypt (Figs. 148,188c);
indeed the women who perform a dance ritual at Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival are
specifically identified as "women who were brought from the oasis" (hmw.t inn.w hr
wh3.t).m The women who bear libations for the king at the celebration of the Sed
Festival are probably also members of the same Libyan ritual performance troupe. In the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Fig. 144), the female
libation-bearers are identified as "children of (foreign) chiefs" (ms.w wr.w) and
"daughter(s) of the M«fyw-Libyans" (s3.t Mntyw);105 in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Akhenaten (Fig. 146), the female libation-bearers are similarly identified as "children of
For the authoritative transliteration, translation, and discussion of the relevant passage from the
Medamud hymn, see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 64-80.
104
For detailed discussion of the dancers clad in kilts, broad-collars, and leather straps in the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 34,
36, 38,40), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4; Section 3.1.2. For detailed discussion of the similarly clad dancers
in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, op. cit., pi.
59), see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4b; Section 3.1.1.1.
105
For detailed discussion of the libation-bearers in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 32), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 3; Section 3.1.2.
295
the chiefs of every foreign land" (ms.w wr.w hls.t nb.t); and, finally, in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Osorkon II (Fig. 147a), the female libation-bearers are identified as
"(representatives of) all foreign lands" (hSs.wt nb(.t)).107 The pouring of libations by
these women probably heralds the goddess's return to Egypt and the ensuing inundation
of the Nile with floodwaters.108
3.1.3.2. Sfy.W-NUBIANS & THE MACE-DANCE
The stick fighters who perform bouts of ritual combat at the third Sed Festival of
Amenhoep III (Fig. 193) and at the Sed Festival of Akhenaten (Fig. 221) may represent
the mace-wielding S/j.w-Nubians who dance for the wandering goddess of the solar eye
in the Medamud hymn.109 The depiction of a pair of stick fighters on an unprovenanced
26th Dynasty New Year's flask suggests that stick fighting rituals may in fact be
interchangeable with the Nubian mace-dance during the celebration of the New Year
Festival.110 Traditionally, the men who participated in bouts of ritual combat at royal
celebrations such as the Sed Festival were members of the Egyptian military, which
For detailed discussion of the libation-bearers in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten (Smith and
Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 85.5), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 3; Section 2.2.5, Scene 13;
Section 3.1.2.
107
For detailed discussion of the libation-bearers in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II (Naville,
Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 14, no. 3), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 3; Section 2.2.6, Scene 7; Section 3.1.2.
108
For a detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of these women's pouring of libations at the Sed
Festival, see Section 3.1.2.
109
For detailed discussion of the stick fighting sequence in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival
in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis. 59, 61, 63), see Section 2.1.2, Scene 6;
Section 6.3. For further discussion of the stick fighting sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten
(Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pi. 106), see Section 2.1.2, Scene 6, Section 2.2.5, Scene 16;
Section 6.3.
110
For discussion of the stick who appear on an unprovenanced 26th Dynasty New Year's flask in the
collection of the Brooklyn Museum, see Fazzini, JSSEA 28 (2001): 55-57, pi. 1.
296
included many non-Egyptian individuals of various national and ethnic backgrounds.11
Thus, the ritual combatants who perform for the Egyptian ruler at the Sed Festival appear
to represent the entire range of possible ethnicities and nationalities.
3.1.3.3. 7wn.ty.wi THE PROSTRATE NOMADS
In at least two scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the Temple of
Bubastis, groups of feathered headdress-wearing desert-dwellers who are identified as the
"Nubian Iwn.ty.w-Nomads of the Council of Horus of the Sand" (7wn.ty.wSti n knb.t-Hr
Sry) perform a sequence of ritual dances and poses that includes "kissing the ground,"
kneeling, and standing (Figs. 147c, 233). m A nearly identical group of feathered
headdress-wearing desert-dwellers performs the same ritual dances and poses in a scene
from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb (Fig.
208).113 Undoubtedly, the groups of men who prostrate themselves as a form of ritual
dance at the Sed Festival correspond to the 'Iwn.ty.w-noma.ds, who "throw themselves
down" in front of the wandering goddess in the Medamud hymn.114 In other scenes from
the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob (Fig. 284),115 the Sed Festival reliefs of
111
For discussion of the ethnic makeup of ritual combatants at royal festivals, see primarily Piccione, in
Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 345; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 208. For
discussion of the Egyptian military as an inclusive, multiethnic force that easily incorporated foreign
auxiliaries and foreign prisoner-of-war, see Darnell and Manassa, op. cit., pp. 67-69, 184, with references.
112
For depictions of prostrate /wn.fy.w-nomads in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, see
Naville, Fesival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 11,15; Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 75, fig. 2. For further
discussion of these prostrate nomads, see Degreef, Sahara 20 (2009): 121.
113
For this depiction of prostrate 7w«.fy.w-nomads in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb, see
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 119. For further discussion of these prostrate nomads, see Degreef, Sahara 20
(2009): 121.
114
Without specifically discussing the peoples who escort the wandering goddess during her return to
Egypt, Degreef, Sahara 20 (2009): 121-124, also links these Sed Festival scenes to the New Year Festival.
115
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 20c, 27, 38, 51, 57, 61.
297
Amenhotep III at Soleb (Fig. 285),116 the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the
Gempaaten (Fig. 8 8 ) , m and the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Figs. 70,
147a),118 groups of men who prostrate themselves in a similar fashion include
"chamberlains" (imy.w-hnt), "elders" (smsw.w), "companions" (smr.w), "great ones of
Upper and Lower Egypt" (wr.w Srrf.w Mhw), "royal dignitaries" (sib.w-nsw.t), "great
nobles" (srh.w wr.w), and "citizens" (cnh.w nw niw.t). A possible parallel to these
prostration scenes appears in a rock inscription of Montuhotep II at Gebel Uweinat; the
rock inscription, which may depict a scene from the celebration of the Sed Festival,
includes an image of a prostrate man in front of the enthroned king (Fig. 286).119
3.1.3.4. BEARDED PUNTITES & LION-MASKED BES FIGURES
In a fragmentary scene from the reliefs of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III
in the Temple of Soleb, a group of five men—included at least one bearded dwarf—
performs a dance of jubilation in the presence of the royal couple at the conclusion of a
series of rituals involving the god Min (Fig. 209); these five men are identified in the
relief as "dancers of Punt" (ihb.w n(w) Pwnt).120 Undoubtedly, the "dancers of Punt" in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III act as of representatives of the bearded Puntites
who "declaim" for the wandering goddess in the Medamud hymn. The lion-masked men
who dance and carry arm-shaped batons in the Hathoric ritual performance sequences
116
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 142, no. 245.
117
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festivalat Karnak, pis. 3.3, 3.4,4.7,4.8, 67-69.
118
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 2, 14, 20, 24, 25.1, 25.6.
119
For the interpretation of this rock inscription as a representation of a scene from the Sed Festival of
Montuhotep II, see Degreef, Sahara 20 (2009): 121-124, fig. 1.
120
For detailed discussion of the "dancers of Punt" (Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 120-121) and the Min
sequence in the reliefs of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III at Soleb, see Section 2.2.4, Register 6.
298
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Fig. 148d) and
the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 147b) appear as representatives of
the god Bes.121 A similar depiction of a lion-masked man in a relief fragment from the
mortuary temple of Sahure may Have originally appeared in a scene from the celebration
of the Sed Festival (Fig. 154). m Since Bes has a well-documented association with the
Nubia and Punt, and since Bes is know to placate the wandering goddess of the solar eye
during her winter sojourn, the lion-masked men who dance at the celebration of the Sed
Festival are most likely also representatives of the bearded Puntites who "declaim" for
the wandering goddess in the Medamud hymn.123
3.2. RITUAL PERFORMANCES OF THE ROYAL WOMEN
3.2.0. INTRODUCTION
The ritual performers in the previously discussed dancing, music, and libation-
offering scenes at the celebration of the Sed Festival appear to be members of a
performance troupe that primarily included non-royal women; however, female members
of the Egyptian ruler's family also often participated in ritual performances at the
celebration of the Sed Festival. In the earliest documentation for the Sed Festival from
the Predynastic Period, the Protodynastic Period, the Early Dynastic Period, and the Old
Kingdom, the most commonly depicted rituals involving royal women are processions in
121
For detailed discussion of the lion-masked men in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb
of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 40) and the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at
Bubastis (Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 15, no. 5) as representatives of Bes, see Section 2.1.1,
Scene 4; Section 2.2.6, Scene 7. For further discussion of the identification of lion-masked figures as
representatives of Bes, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 184.
122
For further discussion of this image of a lion-masked man from the mortuary temple of Sahure
(Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pi. 22), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4.
123
For detailed discussion of Bes's association with Punt and the role of Bes in the myth of the wandering
goddess, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 4, footnote 185.
299
which the wife and daughter of the king appear as seated occupants of covered
palanquins (Section 3.2.1). The palanquin procession of the royal women continued to
be an important part of the celebration of the Sed Festival during the New Kingdom and
later periods (Section 3.2.1); however, in numerous scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs
of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II, the wife and daughters of the king appear
outside of their palanquins and accompany the king during the performance of the
various rituals of the Sed Festival. Additionally, beginning in the New Kingdom, the
royal daughters take a more active role in the celebration of the Sed Festival by singing
hymns and shaking Hathoric implements in the presence of the royal couple (Section
3.2.2). The musical peformances of the royal daughters probably serve as a prelude to
the hieros gamos—a mysterious ritual in which the king takes on the form of the solar
creator god and joins in a sexual union with his divine consort; however, perhaps for
reasons of decorum, the rites of the hieros gamos itself are never depicted in the reliefs of
the Sed Festival. In rare instances additional female members of the royal family also
participate in the ritual performances of the Sed Festival; for example, in several
processional scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in
the Temple of Soleb, a woman who is identified as the "divine mother (of Assiut)" may
in fact be the actual mother of the king (Section 3.2.3).
3.2.1. PALANQUIN PROCESSION OF THE ROYAL WOMEN
3.2.1.0. INTRODUCTION
A key personage in the visual representations of the celebration of the Sed
Festival from the late Predynastic Period to Dynasty 26 is a woman or group of women
clad in a long enveloping robes and seated in covered palanquins or open carrying-chairs.
300
In royal inscriptions as early as the I s Dynasty, women clad in long robes and seated in
palanquins bear titles that identify them as female members of the royal family.124
Perhaps as early as Naqada IIC, similarly appareled women appear as seated occupants of
carrying-chairs and palanquins in representations of the Sed Festival; the unlabeled
women who appear as seated occupants of palanquins in Predynastic and Protodynastic
representations of the Sed Festival are almost certainly female members of the royal
family, such as the wife and daughters of the king. In scenes with one seated woman,
such as Tomb 100 (Fig. 131d), the Scorpion Tableau at Gebel Tjauti (Fig. 287), and the
Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60), the occupant of the carrying-chair is most likely the king's
principal wife (Section 3.2.1.1). In scenes with multiple seated women, such as the
Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21) and the San Antonio palette fragment (Fig. 109), the group
of women probably includes the royal daughters, the queen, and perhaps other prominent
female members of the royal family (Section 3.2.1.2). From the Old Kingdom onwards,
the women who appear as seated occupants of palanquins at the celebration of the Sed
Festival almost always bear royal titles that clearly identify them as a principle wife of
the king (Section 3.2.1.1) or as "royal daughters" (Section 3.2.1.2).
In contexts outside of the Sed Festival, the term rpy.t (variant: rpw.i) commonly
applies to similar images of woman or goddess who appears as a seated occupant of a
covered palanquin. The term rpy.t appears to have three basic meanings in ancient
124
For detailed discussion of the early iconographic association between carrying-chairs and royal women,
see Troy, Patterns of Queens/tip, pp. 79-83; Adams, Eretz-Israel 2\ (1990): 1-9; Darnell, Theban Desert
Road Survey, Vol. 1, p. 14, with references; Kopp, in Miscellanea in Honorem Wolfhart Westendorf, pp.
125
For discussion of the term rpy.t as a description of women/goddesses who appear as seated occupants of
covered palanquins, see primarily Gauthier, BIFAO 3 (1903): 165-181; Ward, SAK5 (1977): 265-269;
Rossler-KQhler, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 236-242; Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983): 261-296; Kaplony, Agypten und
Levante 13 (2003): 119-121; Billing, Nut: The Goddess of Life, pp. 171-175.
301
Egyptian texts: "Sanfte" (Wb. 2, 414.12-13); "vornehme Frau," "Gottin" (Wb. 2, 415.1-
10); "Frauenstatue, Frauenfigur" (Wb. 2, 415.11-14). However, the term that is
commonly read rpy.t or rpw.t may perhaps be better read as a nisbe-form, rpw.ty, with the
meaning "she of the palanquin"; in this regard, the term would properly describe any
goddess or high-ranking woman who appears as a seated occupant of a covered
palanquin.126
One of the earliest attested hieroglyphic writings of the word rpy.t (±±D ^ )
appears as an inscription on a shrine-shaped three-dimensional Early Dynastic limestone
votive offering from Abydos; the female occupant inside of this portable shrine has cows'
ears and horns and wears an enveloping robe and necklace of knotted cloth that resembles
an cnh-sign or an Isis-knot (Fig. 288).127 The seated occupant inside of this shrine is
similar in many respects to the bovine celestial goddess who appears often on archaic
Egyptian decorated objects as a represenation of Hathor/Bat (Figs. 39, 244-246). The
two cloaked, beak-nosed human figures with ram horns on the sides of this small
For a similar interpretation of the etymological derivation of this term, see Ward, SAK 5 (1977): 265-
269. Kaiser, MDAIK 39 (1983): 296, stressing the association between rpy.t and the cult center of Min at
Achmim, proposes an alternate etymology for the term according to which rpw.t is actually a feminine
nisbe-form of *rpw > ipw with the meaning "she of Achmim." For further discussion of the etymology of
the term rpy.t and name of the the related goddess Triphis, see also Gardiner, JEA 31 (1945): 108-111;
Gauthier, B1FA03 (1903): 165-181; Gorg, Biblische Notizen 101 (2000): 15-17.
127
Lucerne, Kofler-Truniger Collection K9643R; for discussion of this rpy. /-shaped votive offering, see
primarily Miiller, Agyptische Kunstwerke, Kleinfunde und Glas, cat. no. A31; Seipel, Bilderfiir die
Ewigkeit, cat. no. 8; Fischer, JARCE 1 (1962): 12; Fischer, MMJ5 (1972): 15; Ward, SAK5 (1977): 267;
Kaiser, MDAIK 39 (1983): 275-276; Rossler-Kohler, in LdA, Vol. 5, col. 236; Troy, Patterns ofQueenship,
p. 80; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: An Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 92-94; Adams, Eretz-Israel 21
(1990): 3; Morenz, Archivfur Religionsgeschichte 5 (2003): 215-217; Kaplony, Agypten undLevante 13
(2003): 119-121. Similarly shaped Early Dynastic votives from Abydos do not have hieroglyphic labels
and often do not depict a passenger within the palanquin; cf. Miiller, op. cit., cat. nos. A29a-c; Petrie,
Abydos, Vol. 2, pis. 7.131-132, 11.243. For other Early Dynastic hieroglyphic writings of the word rpy.t,
see Kahl, Friihdgyptisches Wbrterbuch, Vol. 2, pp. 267-268.
128
For discussion of archaic depictions of the bovine celestial goddess as representations of Hathor/Bat, see
references collected in Section 3.1.1.2, footnote 17.
302
limestone votive statue are most likely priests responsible for carrying the portable
shrine.129 In various contexts from the dynastic period, the term rpy.t appears as both an
independent deity and as a designation for various goddesses—especially those
connected to the solar eye.130 By appearing as seated occupants of covered palanquins in
ritual contexts such as the celebration of the Sed Festival, royal women very likely
identify themselves as divine manifestations of Hathor and other celestial goddesses.
3.2.1.1. PALANQUIN PROCESSION OF THE QUEEN
The Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak
include several scenes in which the wife of the king, Nefertiti, appears as a seated
occupant of a covered palanquin that is topped with a uraeus-frieze; in each of these
scenes, a group of female attendants carrying ostrich-feather fans and strips of cloth
stands attentively behind the queen's palanquin. Most depictions of Nefertiti as a
seated occupant of a palanquin appear in very fragmentary scenes; however, two of the
best preserved scenes from the reliefs of Akhenaten's Sed Festival depict a grand royal
procession in which Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and a group of royal daughters all appear as
For a similar conclusion regarding the cloaked men on the sides of the votive, see Kaiser, MDA1K 39
(1983): 275. For discussion of these men as shamans, see Morenz, Archivfur Religionsgeschichte 5
(2003): 212-226.
130
For discussion of the term rpy.t as a description of goddesses connected to the solar eye, see Troy,
Patterns ofQueenship, p. 80, with references.
131
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 1,2,8.15,8.16,9.17, 11.22, 11.23, 16.35, 18.41,70,
71; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 41, 47.1,48.2,48.3, 49.1, 52.2, 58. For
discussion of the depictions of Nefertiti as a seated occupant of a covered palanquin in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten, see primarily Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 89-90, fig. 61;
Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King, pp. I l l , 120, 132-134, figs. 7.13, 7.19; Vergnieux, Recherches sur
les monuments thebains d'Amenhotep IV, Vol. 1, p. 193, with references; Redford, in Freed, eta/., eds.,
Pharaohs of the Sun, p. 57; Tyldesley, Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen, pp. 65-66,101; Kopp, in Miscellanea
in Honorem Wolfhart Westendorf p. 36, with references.
303
seated occupants of palanquins (Figs. 88-89). Royal processions in which the king and
the royal daughters appear as seated occupants of palanquins appear often in
representations of the Sed Festival throughout the dynastic period (Section 3.2.1.2);
however, the reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak provide the
only attestations of the queen as an occupant of a palanquin at the Sed Festival from the
dynastic period. Despite the paucity of evidence for queenly palanquin processions in the
dynastic documentation for the Sed Festival, this particular rite appears to be quite
ancient in origin. At least three Predynastic and Protodynastic royal scenes very likely
depict an early prototype for the queenly palanquin procession that occurs at the Sed
Festival of Akhenaten.
In an intriguing scene from the representation of the Sed Festival in the painted
tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, a seated—or perhaps kneeling—person appears
directly in front of the Egyptian ruler in the area above the rear cabin of the largest
barque in a multi-boat nautical procession; the ruler, who is standing inside of a kiosk,
appears to be about to begin the performance of a ritual run known as the Konigslauf
(Fig. 131d).133 The image of the seated person in front the Egyptian ruler is fragmentary
and does not appear to be an occupant of a carrying-chair; nonetheless, this seated
individual is very likely the earliest extant image of the queen at the celebration of the
Sed Festival.134 In this regard, the scene above the rear cabin of the largest barque in the
132
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 1-2; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project,
Vol. 1, pis. 41, 58.
133
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the Konigslauf in this scene from the painted tableau of Tomb
100 at Hierakonpolis (Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 76-77), see Section 4.1.1.
134
For the identification of the seated person in front of the Egyptian ruler in this scene from the painted
tableau from Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis as an early example of the rpy.t-T\g\xre, see primarily Cialowicz,
in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275; Adams and
304
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis provides a close parallel to the
representation of the Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60).
Directly in front of the stepped dais upon which Narmer is enthroned on the
Narmer Macehead, a woman wearing a long enveloping robe appears as a seated
occupant of a covered palanquin; behind her, a group of three men clad only in belted
sporans perform a ceremonial run between two sets of crescent-shaped boundary
markers.135 Thus, the context of the appearance of the seated woman is quite similar on
the Narmer Macehead and in the painted tableau from Tomb 100; both scenes include a
ceremonial run and a depiction of the Egyptian inside of the characteristic Sed Festival
kiosk. The enveloping robe of the seated woman corresponds closely to the cloaked
garments typically worn and by royal women (Figs. 122-130) and by the bovine goddess
Bat (Fig. 288) in archaic Egyptian statuary; in ritual contexts, this robe is a symbolically
significant marker of royal status and an indication of a strong association with Hathor—
the protective womb-like goddess of the solar eye who protects the solar deity in the
waning moments of the night just prior to his rebirth at sunrise.136 The long Sed Festival
Cialowicz, Protocfynastic Egypt, pp. 37-39, fig. 24d; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 158-159,
fig. 18.2. Previous discussions of this scene typically do not identify the seated figure as a royal woman;
see, e.g., Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 115-116; Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 14, fig. 5.11; Avi-
Hebrew School, Vol. 2, pp. 8, 24; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 255.
135
For detailed discussion of the group run that takes place in the open courtyard in front of the royal dais
in the depiction of the Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 224, fig. 1), see
Section 4.3.1. For detailed discussion of the enthronement of the king on the macehead, see Section 4.3.4.
136
Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983): 262, describes the seated person in front of the king on the Narmer
Macehead as "nahezu mumienformigen"; however, it is much more likely that this woman is wearing a
cloaked garment similar to the one worn by the seated women on the Scorpion Macehead. For discussion
of the robe worn by the goddess Bat in a small votive statue from Abydos, see references collected in
Section 3.2.1.0, footnote 127. For discussion of the cloaked garments worn by royal women in archaic
Egyptian statuary, see references collected in Section 1.1.2, footnote 104. For detailed discussion of the
Hathoric womb-like symbolism of the cloaked garments of the royal women at the Sed Festival, see
Section 1.1.2.
305
robe of the king himself is closely related to the robes worn by the queen and by other
royal women who appear as Hathoric representatives at the Sed Festival.137 The
identification of the seated woman in front of the king on the Narmer Macehead as the
queen is all but certain; her presence in this scene is undoubtedly an allusion to the
rejuvenating rites of the hieros gamos.m The earliest Sed Festival scene in which the
king's wife is definitively identified by name, however, does not appear until the 3 r
Dynasty; the wife and two daughters of Djoser appear in miniature scale at the feet of the
enthroned king in a fragmentary Sed Festival relief from Heliopolis (Fig. 289).139
An intriguing possible parallel to the depiction of the queen as a seated occupant
of a covered palanquin on the Narmer Macehead appears in a Protodynastic rock
For detailed discussion of the interrelationship of the king's Sed Festival robe and the royal women's
ceremonial cloaked garments, see Section 1.1.2.
138
The identification of the seated figure in front of the king on the Narmer Macehead has been the subject
of considerable scholarly discussion and controversy. For convenient overviews of various interpretations
of this figure, see Cialowicz, La niissance d'un royaume, p. 204; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des
periodes Predynastique et Archa'ique dans la Vallee du Nil, pp. 39-41. For the interpretation of this figure
as a tekenu, see Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, p. 53. For the
interpretation of this figure as the divine image of a goddess in a r/ry.?-shrine, see Kemp, Ancient Egypt:
Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 60, fig. 20g; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 68-69. For the
interpretation of this figure as a the "Konigsgebarerin" in a rpy.t-shrine, see Kaiser, MDAIK 39 (1983):
262-263,290-291; Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, p. 60; Gundlach,
Der Pharao und seine Staat, p. 72. For the interpretation of this figure as a royal daughter, see Millet,
JARCE21 (1990): 56; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 264. For the interpretation of
this figure as the wife, the bride, or the sexual partner of the king, see Newberry, in Brunton, ed., Great
Ones of Ancient Egypt, p. 37; Petrie, The Making of Egypt, pp. 78-79; Emery, Archaic Egypt, pp. 44-47;
Kaiser, ZAS 91 (1964): 90-91; Hoffman, Egypt Before the Pharaohs, pp. 322-323; Baumgartel, Cultures of
Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 114; Westendorf, ZAS 94 (1967): p. 144, footnote 31; Gundlach, in Holtus,
ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, pp. 59-60; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger
Bevolkerung, pp. 34-37. For the interpretation of this figure as a defeated foreign leader, see Quibell and
Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 9; Schott, Hieroglyphen, p. 24. For the interpretation of this figure as a
prince, see Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 84, 368, note 17. For an unconvincing attempt to link
this figure with glyptic motifs of southeastern Turkey and Iraq, see with caution, Wengrow, Archaeology of
Early Egypt, p. 164.
139
For this fragmentary Sed Festival relief of Djoser from Heliopolis, see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p.
62; Roth, JARCE 30 (1993): 54, fig. 11; Kahl, etal, Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie, pp. 114-115, no. 3277;
Stadelmann, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 172-173,183, fig. 3; Baud, Djeser etla
Hie dynastie, pp. 86-87; Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 107, 114, 137, fig. 29;
Dodson and Hilton, The Complete Royal Families, p. 48.
306
inscription from the reign of Scorpion at a site in the western Thebaid known as Gebel
Tjauti (Fig. 287). 14° The main scene in this royal inscription is a military victory ritual in
which Scorpion smites a defeated enemy combatant with a pifiform mace.141 The
discoverer of this inscription has convincingly argued that the unoccupied covered
palanquin at the very top of the tableau is an early example of the r/ry.?-shrine; the
presence of this palanquin at the royal military ritual of Scorpion most likely implies the
presence of the king's wife, who may in fact be represented by the longhaired individual
in the lower right portion of the tableau.142
3.2.1.2. PALANQUIN PROCESSION OF MULTIPLE ROYAL WOMEN
In representations of the Sed Festival as early as the Protodynastic Period, a group
of several women clad in long robes often appears in the presence of the Egyptian ruler as
seated occupants of carrying-chairs and palanquins. The cloaked garments worn by these
women almost certainly identify them as female members of the royal family; however, a
more precise identification is not possible in representations of the Sed Festival prior to
the Old Kingdom. During the Protodynastic Period and Early Dynastic Period, the group
probably consists of the most prominent female members of the royal family, including—
but not limited to—the wife, daughters, sisters, and mother of the king.
For the royal tableau of Scorpion at Gebel Tjauti, see primarily Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey,
Vol. l,pp. 10-19.
141
For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scene in the Scorpion Tableau at Gebel Tjauti, see Section
6.1.1.
142
For the identification of the rpy.t-figure in the Scorpion Tableau at Gebel Tjauti, see Darnell, Theban
Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 13-14. According to Darnell, loc. cit., the r/ry.f-figure "is associated with
the female power behind the throne—be it that of a queen, princess, or a goddess"; she "follows in the
procession to a shrine, perhaps in order to view or participate in the presentation of a captive, as depicted in
the lower register of the tableau."
307
In the Protodynastic representation of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead
(Fig. 21), at least two women clad in long cloaked garments appear as seated occupants
of uncovered carrying-chairs at a ceremony commemorating the opening of a sacred
precinct and ritual waterway.143 The baton carried by the male attendant who escorts the
women in carrying-chairs is most likely a symbol of feminine royal status linked to the
title wr.t-hts ("great one of the baton").144 Based on several factors including their
costume, their mode of transportation, and presence of a baton-wielding escort, the seated
women at the Sed Festival of Scorpion can almost almost certainly be identified as
female members of the royal family.145 The ritual dance performance that takes place
directly below these women is a Hathoric linked to the pouring of libation offerings, the
inundation of the Nile, and the regenerating aspects of the solar deity's nocturnal journey
through the underworld.146 The large papyrus plants that appear to the right of the
For detailed discussion of the foundation rites that appear on the Scorpion Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28
(1991): 225, fig. 2), see Section 7.5.
144
For a similar conclusion regarding the attendant's baton and its connection to the title wr.t-hts ("great
one of the baton"), see Grdseloff, ASAE 42 (1943): 114-115; Adams, Eretz-Israel 21 (1990): 4-5. For
further discussion of this title and its association with royal women in the Early Dynastic Period, see Troy,
Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 79, 81, 83-84, 88, 189; Sabbahy, GM135 (1993): 81-87; Seipel,
Untersuchungen zu den dgyptischen Koniginnen, pp. 318-328.
145
The seated occupants of carrying chairs in the depiction of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead
have been subject to considerable scholarly discussion and controversy. For convenient critical reviews of
all previous interpretations of these individuals, see Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 199;
Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 8 (1997): 17; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des
periodes Predynastique et Archaique dans la Vallee du Nil, p. 33; Scott, in Hawass and Richards, eds., The
Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 347-348. For the sensible interpretation of these
individuals as female members of the royal family, see Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 58; Fay, in Ziegler, ed.,
L 'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 114. For the intepretation of these individuals as royal children or
royal daughters, see Schott, Hieroglyphen, p. 25; Grdseloff, ASAE 42 (1943): 114-115; Baumgartel,
Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 117. For the curious interpretation of these individuals as captive
royal children, see Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 264. For the interpretation of these
individuals as "captive princes," see Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 9. For the interpretation
of these individuals as sacrificial victims, see Junker, Giza, Vol. 5, p. 83.
146
For detailed discussion of the dancing women who appear on the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.1.2.
308
dancing women and the women seated in carrying-chairs probably allude to the ritual
shaking of papyrus (sSS-wid) for the goddess Hathor.147
The decoration on both sides of a recently published fragment of a late
Predynastic slate palette in the collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art provides
another intriguing group of seated individuals in uncovered carrying-chairs and covered
palanquins (Fig 109).148 The recto of the palette fragment depicts of a group of at least
two individuals—most likely women—who are clad in long robes and seated in covered
palanquins; in the between the pair of palanquins, a third individual—probably also a
woman—sits on the ground and holds a large obscure rectangular object in her lap.149 On
the verso of the palette fragment, an individual—most likely a woman—who is clad in a
long robe appears as a seated occupant of an uncovered carrying-chair. The surviving
iconographic details of this small palette fragment clearly suggest that the original
decoration, which spanned both side of the palette, was a grand scene from the
celebration of the Sed Festival by an unidentified Protodynastic Egyptian ruler. The
individuals who appear as seated occupants of an uncovered carrying-chair and a pair of
covered palanquins are almost certainly prominent female members of the royal family;
however, a more precise identification is not possible.150
For detailed discussion of the ritual shaking of papyrus as a prelude to the hieros gamos, see references
148
San Antonio 86.138.62; see Scott, in Hawass and Richards, eds., The Archaeology and Art of Ancient
Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 343-350, figs. 1-2.
149
Scott, in Hawass and Richards, eds., The Archaeology and Art ofAncient Egypt, Vol. 2, p. 349, note 9,
tentatively identifies this object as "a bolt of cloth" or "a writing board."
150
For a similar conclusion, see Scott, in Hawass and Richards, eds., The Archaeology and Art of Ancient
Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 343-350.
309
The depiction of a pair of women clad in long robes as occupants of uncovered
carrying-chairs in the second register of a label of Djer from the tomb of Hemaka
probably is probably also a representation of the palanquin procession of the royal
women at the Sed Festival (Fig. 110).151 In this example, the two women who are seated
on carrying-chairs bear a pair of titles that are definitively attested in several contexts for
female members of the royal family: wr.t-hts ("great one of the baton") and rn.jy.t-Hr
("she who sees Horus").152 Thus, the identification of these women as family members
of the king is fairly certain; however, a more specific identification of the women is not
possible. The tuft of hair that hangs in front of each woman's face recalls hair of the
women who perform unusual dance movments in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the Tomb of Kheruef.153 A similar depiction of a seated woman with a tuft of
hair hanging in front of her face appears in an open courtyard in front of the royal dais in
an obscure scene in the second register of another label of Djer (Fig. 290).154
151
For detailed discussion of the two seated women in the second register of this label of Djer from the
tomb of Hemaka (Cairo Museum JdE 70114), see primarily Emery, The Tomb of Hemaka, pi. 17a;
Grdseloff, ASAE 42 (1943): 107-120, fig. 113; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 845-848, fig. 565; Troy,
Patterns ofQueenship, p. 81; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 119-121, 153-154; Adams,
Eretz-Israel2\ (1990): 4-5, fig. 8; Fay, inZiegler, ed., Vartde VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 114-115,144,
fig. 53; Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10 Supplement (2000): 11-15, fig. 7; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001):
165-166, fig. 1; Kaplony, Agypten und Levante 13(2003): 119-121. For detailed discussion of the ball-
throwing ritual that takes place directly in front of the women seated in carrying-chairs in the second
register of this label, see Section 6.2. For detailed discussion of the ritual stabbing of a prisoner in the
throat with a dagger in the top right corner of this label, see Section 6.1.6.
152
For discussion of the title wr.t-hts ("great one of the baton"), see references collected supra, this section,
in footnote 144. For discussion of the title mii.t-Hr ("she who sees Horus"), see references collected in
Section 3.1.3.0, footnote 101.
153
For the suggest that a tuft of hair hangs in front of each woman's face, rather than a stream of blood, see
Fay, in Ziegler, ed., I'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 114; Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10
Supplement (2000): 11-15, with references. For detailed discussion of the longhaired dancers who appear
in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4;
Section 3.1.2.
154
This particular label of Djer is preserved in two copies—one from Saqqara (Tomb S 2171 H; Quibell,
Archaic Mastabas, pi. 11.2-3), another from Abydos (Berlin Museum 18026; Scharff, Altertiimer, Vol. 2, p.
171, fig. 92). For detailed discussion of the scenes on this label, see Legge, PSBA 29 (1907): 70-73; Helck,
310
In a fragmentary relief from the mortuary temple of the 5 Dynasty king Sahure,
at least two women clad in long robes appear as occupants of covered palanquins—
presumably at the celebration of the king's Sed Festival (Fig. 291).155 Although these
women almost certainly depict female members of the royal family, a definitive
identification is still not possible in the context of this relief. Later in the 5 Dynasty, in
several reliefs from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob,
a group of women who appear as seated occupants of covered palanquins at the
celebration of the Sed Festival is definitively identified for the first time as ms.w-nsw.t
(Figs. I l l , 114); in several other scenes, similar depictions of women as seated occupants
of covered palanquins appear without identifying labels in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre (Figs. 112-113).156 The oft-discussed phrase ms.w-nsw.t, which describes the
women seated in palanquins at Niuserre's Sed Festival, unambiguously identifies these
women as "royal daughters."157 The context in which the royal daughters appear as
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 152-153; Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10 Supplement (2000): 11-
15; Kaplony, Agypten undLevante 13 (2003): 119-121; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festival in the Late
Predynastic Period, pp. 63-64.
155
Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-Re, Vol. 2, pp. 126-127, pi. 65; for further discussion of
this scene, see Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983): 266,271-272,291.
156
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 7b, 44d, 50a, 62, 68, 88;
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 246-247; for discussion of the women who
appear as seated occupants of covered palanquins in these scenes, see primarily Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4,
pp. 328-330; Kaiser, in Aufsatze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp. 94, 100-101; Kaiser, MDAIK
39 (1983): 266-270,291-293; Adams, Eretz-Israel 21 (1990): 5; Baud, Famille royale etpouvoir, Vol 1, p.
350; Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, pp. 114, 143, fig. 49; Xekalaki, in Goyon and
Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 1963,1965.
157
For the traditional interpretation of the term ms.w-nsw.t as "die Konigskinder, die Prinzen u.
Prinzessinnen," see Wb. 2, 139.7. In a detailed study of the term ms.w-nsw.t in the reliefs of the Sed
Festival, Kaiser, MDAIK 39 (1983): 261-296, offers a novel—though ultimately unconvincing and most
likely incorrect—re interpretation of this term; instead of the traditional interpretation of the term as
"Konigskinder" ("royal children"), Kaiser suggests that the term means "Konigsgebarerin(nen)" ("the
one(s) who bore the king"—i.e., the "mother(s) of the king"). Kaiser's reinterpretation and preferred
translation of the term ms.w-nsw.t have surprisingly been taken up without serious criticism by numerous
scholars, including Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 89-91; Adams, Eretz-Israel21 (1990): 5; Gundlach,
Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger Bevolkerung, pp. 34-37; Baud, Famille royale etpouvoir, Vol 1, p.
311
seated occupants of covered palanquins in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre is fairly
clear; a group of male attendants carries the women in their palanquins into the presence
of the king (Figs. I l l , 114) so that they might witness the grand royal palanquin of
Niuserre (Figs. 112-113). A hieroglyphic text labeling one of the scenes suggests that the
palanquins of the royal daughters are placed on the ground directly in front of the steps of
platform of the royal kiosk (Fig. I l l ) : chc hr Bb hft tp rd.w sw? ir s.t=sn, "stopping on
the left in front of the top of the stairs; passing by and taking their position."158 This
position corresponds closely to the location of the seated queen (and her palanquin) in the
depictions of the Sed Festival in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig.
131d) and on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60). A relief fragment from the mortuary
temple of Teti provides another clear example of a group of ms.w-nsw.t ("royal
daughters") as seated occupants of covered palanquins (Fig. 292); however, because of
the fragmentary state of preservation of the relief, the context for this scene and its
possible connection to the Sed Festival are uncertain.159
350; Roth, Die Konigsmutter des Alten Agypten, pp. 59-67. The present study rejects Kaiser's
reinterpretaion of ms.w-nsw.t and follows the traditional interpretation of the term. The earliest attestation
of the term ms.w-nsw.t appears on a sealing of Den (Kaplony, Die Inschriften der agyptischen Friihzeit,
nos. 195-196). Another early attestation of the term ms.w-nsw.t appears in an epithet of Djoser's mother
Nymaathap with two possible translations (Kaplony, Die Inschriften der agyptischen Friihzeit, no. 325):
mw.t ms.w-nsw.t, "mother of the children of the king," or alternately "mother who bore the king." For
discussion of the possible translations of this epithet of Nymaathap, see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, pp.
90-91; Roth, Die Konigsmutter des Alten Agypten, pp. 59-67; Baud, Djeser etlallle dynastie, pp. 81-83.
For discussion of the use of the term ms.w-nsw.t in the Old Kingdom, see primarily Baud, Famille royale et
pouvoir, Vol 1, pp. 189-191, 347-350. According to Baud, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 191: "Le groupe forme done
une collectivite dans laquelle filles et garcons sont associes, beneficiant d'une education commune et d'une
administration groupee de leurs possessions."
158
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, pp. 35-37, no. 246. Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983):
266-267, considers this fragment to be part of a scene depicting "einen Aufzug vor dem thronenden Konig"
and similarly translates the text between the two groups of palanquins: "Sich aufstellen zur Linken
gegeniiber dem Thron—sich entfernen und den Platz (wieder) einnehmen."
Lauer and Leclant, Le temple haut du complexe funeraire du roi Teti, pp. 65-66, fig. 23, pi. 24d, block 9;
Baud, Famille royale et pouvoir, p. 350, fn. 719. A block from the causeway of the mortuary temple of
Unas (Dynasty 5) at Saqqara contains a references to the ms.w-nsw.t, determined by three seated men; it is
312
After the reign of Niuserre, the next unambiguous depictions of the royal
daughters as seated occupants of palanquins at the celebration of the Sed Festival appear
in the reliefs of Akhenaten from the Gempaaten Temple at Karnak (Figs. 115-121).160
Most depictions of the royal daughters in the reliefs of the Gempaaten appear in
fragmentary scenes without a clear context; however, in two of the best preserved scenes
from Akhenaten's Sed Festival, the king, the queen, and the royal daughters all appear as
seated occupants of palanquins in a grand ritual procession (Figs. 88-89).161 Depictions
of the royal daughters standing in front of their palanquins in several scenes from the the
Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten suggest that the royal daughters arrived via palanquin at
designated performance spaces and emerged from their palanquins to witness and
participate in the rites of Akhenaten's Sed Festival (Fig. 165).162 Sed Festival scenes in
other contexts that depict the royal daughters as seated occupants of palanquins—for
example, in the 26th Dynasty Sed Festival reliefs on the gateway of the palace of Apries
at Memphis (Figs. 28, 32)163—probably indirectly allude to the royal daughters'
important role as observers and probably also participants in the Sed Festival rites.
unclear if this block was part of Sed Festival sequence; see Goedicke, Re-used Blocks from the Pyramid of
Amenemhet I at Lisht, pp. 24-26, no. 8.
160
Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 41,44.5, 46.4,48.3, 51.6, 52.2, 58;
Gohary,Akhenaten'sSed-FestivalatKarnak,p\s. 1-2, 8.16, 9.17,10.20,16.36, 16.37,16.38,72-73. For
further discussion of the depictions of the royal daughters as seated occupants of palanquins in these
scenes, see Troy, Patterns ofQueenship, p. 89; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the
Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, p. 1963.
161
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 1-2. For further discussion of the royal palanquin
procession in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten, see Section 2.2.5, Scene 19.
162
Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 44, nos. 1, 4, 6. Gohary, Akhenaten's
Sed-Festival at Karnak, pis. 1, 72, 73.
163
Kaiser, MDAIK43 (1986): 148, 150, 152, figs. 5, 7, 9. For discussion of the archaizing style of these
reliefs, see Kaiser, op. cit., pp. 137-144; Lauer, in Berger, ed., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, p. 195;
Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 198-200. Kaiser, MDAIK39 (1983): 271-273.
313
3.2.2. OUTSIDE THE PALANQUIN: MUSIC RITES & THE HIEROS GAMOS
The Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II include
numerous scenes in which the queen and often the royal daughters—unencumbered by
their palanquins and carrying-chairs—stand in the presence of the king during the
performance of various rites, including royal processions (Figs. 87-88, 157-158, 166a,
225-226),164 the presentation of incense offerings to deities (Fig. 293),165 the presentation
of ^./-offerings to deities (Figs. 34, 224),166 the royal enthronement ritual (Figs. 69-70,
74, 138),167 the nautical procession of the solar barque (Figs. 159, 161),168 and the
Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony (Figs. 186-187).169 Although the main function of
the royal women in these scenes seems to be to observe king's performance of various
rites, in almost all of these scenes, the royal daughters carry Hathoric musical implements
such as sistra, mm'.^-necklaces, and gazlle-headed wand.170 In a limited number of scenes
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II, the royal
daughters take a more active role in celebration of the Sed Festival by singing hymns
and/or performing jubilant dance moves in the presence of the royal couple.171 The lyrics
164
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 94-95, 97-101,105-106, 110-111,115-116, 120-121, 124-127, 129-132;
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 42; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festivalat Karnak, pis. 1, 20.44;
Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 77; Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1 -2,
4bis, 23.
165
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 125; Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 4bis.
166
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 3, 16.
167
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis. 26, 49; Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1-2.
168
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis. 44-46.
169
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef pis. 56-57.
170
For detailed discussion of the Hathoric ritual function of the sistrum, the mn/.f-necklace, and the gazelle-
headed wand, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnotes 241-243.
314
to the hymns sung by the royal daughters suggest that the main function of these hymns is
to praise the king as a manifestation of the solar creator god who is able to effect his own
regeneration—presumably as a result of the rites of the hieros gamos.
In the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, a group
of royal women comprised of royal daughters and possibly royal sisters sings a hymn in
the presence of the royal couple at the procession of the solar night barque (Fig. 161). m
As part of the ritual performance associated with the singing of this hymn, the royal
daughters and royal sisters shake Hathoric musical implements. The sound created by the
shaking of these musical implements mimics the sound of rattling papyrus; thus, the
shaking of Hathoric implements strongly alludes to the the ritual shaking of papyrus (sSS-
w3d), which often functions as a prelude to the hieros gamos.173 In the fragmentary text
of the hymn, the royal daughters address the king as an occupant of the solar barque and
describe the placement of the diadems of Re upon the brow of the king; as a result of
receiving these diadems, the king also receives the gift of nhh and d.t ("eternity" and
"infinite time"). This textual description of the solarization of the king nicely
complements the depiction of the king's actual physical transformation into the solar
For Sed Festival scenes in which the royal daughters sing a hymn in the presence of the royal couple,
see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 44-45, 57; Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project,
Vol. 1, pi. 77; Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, fig. 16; Naville, Festival-Hall ofOsorkon II, pi.
5. For Sed Festival scenes in which the royal daughters perform the /!«tv-gesture in the presence of the
royal couple, see Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 117; Smith and Redford, op. cit., Vol. 1, pi. 77.
172
For transliteration, translation, and detailed discussion of the hymn of the royal daughters (and sisters) in
the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's 1st Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of
Kheruef, pis. 44-45), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7.
173
For discussion of the shaking of Hathoric musical implements as mimicking the sound of rustling
papyrus in the sSS-wid ritual, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnotes 241-243. For
discussion of the "shaking of papyrus for Hathor" {sS$-w3d n Hw.t-Hr) as a ritual prelude ot the hieros
gamos, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnote 244.
315
falcon during the performance of nautical procession (Fig. 159). As further evidence
of the solarization and rejuvenation of Amenhotep III in this context, a hieroglyphic text
describing the nautical procession of the solar barque emphasizes that the procession
takes place at sunrise and that the king occupies the tnrt.t-platform of the "one who
created him" (i. e., the solar creator god) during the procession.
In the context of the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival, the king's wife Tiye apparently takes on the role of Hathor as sexual consort of
the solarized and divinized king. In another scene from the reliefs Amenhotep Ill's first
Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, Hathor herself appears in physical form as the
sexual consort of the king (Fig. 138).175 In the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, Tiye bears several epithets that emphasize her sexual
relationship with the king, including hnm.t nsw.t ("(she) who unites with the king") and
mh.t rh m mrw.t ("(she) who fills the palace with love").176 The sum total of this
iconographic and textual evidence suggests that the queen performs the role of sexual
consort of the king in a ritual performance of the hieros gamos at the Sed Festival; the
main purpose of this sacred union was to imbue the king with the creative energy of the
solar creator god so that he might renew his own strength and vigor.177
174
For detailed discussion of the depiction of Amenhotep III as an occupant of the solar barque in the
reliefs of his first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 46), see
Section 2.1.1, Scene 7; Section 7.4.2. For detailed discussion of the feather-shaped adornment of the king's
robe in this scene as an indicator of his transformation into the solar falcon, see Section 1.1.2.
175
For detailed discussion of the enthronement of Amenhotep III and Hathor in the reliefs of the first Sed
Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 26), see
176
For detailed discussion of these epithets of Tiye as references to her sexual relationship with the king,
see Section 2.1.2, Scene 1; Section 2.1.2, Scene 3.
177
For a similar conclusion regarding the the appearance of Tiye as Hathoric sexual consort of the
divinized king in the reliefs of Amenotep Ill's first (and third) Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see
316
In an intriguing scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten from the
Gempaaten Temple at Karnak, the daughters of Akhenaten perform the /mw-gesture in
front of the royal couple and sing a lengthy hymn describing the solar transformation of
the king during the rites of the Sed Festival (Fig. 166).17g In this excerpt from the hymn,
the royal daughters clearly and unambiguously identify Akhenaten as a manifestation of
Re:
[ind hr=k] Rr rc nb
ind hr=k bik rr nb
ind hr=k it=n rr [nb]
"[Hail to you], Re, every day!

Hail to you, falcon, every day!
Hail to you, our father, ever [day]!"
Wente, mStudies in Honor of John A. Wilson,pp. 83-91; Troy, Patterns of Queenship, pp. 57-58, 61-62,
100; Traunecker, BSFE 107 (1986): 23-28; Gundlach, in Holtus, ed., Theaterwesen und dramatische
Literatur,pp. 65-72; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pp. 16-17; Gillam, JARCE 32 (1995):
216-217; Roberts, Hathor Rising, pp. 23-37; Preys, in Eyre, ed., Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 911-919; Traunecker, Egypte Afrique & Orient 14 (1999): 6-8; Roth, in Brockelmann
and Klug, eds., In Phraos Staat (2006), p. 230.
178
For transliteration, translation, and detailed discussion of the hymn of the royal daughters in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Akhenaten (Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 77; Spalinger, in
Redford, ed., Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 2, pp. 29-33, fig. 16; Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at
Karnak, p. 95, pi. 47, Scene 116), see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7. Since the actual daughters of Akhenaten
were either very young or not yet born when Akhenaten celebrated his Sed Festival at Karnak, several
scholars have suggested that this and other scenes depicting the "royal daughters" at the Sed Festival of
Akhenaten are formulaic reliefs that do not represent rituals that acutally took place at Akhenaten's Sed
Festival; for this view, see Gohary, in Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, p. 65;
Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King, p. 118; Xekalaki, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the
Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Vol. 2, p. 1963. However, the titles sl.t-nsw.t ("royal
daughter") and ms.w-nsw.t ("royal daughters") could apply to daughters of the king, grand-daughters of the
king, great grand-daughters of the king, women of elevated standing in the royal court, and wives of high-
ranking men of the royal court. Additionally, such titles would not have been forfeited when one king died
and another took the throne. Thus, even if Akhenaten's actual daughters were not old enough to participate
in the rites of his Sed Festival, there were most likely many "royal daughters" who were willing to
participate in the ceremony. For discussion of the inclusiveness of the title si.t-nsw.t ("royal daughter") in
the Old Kingdom, see primarily Baud, Famille royale etpouvoir, pp. 162-170,185-192,345-350. For
discussion of the inclusiveness of the title si.t-nsw.t ("royal daughter") in the New Kingdom, see Troy,
Patterns of Queenship, pp. 104-107.
317
During the singing of this hymn, Akhenaten's wife Nefertiti stands at the king's side and
carries a lotus flower. The presence of Neferiti in this scene most likely alludes to her
role as the Hathoric sexual consort of the solarized and divinized king.
The hymns of the royal daughters at the Sed Festivals of Amenhotep III and
Akhenaten very likely have the same ritual function and symbolic value as the hymn of
1 70
the royal daughters in the Middle Kingdom literary work, the Tale of Sinuhe. In
Sinuhe, the daughters of Sesostris I shake sistra andra«/.£-necklaces,address the king as a
manifestation of the solar deity, and call for the uraeus to be placed upon the king's brow;
in these aspects the ritual performance and hymn of the royal daughters of Sesostris I
closely mirrors those of the royal daughters of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten at the Sed
Festival. However, unlike the Sed Festival hymns, which never actually describe the
hieros gamos of the divinized king and his Hathoric sexual consort, the hymn from the
Tale of Sinuhe unambiguously describes a sexual encounter:

r
.wy—k r nfr.t nsw.t wSh
hkry.wt n.t nb.t p.t
"May your arms be upon a beautiful thing, enduring king,
(namely) the ornaments of the lady of the sky!"
As a result of the hieros gamos, Sesostris I gains the creative energy of Re-Atum and is
able to grant Sinuhe, who had lived for many years as an Asiatic, a renewed existence as
an Egypt.180 In the context of the Sed Festival, the Egyptian uses the creative energy he
receives as a result of the hieros gamos to effect his own rejuvenation. The role of the
royal daughters in this process is fairly clear; the soothing sounds of their musical
179
For transliteration, translation, and detailed discussion of the hymn of the royal daughters in the Tale of
Sinuhe, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7.
180
For detailed discussion of the creative powers that Sesostris I receives as a result of the hieros gamos in
the Tale of Sinuhe, see references collected in Section 2.1.1, Scene 7, footnote 245.
318
performance and their singing pacify the goddess and place her in the proper mood for
her encounter with the divinized king.
3.2.3. THE K I N G ' S MOTHER AS NEITH
In several scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb and the
Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 225), a woman who walks at the head
of a ritual procession in the presence of the king and queen bears the title mw.t-ntr
("divine mother") or mw.t-ntr n(.t) S3w.ty ("divine mother of Assiut") appear in several
scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb (Figs. 294-297) and the
Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 225).181 The latter version of the title,
mw.t-ntr n(.t) Slw.ty, likely refers to the goddess Neith in her role as mother of Re.182 In
every case without exception, the woman who bears the title "divine mother" in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III and Osorkon II appears in close proximity to an official
who carries a large bow; the association between the "divine mother" and the bow in
these scenes provides clear evidence that this woman acts as a representative of the
goddess Neith. The unlabeled woman who stands next to a large bow in a processional
scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob is verly likely also a "divine
mother" (Fig. 203).I84 In other contexts the mother of the king often bears the title
181
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 96, 100, 108, 110, 113,115; Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 2. For
discussion of the title mw.t-ntr, see primarily Plantikow-Miinster, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 816-817; Troy,
Patterns ofQueenship, pp. 75, 98-99; Naguib, Le clerge feminin a"Anion thebain, pp. 207-211; Roth, GM
177 (2000): 57-62; Roth, Die Konigsmiitter des Alten Agypten, pp. 120-122,267-272,370; Dodson and
Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, pp. 31 -32.
182
For discussion of Neith as the mother of Re, see El-Sayed, La deesse Neith de Sal's, pp. 106-109.
183
The bow that appears in association with the "divine mother" in these Sed Festival scenes was likely by
the king in an arrow-shooting ritual; see Section 6.2.
184
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, pi. 13.
319
1QC
"divine mother" (mw.t-ntr)—particularly when she appears in the presence of her son.
Thus, the woman who is labeled mw.t-ntr in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III and
Osorkon II may be the actual mother of the king. By adopting the persona of Neith, the
mother of the god Re, during the celebration of the Sed Festival, the king's mother most
likely emphasizes her son's divine transformation into the solar deity at the Sed Festival.
185
For discussion of "divine mother" as a title of the king's mother, see primarily Troy, Patterns of
Queenship, pp. 98-99, 193, no. Cl/9; Roth, GM177 (2000): 57-62; Roth, Die Kbnigsmiitter des Alten
Agypten, pp. 120-122,267-272. For discussion of the important role that the king's mother plays in
legitimizing the reign of her son, see, e.g., Roth, in Gundlach and Seipel, eds., Dasfrilhe agyptische
Konigtum, pp. 111-123. For a relief in which Tiye simultaneously appears in the presence of her son
Akhenaten and bears the title mw.t-ntr, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 8.
320
CHAPTER 4: T H E RITUAL RUN OF THE KING (KONIGSLAUF)
4.0. INTRODUCTION
One of the most important and most commonly depicted of all the rituals of the
Sed Festival is a ceremony, known as the Konigslauf, in which the Egyptian ruler runs a
ritual course around a set of boundary markers.1 According to a widely supported theory,
the overall purpose of the ritual run of the king at the Sed Festival is to reassert the king's
control over Egypt by running a course that symbolizes the geographic boundaries of the
country as a whole. According to a related theory, the Konigslauf simultaneously
renews the vigor and strength of the king and demonstrates his physical ability to
continue to rule the country effectively. Although both of these theories concerning the
significance of the Konigslauf appear ultimately to be correct, they fail to provide a
comprehensive model for interpreting the numerous ritual variants of the run, such as the
Ruderlauf (Section 4.1.2), the Vogellauf (Section 4.2.1), the Vasenlauf (Section 4.2.2),
and the Apislauf (Section 4.3.2).
1
For the suggestion that the Konigslaufwas the most important of all the ritual performances of the Sed
Festival, see Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, p. 25; Bartels, Formen altdgyptischer Kulte, p.
67. For a convenient catalogue of depictions of the Konigslauf 'and its ritual variants, see Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 31-123, cat. nos. A1-A314. For a convenient critical review of
secondary literature pertaining to the Konigslauf, see Decker, Annotierte Bibliographie zum Sport im alten
Agypten, pp. 67-71; Decker and Forster, Annotierte Bibliographie zum Sport im alten Agypten II: 1978-
2000, pp. 65-76.
2
For discussion of the Konigslauf as a symbolic reclaiming of the territorial boundaries of Egypt, see
primarily Helck, Orientalia 19 (1950): 427-431; Helck, Archiv Orientdlni 20 (1952): 72-85; Helck,
Orientalia 23 (1954): 410-411; James, Myth and Ritual in the Ancient Near East, p. 90; Munro, ZAS 86
(1961): 67-69; Spencer, JEA 64 (1978): 52-55; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 25-26, 34;
Bartels, Formen altdgyptischer Kulte, p. 70; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 22-24; Janssen and Janssen,
Getting Old in Ancient Egypt, p. 109.
3
For discussion of the Konigslauf as a symbolic renewal of the physical strength of the Egyptian ruler, see
primarily Wiedemann, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 939-940, with references; Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 123-150;
Wiedemann, GM83 (1984): 91-93; Decker, Sports andGames of Ancient Egypt, pp. 31-32, 34; Bartels,
Formen altdgyptischer Kulte, p. 69. For discussion of the Konigslauf as, a ritual demonstration of the
Egyptian ruler's physical ability to continue to rule the country effectively, see primarily Decker, op. cit,
pp. 33-34; Barta, in LA, Vol. 3, col. 532; Bartels, loc. cit.
321
A close examination of the documentation for the Konigslauf and all its ritual
variants suggests that the ritual run of the king emerged in the Predynastic Period as a
symbolic means of demonstrating the king's control over major cosmic cycles. Foremost
among the cosmic cycles over which the king claims mastery during the performance of
the Konigslauf is the daily cycle of the sun (Section 4.1);4 however, by means of this
ritual run, the Egyptian ruler also demonstrates his control over another important cycle
with which the ancient Egyptians were keenly aware: the annual migrations of birds
(Section 4.2).5 According to ancient Egyptian religious thought, the routes traveled by
the sun and by migratory birds encompass the entirety of the cosmos; thus, during the
course of his ritual run, the king affirms his authority as the ruler of all the lands and
regions through which the sun and migratory birds travel. While following the path of
the migratory birds, the Egyptian ruler visits and lays claim to the cool water regions of
Kbhw in the northern and southern liminal areas of the cosmos (Section 4.2). While re-
enacting the journey of the solar deity through the cosmos, the Egyptian ruler travels
along the ritual waterways (Section 4.1) and fields (Section 4.2) of the cosmic sky. At
the conclusion of his run, the king claims his rightful spot on the throne as the ruler of
both territorial divisions of the country (Section 4.3.4).
Another important—and poorly understood—feature of the Konigslauf is the
characteristic group of semicircular boundary markers around which the king runs during
the ceremony. Visual representations of these boundary markers commonly appear in
4
The solar symbolism of the Konigslaufhas been correctly recognized by Strieker, Der Oorsprong van het
Romeinse Circus; Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals, pp. 118-119; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, p.
27.
5
The connection between the Konigslauf and the annual migrations of birds has thus far gone unnoticed in
relevant secondary literature.
322
representations of the Konigslauf as early as the Protodynastic Period; additionally,
actual physical remains of six large semicircular stone boundary markers for the
Konigslauf have been discovered in situ in two of the courtyards at the Step Pyramid
complex of Djoser at Saqqara (Fig. 298).7 Instead of the characteristic cluster of three
semicircles, each set of boundary markers in the Southern Court consists of two large
semicircles that measure approximately five meters in width and length. The two groups,
which are approximately 55 meters apart, create a fairly lengthy course for the run along
the north-south axis of the complex. The two semicircular boundary markers that are
placed 35 meters apart in the "Maison du Sud" create a similar course along the north-
south axis of the complex. Lest there be any doubt concerning the practical function of
these structures, the subterranean relief panels under the Southern Tomb and the Step
Pyramid itself depict Djoser performing a ceremonial run between two sets of boundary
markers (Fig. 25)—presumably the boundary markers in the Southern Court of the Step
Pyramid complex (Fig. 299).8
Although the practical function of these semicircular boundary markers is well
understood, the specific symbolism of the shape of these large stone structures has been
the subject of considerable scholarly discussion and controversy.9 Various interpretations
6
For a detailed study of the evolving shape of the boundary markers in visual representations of the Sed
Festival run, see Lauer, in Berger, etctl., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp. 183-198.
7
For discussion of the the excavated boundary from the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, see
primarily Lauer, in Berger, eta/., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp. 183-198; Decker, in Gamer-
Wallert and Helck, eds., Gegengabe: Festschrift fur Emma Brunner-Traut, pp. 64-65; Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 33-34, cat. no. A9; Decker, Pharao undSport, pp. 12-17.
8
For detailed discussion of the relief panels from the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, see
Section 2.2.1; Section 4.2.2; Section 4.3.3; Section 4.3.4.
9
For a critical review of all theories concerning the significance of the shape of the boundary markers for
the Konigslauf see Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 26-29. Semi-circular objects bearing a
strong resemblance to these boundary markers appear in an unusual context on the statue of a 5th Dynasty
323
concerning the shape of the boundary markers include: "oases" or "points d'eau"; the
two hemispherical halves of earth;11 "the banks of Upper and Lower Egypt";12 "territorial
cairns" at the borders of Egypt;13 "une petite dune";14 and "plots of land" (idb.w or
wdb.w).15 The use of semicircular determinatives in the writing of the word dnb.w in
phrases such as dnb.w rsy ("boundary markers of the south") and dnb.w mh.t ("boundary
markers of the north") strongly suggests that the ancient Egyptian designation for the
Konigslauf boundary markers was dnb.wldnb.w {Wb. 5, 576.7).16 The term dnb.w, which
apparently derives from the verb dnb, "to turn around" (Wb. 5, 576.5), clearly refers to
the practical function of the boundaries in the context of the ceremonial run of the king;
however, the term does not provide any clues concerning the significance or symbolic
value of the shape of these boundary markers. The two groups of crescent-shaped
boundary markers that frame the ceremonial "group run" on the Narmer Macehead (Fig.
60) are slightly different in shape from the semicircular boundary markers that appear in
official and priest, Akhethetep (Ziegler, RdE 48 (1997): 237-243, figs. 2-3, pi. 19). The boundary markers
appear—along with Isis-knots and the head of the goddess Bat—as emblems adorning the priestly robe of
Akhethetep; however, in this context, these semicircular objects are probably variants of the typical
fasteners that adorn the leopard-skin outfit of the .rm-priest. For discussion of the priestly leopard-skin
outfit, see primarily Staehelin, Untersuchungen zur dgyptischen Tracht im Alten Reich, pp. 36-80.
10
Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 279-282.
11
Strieker, De Oorsprong van het Romeinse Circus, pp. 9-14; Decker, Sports and Games ofAncient Egypt,
p. 27.
12
Spencer, JEA 64 (1978): 52-55.
13
Reeder, A:Mr4:4 (1993-1994): 60-71; following Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilizaton, 1st ed.,
pp. 55-62.
14
Lauer, in Berger, eta/., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, p. 196.
15
Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 41-43.
16
For discussion of the phrases dnb.w rsy ("boundary markers of the south") and dnb.w mh.t ("boundary
markers of the north") as references to the boundary markers for the Konigslauf see primarily Spencer,
JEA 64 (1978): 52-55.
324
depictions of the Sed Festival run beginning in the reign of Den (Fig. 61).17 Two
additional possible attestations of this precanonical shape of the boundary markers for the
Sed Festival run appear in the depictions of ceremonial runs on a wooden label of Aha
(Fig. 45) and a wooden label of Den (Fig. 36) from Abydos; in these contexts, the
crescent-shaped boundary marker for the run appears to represent a net associated with
desert game hunting (Section 4.3.2) or fowling (Section 4.2.1).
4.1. THE KONIGSLAUF: CONTROL OVER THE SOLAR CYCLE
4.1.0. INTRODUCTION
In two intriguing variants of the Konigslauf, the Egyptian ruler runs a course that
almost certainly mirrors the nocturnal and diurnal journey of the solar deity through the
cosmic sky.19 The first variant (Section 4.1.1), which involves the running of a
ceremonial course around a barque during a nautical procession, appears in the earliest
known representation of the Kdnigslauf—i.e., a scene from the painted painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d). In this variant of the Konigslauf—dubbed the
"boat run" in the present study—the circuit that the king runs after disembarking from a
ceremonial barque most likely symbolizes the physical rejuvenation he experiences as a
result of his ritual journey aboard the solar barque. The second variant (Section 4.1.2),
which is widely attested from the Middle Kingdom onwards, is a ceremonial run in which
17
For detailed discussion of the group run scene on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 224,
fig. 1), see Section 4.3.1. For discussion of the shape of the boundary markers in the depiction of the Sed
Festival on the Narmer Macehead, see primarily Lauer, in Berger, eta/., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant,
Vol. 4, p. 184; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 55; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise: Studies in
Honor of Edward f. Wente, p. 265.
18
For detailed discussion of the boundary markers and the running rituals that are depicted on these labels
of Aha (Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, pi. 10.2) and Den (Dreyer, eta/., MDAIK 54
(1998): 163-164, pi. 12f) from Abydos, see Section 4.2.1; Section 4.3.2.
19
Only a limited number of scholars have identified the solar symbolism of the ritual performance of the
Konigslauf at the Sed Festival; see references collected in Section 4.0, footnote 4.
325
the Egyptian ruler carries a steering oar or a navigational implement that he receives from
the goddess Hathor. The symbolism of this ritual run—known as the Ruderlauf—is
clearly connected to the widely attested religious concept of the Egyptian ruler as the
helmsman of the solar barque.
4.1.1. THE BOAT RUN
In the earliest attested representation of the Konigslauf in the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d), the Egyptian ruler appears in a running pose
inside of a kiosk that is positioned above—or perhaps behind—the rear cabin of a large
ceremonial barque with a sickle-shaped hull;20 the kneeling person directly in front of the
the kiosk is probably the earliest depiction of the queen as a seated occupant of a
carrying-chair at the celebration of the Sed Festival.21 The design of the royal kiosk
above the rear cabin of the ceremonial barque in this scene is very similar shape to the
kiosks in which Narmer and Den are enthroned in the depictions of the Sed Festival run
on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60) and on an ebony label of Den from Abydos (Fig.
61).22 A similar royal kiosk also appears on the deck of a sickle-shaped ceremonial
For discussion of the ritual running scenes in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Quibell
and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 76-77), see primarily Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 563, 565-567,
369, figs. 375-376; Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-14; Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for
Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, The Hebrew School, Vol. 2, pp. 8, 24-
27; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 253-255,271-272; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the
Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 273-279; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp.
157-161, figs. 18.1-2. For identification of the man engaged in the run as the Egyptian ruler, see
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., op. cit.,p. 275; Williams and Logan, op. cit, p. 255.
21
For detailed discussion of the seated woman in front of the king as an early example of a royal woman or
goddess in the r/ry.f-shrine, see references collected in Section 3.2.1.1, footnote 134.
22
For similar discussions of the similarity of the royal kiosk in the painted tableau from Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis, the royal kiosk on the Narmer Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 224, fig. 1), and the
royal kiosk on an ebony label of Den from Abydos (Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 158), see
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275; Avi-
Hebrew School, Vol. 2, p. 25. For detailed discussion of the enthronement of the king in the depictions of
the Sed Festival run on the Narmer Macehead and the Den label, see Section 4.3.4.
326
barque in a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a in the Western
Thebaid (Fig. 300e).23 The placement of the kiosk on the deck a ceremonial barque in
this rock inscription suggests that the kiosk in Tomb 100 may actually be part of the deck
structure of the boat.24 In later representations of the Sed Festival, this kiosk most
commonly appears on top of a stepped m#.f-platform in royal enthronement scenes (Figs.
36, 60-61, 64-68, 72-74).
Another depiction of a running man appears directly to the right of the barque that
bears the royal kiosk in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d);
the curved rw.t-staf? and nhSh?-f[ail that the running man carries in this scene strongly
support an identification of this individual as the Egyptian ruler.25 Beside the running
king at the stern of the ceremonial barque in this scene is another man whose most
distinctive feature is his thick hair or heavy wig. A precise identification of this man is
not possible; however, in later representations of the Sed Festival, a royal official who
carries the Wepwawet standard often appears in front of the king during the peformance
of the Konigslauf.27 The two images of the running king in the painted tableau of Tomb
23
Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97-99, fig. 19; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal
Ritual Power, fig. 8; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
24
Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 115, has similarly suggested that the kiosk is part of the rear deck structure of the
ceremonial barque in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis.
25
For discussion of curved staffs, such as the rw.r-staff, as royal implements, see primarily Fischer, MMJ
13 (1979): 7-15; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 970-971; Perdu, RdE 56 (2005): 146-151. The discovery of
a hki.t-scepter in Tomb U-j at Abydos confirms the actual use of curved staffs by Egyptian rules in the
Protodynastic Period; see Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1, pp. 146-147, cat. no. 200, fig. 85. For discussion
of the nhihi-f\a\\ as a royal implement, see primarily Fischer, LA, Vol. 2, cols. 516-517; Sourdive, La main
dans I'Egyptepharaonique, pp. 136-173; Wessetzky, in Studia in Honorem L. Foti, pp. 425-429; Perdu, op.
cit, pp. 151-157.
26
Based on his clothing and hairstyle, Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International
Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275, suggests that this figure is probably a shaman or a scribe.
27
For detailed discussion of the ritual significance of the Wepwawet standard at the performance of the
Konigslauf see Section 4.3.3.
327
100 at Hierakonpolis are most likely part of a single unified scene in which the king
departs from a royal kiosk on the deck of a ceremonial barque runs a ritual circuit around
the barque. In this regard, the scene from Tomb 100 is similar to the ritual scenes that
appear on a pair of wooden labels of Den from Abydos (Figs. 36, 61), both of which
depict the enthronement of the king and the peformance of the Konigslauf in a single
unified scene.
The running scene in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis does not
depict the semicircular boundary markers that almost univesally appear in represenations
of the Konigslauf in later Sed Festival scenes; however, in this scene from Tomb 100, the
prow and stern of the ceremonial barque that contains the royal kiosk very likely
demarcate the boundaries of the course for the king's ritual run. The canonical
semicircular shape of the boundary markers in later representations of the Konigslauf, in
fact, closely resembles the shape of the prow and stern of each of the boat burials from
the 1st Dynasty royal cemetery at Abydos (Fig. 301).29 The lengths from prow to stern of
the 1st Dynasty boat burials from Abydos (c. 19-29 meters) and the excavated boat of
Khufu at Giza (c. 43 meters) are only slightly shorter than the two sets of boundary
markers in the Southern Court of Djoser's Step Pyramid complex (c. 55 meters).30
28
For discussion of the enthronement of the king as the culmination of the Konigslauf in the depictions of
the Sed Festival on these two labels of Den (Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 158; Dreyer, etal.,
MDAIK5A (1998): pi. 12f), see Section 4.3.4.
29
For discussion of the 1st Dynasty royal boat burials from Abydos, see primarily O'Connor, Expedition
33:3 (1991): 5-17; O'Connor, Bulletin of Egyptian Archaeology 6 (1995): 3-7; Ward, Sacred and Secular:
Ancient Egyptian Ships and Boats, pp. 39-43; O'Connor, Abydos: Egypt's First Pharaohs and the Cult of
Osiris, pp. 182-200,214, with references; Ward, Antiquity 80 (2006): 118-129.
30
For the length of the 1st Dynasty royal boat burials from Abydos and the excavated barque of Khufu from
Giza, see Ward, Sacred and Secular: Ancient Egyptian Ships and Boats, pp. 39,45. For the distance
between the boundary markers in the Southern Court of Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, see
references collected in Section 4.0, footnote 7.
328
Although the performance of a ritual run around a ceremonial barque is not otherwise
attested in ancient Egyptian iconography, the religious symbolism of such a run is clear.
The rejuvenation of the king and the celebration of his reign during the performance of
the Sed Festival are rooted in the Egyptian religious concept of the king as a divine
manifestation of the solar deity; during the king's ritual run around a ceremonial barque
in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, he affirms his control over the ritual
navigation of the solar barque—the primary mode of transportation for the solar deity
"5 1
during his neverending daily and nightly journey through the cosmic sky.
4.1.2. THE RUDERLAUF
The depiction of the "boat run" in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis is almost certainly an archaic precursor to a ritual that is widely attested in
Egyptian royal iconography beginning in the reign of Montuhotep II: the Ruderlauf.
During the rites of the Ruderlauf, the Egyptian ruler carries a long steering oar (hp.t) and
a specialized navigational instrument (hp.t) while performing a ceremonial run in front of
the statue of a deity.32 The earliest depiction of the Ruderlauf appears in a fragmentary
relief from the mortuary temple of Montuhotep II at Deir el-Bahari; however, the deity
who appears in front of the running king in this relief fragment is, unfortunately, not
31
For detailed discussion of the identification of the king as a manifestation of the solar deity at the Sed
Festival, see Section 1.1.2; Section 3.2. For discussion of the nautical procession of ceremonial barques as
as symbol of the king's control over the ritual navigation of the solar barque, see Section 4.1.2; Section 7.4.
32
For discussion of the Ruderlauf, see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Konigs, pp. 22-52,
74-102,276-280; Kees, ZAS 52 (1915): 64-69; Uphill, JNES 20 (1961): 249; Barrels, Formen
altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 72-73; Amer, The Gateway ofRamesses IX in the Temple ofAmun at Karnak, pp.
22-26; Stoof, Skorpion undSkorpiongottin im alten Agypten, pp. 91-96; Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 388-
389; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp.
219-226. For an important lexicographical study of the term hp.t see Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 377-420.
329
identifiable (Fig. 14). The earliest depiction of the Ruderlauf in which the deity who
appears in front of the Egyptian ruler is easily recognizable is a fragmentary relief of
Sesostris I from Coptos (Fig. 15); the hieroglyphic text labeling the scene—in which the
king runs in front of the ithyphallic god Min—clearly links the performance of the
Ruderlauf"to the celebration of the Sed Festival:34
It.t hp.t n Mnw ntr c3 hr-lb niw.t=f

ir-f [di rnh]
ddmdw
di.n(=i) n=k ir.t hb-sd
r
nh.ti mi Rc
"Taking up the hp.^-implement for Min, the great god in the midst of his city,
so that he might achieve [a given life].
Words to be spoken:
'It is for you that (I) have caused the performance of the Sed Festival,
so that you might live like Re.'"
Thus, in one of its earliest attestations, the Ruderlauf appears to be a ritual component of
the celebration of the Sed Festival.35
In most cases the deity who appears in front of the Egyptian ruler at the
performance of the Ruderlauf is a syncretized form of the Theban creator god Amun
For discussion of the depiction of Montuhotep II performing the Ruderlauf in front of an unknown deity
in a relief from his mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport
im Alten Agypten, p. 39, cat. no. A30, with references; Postel, B1FAO 103 (2003): 388-389; Postel,
Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 219-226, 338,
doc. 122.
34
For discussion of the depiction of Sesostris performing the Ruderlaufin front of Min in a fragmentary
relief from Coptos (University College 14786), see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
Alten Agypten, p. 41, cat. no. A38, with references; Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 389; Postel, Protocole des
souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 219-220; Hornung and
Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 20. For further discussion of this depiction of Sesostris I
performing the Ruderlauf in front of Min and the scene's relationship to the rituals of Min in the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the Temple of Soleb, see Section 2.2.4, Register 6.
35
For a similar conclusion regarding Sesostris Ill's performance of the Ruderlauf and its link to the Sed
Festival, see Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 20.
330
and/or the Heliopolitan solar god Re; the hieroglyphic text that most commonly labels
the performance of the Ruderlauf is: it.t hp.t n Jmn-Rr, "taking up the /^-implement for
Amun-Re."37 The phrase /// hp.t ("taking up the hp./-implement/Zip./-oar") is also used in
several passages from the Pyramid Texts to describe the actions of the deceased king
when he pilots the barque of the solar deity through the netherworld.38 For example, in
Pyramid Texts Spell 697, the deceased king boards the barque of Re and sets a course to
several mythical locations in the netherworld by "taking up the /^-implement": 39
For depictions of the Ruderlauf in which the Egyptian ruler performs the ceremonial run before Amun,
Amun-Re, Amun-Re-Kamutef, Re-Horakhty, or Sobek-Re, see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
Alten Agypten, pp. 42, 46-48, 50, 52, 54-55, 58-62, 64-69, 71, 73-74, 77, 80-95, 97-99, 101, 103-105,110-
111, cat. nos. A44, A53-A55, A57, A64, A71, A76, A79, A84, A92-A93, A96, A99, A103-A104, Al 14-
Al 15, Al 17, Al 19-A121, A124, A126, A132, A138, A139, A149, A162, A174-A175, A182, A184, A188,
A190, A192, A196, A198, A200, A202, A206, A209-A210, A212-A213, A215-A216, A218, A220-A221,
A223-A224, A229, A232-A233, A238, A244, A252, A258, A275, with references. For an introduction to
the topic of syncretism and a brief discussion of the syncretized form of Amun-Re as solar deity, supreme
creator god, and official state god from the Middle Kingdom onwards, see Hornung, Conceptions of God in
Ancient Egypt, pp. 91-93, with references. For more detailed theological discussions of the god Amun-Re,
see, e.g., Zandee, De Hymnen aan Anion van Papyrus Leiden 1350; Assmann, Liturgische Lieder an den
Sonnengott; Zandee, Der Amunhymnus des Papyrus Leiden 1344, Verso; Assmann, Egyptian Solar
Religion in the New Kingdom; Assmann, The Search for God in Ancient Egypt; Klotz, Adoration of the
Ram: Five Hymns to Amun-Re from Hibis Temple. For further discussion of Amun as a creator god, see
also Allen, Genesis in Egypt, pp. 48-55.
37
For discussion of the hieroglyphic text (it.t hp.t) that typically labels depictions of the Ruderlauf, see
primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Konigs, pp. 74-90,276-280, Texts 29-52; Postel, BIFAO
103 (2003): 381-384, 388-394; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens etdogme monarchique au debut
du Moyen Empire, pp. 219-226. Interpreting the phrase figuratively, both authors consider it.t hp.t to be an
idiomatic expression referring to rapid movement either on land or in water.
38
The phrase /// hp.t describes the action of the deceased king who pilots the solar barque in Pyramid Texts
Spell 254 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, pp. 152-153, § 284b-286a); Pyramid Texts
Spell 461 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 487-488, § 873a-874b); Pyramid Texts Spell 548 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol.
2, p. 242, § 1345c-1348); and Pyramid Texts Spell 697 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 527-528, § 2172c-
2174b). The phrase /// hp.t also describes the action of a deceased individual who pilots a barque through
the underworld in Coffin Texts Spell 30 (de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 1, p. 94); Coffin Texts
Spell 619 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 6, p. 232); and Coffin Texts Spell 622 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 6, p. 237).
For discussion of the use of the phrase /// hp.t and the related verb hp ("navigate (by rowing)") in the
Pyramid Texts and the Coffin Texts, see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Konigs, pp. 74-80;
Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 381-384,408-410. For further discussion of the phrase /// hp.t and the verb hp,
see also Jones, A Glossary of Ancient Egyptian Nautical Titles and Terms, pp. 210, 218, cat. nos. VI. 11,
VI.52, with references.
39
For this passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 697, see Pyramid Texts Spell 697 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen
Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, pp. 527-528, § 2172c-2174b). For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 697,
see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 298-299, Spell N564.
331
hiy NN m wi? mi Rr
hr idb.xv n.w mr nhS
hn.t(w) NN in ihm.w-wrd
wd NN mdw n ihm.w-sk
hn.t(w) NN m hn.t.ti
iti NN hp.t ir sh.wt hlhl
bt in.w=k ntti sin.w=k
i.dd-sn n Rr
m=k NN iy
m=k NN iy m htp
"NN will descend into the barque like Re

upon the banks of the Winding Waterway,
so that AW might be rowed by the unwearying stars.
AW will determine the matter for the indestructible stars,
so that NN might be rowed as a swamp-dweller.
NN will take up the hp.t-implement toward the Fields of Winnowing.
Your couriers will run and your runners will hasten,
so that they might say to Re:
'Behold, NN has come!
Behold, WW has come in peace!'"
Thus, while the nautical rites of the Egyptian ruler in the Pyramid texts are associated
primarily with the Heliopolitan solar god Re, the ritual performance of the Ruderlauf is
linked in most cases to the syncretized solar and creator god Amun-Re; nevertheless, both
sets of rites appear to be ritual expressions of the nautical journey of the Egyptian ruler in
the barque of Re.40
Beginning in the reign of Hatshepsut (Fig. 302), the Ruderlauf is occasionally
performed in front of Hathor or a related Hathoric goddess such as Bastet. ' The
40
For a similar conclusion regarding the solar symbolism of the Ruderlauf, see Kees, Der Opfertcmz des
agyptischen Konigs, pp. 74-90. Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut
du Moyen Empire, p. 226, however, strongly rejects the notion that the Ruderlauf'is linked primarily to the
nautical journey of the Egytian ruler on the solar barque: "Quelle que soit l'implication de Nebhepetre dans
la creation de 1' iconographie de la course a la rame, il est a peu pres certain que cette derniere ne renvoie
pas au parcours celeste du souverain a bord de la barque du Re."
41
For depictions of the Ruderlauf'in which the Egyptian ruler runs in front of Hathor or Bastet, see Decker
and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 49, 63, 69-70, 81, 106, 116-117,121-122, cat. nos.
A61, A109, A132-A133, A176, A262, A294, A310-A311, with references. For further discussion of the
performance of the Ruderlauf'in front of Hathor, see also Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 388-389; Postel,
Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 219-226.
332
presence of Hathoric goddesses in these scenes may also allude to the journey of the solar
barque since Hathor is closely linked to the navigation of the solar barque during its
journey through the underworld in several passages from the Coffin Texts.42 For
example, in Coffin Texts Spell 61, the goddess Hathor is responsible for the construction
of the hmw-oars that are used to steer the barque of Re:43
hms-k hr psh n mfkl.t r hi.t wi? n Rc

twt wbn-k mi wbn Rr
psd=k ml Hw.t-Hr
iw Wsir mr—fmK=t m nb.t Kbn
ir=s hmw.w n.w wB.w=t
iw Wsir mr=f mSS=k m wbn.w=k n.w iwny.t
stS n=k inr.w n.w hd
hr npr.wt n.t mfki.t
Hw.t-Hr nb.t Kbn ir=s hmw.w n.w wB.w=k
"You will sit upon the mat of turquoise at the prow of the barque of Re.
Your rising is fair like the rising of Re.
You will shine like Hathor.
Osiris loves to see you as the lady Byblos
when she produces the steering oars of the barques.
Osiris loves to see you in your risings of the pillared hall
when blocks of silver have been hauled for you
upon the slabs of turquoise.
Hathor, the lady of Byblos, produces the steering oars of the barques."
The scenes in which the Egyptian ruler performs the Ruderlauf before Hathor are most
likely also related to a royal ritual in which the Egyptian ruler receives an oar from
For passages from the Coffin Texts in which Hathor is associated with the journey of a deceased
individual in the solar barque, see Coffin Texts Spell 61 (de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 1, pp.
260-262); Coffin Texts Spell 753 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 6, pp. 382-383). Other passages from the Coffin
Texts in which the goddess Hathor appears to be linked to the deceased's journey on a ceremonial barque
include Coffin Texts Spell 276 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 4, p. 17); Coffin Texts Spell 332 (de Buck, op. cit.,
Vol. 4, pp. 177-178); Coffin Texts Spell 341 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 4, p. 343); Coffin Texts Spell 623 (de
Buck, op. cit., Vol. 6, p. 239); Coffin Texts Spell 654 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 6, p. 275). For discussion of
Hathor's association with the journey of the solar barque in the Coffin Texts, see Postel, Protocole des
souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, p. 230, with references. For
further discussion of Hathor's association with the solar barque, see also Derchain, Hathor Quadrifrons,
pp. 36-44; Allam, Beitrdge zum Hathorkult, pp. 118-120.
43
For this passage from Coffin Texts Spell 61, see de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 1, pp. 260-
262.
333
Hathor or a related Hathoric goddess. In a depiction of this ritual on a pillar from the
temple of Pepi I at Bubastis, the Egyptian ruler receives a hp.t-oar from the goddess
Bastet (Fig. 303).44 In a version of the ritual from the northern wall of the hypostyle hall
of the shrine of Hathor in the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Tuthmosis
III receives a hp.t-oar from the goddess Hathor (Fig. 304); a text directly above Hathor in
the scene suggests that the reception of the oar by the king is connected to the celebration
oftheSed Festival:45
dd mdw di.n(=i) n=k cnh (nb) w?s nb dd.t nb(.t) snb nb IwJ-ib nb(.t)
dd mdw di.n(=i) n=k tl.w nb(.w) his.wt nb(.t)
dd mdw imi {n} n=k hb.w-sd
dd mdw Hw.t-Hr hry.t WSs.t nb.t ti.wy
dd mdw hnw.t tl.wy hry.t-tp ntr.w nb(.w) hr p.t
"Words to be spoken: '(I) have given all life, all dominion, all stability, all health,
and all joy to you!'
Words to be spoken: '(I) have given all flatlands and all hill lands to you!'
Words to be spoken: 'Sed Festivals should be given to you!"
Words to be spoken: 'Oh Hathor, she who possesses authority over Thebes,
the lady of the two lands!'
Words to be spoken: 'Oh mistress of the two lands,
she who possesses authority over all the gods in the sky!"
In the adjacent scene from western wall of the hypostyle hall of the shrine of Hathor in
the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Hatshepsut herself performs the
Ruderlauf 'in front of Hathor while carrying a nearly identical oar (Fig. 302).46 The close
For the depiction of the Egyptian ruler receiving an oar from the goddess Bastet on pillar from the temple
of Pepi I at Bubastis, see Habachi, Tell Basta, pp. 25-26, pi. 6b; Fischer, AJA 62 (1958): 332-333; Postel,
Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 222-223. The
texts accompanying the scene—if any have survived—have not thus far been published.
45
For the depiction of Tuthmosis III receiving an oar from Hathor in the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at
Deir el-Bahari, see Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 4, pi. 92; Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen
Konigs, pp. 83-84; Uphill, JNES 20 (1961): 249; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme
monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 223-225; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, eds., Thutmose 111: A
New Biography, p. 142.
46
For the depiction of Hatshepsut performing the Ruderlauf'in her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, see
Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 4, pi. 93; Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 24-27;
Uphill, JNES 20 (1961): 249; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alien Agypten, p. 49, cat. no. A61,
334
proximity of these two ritual scenes in the mortuary temple of Hathshepsut at Deir el-
Bahari suggests that the ritual reception of an oar by the Egyptian ruler is closely related
to the ruler's performance of the Ruderlauf. The fact that the earliest depiction of the
Egyptian ruler receiving an oar predates the earliest depiction of the Ruderlauf suggests
that Montuhotep II—who first introduced the Ruderlauf ceremony—probably developed
the Ruderlauf 'from an earlier ritual or set of rituals pertaining to the religious concept of
the king as pilot of the solar barque.47
4.2. THE KONIGSLAUF: CONTROL OVER MIGRATORY BIRDS & THE K M . H ' - R E G I O N
4.2.0. INTRODUCTION
The ritual run of the king also symbolizes the Egyptian ruler's control over
another important reocurring natural cycle with which the ancient Egyptians were
intimately acquainted: the annual migrations of birds from southwest Asia to central
Africa. The ancient Egyptian term for the major nesting areas of these migratory birds,
kbh.w (Wb. 5, 29.7), refers to these places as areas flooded with cool, refreshing waters;
in this regard, the locations of the nesting places of migratory birds may mirror the
conditions of Egypti during the unundation and the environment of the sacred canals in
the cosmic sky. By performing variants of the Konigslauf in which he pulls a fowling net
(the "fowling run") or carries a bird (the Vogellauf) at the celebration of the Sed Festival,
the king mimics the annual migrations of birds and taps into the regenerating aspects of
the perpetuum mobile of this cycle of the natural world (Section 4.2.1). By performing a
variant of the Konigslauf 'in which he carries vases of water at the celebration of the Sed
with references; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen
Empire, pp. 223-225. "Re est le maitre de la hpt," the reading preferred by Postel, op. cit., pp. 204-206, is
an equally plausible translation of Montuhotep IPs prenomen.
47
For detailed discussion of the religious concept of the king as pilot of the solar barque, see Section 7.4.3.
335
Festival, the king demonstrates his ability to create the ideal watery environment of the
kbh.w-region in Egypt (Section 4.2.2). In order to assist the king in creating the life-
giving conditions of the kbh.w-region in Egypt during the performance of the Konigslauf,
a manifestation of the god Thoth appears in the form of a sacred baboon and offers the
king a cup of refreshing doum-nut juice (Section 4.2.2).
4.2.1. THE FOWLING RUN & THE VOGELLAUF
A fragmentary wooden label of Den from Abydos depicts an intriguing scene that
includes two images of the king at the celebration of the Sed Festival (Fig. 36).48 In left
portion of this scene, the king is enthroned within a kiosk on top of a stepped tnti.t-
platform; in the right portion of the scene, the king simultaneously performs the
Konigslauf and pulls a hexagonal fowling net with four birds trapped inside it.49 The
crescent-shaped object that appears directly below the king's fowling net in this scene
resembles the precanonical crescent-shaped boundary markers for the Sed Festival run on
the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60); in the context of the scene on this label, this crescent-
For discussion of the Sed Festival scene on this wooden label of Den from Abydos, see primarily Dreyer,
etal., MDAIK 54 (1998): 163-164, pi. 12f; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, pp. 70-71, fig. 37; Altenmuller, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dent Sand, pp. 5-7,
fig-3.
49
A good parallel for this hexagonal fowling net appears on a schist disc from the tomb Hemaka; see
Henein, BIFAO 101 (2001): 237-248; Altenmuller, GM9 (1974): 13-18; Emery, Tomb of Hemaka, pp. 28-
32, cat. no. 310. According Emery, loc. cit., this and other schist discs from the Tomb of Hemaka were
used as spinning tows; the spinning motion of these toys may relate to the Egyptian religious concept of
infinite cyclical time, nhh. For discussion of nhh as infinite cyclical time, see primarily Assmann, Zeit und
Ewigkeit im alten Agypten; Assmann, Die Zeit: Schriften der Karl-Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung 6 (1983):
189-223; Westendorf, in Gorg, ed., Fontes atque Pontes: Eine Festgabe fur Hellmut Brunner, pp. 422-435;
Assmann, in Huber and Miiller, eds., "Kultur" und "Gemeinsinn", pp. 171-194; Stadnikow, in Ahn, ed.,
Raum in der Religionsgeschichte, pp. 275-310; Roeten, GM201 (2004): 69-78; Westendorf, GA/202
(2004): 109-112. For further discussion of hexagonal fowling nets in other contexts, see also Piccione,
Serapis 7 (1981-1982): 75-86; Kamrin, The Cosmos of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan, pp. 96-98, 109-110;
Henein, BIFAO 102 (2002): 259-266, with references.
336
shaped object may represent a type of net. Later depictions of the Sed Festival contain
no clear parallel to this scene in which the king simultaneously performs a ritual run and
pulls a fowling net; however, a fragentary scene involving the use of a hexagonal fowling
net appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid
at Dahshur (Fig. 141).51
In a widely attested variant of the Konigslauf known as the Vogellauf, the
Egyptian ruler performs a ceremonial run while carrying a bird; although it is first
attested in the reign of Hatshepsut (Fig. 12), the Vogellauf is probably directly related to
the performance of a "fowling run" at the Sed Festival during the Early Dynastic
Period. In a Roman Period version of the Vogellauf from, the Temple of Dendera, the
bird carried by the king is identified as iih.t—a term that may be related to the word Ih.t,
"uraeus-snake" (Wb. 1, 16.18-19) or the word Ih.t, "shining eye (of the solar deity)" (Wb.
1, 17.1-2); thus, during the Roman Period, the Vogellauf is apparently connected to the
For discussion of the crescent-shaped boundary markers on the Narmer Machead, see Section 4.0. In
several different Predynastic iconographic contexts, crescent-shaped nets are linked to hunting. For
example, crescent-shaped nets appear to be linked to crocodile hunting on several C-Ware vessels; see
Wild, BIFAO 47 (1948): 6-13, fig. 1; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Naqada I—Naqada II, pp. 194, 196-
197,219,228,231,232, cat. nos. 003, 008, 012, 076, 103,113, 117. A crescent-shaped net that appears
above a rectangular construction in a decorative scene on a D-Ware vessel may be linked to the hunting of
gazelles and antelopes; see Petrie and Quibell Naqada andBallas, pi. 67.17; Wild, op. cit., p. 11, footnote
2; Graff, op. cit., p. 258, cat. no. 194. A crescent-shaped net and a rectangular construction also appear
next to a group of dancing women and a row of ostriches in a nautical processional scene on a D-Ware
vessel in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; see Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of
Civilization, pp. 258,262, figs. 11.18c, 11.22e; Graff, op. cit., p. 271, cat. no. 232.
51
Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 110, figs. 117-118. For further
discussion of this scene, see Section 2.2.2, Panel 20.
52
For detailed discussion of the Vogellauf, see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Kbnigs, pp.
4-21; Kees, ZAS 52 (1915): 61-64; Bartels, Formen altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 71-72; Stoof, Skorpion und
Skorpiongottin, pp. 96-97. For a convenient collection of examples of the Vogellauf, see Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 49-52, 55-56, 69, 74, 76, 79-80, 97, 100-101,104-105, 106-107,
109-110, 120, cat. nos. A60, A66, A69, A82, A87, A130, A151, A159, A170, A173, A231, A243, A255,
A263, A273, A306.
337
goddess Hathor in the form of the solar eye. A similar association with this form of
Hathor may be applicable for earlier examples of the Vogellauf; however, such an
association is not certain.
Of particular importance for interpreting the significance of the fowling run and
the Vogellauf"is the directional orientation of the course for the Sed Festival run. The
placement of the boundary markers in the Southern Court and the "Maison du Sud" of the
Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara strongly suggests that the course for the
Konigslauf ran along the north-south axis of the complex (Figs. 298-299).54 In this
regard, the course for the Konigslauf apparently mirrored the north-to-south routes of
migratory birds (during the months of autumn) and the south-to-north routes of migratory
birds (during the months of spring).55 The precise geographical location of these
migratory birds' nesting-places—known in Egyptian as kbh.w rsy (the "southern kbh.w-
region") and kbhw mh.ty (the "northern kbh.w-regiori")—has been the subject of
considerable scholarly discussion and controversy.56 Most likely, the northern kbh.w-
region is the summer home of the birds to the north of Egypt and the southern kbh.w-
region is the winter home of the birds to the south of Egypt;57 in Egyptian
53
For this version of the Vogellauf from Dendera, see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alten Agypten, p. 120, cat. no. 306; Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 15-21; Chassinat, Le
Temple de Dendera, Vol. 3, pp. 4-6; Mariette, Denderah, Vol. 2, pi. 54.
54
For discussion of the placement of the boundary markers for the Konigslauf m the Step Pyramid complex
of Djoser at Saqqara, see references collected in Section 4.0, footnote 7. Additionally, references to the
northern and southern dnb.w in New Kingdom Sed Festival reliefs from Abydos and Karnak confirm the
north-south orientation of the course for the Konigslauf, see Spencer, JEA 64 (1978): 52-55.
55
For detailed discussion of the ancient Egyptians' awareness of bird migrations, see primarily Egberts,
JEA 11 (1991): 57-67, with references; Goelet, BES 5 (1983): 41-60.
56
For critical discussions of the geographical location of the kbh.w-rsgions of migratory birds, see
primarily Egberts, JEA 11 (1991): 62-67, with references; Goelet, BES 5 (1983): 48-50, 52-60.
57
Contra Egberts, JEA 11 (1991): 66-67, who suggests that both the northern and southern JiM.w-regions
are north of Egypt.
338
cosmographical terms these two regions represent the liminal areas at the edge of the
known world—the kbh.w-Hr (the "£M.w-region of Horus") in the north and the kbhw-Sth
(the "/cM.w-region of Seth") in the south.58
A hieratic hymn to Ramesses VI preserved on a fragmentary papyrus in Turin
provides important evidence linking the Sed Festival and the /cM.w-region where
migratory birds live:59
\p\j ti hpr.w m kbb.wt

m ck=k r rh
ISw.ti pi hcy m 'Iwnw mhy
[inii]piRr
iw=k miwd.ti m hb.w-sd kn.w
iw=k r Wis.t nht.t
"The land has turned into cool-waters,
as you entered the palace.
May you be praised, the one who appears in northern Heliopolis,
[upon whom] Pre [looks]!
You have been provided with many Sed Festivals,
when you (arrived) at Victorious Thebes."
In the context of this hymn, Ramesses VI creates the watery environment of the kbh.w-
region, travels south from Heliopolis to Thebes under the protection of the solar deity,
and celebrates numerous Sed Festivals; the southern journey of the king undoubtedly
mirros the autumnal migration routes of birds. Additionally, another hymn to Ramesses
VI on this papyrus connects the celebration of the Sed Festival to royal fishing and
fowling activities:60
For discussion of the kbh.w-Hr and the kbhw-Sth and their placement in the cosmos, see Condon, Seven
Royal Hymns of the Ramesside Period, pp. 28-29;~Clere, MDAIK 16 (1958): 30-46; Edel, in NA WG 1963,
No. 4, pp. 105-113. Cf. also the description of the kbh.w in the cosmographic texts of the Book of Nut
(Frankfort, The Cenotaph ofSetilatAbydos, pi. 81, p. 73; Neugebauer and Parker, Egyptian Astronomical
Texts, Vol. 1, pi. 50, text Dd, pp. 66-67; Allen, Genesis of Egypt, pp. 1-7).
59
Papyrus Turin (CG 54031); Condon, Seven Royal Hymns of the Ramesside Period, pi. 87,11. 4-5.
60
Papyrus Turin (CG 54031); Condon, Seven Royal Hymns of the Ramesside Period, pi. 88,11. 1-2. "The
Sporting King"—an 18th Dynasty fragmentary hieratic papyrus that records the sporting activities of a 12th
339
t-nt-Si hr wd.w
iw-w rptrpl nb cnh(.w) wd3(.w) snb(.w) n Km.t
iw=f(hr) ir.t hb.w-sd kn.w
shn p? 3pd rm
"T-nt-SS is teeming with W-fish.

They will look upon the Lord, l.p.h., of Egypt,
as he celebrates many Sed Festivals,
and traps fowl and fish."
A hymn to Ramesses VII preserved on the same papyrus roll describes the route flown by
these migratory birds in more detail .61
n? 3pd.w n? nty m kbh.w [hn=w m] tnw

iw.n=sn hr Km.t
swnnw nb mh
t3-mry hpr<.ti> m [...] Rr
di=w hr.w-w r Nlpltl
mh=w spl.t [nt] cnmw.t pS 8 [Hr]
"As for the birds, those that are from kbh.w, [they fly in] flocks,
having come into Egypt.
Every pond has been filled;
Ta-mery has turned into [...] of Re.
They turn their faces towards Napata;
They fill the district [of] Anmet (?) and the lake [of Horus]."
They travel in flocks to Egypt, Ta-Mery, and as far south as Napata in the region of the
Fourth Cataract of the Nile in Nubia.
The Egyptians viewed the annual migratory cycle of these kbhw-birds in religious
terms as a symbol of the rebirth of the dead in the afterworld; the birds, flying annually
between the kbh.w-regions in the liminal areas of the extreme north and south, were
denizens of two worlds—i.e., the worlds of the living and the dead.62 The sight of large
Dynasty Egyptian ruler—similarly links royal fishing and fowling expeditions to the Sed Festival; see
Caminos, Literary Fragments in the Hieratic Script, pp. 22-39, especially p. 34, pi. 11.9.
61
Papyrus Turin (CG 54031); Condon, Seven Royal Hymns of the Ramesside Period, pi. 22,11. 8-10.
62
For a similar view of migratory birds in ancient Egyptian religious thought, see Hornung and Staehelin,
Skarabden undandere Siegelamulette, pp. 135-137; Hornung, Das Buch der Anbetung des Re im Westen,
Vol. 2, p. 122, note 210; Goelet, BES 5 (1983): 54; Edel, in NA WG 1963, No. 4, pp. 105-110. Perhaps
340
flocks of migratory birds—as mentioned in the hymn to Ramesses VII—signaled the
change of seasons each year; undoubtedly, the Egyptians connected this annual
occurrence to their own concept of infinite cyclical time (nhh).63 The concept of nhh-
time was particularly relevant to the renewal of the king at the Sed Festival; in order to
maintain a perpetual state of renewed existence, the Egypt ruler sought to celebrate an
infinite number of Sed Festivals both in life and after death.64
4.2.2. THE VASENLAUF & THE DOUM-NUT OFFERING OF THE BABOON
Based on this religious ideology, the Vogellauf and its precursor the fowling run
appear to associate the king directly with migratory birds, the yearly appearance of which
serves as a physically observable example of the Egyptians' conception of cyclical time.
While the Vogellauf connected the king directly to the inhabitants of the kbh.w-region,
another variant of the Sed Festival run—the Vasenlauf—enabled the king to create the
watery environment of the AM.w-region in Egypt.65 First attested in the reign of
Amenhotep I, the prototypical Vasenlauf'scene depicts the king carrying a hs.t-vessel in
each hand as he runs toward a deity for the purpose of pouring cool waters (hnp kbh.w)
because of the association of the AM.w-region with rebirth, Shepseskaf named his mortuary complex in
southern Saqqara Kbh Spss-ki=f; for the name of this construction, see Zibelius, Agyptische Siedlungen
nach Texten des Alten Reiches, pp. 241-242.
63
For detailed discussion of nhh-time, see references collected supra, this section, in footnote 49.
64
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 41-46, similarly connect the king's desire to
celebrate millions of Sed Festivals in the afterlife to nhh, the Egyptians' concept of eternal cyclical time.
65
For discussion of the Vasenlauf, see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Kbnigs, pp. 22-73;
Kees, ZAS 52 (1915): 64-69; Bartels, Formen altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 73-74; Kormysheva, in Gundlach
and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion undProgramm, pp. 203-205; Amer, The
Gateway of Ramesses IX in the Temple ofAmun at Karnak, pp. 22-26; Stoof, Skorpion und Skorpiongottin
im alten Agypten, pp. 87-91; Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, p. 368. According to Kees, loc. cit, the
Vasenlaufprimarily symbolizes the ritual purification of the king and the king's ability to control the
annual inundation of the Nile.
341
for the god or goddess (Fig. 13). By creating the conditions of the kbh.w in Egypt,
associating himself with migratory birds, and following their autumnal course from
liminal areas of the far north through Egypt to liminal areas of the far south, the king
guaranteed his own renewal and continued existence at the Sed Festival. The two half-/?.?
signs that appear (often with Sn-xmgs) behind the king during the performance of the
Konigslauf represent the edges of the sky and the doors that regulate the flow of the
waters of the kbh.w within the cosmos.67
A poorly understood ritual that may directly relate to the creation of the
conditions of the kbh.w-xegion in Egypt during the performance of the Konigslauf"is the
presentation of an offering-bowl to the king by a sacred baboon. Clear examples of this
motif appear, e.g., in Konigslauf'scenes on a seal impression of Den (Fig. 153) and on a
For discussion of a pair of depictions of the Vasenlauj'from the reign of Amenhotep I, see Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 42, cat. nos. A42-A43.
Westendorf, in Gamer-Wallert and Helck, Gegengabe: Festschriftfur Emma Brunner-Traut, pp. 348-
354, suggests that these signs depict the corners of the sky (halfp.f-signs) with a secondary meaning as
door-pivots; contra Millet, GM173 (1999): 11-12, who interprets the signs as door-pivots and rejects their
interpretation as halfp.r-signs; also, contra Spencer, JEA 64 (1978): 54-55, who interprets the signs as half
p.t-signs and rejects their interpretation as door pivots. See Allen, in Simpson, ed., Religion and
Philosophy in Ancient Egypt, p. 8, fn. 53, for references to the opening of the "door of the sky" and its
relationship to the waters of the kbhw in the Pyramid Texts. Friedman, in Der Manuelian, ed. Studies in
Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, p. 340, interprets the two halfp.r-signs behind Djoser in the
subterranean relief panels from the Step Pyramid complex as a "dual form suggesting the upper and
netherworlds, pt and Nwt"; additionally, she connects these two regions to the above-ground running course
(p.t) in southern court and the subterranean course (Nw.t) depicted on the relief panels below the Step
Pyramid and southern tomb. This division of the courses might suggest that the ritual run mirrors the
diurnal and nocturnal cycles of the solar deity through the cosmos.
68
For discussion of the two running rituals that appear on a seal impression of Den from the tomb of
Hemaka, see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 31-32, cat. no. A3;
Emery, Tomb of Hemaka, p. 64, fig. 26, cat. no. 434; Kees, in NGWG 1938, NF III.2, pp. 21-30; Blackman,
Studia Aegyptiaca 1 (1938): 4-9; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1950): 987; Kaplony, Kleine Beitrage zu den
Inschriften der dgyptischen Friihzeit, pp. 92, 94; Eaton-Krauss, Representations of Statuary in Private
Tombs of the Old Kingdom, pp. 90-91; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere undder Konig, Vol. 1, p. 72; Wilkinson,
Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, p. 241; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, p. 69; Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First
Century, Vol. 2, pp. 505-506.
342
relief panel of Djoser from the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara (Fig. 25). In the relief
from Djoser's Step Pyramid complex, the baboon sits on top of a small shrine that is
identified in the caption to the scene as the "white chapel of the Great Ones" (rh-hd
wr.w)—a phrase that undoubtedly alludes to the name of the baboon deity Hd-wr ("Great
White One"), who is known from other contexts to be a form of the god Thoth.70 The
depiction of a baboon in front of an unidentified 1st Dynasty king who is clad in the short
Sed Festival robe in a fragmentary limestone relief from Saqqara—most likely from the
reign of Den—probably alludes to the image of the baboon presenting an offering to the
king at the Konigslauf (Fig. 305).71 Additional examples of this motif very likely
originally appeared in the damaged area in front of the running king on a fragmentary
label of Den from Abydos (Fig. 38)72 and in a relief from the gateway of the palace of
Apries at Memphis (Fig. 28);73 in both scenes, the "white chapel of the Great Ones" is
visible in front of the king during the performance of the Konigslauf.
The contents of the baboon's offering-bowl are not clearly identified in any of the
previously mentioned Konigslauf scenes; however, in the depiction of a barque
For discussion of the offering of the baboon to the running king on a Sed Festival panel from the Step
Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, see primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 24-26, fig. 14, with
references; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 33, cat. no. A7, with references;
Jequier, CdE 27 (1929): 34; Kees, in NGWG 1929, No. 1, pp. 61-64.
70
For discussion of the relationship between the term "white chapel of the Great Ones," the name of the
baboon deity "Great White One," and the god Thoth, see primarily Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p.
285; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 24-26; Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pp. 107-110; Goelet, Two
Aspects of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 286-292, 300-303, 305-336; Kaplony, in LA,
Vol. 2, cols. 1078-1080.
71
For discussion of this 1st Dynasty limestone relief fragment from Saqqara, see primarily Emery, Great
Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 3, pp. 72, 84; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 25, footnote 130; Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 71-72, fig. 38.
According to Jimenez-Serrano, loc. cit., this fragment is probably a workman's practice piece.
72
For the three major fragments of this label of Den from Abydos, see Dreyer, MDAIK 46 (1990): pi. 26c;
Dreyer, MDAIK 49 (1993): pi. 13b; Dreyer, MDAIK 59 (2003): pi. 18g.
73
Kaiser, MDAIK A3 (1986): 130-131, 150, fig. 7, with references.
343
procession on a label of Semerkhet from Abydos (Fig. 104), three pellet-shaped objects
appear above an offering bowl in the outstretched paws of a sacred baboon in the
"(white) chapel of the Great Ones."74 Because of the lack of detailed iconographic and
textual evidence, a definitive interpretation of the contents of the baboon's offering-bowl
in the Konigslauf'scenes is not possible; however, a close examination of baboon imagery
in other ancient Egyptian iconographic and textual contexts strongly suggests a new
interpretation of the significance of the baboon's offering to the king.75 The "Great
White" baboon deity who appears as a manifestation of Thoth at the Sed Festival most
likely offers a bowl of doum-nuts—or perhaps doum-nut juice—to the king during the
performance of the Konigslauf.
Uninscribed figurines of seated baboons have been discovered in great numbers at
several Protodynastic and Early Dynastic cultic sites in both Upper and Lower Egypt,
For discussion of the offering of the baboon on this label from the reign of Semerkhet, see primarily
Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 96-97, fig. 57;
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 25; Kaplony, Kleine Beitrage zu den Inschriften der agyptischen Friihzeit, p.
130, no. 83; Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, p. 505.
75
Based on the large number of wine jars discovered within the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at
Saqqara, Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 9-10, has quite reasonably suggested that the baboon
offers wine to the king during the performance of the Konigslauf. If this theory is correct, the pellets above
the baboon's offering bowl might perhaps represent grapes. In one publication, Vikentiev, B1E 32 (1951):
202-209, has unconvincingly suggested that the pellets are seeds that the baboon throws under the feet of
the running king. In another publication, Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 139-145, has unconvincingly
suggested that the baboon offers pellets of silphium to the king in order to stimulate him during the
physically demanding performance of the Konigslauf.
76
Several groups of offering bowls that appear in the Sed Festival reliefs Niuserre in his solar temple at
Abu Gurob (von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, pis. 18, 21) may be
related to the baboon's offering to the king at the Konigslauf The two /c-signs that appear above these
offering- have traditionally been interpreted as a writing of wnmw, "food"; however, these signs could
possibly write the word kwkw, "doum-nut" (0^.5,21.14-15). As early as the Middle Kingdom, Kwkw is
attested as a proper name; see Ranke, Personennamen, Vol. 1, p. 333, no. 20 (masc, Kwkw) and no. 21
(fern., Kwkw.t).
344
including Abydos, Hierakonpolis, Elephantine, and Tell Ibrahim Awad (Fig. 194); the
large number of votive baboon figurines found at these sites strongly suggests that the
baboon played an important role in Protodynastic and Early Dynastic religious practice.
Royal inscriptions recording the names of Narmer and Meritneith on a pair of baboon
statues also indicate the high status of the baboon in archaic Egypt.79 Several Early
Dynastic figurines depict a seated baboon reaching one paw into a container and holding
the other paw up to the mouth (Fig. 195).80 The baboons depicted in these figurines are
probably not—as has often been suggested—reaching into wine jars;81 instead, these
baboons are most likely picking up and eating doum-nuts (kwkw). In this regard, the
For discussion of Protodynastic and Early Dynastic baboon figurines from these various sites, see
primagily Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, pp. 68-73, with references; Sherkova, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at
the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, pp. 504-508.
78
An Early Dynastic faience model of a boat with seven baboon occupants from Tell Ibrahim Awad may,
for example be related Thoth's presence on the solar barque in Book of the Dead Spell 126; see Sherkova,
in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, pp. 504-508. For further discussion
of the role of baboons in Book of the Dead Spell 126, see Donnat, in Aufrere, ed., Encyclopedic religieuse
de I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 1, p. 214.
79
For disussion of the baboon statues that are inscribed with the names of Narmer and Meritneith, see
primarily Kaplony, Kleine Beitrdge zu den Inschriften der dgyptischen Fruhzeit, pp. 91-98; Dreyer,
Elephantine, Vol. 8, p. 69; Krauss, MDAIK5Q (1994): 223-230. Based on the recording of royal names on
these baboon statues, some scholars have suggested that baboons symbolize the deceased royal ancestors of
the reigning king in the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom; according to this theory, the baboon
offered legitimization to the king during the performance of the Konigslaufat the celebration of the Sed
Festival. Proponents of this view include Helck, Orientalia 19 (1950): 427-431; Helck, Archiv Orientdlni
20 (1952): 80-83; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 987; Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, p. 69; Helck,
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 9-11; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 60;
Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 25-26; Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 43.
80
For examples of Early Dynastic baboon figurines that appear in this particular pose, see Dreyer,
Elephantine, Vol. 8, pp. 71-72, cat. nos. 149-151; Petrie, Abydos, Vol. 2, no. 53; Adams, Ancient
Hierakonpolis: Supplement, p. 23; Mttller, Agyptische Kunstwerke, Kleinfunde undGlas, no. A14a.
81
For the suggestion that these baboons are reaching into wine jars, see Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, pp.
71-72; Mttller, Agyptische Kunstwerke, Kleinfunde undGlas, no. A14a. As possible support for such an
interpretation, a baboon appears as an assistant in a wine production scene from the reliefs of the 5th
Dynasty tomb of Nefer at Saqqara; see Houlihan, Wit & Humour in Ancient Egypt, p. 20, fig. 8.
345
figurines are a close parallel to a very common ancient Egyptian iconographic motif that
depicts baboons retrieving doum-nuts from net-sacks or jars (Fig. 306).82
In the context of the physically demanding rites of the Konigslauf, the "Great
White" baboon deity's offering of doum-nuts to the king most likely provides him with
nourishment and—perhaps more importantly—hydration. In the Ramesside "Prayer to
Thoth" in Papyrus Sallier I, 8.2-8.7, a weary and thirsty traveler in the desert asks Thoth
to provide him with refreshing water; for the supplicant traveler, the sight of tall, fruit-
bearing doum-palms indicates an answer to his prayers since areas of the desert with
doum-palms were known to have an accessible supply of ground water.83 According to
the text of this hymn, "there are kernels inside of the doum-nuts, and there is water inside
of the kernels."84 Thus, the juice of the doum-nut itself is also an important source of
hydration. Several Theban tombs of the Ramesside Period contain related scenes in
which the tomb-owner kneels in a prayerful pose at the base of a doum-palm and drinks
Of
water from an overflowing pool (Fig. 307). These tomb scenes confirm the idea
For images of baboons retrieving doum-nuts from net-sacks or jars, see primarily Keimer, MDAIK 8
(1938): 42-45; Vandier d'Abbadie, Catalogue des ostracafigures de Deir el-Medineh, Fasc. 3, pp. 6-21;
Keimer, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University: Annual Report 1954-55, p. 10; Brunner-Traut, Egyptian
Artists' Sketches, p. 50; Houlihan, GM157 (1997): 31-47; Houlihan, Wit& Humour in Ancient Egypt, p.
97, figs. 102-107. For general discussion of the doum-palm (Hyphaene thebaica) and its fruit, see
Tackholm and Drar, Flora of Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 273-296; Gamer-Wallert, Die Palmen im Alien Agypten,
pp. 18-19, 50-53, 79-81, 97-98, 106-109, etpassim; Baum, Arbres et arbustes de I'Egypte ancienne, pp.
106-120.
83
For the "Prayer to Thoth" in Papyrus Sallier I, 8.2-8.7, see primarily Gardiner, Late-Egyptian
Miscellanies, pp. 85-86; Keimer, MDAIKZ (1938): 42-45; Keimer, BIE 29 (1948): 275-291; Caminos,
Late-Egyptian Miscellanies, pp. 321-323; Gamer-Wallert, Die Palmen im AIten Agypten, pp. 50-53, 97-98;
Baum, Arbres et arbustes de I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 118-119.
84
Gardiner, Late-Egyptian Miscellanies, p. 86,11. 3-4.
85
For depictions of this motif in the tomb of Pashedu (TT 3), Amennakht (TT 218), and Irynefer (TT 290),
see Moftah, GM 127 (1992): 63-65; Baum, Arbres et arbustes de I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 110-118, figs. 30-
32.
346
suggested by the prayer in Papyrus Sallier I that the ancient Egyptians viewed the doum-
palm as an indicator of the presence of refreshing drinking water.
The offering of doum-nuts and/or doum-nut juice to the king during the
Konigslauf slakes the king's thirst and—perhaps more importantly—recreates the watery
environment of the kbh.w-region in Egypt in a fashion similar to the Vasenlauf. In this
regard the role of the "Great White" baboon deity at the Sed Festival is most likely
related to the role of Thoth in the myth of the wandering goddess of the solar eye. In the
myth of the wandering goddess, Thoth coaxes the goddess back to Egypt after her winter
journey to a region in the far southeast that is inhabited by baboons, giraffes, and doum-
palms.86 The return of the goddess coincides with the annual inundation of the Nile,
which transforms Egypt into a watery, marshy region like the kbh.w at the southern and
northern edges of the cosmos.
4.3. THE KONIGSLAUF: CONTROL OVER FIELDS & LANDSCAPE
4.3.0. INTRODUCTION
Several theories concerning the ritual significance of the Sed Festival run have
sought to connect the Konigslauf to agricultural rites and to the king's symbolic dominion
over lands and fields. According to a once commonly accepted theory concerning the
symbolic significance of the Konigslauf, the king's run is an "offering dance" {Opfertanz)
that commemorates the donation of an agricultural field and its products to a favored
86
For discussion of the Thoth's important role in the myth of the wandering goddess, see references
collected in Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 84, footnote 190. The baboons, giraffes, and doum-palms that appear
in Nubian tribute scenes on golden Prunkgefdfie are most likely associated with the southeastern lands that
the wandering goddess visits during her winter sojourn; for discussion of these objects and their association
with the myth of the wandering goddess, see Gamer-Wallert, Die Palmen im Alten Agypten, pp. 79-81;
Donnat, in Aufrere, ed., Encyclopedie religieuse de I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 1, pp. 209-218; Baum, Arbres et
arbustes de I'Egypte ancienne, pp. 119-120; Brunner-Traut, Altagyptische Tiergeschichte undFabel, pp.
34-41.
347
deity at the celebration of the Sed Festival. Another theory suggests that the Konigslauf
is based on a prehistoric agricultural ritual in which a tribal leader ran through a recently
defeated or militarily annexed area to ensure the fertility of its fields and livestock.
Although neither of these theories correctly identifies the symbolic significance of the
ritual run of the king at the Sed Festival, the Konigslauf scad several of its ritual variants
do in fact emphasize the king's control over fields and landscape as a major theme. In
representations of the Sed Festival as early as the 1st Dynasty (Figs. 25-27, 37-38, 61),
the Egyptian ruler carries a small cylindrical object with bifurcated ends during the
performance of the Konigslauf originally called nms (Wb. 2, 269.6) and later identified
as mks (Wb. 2, 163.13-17), this object apparently functioned as a container for a property
transfer document (imy.t-pr)*9 In the context of the king's peformance of a ritual run at
the Sed Festival, the carrying of the mfo-container and the imy.t-pr document most likely
For discussion of the Konigslauf as an "offering-dance" {Opfertcmz), see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz
des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 194-197, etpassim; Kees, ZAS 52 (1915): 71-72; Blackman, Studia Aegyptiaca
1 (1938): 4-9; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 85-87; AltenmUller, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 148-150;
Touny and Wenig, Der Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 83-84; Bartels, Formen altagyptischer Kulte, pp. 64-65.
88
For discussion of a prehistoric agricultural rite as the basis for the symbolic significance of the
Konigslauf 'at the Sed Festival, see Vikentiev, BIE 32 (1951): 201-228; Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 271-316;
Decker, Sports and Games in Ancient Egypt, p. 33.
89
For discussion of the carrying of the mfa-container by the king during the performance of the Konigslauf,
see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des agyptischen Konigs, pp. 144-145; Spiegelberg, ZAS 53 (1917): 101-
104; Staehelin, Untersuchungen zur agyptischen Tracht im Alten Reich, p. 162; Mysliwiec, BIFAO 78
(1978): 174-176; Barta, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 20-22, with references; Fehlig, SAK13 (1986): 66; Koemoth,
CdE 71 (1996): 216; Stadelmann, in Grimal, ed., Les criteres de datation stylistiques, pp. 367-368. For
discussion of the m&s-object as a container for the imy.t-pr, see primarily Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 22-
24, with references. For further discussion of the term imy.t-pr, see also Mrsich, in Studien zu Sprache und
Religion Agyptens, Vol. 1, pp. 561-611; Menu, in Geus and Thill, eds., Melanges offerts a Jean Vercoutter,
pp. 249-262; Logan, JARCE 37 (2000): 49-73; Ganley, Discussions in Egyptology 55 (2003): 15-27;
Ganley, Discussions in Egyptology 56 (2003): 37-44.
348
indicates that the king has received divine permission to rule over the two main
geographical divisions of Egypt—i.e., Upper and Lower Egypt.90
During the performance of the "group run" (Section 4.3.1), several royal officials
with unusual titles run a ceremonial course that is identical to the circuit of the
Konigslauf; a close examination of the titles of these royal officials suggests that they are
custodians responible for the maintenance and upkeep of the fields through which the
king runs at the Sed Festival. During the performance of the ^zs/aw/"(Section 4.3.2), the
Egyptian ruler identifies himself with a fierce wild bull running freely through the lands
and fields of Egypt. Several rites associated with the performance of the Konigslauf
involve the standard of the jackal god Wepwawet, whose name means "Opener-of-Ways"
(Section 4.3.3); the carrying of the Wepwawet standard in front of the king and the fixing
of this standard in the ground probably allude to the king's military authority over the
lands of Egypt. As the culmination of the rites of the Konigslauf the king dons the
territorial crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt in an enthronement rite that affirms his right
to rule both geographical divisions of the country (Section 4.3.4).
4.3.1. THE GROUP RUN
Perhaps the most poorly understood of all the running rituals of the Sed Festival is
a ritual in which a group of male officials runs a ceremonial course in an open courtyard
in the presence of the enthroned Egyptian ruler; in comparison with the ritual run of the
king himself, this ceremony—dubbed here the "group run"—is relatively rare in the
90
For a similar interpretation of the king's carrying of the wfo-container as a symbol of his divine
permission to rule the country, see referenes collected in Section 4.0, footnote 2. According to several
scholars, the king carries the mfe-container during the Konigslauf"in order to transfer ownership of
agricultural fields to the temple of a favored deity; for discussion of this unconvincing theory, see
references collected supra, this section, in footnote 87. According to another unconvincing theory, the
mfa-container contains authorization papers allowing the king to hunt within a particular geographical area;
for this theory, see with caution Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 9.
349
documentation for the Sed Festival.91 In the representation of the group run on the
Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60), three bearded longhaired men clad in belted sporrans run in
between two sets of crescent-shaped boundary markers in an open courtyard in front of
the stepped tnrt.t-platform and the royal Sed Festival kiosk of the enthroned king
Narmer. The costume of these running men allows for a full range of vigorous
movement and appears to be worn most commonly by men who perform strenuous
physical activities—often in marshy environments. The hands of each runner are joined
together at his chest in a well-known gesture of respect and admiration before the king.94
In the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, the Sed Festival reliefs of
Amenhotep III at Soleb, and the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, several
officials and dignitaries who appear in the presence of the king—including the "Great
The fantastical notion that the group run is an athletic competion among possible heirs to the throne is
not supported by the available evidence; for this unusual interpretation of the group run, see with caution
Helck, in Haussig, ed., Worterbuch der Mythologie, Vol. 1, p. 324; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient
Egypt, p. 33. The only possible parallel for such a competition is the jumping contest in the Tale of the
Doomed Prince; see Gardiner, Late Egyptian Stories, pp. 1-9; Simpson, The Literature ofAncient Egypt,
pp. 75-79.
92
For discussion of the depiction of the group run on the Narmer Macehead, see primarily Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 31, cat. no. Al, with references; Quibell and Petrie,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 9, pi. 26b; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 602-605, fig. 394; Bleeker, Egyptian
Festivals, p. 99; Lauer, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, p. 184; Helck,
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 12; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 55-56; Decker, Sports and Games of
Ancient Egypt, pp. 33-34, fig. 11; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger Bevolkerung als Mittel
dgyptischer Politik, pp. 35-38, figs. 3-4; Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 6-7, fig. 4; Logan, in Teeter and
Larson, eds., Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente, p. 264, fig. 26.5;
Cialowicz, La naissance d' un royaume, pp. 202-204, fig. 36; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 52-53, fig. 19.
93
For discussion of this sytle of belted sporran, see primarily Perdu, RdE 56 (2005): 157-162, with
references. Marines, boat workers, fisherman, fowlers, herdsmen, and dancers most often wear this outfit;
however, as Perdu rightly cautions, belted sporrans are not associated exclusively with these professions.
94
For discussion of this gesture as a symbol of respect and admiration, see Dominicus, Gesten und
Gebdrden, pp. 5-9, 65-74. Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 55, has convincingly rejected the once common view
that these runners are fettered prisoners.
350
Ones of Upper and Lower Egypt," the hry-p, and the iry-ti—place their hands together in
front of their chests in a similar fashion.95
The best contemporary parallels for the running men on the Narmer Macehead
appear on a fragmentary late Predynastic slate palette that was later re-inscribed with an
image from the Sed Festival of Amenhotep III (Fig. 132).96 Like the runners on the
Narmer Macehead, the three bearded, longhaired men who appear in the middle row of
the Predynastic side of the palette wear belted sporrans and hold their hands together in
front of their chests (Fig. 132a).97 The depiction of a group of four men walking with
their hands joined together in front of their chests on the bottom right corner of an ivory
label of Aha from the tomb of Neithhotep at Naqada (Fig. 308) provides another close
parallel to the groups of men on this Predynastic palette fragment and on the Narmer
Macehead.98
The group run appears several times in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu
Gurob (Figs. 65, 309-311); however, in only one example do the traditional semicircular
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 39,42-43, 52; Giorgini,
Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 95,105, 106, 110,121, 124;Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 27, no. 6. Logan, in
Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente, p. 264,
also tentatively connects the runners on the Narmer Macehead to to the "Great Ones of Upper and Lower
Egypt" in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre on the basis of the posture of their hands.
96
For detailed discussion of the Predynastic and 18th Dynasty relief decoration on this palette, see
references collected in Section 1.2, footnote 156.
97
For the identification of this fragmentary Predynastic palette as a depiction of the Sed Festival, see
Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 252-253; Bothmer, JARCE 8 (1969-1970): 5-8; Hartwin, in Engel,
eta/., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 195-209, with references.
98
For discussion of the walking men in the bottom right corner of this label of Aha from Abydos, see
primarily Hartwig, in Engel, eta/., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 200-201, fig. 6, with references. For
further discussion of the decorative scenes on this label of Aha, see also Helck, Untersuchngen zur
Thinitenzeit, pp. 146-147; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First
Dynasty, pp. 94-96, fig. 55; Kinnear, GM196 (2003): 23-30; El-Shimy, in Hawass, ed., Egyptology at the
Dawn of the Tweny-First Century, Vol. 2, pp. 509-513.
351
boundary markers border the course for the run (Fig. 311). When labeled, the runners
in these scenes bear the titles iry-tl, iry-sml, or hry-p—each of which has been the source
of confusion for interpreters.100 The iry-t? and the iry-sml also participate in the
performance of the group run in a scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II fromb
Bubastis (Fig. 74).101 Some scholars have interpreted the term iry-tl as a command (r ti,
"To the ground!") rather than a title; however, the term iry-tl is most likely a title
i fly t
meaning "groundskeeper." Since the official labeled iry-sml typically carries a scepter
and a curved staff (rw.t) in these reliefs, the word sm3 may relate to these implements or
to the authority bestowed upon the individual who carries them.103 If—as seems likely—
the word sm3 in the title iry-sm? is an abbreviated writing of smi.ty, "Weg, Strasse" (Wb.
3, 452.17-19), the title would then refer to this official's responsibility for the
maintenance of the course for the Konigslauf. In the context of the depictions of the
group run in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, the title hry-p probably means "master
of the p-socle" rather than "chief of Pe."
The group runnners who appear in an intriquing scene from the Sed Festival
reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb are unlabeled (Fig. 208);104 however, the group runners
99
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 1 lb, 12c; Kees, Das Re-
Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 252, 256, 258-261, 263.
100
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 1 lb, 12c; Kees, Das Re-
Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 252, 263.
101
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, p. 23, nos. 5-6.
102
For various interpretations of this title, see Jones, An Index of Ancient Egyptian Title, Epithets and
Phrases of the Old Kingdom, p. 337, no. 1244.
103
For various interpretations of this title, see Jones, An Index ofAncient Egyptian Title, Epithets and
Phrases of the Old Kingdom, p. 336, no. 1236. The Worterbuch gives no example of any *^wi-staves.
However, sml could perhaps refer to the wood from which the staves are made; see Wb. 3,452.3-5, smi.w,
"die Zweige der Baume," attested since the Middle Kingdom.
104
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 119.
352
who appear in a fragmentary scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the
Gempaaten Temple at Karnak bear the remarkable title sh.ty.w-nsw.t, "men of the royal
fields" (Fig. 219).105 The term sh.ty.w is also used to designate individuals—both male
and female—who prostrate themselves and participate in a group run in a ritual scene
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 147c).106 This title
undoubtedly connects the participants in the group run with the fields where the run takes
place.107 Though many details of the ritual significance of the group run remain unclear,
it seems very likely that the participants in the run are the officials directly in charge of
the maintenance and upkeep of the fields where the king runs during the performance of
the Konigslauf
4.3.2. THE APISLAUF
In a well-known ritual variant of the Konigslauf 'known as phrr Hp ("the running
of the Apis" or Apislauf), the Egyptian ruler and the Apis bull appear side by side during
the performance of a ritual run.108 The earliest depiction of the Apislauf appears on a seal
impression of Den that also contains an image of the king running in front of the "Great
White" baboon deity (Fig. 153); the fragmentary caption containing the uniliteral sign p
105
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pi. 88, pp. 140-141.
106
Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 15. Cf. the reconstruction of the scene with a previously
unpublished block in Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 73-77.
107
Contra Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956): 271-316, who suggests that sh.t is a designation for "oasis" and that
"la nisbe shtyw peut designer des 'oasiens.'" For sh.t as a term designating the field upon which the ritual
runs of the Sed Festival take place, see discussion of the phrase wdi (m) sh.t in association with the
Konigslauf in Section 4.3.3.
108
For general discussion of the Apislauf see primarily Kees, Der Opfertanz des dgyptischen Konigs, pp.
100-102; Blackman, Studia Aegyptiaca 1 (1938): 7-9; Kees, NGWG 1938, Neue Folge III.2, pp. 23-25;
Barta, SAK4 (1976): 33-34; Otto, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der Stierkulte in Agypten, pp. 11-14; Helck, in
LA, Vol. 6, cols. 14-16; Helck, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 274-275; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 14;
Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, p. 32; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t, pp. 44-45; Amer, The
Gateway of Ramesses IX in the Temple ofAmun at Karnak, pp. 25-26; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt,
pp. 281, 300; Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 117-118.
353
that appears above the bull beside the king in this scene is probably part of the word Hp
("Apis") or perhaps even part of the phrase phrr Hp ("the running of the Apis").109 In the
depiction of the Apislauf on this seal impression, Den wears the red crown—which may
suggest that the Apislauf'was a Lower Egyptian counterpart to the other depiction of the
Konigslauf on this seal impression. Records of the performance of the Apislauf by Early
Dynastic kings are known from a number of sources. For example, a small diorite bowl
in a private collection in Cairo records the "the first occasion of the running of the Apis"
(sp-tpy phrr Hp) in the reign of Aha (Fig. 312);110 two labels from Abydos record "the
second occasion of the running of the Apis" (sp-2 phrr Hp) during the reign of Qa-a;111
and, finally, the royal annals of the Palermo Stone record the performance of the Apislauf
during the reigns of Den, Semerkhet, and Ninetjer.112
Evidence for the ritual's connection to the celebration of the Sed Festival derives
from a number of sources. For example, a depiction of the king running along the Apis
bull appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid
at Dahshur (Fig. 196).113 The Apislauf does not appear in the extant portion of the Sed
For discussion of both of variants of the Konigslauf 'that appear on this seal impression of Den, see
110
This bowl is in the collection of Mr. Georges Michailides; see Simpson, Orientalia 26 (1957): 139-142;
Kaplony, MDAIK20 (1965): 8, pi. 1, fig. 13; Vercoutter, in LA, Vol. 1, col. 338; Kessler, Die heiligen
Tiere und der Konig, Part 1, pp. 70-71.
111
For discussion of these labels of Qa-a, see Leclant and Clerc, Orientalia 61 (1992): 260-261, pi. 28, fig.
35; Dreyer, eta/., MDAIK 52 (1996): 75; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 281.
112
For the records of the performance of the Apislauf by Den, Semerkhet, and Ninetjer in the Palermo
Stone, see Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 117-118, 196, 122-123, 126.
113
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 98, figs. 96, 237, 263. For an improved
reconstruction of this scene, see Schott, GM3 (1972): 31-36. According to Schott's reconstruction, the
caption to the scene reads: ir=fir.tphrr Hp, "he performs the ceremony of the running of the Apis." For
further discussion of the scene, cf. also Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 35, cat.
no. A14; Guglielmi, Die Gbttin Mr.t, p. 44.
354
Festival reliefs of Niuserre from his solar temple at Abu Gurob; however, a scene from
these reliefs that depicts a pair of officials attending to a bull in a shrine may very well be
related to the performance of the Apislauf (Fig. 313).114 New Kingdom examples of the
Apislauf however, are often linked to rituals of the Theban festival cycle. Two versions
of the Apislauf—an Upper Egyptian and a Lower Egyptian version—appear in the reliefs
of Hatshepsut associated with the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley
in the Chapelle Rouge at Karnak (Figs. 314-315).115 In both of these scenes, the Apislauf
appears next to the rites of the consecration of the meret-chests. The connection of the
Apislauf 'to the consecration of the meret-chests was probably a result of the similarity of
the Apislauf and the driving of the calves—a rite that is closely connected to the
consecration of the meret-chests.116 An Apislauf scene of Ramesses II on the southern
wall of the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple also appears next to the rites of the
consecration of the meret-chests.117 In the New Kingdom the Apis bull also became
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, Beiblatt A; Kees, Das Re-
Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 251. The uniliteral sign p that appears above the bull's head
in this scene probably writes ftp, "Apis." The caption to the scene, pr (m) ri Hby, "coming forth (from) the
eastern gate," could suggest that the scene pertains to rebirth, since the "eastern gate" is linked to the
eastern horizon and the morning sun. For discussion of this scene, see Otto, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der
Stierkulte inAegypten, p. 14; Schott, GM3 (1972): 31; Barta, SAK4 (1976): 33-34; Kessler, Die heiligen
Tiere und der Konig, Part 1, p. 70.
115
Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge: Le sanctuaire de barque d'Hatshepsout, Vol. 1, pp. 63,110. For
further disdussion of these scenes, see also Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 44-
45, nos. A49-A50; Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, pp. 377-378; Otto, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der
Stierkulte in Agypten, p. 12; Amer, The Gateway of Ramesses IX in the Temple ofAmun at Karnak, pp. 23-
24; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere und der Konig, Part 1, p. 70, footnote 4; Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t, pp. 44-
45.
116
For discussion of the relationship between the Apislauf, the driving of the calves, and the consecration of
the meret-chests, see Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol. 1, p. 347.
117
Nelson and Murnane, The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, Vol. 1, Part 1, pis. 71, 73; Amer, The
Gateway of Ramesses IX in the Temple ofAmun at Karnak, pp. 9,22-26, pis. 2-3; Guglielmi, Die Gottin
Mr.t, p. 45, fn. 107. Based on these examples, Amer, loc. cit., has suggested that the Apislauf scenes of
Ramesses IX on the southern facade of a gateway along the north-south axis of Karnak Temple are related
to the processions of the Opet Festival that link Luxor and Karnak Temples.
355
more closely linked to the Memphite creator god Ptah, the syncretized deity Ptah-Sokar-
Osiris, and—by extension—to Osiris himself; during this period the Egyptians
understood the Apis as a cultic manifestation of this particular deity.118 This association
may explain in part the unusual depiction of a deceased individual (indentified as Osiris)
performing the Apislauf at the Sed Festival on a 19th Dynasty sarcophagus from Deir el-
Bahari (Fig. 316).119
In general, the performance of the Apislauf appears to imbue the king with
potency, strength, and virility; as such, the ancient Egyptians most likely viewed Apislauf
as a type of fertility rite during the dynastic period.120 As evidence of this connection
between the Apis bull and the sexual potency of the Egyptian ruler, the deceased king
identifies his phallus as the Apis bull during his cosmic ascent in Pyramid Texts Spell
539. m In its origins during the late Predynastic Period, the Apislauf was most likely a
ritual in which the Egyptian ruler symbolically appeared as a wild bull and ran a
ceremonial course that represented the natural habitat of the bull. A depiction of
precisely such a ritual appears in the right portion of the second register of a wooden
label of Aha from Abydos (Fig. 45); in this scene a large bull runs inside the courtyard of
118
For discussion of Apis bull's association with Ptah, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, and Osiris, see Otto, Beitrage zur
Geschichte der Stierkulte in Agypten, pp. 11-34; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere und der Konig, Part 1, pp. 77-
79; Kessler, in Redford, ed., Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 210-211.
119
MoTler, ZAS 39 (1901): 71-74, pi. 4; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 68, cat.
no. A128.
120
For discussion of these particular associations of the Apislauf see references collected, supra, this
121
Pyramid Texts Spell 539 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p. 231, § 1313c):
hnn n Pipipn m Hp
"The phallus of this Pepi is Apis."
For discussion of the connection between the Apis bull and royal sexual potency in this Pyramid Texts
passage, see Otto, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Stierkulte in Agypten, p. 11; Winter, Der Apiskult im Alten
Agypten, p. 12; Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere und der Konig, Part 1, pp. 75-76. For a full translation of
Pyramid Texts Spell 539, cf Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 169-171, Spell P486.
356
a sacred precinct towards a tripartite object that consists a large crescent shape flanked by
two small circular shapes (Fig. 4 5 ) . m Although other interpretations are possible, the
tripartite object towards which the bull runs in this label is most likely a large net that is
fixed in the ground with two poles.123 If—as seems likely—this scene is an early
precursor of the Apislauf in which the king assumes the physical form of a wild bull
during the Sed Festival run, the boundary marker might represent the nets and fences that
are commonly used to block the escape of desert game animals from hunters who pursue
In other Protodynastic iconographic contexts, such as the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39)
and the Bull Palette (Fig. 44), the Egyptian ruler assumes the physical form of a wild bull
while trampling the corpses of his defeated enemies on the battlefield.125 Thus, the wild
bull appears to be a potent symbol of the royal military power of the Egyptian ruler in the
Protodynastic Period. The "double-bull" that appears next to the pr-nw shrine on the
For detailed discussion of the depiction of a running bull in the second register of this wooden label of
Aha from Abydos, see Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, p. 21, pi. 10.2; Legge, PSBA 29
(1907): 21-22; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 836-838; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 147-
148; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 189-191; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals of
the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 57-60, with references.
123
Cf Gardiner Sign T24. For identification of the tripartite object as a net, see Petrie, Royal Tombs of the
First Dynasty, Vol. 2, p. 21; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 836-838; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und
symbolische Zeichen, p. 190; contra Legge, PSBA 28 (1907): 21-22, who identifies the object as the typical
set of boundary markers for the Sed Festival run.
124
For the use of nets in hunting desert game animals such as gazelles, see Montet, Les scenes de la vie
privee, pp. 84-91; Wild, BIFAO 47 (1948): 6-13; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 787-833; Bidoli, Die
Spriiche der Fangnetze in den altdgyptischen Sargtexten, p. 54, fn. 6. Whether or not this hunting
technique would be effective against a large animal such as a wild bull remains uncertain. The depiction of
a hunting net in this precursor to the Apislauf 'might lend some creedence to the notion that Konigslauf
derives from an archaic hunting ritual. However, there is no clear evidence to support the idea of the
Konigslauf as a Qualifikationsjagd by means of which an individual would rise to the level of tribal leader
or ruler. For discussion of the Konigslauf as a Qualifikationsjagd, see primarily Helck, Untersuchungen
zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 6-21; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954): 961-991.
125
The identification of the bulls trampling human enemies on the Bull Palette and the Narmer Palette as
representations of the Egyptian ruler reflects the Egyptological communis opinio; for discussion of the bull
imagery on these palettes, see Section 5.2.3; Section 6.1.4.
357
Hunters Palette (Fig. 46) may also be a symbol of royal power—perhaps already
representing the duality of kingship, Upper and Lower Egyptian.126 Additionally, the
bull's tail emerges as a symbol of royal power during the Protodynastic Period; it is often
part of the king's outfit when he performs vigorous activities such as the foundation
ceremony and the Konigslauf}11 In its earliest form, the Apislauf appears first and
foremost to be a demonstration of the king's (military) authority of the lands of Egypt.
4.3.3. FIXING THE WEPWAWET STANDARD IN THE GROUND
During the late Predynastic Period, the image of a standing jackal deity on top of
a portable standard emerges as a symbol of kingship and royal ritual power. On the Bull
Palette (Fig. 44) and the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21), jackal standards and other royal
standards clearly have a militaristic symbolism linked to the physical restraint of the
enemies of the Egyptian ruler.128 In the scenes of royal ritual performance on the the
Narmer Maceahead (Fig. 60) and the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), four attendants carry a
group of four standards—the so-called Sms.w-Hr, "Followers of Horus", which in their
typical form include a jackal (standing upon the &/fti-device), a throne-cushion, and two
falcons.129 The jackal probably symbolizes the canid god Wepwawet, whose name
126
For the "double bull" on the Hunters Palette as a symbol of royalty, see Baines, BSFE 118 (1990): 5-37;
Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 93-99; Cialowicz, Lespalettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans
decoration, pp. 55-56; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 189-191, with references.
127
For detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of the bull's tail as a form of royal costume at the
Sed Festival, see Section 1.1.1.
128
For detailed discussion of the militaristic symbolism of the royal standards that appear on the Bull
Palette (Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 144, fig. 37) and the Scorpion Macehead (Millet, JARCE 28 (1991):
225, fig. 2), see Section 6.1.3.
129
For discussion of the four standards that constitute the Followers of Horus, see primarily von Beckerath,
MDAIK 14 (1956): 1-10; Kaiser, ZAS 84 (1959): 119-132; Kaiser, ZAS 85 (1960): 118-137; von Beckerath,
in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 51-52; Menu, Mediterranees 6/7 (1996): 46; Menu, BIFAO 96 (1996): 341-342;
Gundlach, DerPharao und seinStaat, pp. 65-66; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 197-199; Logan, in
Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F Wente, p. 262;
Morenz, SAK 30 (2002): 277-283; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 34-39.
358
means "opener of paths," rather than the Abydene canid god Khenti-imentiu.
Throughout the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom, the Wepwawet standard
appears most often in representations of the royal smiting ritual and in depictions of
scenes from the celebration of the Sed Festival.131 For example, in the depiction of the
Upper and Lower Egyptian royal enthronement rites on a seal impression of Djer from
Abydos, the Wepwawet standard is fixed in the ground in front of both images of the Sed
Festiva rob-clad king (Fig. 63).132 The Wepwawet standard appears for the first time as
part of the performance of the Konigslauf m decorative scenes on two objects from the
reign of Den: a seal impression from the tomb of Hemaka (Fig. 153) and fragmentary
label from Abydos (Fig. 38).133 In both of these Konigslauf scenes, the Wepwawet
standard is fixed in the ground with a piriform mace hanging from the standard-pole; this
particular features strongly suggests that the Wepwawet standard may is linked to hunting
4
and/or military activity in these representations of the Konigslauf}
For identification of the jackal standard that appears on Protodynastic and Early Dynastic royal objects
as Wepwawet, see Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 197-198, with references; contra Morenz, SAK 30
(2002): 277-283; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 34-39, who suggests that the four
standards of the Followers of Horus are connected with the Predynastic Upper Egyptian cult centers of
Abydos and Hierakonpolis. According to this interpretation, the two falcon standards relate to the Horus
ruler of each location, the jackal divinity is Khenti-imentiu of Abydos, and the throne-cushion represents
Hierakonpolis. However, the depiction of the jackal standard in these examples is most similar to later
depictions of the Wepwawet standard; see DuQuesne, The Jackal Divinities of Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 63-64, 81-
82, 110-131. The first attested hieroglyphic writing of Wp-wi.wt dates to the 2nd Dynasty; see DuQuesne,
op. cit., pp. 63, 81.
131
For a catalogue of examples of the Wepwawet standard from these periods, see DuQuesne, The Jackal
Divinities of Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 110-131.
132
For this seal impression of Djer, see primarily Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, pi. 15,
no. 108; DuQuesne, The Jackal Divinities of Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 118, no. III.CI; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 64, fig. 28, with references.
133
For discussion of the Konigslauf scenes that appear on this seal impression and label of Den, see
references collected in Section 4.2.2, footnotes 68, 72.
134
For detailed discussion of the piriform mace as a symbol of royal military power in the Predynastic,
Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic periods, see Section 6.1.1.
359
The six subterranean relief panels from the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser
depict a sequence of action in which the king runs from north to south across the
Southern Court of the complex (Fig. 25).135 In Panel 1, before Djoser has begun to run,
the Wepwawet standard and the slightly shorter throne-cushion standard are fixed in the
ground before the king. In the representations of the Kdnigslauf'in Panels 2 and 3, a
human-armed vWs-scepter carries the Wepwawet standard in advance of the running king;
the throne-cushion standard is absent from these two panels. As Djoser concludes his run
in Panel 4, the Wepwawet standard rests on top of a small pedestal; the throne-cushion
standard is still absent. In the representations of the king's visit to the shrines of the
Upper and Lower Egypt in Panels 5 and 6, the Wepwawet standard and the throne-
cushion standard are once again firmly fixed in the ground. A similar sequence involving
the carrying of the Wepwawet standard in advance of the running king during the
performance of the Kdnigslauf and during the king's visit to the sacred shrines of Upper
and Lower Egypt appears in the Sed Festival relief panels of Snofru from the valley
temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur (Figs. 26,29, 75).136
A close examination of the six vignettes of the Kdnigslauf sequence in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob suggests that the Wepwawet
standard plays a very important role in the ritual run of the king at the Sed Festival (Fig.
For detailed discussion of the Kdnigslauf sequence on the Sed Fesival relief panels of Djoser from the
Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, see Section 2.2.1, Panels 1-6.
136
For detailed discussion of the Kdnigslauf sequence and the depictions of the king's visit to the sacred
shrines of Upper and Lower Egypt in the Sed Festival relief panels of Snofru from the valley temple of the
Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, see Section 2.2.2.
360
27).137 In all six vignettes, the king wears the white crown of Upper Egypt. Before
beginning the run, Niuserre wears the short Sed Festival robe; during the run, the king
wears a kilt with a bull's tail attached at the back of the waist. The sequence begins with
a fragmentary vignette in which the king stops at an unknown shrine while carrying the
nhyhS-fiail and the rwa-staff: rtf (hr) [...], "stopping (at) [„.]."138 In the second vignette
of the sequence, a "servant of the souls of Nekhen" (hm bl.w Nhn) holds the Wepwawet
standard in front of the king inside of a sacred building; Niuserre extends his hands
forward towards the standard and anoints it with sacred oil:139
ddmdw
wdi(=i) md.t
'(I) offer unguent'"
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 33b, 34. For further
discussion of the Konigslauf sequence from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see references collected in
138
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 7, offers a different interpretation of the caption to the first
vignette in the sequence; he suggests that the first word of the caption is hrp ("controller"), not rhr ("to
stand" or "to stop"). A similar orthographic writing of the word rhr appears in the caption to scenes from
the Konigslauf sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Djoser and Snofru; in these scenes, rhr refers to the
king's "stopping" to visit various shrines during the rites of the Konigslauf. Thus, contra Helck, loc. cit.,
the first word of the caption to the first vignette of the Wepwawet sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre is probably rhr, not hrp. For similar orthographic writings of rhr in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Djoser and Snofru, see Section 2.2.1, Panels 3-5; Section 2.2.2, Scene 2. For the rw.?-staff s association
with kingship and the Sed Festival, see primarily Sourouzian, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean
Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 500-501; Perdu, RdE 56 (2005): 131-133, 146-151, with references. Before its use as a
type of royal insignia, the rw./-staff was originally used by herdsmen in Egypt; for discussion of the
pastoral use of the rw.?-staff and other curved staffs, see primarily Fischer, MM/13 (1979): 7-15; Fischer,
in LA, Vol. 6, cols. 54-55.
139
The king extends the little-finger of each hand towards the Wepwawet standard in a gesture associated
with measuring, counting, and the application of cosmetic products; for discussion of this gesture, see
Sourdive, La main dans I'Egyptepharaonique, pp. 298-300, pi. 59, fig. 1; Dominicus, Gesten und
Gebdrden, pp. 157-166. Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 7-8, reasonably suggests that the
anointing of the Wepwawet standard serves to activate or stimulate the standard.
361
A very similar depiction of the anointing of the Wepwawet standard appears in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 229).140 In the third vignette of the
Konigslauf sequence of Niuserre, the king stands next to a building that is identified by a
hieroglyphic text with two possible translations: (1) is-htp, an otherwise unattested term
meaning "chamber of rest," or (2) kd-htp, a term that typically designates an
administrative body.141 An official who is identified as an iry-sm3(.ty), "keeper of the
path,"142 stands before the king and exclaims:143
ddmdw
ini mi sp-[2]
'Bring (it) and come!'"
To the right of the iry-sml(.ty), a "servant of the Souls of Nekhen" holds the Wepwawet
standard firmly in the ground to mark the beginning of the course for the Konigslauf.
The caption to this vignette reads: wdi m sh.t wrh, "the one who anoints (the Wepwawet
standard) is the one who erects (it) in the field." Though the "servant of the Souls of
Nekhen" is the person who actually holds the Wepwawet standard in this vignette, the
140
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9, nos. 11-12; for further discussion, see Section 2.2.6, Scene
10.
141
For a collection of examples of the term kd-htp, see Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 8,
footnote 9. Goelet, Two Aspects of the Royal Palace in the Egyptian Old Kingdom, pp. 326-329, suggests
that the text next to the building in this vignette reads: htp is, "entering the is." According to Goelet, loc.
cit, is is a chamber "closely related to" the r#-palace where the king changes clothing during the rites of the
Sed Festival. Goelet's suggestion deserves serious consideration since the tall hieroglyphic sign next to htp
more closely resembles Gardiner Sign M40 than Gardiner Sign Aa28. However, if the tall hieroglyphic
sign is read as an ideogram for is, "chamber," the caption to the vignette should read is-htp, not htp is. For
further discussion of this building, see also Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t, p. 26.
142
For detailed discussion of the iry-smi(.ty) and his participation in the group run, see Section 4.3.1.
143
The direction of the walking-legs determinative for the word mi (the irregular imperative form of the
verb iw, "to come") has been reversed.
362
king himself is presumably responsible for anointing it and placing it in the correct
location in the ground.
The fourth vignette in the Wepwawet sequence depicts Niuserre running towards
a group of boundary markers while carrying the nh3h3-f[ail and the mfcs-container.144 An
official in front of the king in the fourth vignette exclaims:
ddmdw
ii ini
wdi m sh.t wrh wr.t.t
'The one who brings (it) is the one who comes!145
The one who anoints the royal bull's tail146
is the one who erects (the Wepwawet standard) in the field!'"
In the fifth vignette, Niuserre continues his run along the course for the Konigslauf, the
"servant of the Souls of Nekhen" carries the Wepwawet standard in front of the king.
The caption to the fifth vignette indicates that the king runs the circuit four times: phr sp-
4 sh.t, "circumambulating the field four times."147 In the fragmentary portion of the relief
in front of the king, a "companion" (smr) kneels respectfully and a "singer" (hsw)
144
For discussion of the significance of the /wfa-container, see references collected in Section 4.3.0,
footnotes 89-90.
14
This expression has typically been translated as a pair of imperatives: "Come and bring!" For a
discussion of the grammar and orthography of this expression, see primarily Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t, p.
26, footnote 6, with references; pp. 28-29, footnote 20, with references.
146
For discussion of wr.t.t as the bull's tail worn by the king during the Konigslauf, see Guglielmi, Die
Gottin Mr.t, p. 26, footnote 9, with references. For further discussion of the name for the bull's tail in this
scene, see Section 1.11.
147
Like the ritual of driving cattle around the wall four times in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in
the tomb of Kheruef, the king's circumambulation of the field four times during the Konigslauf probably
alludes to the king's control over the entirety of the cosmos; the number four corresponds to the four
cardinal points and/or the four corners of the sky and earth. For discussion of the ritual of driving cattle
around the walls, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 5; Section 5.4.
363
exclaims: ii inl, "the one who brings (it) is the one who comes!"148 Behind the king, a
man identified as a 77mw-Libyan performs the /jrav-gesture.149 In the sixth vignette in the
sequence, Niuserre continues his run along the course for the Konigslauf; the vignette is
very fragmentary and only a small portion of the caption has been preserved: [wdi m sh.t
wrh] sd.t c?.t, "[the one who anoints] the great tail [is the one who places (the Wepwawet
standard) in the field.]"150
The previously mentioned hieroglyphic text, wdi m sh.t, which appears in the
Konigslauf scene of Niuserre, undoubtedly refers to the fixing of the Wepwawet standard
in the ground at the beginning and end of the running sequence.151 The staking out of the
field with the Wepwawet standard may relate to the theory of the run as a means to lay
claim to the field as a symbol for the entirety of the country under the king's rule.152 A
later, reinterpreted version of this ritual—wdi sh.t—may relate to the consecration of a
field or the offering of its products to a particular deity during the Sed Festival.153
The same orthographic writing of hsw, "singer," is used for the singers who appear at the ritual combat
bouts in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef; for discussion of these singers,
see Section 2.1.2, Scene 6. The "singer" who stands in front of Niuserre in the fifth vignette of the
Konigslauf sequence may be the goddess Meret. Meret stands before the king and sings in numerous
depictions of the Konigslauf, for discussion of Meret's appearance at the Sed Festival run, see primarily
Guglielmi, Die Gottin Mr.t, pp. 25-36.
149
A personified w^-scepter identified as a Thnw-Libyan performs the A/w-gesture behind Snofru during
the performance of the Konigslauf in his Sed Festival reliefs at Dahshur; for discussion of this dancing
Libyan wis-scepter, see Section 2.2.2, Scene 8.
150
For the interpretation of sd.t ri.t as "great tail" rather than "great (standard of the canine god) Sed," see
Section 1.1.1.
151
For a similar conclusion, see Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 8-9.
152
For this interpretation of the overall symbolic significance of the Sed Festival, see references collected
in Section 4.0, footnote 2.
153
For discussion of the wdi sh.t ritual, see primarily Guglielmi, IAS 103 (1976): 101-112; Guglielmi, WdO
7 (1973-1974): 206-227.
364
The location of the Sed Festival run appears to be fairly clear in the case of
Djoser—it takes place in an open courtyard south of the Step Pyramid (Figs. 298-299).
However, the term sh.t, which is used to designate the area used for the run in the
Konigslauf sequence of Niuserre, has connotations that are more nuanced and complex
than its normal translation, "field."154 Sh.t designates a type of land at the edge of
cultivation that is flooded by the annual inundation of the Nile and is used for various
types of food-production—particularly fishing and fowling.155 Thus, the "field" upon
which the running ritual of the Sed Festival takes place is a liminal area associated with
fowling; in this regard the "field" may be very similar to the <fcM.w-region where
migratory birds live.156 The moat surrounding Djoser's Step Pyramid complex (Fig. 317)
and the large ritual waterway of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival complex at Thebes (Figs.
134-135) were likely intended to create an artificial version of such an environment on a
monumental scale.157
4.3.4. DOUBLE-ENTHRONEMENT AS THE CULMINATION OF THE KONIGSLAUF
A royal enthronement ritual in which the Egyptian ruler takes up the white crown
and red crown as symbols of his control over the bipartite geographic division of the
154
Participants in the group run in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten at Karnak are labeled sh.ty.w-nsw.t,
"men of the royal fields"; see Section 4.3.1.
Junge, Lingua Aegyptia 8 (2000): 176-178, similarly suggests that sh.t was an area used for fishing and
fowling and cites Papyrus Anastasi IV, 3.9 (Gardiner, Late-Egyptian Miscellanies, p. 38; Caminos, Late-
Egyptian Miscellanies, p. 138), which makes this connection explicitly clear: p3y=k imy-r> sh.ty.w ms
wrd.w, "your overseer of the men of the fields brings marsh-fowl." Helck, Untersuchungen zur
Thinitenzeit, p. 8, suggests that sh.t is the area where the cultivable land of the Nile Valley meets the
desert—an area filled with reeds where large game animals can be hunted. A similar interpretation may be
suggested by the faience tiles that mimic reed-matting and frame the Konigslauf panel niches at Djoser's
Step Pyramid complex; see Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 11.
156
For detailed discussion of the connection the kbh.w-region and two ritual variants of the Konigslauf'(the
fowling run and Vogellauf), see Section 4.2.
157
For detailed discussion of the construction of artificial bodies of water at Djoser's Step Pyramid
complex and at Amenhotep Ill's Theban Sed Festival complex, see Section 7.5.
365
country was an important part of the running ritual of the Sed Festival already by the
reign of Narmer. In the depiction of the Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60),
the enthroned king wears the red crown of Lower Egypt appears inside of a ceremonial
kiosk that rests on top of an elevated tntl.t-platform; from this high vantage point, the
1 SR
king looks out over an open court where the performance of the group run takes place.
The depiction of a similar kiosk in the Konigslauf scene from the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 13Id) may indicate that the enthronement of the ruler
was also a part of the Sed Festival run as early as Naqada IIC.159 An unidentified
Protodynastic ruler who wears the Sed Festival robe and the red crown is seated upon a
throne inside of a similar kiosk in the Royal Macehead from the Main Deposit at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 59); a depiction of the Sed Festival run very likely appeared in a
portion of the macehead that is now damaged.160
The depictions of the Upper and Lower Egyptian enthronement rituals on a seal
impression of Djer from Abydos (Fig. 63) indicate that, as early as Dynasty 1, the
enthronement of the king at the Sed Festival occurred as two separate rituals in which the
king wore the red crown and the white crown.161 The two royal thrones on this seal
impression of Djer do not appear inside of a kiosk or on top of a stepped dais; however, a
158
For detailed discussion of the group running ritual on the Narmer Macehead, see Section 4.3.1. For
discussion of the enthronement of Narmer in this scene, see also Krol, GM184 (2001): 28-29.
159
For detailed discussion of the Konigslauf 'scene from the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis,
see Section 4.1.1. For detailed studies of the royal Sed Festival kiosk and the /«/:>.r-platform, see
Kuraszkiewicz, GM 172 (1999): 63-71; Krol, GM 184 (2001): 27-36.
160
For discussion of the enthronement scene on the Royal Macehead, see primarily Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 51-52, fig. 18, with references;
Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 17 (1999): 36-42; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 206-207.
161
For discussion of the enthronement rituals on this seal impression of Djer, see references collected in
366
double-kiosk commonly appears on top of a stepped dais in the hieroglyphic writing of
1 f\r)
the term hb-sd on several Early Dynastic inscribed objects (Figs. 17-20). A common
motif that appears in Sed Festival reliefs beginning in the late Old Kingdom is a ritual
scene that contains two images of the enthroned king appear—back-to-back—inside of a
double-kiosk that rests on top of a stepped /ntf.f-platform; in one image the king wears
the white crown, in other the red crown (Figs. 1-6).163 In several scenes from the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, one side of a double-kiosk is left empty and the
other side contains an image of the enthroned Egyptian ruler wearing either the red crown
or the white crown (Figs. 65-68).164 Three-dimensional examples of the //itf.f-platform
from the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara (Fig. 318) and from the Sed
Festival complex of Amenhotep III at Kom es-Samak (Fig. 319) give no clear indication
whether the two thrones of the double-kiosk appeared side-by-side or back-to-back (as
they typically appear in two dimensional examples).165
A fragmentary seal impression of Djer (Fig. 37) depicts the running king wearing
the white crown next to a shrine and a set of steps, upon which the king may have been
enthroned within a kiosk; however, no element of the decoration above the steps is
preserved.166 Two labels of Den from Abydos clearly demonstrate that the enthronement
of the king also occurred as part of the Konigslauf at the Sed Festival in the Early
162
For detailed discussion of the earliest written examples of the term hb-sd, see Section 1.1.0.
163
For a convenient collection of examples of this motif, see Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): 69, Appendix
2, with references. For further discussion of the "double-enthronement" scene, see Section 1.0.
164
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 1 la-b, 13,23-24, 27.
165
For discussion of three examples of the /n/^.r-platform, see primarily Krol, GM 184 (2001): 27-36;
Kuraszkiewicz, GM 172 (1999): 63-71, with references.
166
For discussion of this seal impression of Djer, see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alten Agypten, p. 31, cat. no. A2, with references.
367
Dynastic Period: an ebony label of Den depicting the Konigslauf'(Fig. 61)167 and a label
of Den depicting the royal fowling run (Fig. 36).168 Both labels depict the enthroned
king within a kiosk atop a stepped dais looking out over an open courtyard where the
royal run takes place. In the first example (Fig. 61), both images of the king wear the
dual crown of the politically unified country; in the second example (Fig. 36), both
images of the king wear the red crown of Lower Egypt. The depiction of the king twice
within the same register in these scenes appears to be an artistic convention indicating a
temporal progression; the convention suggests either that the king steps down from the
dais to perform the running ritual or perhaps that the running ritual culminates in the
enthronement of the king. Additional Early Dynastic examples of the royal enthronement
scene occur with no direct connection to the Konigslauf. two labels of Den depicting the
king without royal regalia seated on throne atop a stepped dais opposite a grotto of
shrines and palm trees (Fig. 62)169 and a fragmentary relief of Khasekhemwy enthroned
within a kiosk and wearing the white crown (Fig. 320).170
For discussion of this label of Den, see references collected in Section 4.2.1, footnote 38.
168
For discussion of this label of Den, see primarily Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 1, pp.
40-42, pis. 11.14-15, 15.16-17; Amelineau, Les Nouvelles Fouilles d'Abydos, Vol. 3, pi. 37.3; Helck,
Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 158-159; Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus den et quelques problemes de
I 'Egypte archaique, pp. 27-87; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the
First Dynasty, pp. 66-68; Schott, Hieroglyphen, pp. 29-31; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 853-855; Ogdon,
GM49 (1981): 62-64; Kahl, Das System der dgyptischen Hieroglyphenschrift in der 0.-3. Dynastie, nos.
1253-1254; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 32, cat. no. A4, with references;
Krol, GM184 (2001): 27-36; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 14.
169
For discussion of these labels of Den, see primarily Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 69-70, fig. 37, with references. The grotto on these labels is
similar to a grotto on a label of Aha preserved in multiple versions at Saqqara and Abydos; see Jimenez-
Serrano, op. cit., pp. 63-64, fig. 27, with references; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 152-153;
Kaplony, Agypten undLevante 13 (2003): 119-121. For the significance of this grotto with shrines and
palm trees on the right side of the first register, see Gamer-Wallert, Die Palmen im Alten Agypten, pp. 114-
128; Kaiser, MDAIK43 (1986): 131, 140-141, fig. 9; Bietak, in Bietak, etal, eds., Zwischen den beiden
Ewigkeiten, pp. 1-18; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 221,284, 319-320; Servajean, in Aufrere, ed.,
Encyclopedic religieuse de I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 1, pp. 227-247; Servajean, in Aufrere, ed., Encyclopedic
religieuse de I'Univers vegetal, Vol. 2, pp. 3-16. The grotto is first clearly associated with the Lower
368
A seal impression of Den from tomb of Hemaka that depicts two images of
running king—one with the white crown, another with the red crown—suggests that the
Konigslauf, like the rites of enthronement, might have been a bipartite ceremony
composed of Upper and Lower Egyptian rites (Fig. 153). m A common motif in Sed
Festival reliefs beginning in the New Kingdom is the juxtaposition of two episodes of the
Konigslauf; in one episode the king wears the red crown, in the other episode the white
crown. In the New Kingdom, this motif occasionally appears alongside Upper and
Lower Egyptian enthronement rites of the Sed Festival that take place within the double-
kiosk.173
The numerous depictions of the Sed Festival beginning in the Late Predynastic
Period suggest that the rites of the Konigslauf and the enthronement are connected to the
bipartite division of the country and kingship into Upper and Lower Egyptian.
Furthermore, they also suggest that the Konigslauf and the enthronement rites are closely
linked together; two wooden labels of Den from Abydos (Figs. 36, 61) show that the two
Egyptian cult center of Buto in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in his valley temple at Dahshur; see
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 60-65, figs. 35-42.
170
For discussion of this enthronement scene of Khasekhemwy, see Alexanian, in Grimal, ed., Les criteres
de datation stylistiques a I'Ancien Empire, p. 5, pi. 2, fig. 8. For further examples of the king enthroned in
a single kiosk during the Sed Festival, see Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): pp. 67-69, Appendix 1.
171
For discussion of the two Konigslaufscenes on this seal impression of Den, see references collected in
172
For examples of this motif from the reigns of Amenhotep I, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III, Seti I,
Ramesses II, Ramesses III, Tanutamun, Nectanebo I, Ptolemy II, Ptolemy VIII, and an unknown ruler from
the Roman Period, see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 43-45, 60-62, 71-72,
83, 85-89, 91-96, 99, 105-106, 114, 119-120, cat. nos. A 46, A49-A50, A99, A103, A104, A140, A141,
A184, A194, A200, A205, A215, A216, A220, A221, A225, A237, A256, A261, A287, A305.
173
The motif appears, e.g., in the reliefs of Amenhotep III from birth room at Luxor Temple
(Kuraszkiewicz, GM 172 (1999): 69, no. 11; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 61) and
in the reliefs of Ramesses II at the Ramesseum (Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten,
pp. 85-86, cat. no. A194).
369
rites were part of a single ceremony. The subterranean relief panels of Djoser's Step
Pyramid complex (Fig. 25) depict the king as he prepares for the Konigslauf, as he runs
along the course marked out in the southern court of the complex, and after he completes
the run.175 There are changes in the crowns worn by Djoser and by the Horus falcon atop
his serekh during the progression of scenes depicted in the panels. Djoser wears the
white crown in Panels 1, 2, 4 and 6, the red crown in Panel 5 only; the Horus falcon
appears without crown in Panels 1, 2 and 6, with the double-crown in Panel 4, and with
the white crown in Panel 5. Neither Djoser nor the Horus Falcon wears the red crown
until after the run is completed and the king has reached the southwestern corner of the
complex (according to the hieroglyphic texts labeling the scenes). The panels suggest
that Djoser, who already wears the white crown of Upper Egypt when he begins the run
in the north, does not rightfully lay claim to kingship over both Upper and Lower Egypt
until he has successfully completed the north-to-south run through the courtyard.177
The north-to-south course of the run mirrors the autumnal paths of migratory
178
birds from the kbh.w-xQgion; however, this parallel does not wholly explain the
significance of the crowns in the Konigslauf sequence of Djoser's Sed Festival relief
panels. The first example of the Sed Festival run that appears in conjunction with the
174
For discussion of the Konigslauf scenes on these labels of Den, see references collected supra, this
section, in footnote 168; Section 4.2.1, footnote 38.
175
For detailed discussion of the Konigslauf sequence in the Sed Festival relief panels of Djoser from the
Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, see Section 2.2.1.
176
The crowns of the king and the Horus falcon are not preserved in Panel 3.
177
Similarly, two Konigslauf'scenes of Amenhotep III from the birth room of Luxor Temple begin with the
king wearing a single crown (red or white) and end with the king wearing the double-crown of the unified
country; for discussion of these scenes, see references collected supra, this section, in footnote 173.
178
Compare also the Konigslauf scene of Tuthmosis III from Karnak Temple that also follows a north-to-
south course; see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 53, cat. nos. 74-75; Hornung
and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 60.
370
royal enthronement rites—in this case the group run—is the Narmer Macehead (Fig.
60).179 Narmer—originally an Upper Egyptian ruler—is the king traditionally credited
with completing the process of political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by
annexing Lower Egypt and putting down any rebels who would not agree to a peaceful
settlement to the conflict.180 Thus, the course for the Sed Festival run (north-to-south)
and the emphasis on the enthronement of the king with Upper and Lower Egyptian
crowns at the Sed Festival may have been linked to the north-to-south journey of Narmer,
the victorious Upper Egyptian king, after the military defeat and annexation of Lower
Egypt.181
For discussion of the Konigslauf and enthronement scenes on the Narmer Machead, see references
collected in Section 4.3.1, footnote 92.
180
For the spread of Upper Egyptian material culture into Lower Egypt, replacing the indigenous cultures
of the Maadi-Buto complex at the end of the Naqada II period, see Kohler, in Van den Brink, ed., Nile
Delta in Transition, pp. 11-22; Faltings, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 365-375. For the ensuing annexation of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt, achieved through
military force and resulting in a politically unified country under a single ruler, Narmer, see Wilkinson,
MDAIK 56 (2000): 377-395; Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 689-703;
Andelkovic, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 535-546.
181
Religious celebrations in Thebes followed the return of the Kamose from his successful military
expeditions in the north at the end of the Second Intermediate Period; similarly, Tjehemau describes
religious celebrations taking place on the banks of the Nile upon the return of the king's victorious army to
Thebes in the early Middle Kingdom; see Darnell, ZAS 130 (2003): 43-44, with references. During the
reign of Taharqa, a royal stela demonstrates the emphasis placed upon running as an important part of
training and preparation for military conflict; see Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 61-66,
with references.
371
CHAPTER 5; HUNTING & BUTCHERY RITUALS 1
5.0. INTRODUCTION
By symbolically asserting the king's control over forces of chaos, the seasonal
migrations of wildlife and pastoral nomads and the solar cycle, the ritual performance of
hunting and butchery at the Sed Festival rejuvenated Egyptian kingship and by extension
the Egyptian state as a whole.2 By the beginning of Naqada I, animal husbandry had
already been an important component of systems of food production in Northeast Africa
for several millennia.3 Since the meat of game animals was merely a supplementary part
of the Predynastic Egyptian diet,4 the prevalence of zoomorphic imagery in Predynastic
Egyptian rock art seems more likely to have been born out of religious and ideological
1
The present chapter benefited greatly from discussions with Stan Hendrickx during a series of seminars
on Predynastic iconography, focused primarily on hunting motifs and symbols of royal power, at Yale
University on November 10-14,2008.
2
For the triumph of order over chaos as an iconographic motif in Predynastic Egypt, see Asselberghs,
Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 256-293; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 46-53;
Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 109-121; Baines, in Potts, etal.,
eds., Culture Through Objects, pp. 27-57; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early
Northeastern Africa, pp. 723-749. For pastoral nomadism in the prehistoric Sahara Desert, see Barich, in
Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, pp. 209-223; Smith, in Lenssen-Erz, etal., eds., Tides of the
Desert, pp. 447-457, with additional references to pastoralism in the prehistoric Western Desert of Egypt
and Nubia on p. 449. Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology (forthcoming), has
suggested that Predynastic rock art tableaux "appear to have functioned as a means of creating space in
what might otherwise have seemed a desert void." According to Darnell, the scenes of the Sed Festival
depicted on the Gebelein Linen, Tomb 100, and related Predynastic rock art tableaux demonstrate an
important royal prerogative and duty—to recreate the cosmic order of the solar cycle in the human world of
Egypt. In the ritual performance of the fowling run and Vogellaufat the Sed Festival, the king associates
himself with the seasonal migrations of migratory birds—an association that allows the king to demonstrate
his control over an observable, recurring, cyclical phenomenon of the natural world and to tap into the
rejuvenating power of this cycle; see Section 4.2.1.
3
On the earliest evidence for cattle-keeping in Northeast Africa, see Hassan, in Hassan, ed., Droughts,
Food and Culture, pp. 11 -26; Gautier, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, pp. 195-207. On the
introduction of domestic caprines to Africa from Southwest Asia across the Gulf of Suez, c. 7000 bp, see
Close, in Lenssen-Erz, etal., eds., Tides of the Desert, pp. 459-469.
4
Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 735-736, considers the
"economic importance of hunting in an agricultural society such as 4th millennium Egypt" to be "marginal";
at most Predynastic sites the meat of game animals "represents less than 2% of food procurement."
372
motivations than totemism or sympathetic hunting magic.5 Images of musical and dance
celebrations that accompany Predynastic depictions of hunting expeditions suggest a
ritualization of hunting in Predynastic Egypt.6 The earliest images of the Sed Festival
cycle—the Gebelein Linen (Fig. 52) and Tomb 100 (Fig. 131)—incorporate hunting
vignettes into complex tableaux that serve as expressions of Egyptian royal ideology.7 In
these contexts, the capture of wild animals from both Nilotic (Section 5.1) and desert
(Section 5.2) environs represents the subjugation of chaotic and potentially destructive
elements of the cosmos. Less frequently depicted in the Predynastic Period than in the
dynastic period, the culmination of the royal hunting rituals of the Sed Festival was a
ritual in which captured game animals were slaughtered and butchered (Section 5.3); the
symbolism of these butchery rituals appears to closely correspond to the symbolism of
military victory scenes in which the king ritually executes his human enemies.
5.1. NILOTIC HUNTING RITUALS: T H E HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNT 9
5
For this view of Predynastic Egyptian rock art, see Huyge, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the
Desert, pp. 192-206; Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology (forthcoming). For
zoomorphic imagery on decorated Predynastic ceremonial objects, see, e.g., Cialowicz, Lespalettes
egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorphes et sans decoration; Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers
of Horns: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 247-259
6
For discussion of the connection between ritual hunting, dancing, and music in the context of Predynastic
royal ritual performance, see Section 3.1.1.
7
For detailed discussion of the Nilotic hunting rituals of the Gebelein Linen, see Section 5.1. For detailed
discussion of the desert hunting rituals of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see Section
5.2.
8
According to Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177, pharaonic butchery rites evolved from earlier Predynastic
hunting rituals; this evolution reflected the decreasing importance of hunting in a society in which food
production was based primarily on agriculture and domestic livestock. For discussion of the ritual
execution of human enemies at the Sed Festival, see Section 6.1; Section 6.2.
9
For further discussion of the hippopotamus hunt and its connection to ritual dance at the Sed Festival, see
Section 3.1.1.2. For further discussion of the hippopotamus hunt and its connection to nautical processions
at the Sed Festival, see Section 7.2.
373
One of the most important vignettes of the Sed Festival celebration depicted on
the Gebelein Linen is a hippopotamus hunting scene in which a penis-sheath clad hunter
grasps a rope attached to the rump of a hippopotamus he has just harpooned (Fig. 52d).10
A similarly dressed man in another vignette holds what appears to be a large fishing net
with a series of crooked lines projecting from the bottom—the purpose of which is
uncertain (Fig. 52c).1' Hippopotamus hunting is a common motif in Predynastic Egypt
and appears on approximately a dozen C-Ware vessels, a decorated palette, and in several
rock inscriptions.12 The Predynastic rock inscriptions depicting the hippopotamus hunt
may reflect an attempt by semi-nomadic Western Desert dwellers to bring order to their
own landscape by "Niloticizing the desert."13 Similarly, the decoration of the interior of
a C-Ware bowl from Abydos combines Nilotic hunting imagery (the hunting of a
hippopotamus) and desert hunting imagery (a hunting dog in pursuit of desert game
animals) into a single, unified scene (Fig. 321).14
Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 3; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997):
42-43.
11
Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 4. A similar net appears to be associated
with riverine hunting/fishing scenes on at least two other decorated Naqada I objects—Cairo dish CG 2076
and a ceramic box from el-Amrah; see Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, docs. 25c, 30. For a summary of previous
discussions of these nets, see Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 42-43; Woltermann, JEOL 37 (2001-
2002): 5-30; however, Woltermann's suggestion that this enigmatic object is a portable sunshade seems
unlikely. The crooked lines projecting from the bottom of the net may indicate the movement of water
beneath the net, as suggested by Cialowicz, loc. cit., or perhaps the strings out of which the netting is made.
Each of the scenes in which this net appears also contains a hippopotamus—perhaps suggesting that the net
has some unknown function in hippopotamus hunting.
12
For a convenient catalogue of Predynastic hippopotamus hunting scenes, see Hendrickx and Depraetere,
in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 818-819, Table 3.
13
For the concept of Predynastic rock art tableaux "Niloticizing the desert," see Darnell, in Shaw and
Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, in David and Wilson, eds., Inscribed
Landscapes, pp. 111-112.
1
A newly discovered sherd from Abydos Tomb U-264 joins with the previously incomplete bowl (Cairo
CG 2076, JdE 31064) published over a century ago; see Hartmann, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem
Sand, pp. 168-179, with references.
374
The Predynastic hippopotamus hunting motif symbolizes the triumph of order
over chaos; the incorporation of the motif into the royal rituals of the dynasic period has
its origins in these Predynastic scenes—which, in the case of the Gebelein Linen, already
connect the motif to kingship and the Sed Festival.15 Though there is no clear reference
to hunting in the scene, the orderly rows of animals (including four hippopotami)
depicted on a C-Ware vase from Tomb U-415 at Abydos (Fig. 322) demonstrate the same
theme as the hippopotamus hunting motif: the subjugation of chaotic elements of the
cosmos.16 Since the hippopotamus was related to the wandering goddess of the eye of the
sun in Egyptian religious ideology, mastery over the hippopotamus in the context of the
royal hunt may also suggest that the king was capable of controlling elements of the solar
17
cycle.
On the royal rites of the hippopotamus hunt representing the triumph of order over chaos, see Hendrickx
and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 815, Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 79-80; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic
Egypt, pp. 216-217; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, Vol. 2, pp. 99-123; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient
Egypt, pp. 148-150; Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus Hunting as a
Religious Motive.
16
Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): 82-84, fig. 6a; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early
Northeastern Africa, p. 724, fig. 4. For further discussion of orderly rows of animals as a Predynastic
motif, see Section 5.2.2.
17
The wandering solar eye goddess is "changed from the roaring lioness of the desert to the great and
protective riverine beast of Nubia," i.e. a female hippopotamus, bringing with her the New Year and the
inundation of the Nile upon her return to Egypt; for discussion of this aspect of the wandering goddess, see
Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 88-91. Egyptian rock art depictions of hippopotami in non-hunting contexts also
likely refer to this myth, which may also be the basis for the hb hd.t, the Festival of the White
Hippopotamus Goddess—on which see Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus
Hunting as a Religious Motive, pp. 45-55; Kaiser, MDAIK AA (1988): 125-144; Pawlicki, Etudes et Travaux
14 (1990): 15-28; Altenmttller, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 29-44;
Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, Vol. 2, pp. 117-123; Kaiser, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William
Kelly Simpson, Vol. 2, pp. 451-459; Kaiser, MDAIK 53 (1997): 113-115. The placement of the hb hd.t
scene opposite the Konigslaufon the decorated gateway of the palace of Apries at Memphis may suggest a
link to the Sed Festival; for a reconstruction of the gateway's scenes, see Kaiser, MDAIK 43 (1986): 147,
fig. 4. A fragmentary block from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob that records the hb hd.t
also suggests a connection between the two festivals; see Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re,
Vol. 3, no. 206.
375
Depictions of Den harpooning a hippopotamus on several seal impressions (Figs.
323-324) and labels (Fig. 35)—as well as a reference to Den performing the st.t hib
("harpooning the hippopotamus") in the royal annals of the Palermo Stone—suggest that
the hippopotamus hunt continued to be an important component of royal ideology in
Dynasty l.18 Old Kingdom reliefs from the mortuary complexes of Userkaf (Fig. 325),19
Sahure (Fig. 326),20 and Pepi II (Fig. 327)21 depict royal hippopotamus hunts and may be
part of the Sed Festival cycle. The most fully preserved of these scenes—that of Pepi
II—is similar to a hippopotamus hunting scene carved on a Naqada I rhomboid palette in
the collection of the Stockholm Museum (Fig. 328).22 In both examples a solitary hunter
standing on a boat holds a coil of ropes connected to harpoons that have already pierced
For discussion of the ritual hippopotamus hunt of Den, see primarily Miiller, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen
aus dem Sand, pp. 477-493; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First
Dynasty, pp. 79-80; Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 114-115; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas
zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 356-357, cat. nos. K 1.15-17; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, docs. 53-54, 71.
19
Labrousse and Lauer, Ouserkafet Neferhetepes, pp. 110-111, fig. 224; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum
Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 357-358, cat. no. K 1.19; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, doc. 68; Cwiek, Relief
Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, p. 219.
20
Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pis. 15-16; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum
Sport im alten Agypten, p 358, cat. no. K 1.20; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, doc. 69; Cwiek, Relief Decoration
in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, p. 219; Baines, in Gundlach and Raedler, eds.,
Selbstverstdndnis und Realitdt, p. 146.
21
Jequier, Le monument funeraire de Pepi II, Vol. 3, pis. 32-35; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alten Agypten, p. 368, cat. no. K 1.38; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd, doc. 94; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the
Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 219-220; Baines, in Gundlach and Raedler, eds.,
Selbstverstdndnis und Realitdt, pp. 150-151.
22
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene on the Stockholm Palette, see primarily Save-
Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus Hunting as a Religious Motive, pp. 17-19, fig.
8; Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 12, fig. 6; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 260; Behrmann,
Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 21; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum
Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 354-355, cat. no. Kl .8, with references; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997):
43; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 216; Wilkinson, in Rohl, ed., Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert
Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 160; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the
First Dynasty, p. 79; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 596, fig. 31.9;
Hendrickx and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 819; Hartmann, in
Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 172.
376
the hippopotamus—demonstrating a clear iconographic link between two scenes
separated by approximately 1500 years.
After the Old Kingdom, royal hippopotamus hunting scenes continued to appear,
but they ceased to have any clear link to the Sed Festival.23 A series of Ptolemaic texts at
Edfu describes a violent conflict in which Horus harpoons Seth, who has taken on the
form of a hippopotamus; after the conflict Horus rises to the throne—an act which may
parallel the rising of Sothis and mark the New Year, victory over chaotic forces during
the epagomenal period, and the inundation of the Nile.24 Since the king possessed a
strong association with the god Horus (as early as the Late Predynastic Period), Horus's
triumph over Seth and his subsequent elevation to the throne in the Edfu texts are the
mythological basis for an important aspect of royal ideology—the subjugation of chaos.26
Through his victory over Seth in hippopotamus form, Horus takes on the radiant qualities
of his father Re when he illuminates the Two Lands of Egypt.27 Despite the vast span of
time separating the Gebelein Linen and the myth of Horus of Edfu, the hippopotamus
For two- and three-dimensional examples of the royal hippopotamus hunt from the reigns of Amenemhat
II, Amenhotep II, Tuthmosis IV, Tutankhamun, and Seti II, see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alten Agypten, pp. 372, 379-382, cat. nos. K 1.47, K 1.63, K 1.64, K 1.65, K 1.66, K 1.68, K 1.69. For
royal hippopotamus hunting scenes on scarabs, see Keel, GM134 (1993): 63-68; Keel, Agypten und
Levante 6 (1996): 119-136.
24
Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus Hunting as a Religious Motive, pp. 26-
29. For translation and commentary of the Edfu texts, see Fairman, JEA 21 (1935): 26-36; Blackman and
Fairman, JEA 28 (1942): 32-38; Blackman and Fairman, JEA 29 (1943): 2-36; Blackman and Fairman, JEA
30 (1944): 5-22.
25
For discussion of the interrelationship between Horus and the Egyptian ruler in the archaic periods, see
Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 184-185, 286-287.
26
For a similar discussion of the themes of chaos and order in the Edfu texts, see Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 79-80 with references.
27
For discussion of Horus's adoption of qualities of his father after his victory over Seth in the Edfu texts,
see Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus Hunting as a Religious Motive, pp.
27-28.
377
hunting motif in both probably reflects the solarized rejuvenation of kingship and the
reestablishment of cosmic order in Egypt through the suppression of chaos.
5.2. DESERT HUNTING RITUALS
5.2.0. INTRODUCTION
One of the most commonly depicted iconographic motifs in the documentation of
the Sed Festival from the Predynastic, Protodynastic, and Early Dynastic periods is the
hunting of desert game animals. In the context of the Sed Festival, the capture of desert
animals represents the maintenance of order and the subjugation of chaos; the most
common iconographic motifs related to the capture of desert game animals that appear in
the documentation for the Sed Festival during these periods are scenes in which the
Egyptian ruler himself controls a pair of lions with his bare hands (Section 5.2.1); scenes
in which wild game animals appear in orderly rows (Section 5.2.2); scenes involving the
lassoing of a wild bull (Section 5.2.3); and scenes involving the capture of antelopes,
oryxes, gazelles, and ibexes (Section 5.2.4). The hunting of desert game animals is a
potent symbol of royal power in early depictions of the Sed Festival; iconographic and
archaeological evidence suggests that these hunting rituals may have taken place in
specially designed royal hunting parks as part of the celebration of the Sed Festival
(Section 5.2.5).
5.2.1. THE MASTER-OF-BEASTS & THE LION HUNT
Among the hunting vignettes in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 are two scenes
typically interpreted as the human domination of lions. In the upper left corner of the
tableau (Fig. 131b), a man grasps a stick (or perhaps a mace) in one hand and holds out
his other hand towards the neck of the first of two animals; a second man, who stands
378
below the two animals and holds an enigmatic object (perhaps a bow and arrow), may be
monitoring two game animals caught in circular traps.28 In the bottom right portion of
the painted tableau, to the left of a lassoed (or perhaps speared) gazelle and a group of
five small desert bovids (probably also gazelles) caught in a circular trap, a man clad in a
penis sheath reaches each of his hands out to the necks of two large animals rearing up on
their hind legs towards him—the so-called "master-of-beasts" (Fig. 131c).29 Several
physical features of these opposed animals are atypical of the depiction of lions in the
Predynastic Period; the almost universal identification of the animals as lions is based
primarily on the parallelism between this scene and the master-of-beasts motif on the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle, in which the animals are clearly lions (Fig. 58).30 However,
For descriptions of this scene as a confrontation with lion, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 562; Case and
Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-14. Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 254-255, suggest that the
upper part of the scene most likely depicts a man smiting "something or someone before two feline
deities." Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 157, finding the scene difficult to interpret, ponders:
"L'homme veut-il attaquer le lion, comme l'indique la position de ses pieds et une place minime derriere
lui, ou, au contraire, quelqu'un d'autre est sa victime?" For discussion of the traps in this scene, see
Section 5.2.4.
29
For the identification of the animals rearing up in this scene as lions, see, e.g., Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1,
p. 562; Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology,
Jerusalem, Vol. 2, p. 28; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 254; Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 43;
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 274-275.
For further discussion of the traps in this scene, see Section 5.2.4.
30
Discussions of the Gebel el Arak knife handle have mostly centered on the possibility of Mesopotamian
influence on the master of beasts motif and the design of the boats; see, e.g., Benedite, MonPiotll (1916):
1-34; Petrie, Ancient Egypt (1917): 26-36; Frankfort, Studies in Early Pottery of the Near East, Vol. 1, p.
122; Scharff, ZAS 71 (1935): 93-97; Du Mesnil du Buisson, BIFAO 68 (1969): 63-82; Boehmer,
Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 27-40; Midant-Reynes, SAK 14 (1987): 219-220;
Boehmer, MDAIKA1 (1991): 51-60; Sievertsen, Baghdader Mitteilungen 23 (1992): 1-75; Smith, in
Friedman and Adams, eds., The Followers ofHorus, pp. 235-238; Vertesalji, in Charpin and Joannes, eds.,
La circulation des biens, despersonnes et des idees dans le Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 29-41; Czichon and
Sievertsen, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 49-55; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., The Study of the Ancient
Near East in the Twenty-first Century, pp. 9-32; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr.
Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-352; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 69-87; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,
L'artde VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 200-201; Delange, Les dossiers d'archeologie 257 (2000): 52-59;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-171; Morenz, in Morenz and Bosshard-Nepustil, eds.,
Herrscherprdsentation undKulturkontakte, Agypten- Levante-Mesopotamien, pp. 17-20; Wengrow, The
Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 191-193; Wilkinson, in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World, p. 451.
However, Mesopotamian influence on Predynastic Egyptian iconography appears to have been minimal
and has often been greatly exaggerated in the relevant secondary literature.
379
the dominated animals in Tomb 100 (Figs. 131b-c) bear a much more striking
resemblance to a pair of animals just below the dominated lions on the Gebel el-Arak
knife handle—two opposed canids. Like the canids depicted on the Gebel el-Arak knife
handle, the animals in Tomb 100 have triangular snouts and raised ears; additionally, one
of the animals is clearly wearing a collar.31
Unusually, the master-of-beasts motif appears to involve the subjugation of
different animals in each of its three Predynastic attestations. In the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, the master-of-beasts subjugates dogs (Fig. 131c); on the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle, the master-of-beasts subjugates lions (Fig. 58); and on a
decorated ivory handle from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, the master-of-beasts
subjugates serpopards (Fig. 329).32 In each case the symbolism is clear: the Predynastic
Egyptian ruler's control of ferocious animals demonstrates his own capacity for violence
and his ability to defeat the forces of chaos and enforce proper cosmic order.33 The
accompanying scenes in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis and on the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle incorporate important elements of the Predynastic Sed
Festival cycle: the ceremonial barque procession (Chapter 7), military victory rituals
Hendrickx, personal communication, has independently arrived at the same conclusion regarding the
identification of these animals as dogs in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis. For further
discussion of the significance of hunting dogs in Predynastic iconography, see Section 5.2.4.
32
For discussion of the master-of-beasts motif that appears on an ivory handle from Hierakonpolis, see
Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 16.2; Benedite, MonPiot 22 (1916): 33; Boehmer,
Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 38, fig. 14b; Boehmer, MDAIK47 (1991): 56-57, fig. 8;
Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, p. 349, fn. 19. A possible
additional example of the motif, in which only one of the animals is preserved, appears as a potmark on a
vessel from Naqada; see Petrie and Quibell, Naqada andBallas, pi. 51.7; Bolshakov and Soushchevski,
GM163 (1998): 11. For further discussion of serpopards and other fantastic animals as symbols of power
and chaos in Predynastic Egypt, see Section 5.2.2.
For a similar interpretation, see Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga
Lipinska, pp. 348-349.
380
(Chapter 6), and hunting (Chapter 5). The master-of-beasts on the Gebel el-Arak
knife handle wears a beard, a cap, and a robe—a style of dress very similar to the Sed
Festival outfit that the Predynastic Egyptian ruler wears on the Gebelein Linen (Fig.
52f).35
On the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and several other Predynastic decorated
objects (Figs. 46, 50, 58, 271), lions appear as symbols of chaotic forces that are subdued
by the Egyptian ruler. The two opposed lions on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (Fig.
58) parallel the two opposed lions—each of which attacks a gazelle—near the top of the
reverse side of the Two Dogs Palette (Fig. 50).37 On the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, the
For discussion of the interrelationship between this various rituals in the context of the Predynastic Sed
Festival, see especially Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 253-255, 263; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed.,
Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-352; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the
Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 273-279; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp.
157-163, 166-171.
35
For the Sed Festival outfit of the ruler depicted on the Gebelein Linen and its similarity to the master of
beasts on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 40; Cialowicz, in
Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275. This style of cap
and beard is fairly common on Predynastic Egyptian ivory tusk statues; see Nowak, in Hendrickx, etal,
eds., Egypt at its Origin, Vol. 1, pp. 891-896. Cf the outfit worn by the so-called MacGregor Man and a
similar fragmentary stone statue from Hierakonpolis Locality 6; see Phillips, ed., Africa: The Art of a
Continent, pp. 68-69; Harrington, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 25-43;
Jaeschke, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 45-65; Harrington, in Kroeper, etal.,
eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 659-670. A "beard, a round headdress and a long
skirt" are components of the outfit worn by the "priest-king" in early Mesopotamian iconography; see
Schmandt-Besserat, in Frangipane, etal., eds., Between the Rivers and Over the Mountains, pp. 201-219.
The combined imagery of the domination of animals and the distinctive dress of the master of beasts on the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle has elicited comparisons to the paradigmatic Mesopotamian hero, Gilgamesh;
see Frankfort, Studies in Early Pottery of the Near East, Vol. 1, p. 122; Benedite, MonPiot 22 (1916): 32-
34; Scharff, ZAS 71 (1935): 93-94, 97; Bolshakov and Soushchevski, GM163 (1998): 11.
36
For an overview of Predynastic leonine imagery, see Adams and Jaeschke, Koptos Lions, pp. 30-31;
Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., The Followers ofHorus, p. 251; Baines, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 65-
66. Lions appear as subdued, hunted, or ritually controlled animals on the Two Dogs Palette (Cialowicz,
Lespalettes egyptiennes, pp. 43-46, fig. 11, with references), the Hunters Palette (Cialowicz, op. cit, pp.
55-56, fig. 24, with references), and the Four Dogs Palette (Cialowicz, op. cit, pp. 47-48, fig. 12, with
references).
37
For discussion of the lions on the Two Dogs Palette, see Cialowicz, Les palettes egyptiennes, pp. 43-46,
fig. 11, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 75-92; Baines, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 57-74;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 191-194; Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through Objects,
pp. 43-44; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 740-744.
381
Egyptian ruler directly controls the lions by grasping the animals' necks; on the Two
Dogs Palette, the ruler's domination of the lions is not directly shown. However, the two
opposed canids in a heraldic position at the top of the palette likely allude to human
hunters (since human hunting parties mirrored the group hunting practices of wild
hunting dogs); in this context the canids should be understood to control the scene below
them.38
On the Hunters Palette (Fig. 46), the men engaged in the hunting of desert game
clad themselves in outfits that incorporate a dog's tail attached to the waist and an
arrangement of feathers adorning the top of the head.39 The canine element of their
hunting outfits and the orientation of the hunters surrounding their prey suggest a
connection between the human hunting party and the coordinated attacks of wild hunting
dogs upon their prey.40 Among the desert game pursued on the Hunters Palette are an
Similar depictions of a lion confronting a a small desert bovid (probably an antelope) appear on a
fragmentary Predynastic palette (Cialowicz, Lespalettes egyptiennes, p. 57, with refernces; Grimm and
Schoske, Am Beginn derZeit, p. 38, cat. no. 50), the Gebel Tarif knife handle (Midant-Reynes, SAK 14
(1987): 219; Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 256-257; Hendrickx, in
Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 728), a golden mace handle from Sayala
(Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, pp. 80-81), and a knife handle from Tomb U-503 at Abydos (Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de
I'Ancien Empire egyptien, pp. 210-213,226, fig. 12; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 172;
Whitehouse, MDAIK5S (2002): 437; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 185).
38
For the identification of these dogs as a species of wild hunting dogs (Lycaon pictus) and a similar
interpretation of their symbolism on this object, see Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of
Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 740-744.
39
For discussion of the ritual hunting scene on the Hunters Palette, see primarily Cialowicz, Les palettes
egyptiennes, pp. 55-56, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 93-118; Baines, in O'Connor and
Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 112; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 189-191;
Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through Objects, p. 45; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische
Zeichen, pp. 165-172; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp.
740-744; Hendrick and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in
Egyptology (forthcoming).
40
For a similar interpretation, see Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern
Africa, pp. 740-744.
382
adult lion and cub.41 The lion proves to be a worthy adversary to the hunters; despite
having already taken two arrows to the head, the lion at the top of the palette ferociously
seizes the foot of one of the hunters. However, the hunters ultimately triumph; at the
bottom of the palette, the lion—now with six arrow wounds—no longer poses a grave
threat to the hunting party. Several Predynastic objects that depict orderly rows of
animals that include lions likely allude to the subjugation of these ferocious animals.42
In later pharaonic imagery, human control of lions became closely linked to the
ideology of kingship; depictions of the king hunting a lion demonstrate that the king's
power supersedes that of even the fiercest animals of nature.43 The skeletal remains of
seven lions in the mortuary complex of Aha at Abydos provide physical evidence to
suggest that the royal lion hunt was being practiced in the Early Dynastic Period.44 There
41
Several Predynastic objects, including amacehead from Hierakonpolis (Quibell and Petrie,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 19.6), likely allude to conflict between lions and dogs in which the dog appear to
be the dominant animal. The Davis Comb (Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 174-176) and a
fragmentary knife handle from Abydos (Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 204,
219, fig. 9) depict a dog attacking a lion. For general discussion of the conflict between dogs and lions in
Predynastic iconography, see Baines, Archeo-Nil3 (1993): 65.
42
The motif appears, e.g., on Abydos K-12 62 a (Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien,
pp. 203-204,219, fig. 7); Abydos K-l 103c (Dreyer, in Ziegler, op. cit., pp. 205-209,221, fig. 10); the
Carnarvon knife handle (Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 174-176); the Abu Zeidan knife
handle (Cialowicz, op. cit., pp. 173-174); the Pitt-Rivers knife handle (Cialowicz, op. cit., pp. 174-176);
and the Davis Comb (Cialowicz, op. cit., pp. 174-176). For further discussion of the rows of animals on
these Predynastic ceremonial objects, see Section 5.2.2.
43
For the hunting of lions in ancient Egypt, especially the royal lion hunt, see references collected in
Decker, Annotierte Bibliographie zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 126-128; Decker and Forster, Annotierte
Bibliographie zum Sport im Alten Agypten, Vol. 2, pp. 168-171. For further discussion, see also Bartels,
Formen altdgyptischer,pp. 113-115; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 154-157; Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 292-352.
44
For discussion of the lion skeletons from the mortuary temple of Aha, see Boessneck, Die Tierwelt des
Alten Agypten, p. 32; Boessneck and Von den Driesch, in Dreyer, MDAIK46 (1990): 86-89; Kleinsgiitl,
Feliden in Altagypten, p. 32; Flores, Funerary Sacrifice of Animals in the Egyptian Predynastic Period, pp.
60, 93; Flores, in Hendrickx, etai, eds., Egypt at its Origins, pp. 746, 748-749. The number of lions—
seven—may be of some importance. A stela from Armant records the results of Tuthmosis Ill's hunting
expedition: iw smi.n=fmii 7 m st.t m km n i.t, "He killed seven lions by shooting in a single moment"; see
Decker, Quellentexte zu Sport, doc. 14, pp. 49-51, with bibliography; Rochholz, Schopfung,
Feindvernichtung, Regeneration, pp. 243-244.
383
is no clear evidence of the royal lion hunt in the Old Kingdom; the Middle Kingdom
Teaching of King Amenemhet I for his Son Senwosret briefly records the king's hunting
of lions and crocodiles.45
In the New Kingdom, however, the lion hunt is widely attested in both visual
representations and textual evidence.46 A series of large commemorative scarabs of
Amenhotep III records five different important royal events from the first eleven years of
the king's reign: his marriage to Tiye, the wild cattle hunt, the lion hunt, the arrival of
Gilukhepa at the Egyptian court, and the construction of a lake for a royal boat
procession.47 Among these scarabs the royal lion hunt, which is preserved in
approximately 123 examples with only minor variations, is the most commonly attested
example. After the titulary of the king and queen, the scarab records: rh.t mii.w in.n
hm-fm st.t=f ds-f $3C m rnp.t 1 nfry.t r rnp.t 10 mli-hs? 102, "the number of lions that
his majesty carried off by his own shooting starting in regnal year 1 and ending in regnal
year 10: 102 wild lions."49 Represented on a monumental scale on the outside of the
For discussion of the reference to the royal lion hunt in this literary work, see Kleinsgiltl, Feliden in
Altagypten, pp. 36-37. Papyrus Westcar 7,4 describes the magician Dedi's ability to control an untethered
lion.
46
For iconographic and textual references to the lion hunt in the New Kingdom, see Van Essche, in
Delvaux and Warmenbol, eds., Les divins chats d'Egypte, pp. 37-45; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient
Egypt, pp. 154-157. For visual representations of the lion hunt in the New Kingdom, see also Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport, cat. nos. J106, J124, J121, and J127. For textual accounts of the royal lion hunt
in the New Kingdom, see also Kleinsgiitl, Feliden in Altagypten, p. 37, with references.
47
For discussion of the large commemorative scarabs of Amenhotep III, see primarily Blankenberg-Van
Delden, Large Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III; Baines, in Grimal, etal., eds., Hommages Fayza
Haikal, pp. 29-43, with bibliography. Baines, in Grimal, etal., eds., loc. cit., suggests that the texts on these
scarabs represent an updated version of the recording of royal annals on ivory and wooden labels during the
Early Dynastic Period. The recording of similar motifs on Predynastic palettes and other ceremonial
objects suggests that these Predynastic objects are actually the predecessors to the commemorative scarabs.
48
For the lion hunt scarabs of Amenhotep III, see primarily Baines, in Grimal, etal., eds., Hommages
Fayza Haikal, p. 29; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, pp. 189-192.
49
Blankenberg-Van Delden, Large Commemorative Scarabs ofAmenhotep III, pis. 11-28.
384
northern temple wall of Ramesses Ill's mortuary temple at Medinet Habu in the midst of
a series of scenes depicting battles with the Sea Peoples, the king pursues three lions with
bow and arrows and javelins while riding upon his chariot (Fig. 330).50 The lion hunt
scene appears to have a symbolic meaning similar to the Sea Peoples battle scenes; as the
king, Ramesses III is responsible for the defeat of the lions and the Sea Peoples—both of
which are worthy adversaries and potential threats to Egypt.51
Predynastic and Early Dynastic evidence both suggest that the Egyptian ruler
sought to emulate the hunting prowess of the lion when attacking his foes in military
conflicts. The recto of the Battlefield Palette depicts a large lion attacking a human
combatant whose limp body lies splayed out on the battlefield along with the corpses of
For discussion of the lion hunting scene from Medinet Habu, see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas
zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 348-349, cat. no. J127, with references,; Van Essche-Marchez, CdE 67
(1992): 224-225; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 155-157; Kleinsgutl, Feliden in
Altagypten, p. 37; Drews, JNES 59 (2000): 171; Cline and O'Connor, in O'Connor and Quirke, eds.,
Mysterious Lands, pp. 130-131. For discussion of the placement of this scene on the temple wall, see
Drews, op. cit., p. 169, fig. 4, Panel XIII.
51
For a similar interpretation, see Cline and O'Connor, in O'Connor and Quirke, eds., Mysterious Lands,
pp. 130-131.
52
For an integrated explanation of the royal lion hunt and the depictions of the king as a lion or sphinx
attacking his enemies, see Van Essche, in Delvaux and Warmenbol, eds., Les divins chats d'Egypte, pp. 31-
48,. Cf. also similar discussions of lion and sphinx imagery in de Wit, Le role et le sens du lion, pp. 16-70;
Kleinsgutl, Feliden in Altagypten, pp. 29-63. Depending on several factors, including the size of the prey
animal, lions may hunt in groups or as individuals; both male and female lions are aggressive, skilled
hunters. For a description of the behavior and hunting practices of lions in Africa, see Kingdon, Kingdon
Field Guide to African Mammals, pp. 284-285; Estes, The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, pp. 369-
377. Parallel to the symbolism of the king as the personification of the fierce male lion, the goddess
Sakhmet (as well as related lioness goddesses) is the divine personification of the aggressive female lion;
see, e.g., de Wit, Le role et le sens du lion, pp. 283-368; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 47-94, with references.
Following Kemp's division of the Egyptian sacred architectural tradition into "pre-formal" and "formal"
categories, Hendrickx has proposed a similar categorization of elements of Predynastic and Early Dynastic
royal iconography based on their eventual inclusion in the formal canon of dynastic iconography; see
Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 17-107; O'Connor, in Friedman and Adams,
eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 83-98; Hendrickx, Le Monde et la Bible 162 (2004): 36-41; Lippiello, Sacred
Space and Central Place. In a series of seminars at Yale University on November 10-14,2008, Hendrickx
argued that Predynastic representations of the lion, the bull, and falcon became formal royal icons;
however, representations of the dog fall into the pre-formal category.
385
at least seven of his fallen comrades (Fig. 57). Birds peck at the corpses of the dead;
personified standards and a robed man lead away the captured combatants whose arms
are bound together at the elbow. The lion likely symbolizes the leader of the successful
group of human combatants in this palette.54 The Libyan Palette depicts a group of seven
fortified enclosures, each of which is attacked by a figure (or pair of figures) carrying a
mr-hoe (Fig. 192).55 The four preserved figures attacking the enclosures are a falcon, a
pair of falcon standards, a scorpion, and a lion—all of which are widely attested late
Predynastic symbols of royal power.56 Thus, already in the Predynastic Period, the lion
clearly represented the military prowess of the king.
Early Dynastic statuettes and monumental stone sculptures of lions from Upper
Egypt—several of which depict the lion snarling and baring its teeth—also evoke the
image of an aggressive leonine king who conquers his enemies in battle (Fig. 331).5?
For discussion of the Battlefield Palette (also known as the Vultures Palette), see primarily Cialowicz,
Lespalettes egyptiennes, pp. 53-54, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 119-144; Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 176-179; Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through Objects, p. 45. For
more detailed discussion of the image of the lion trampling an enemy, see Section 6.1.4.
For the identification of the lion as ruler, see Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 178-179, with
references. For further discussion, see also Section 6.1.4.
55
For discussion of the Libyan Palette (also known as the Cities Palette), see primarily Cialowicz, Les
palettes egyptiennes, pp. 56-57, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 229-233; Gundlach, Die
Zwangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger Bevolkerung, pp. 19-33; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient
Egyptian Kingship, p. 112; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 180-182; Bagh, in Czerny, etal.,
eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2, pp. 15-16. For detailed discussion of the
depictions of fortifications on the palettes, see Section 6.1.5.
56
Based on the similarly depicted destruction of a fortification by a bull on the Narmer Palette and the Bull
Palette, one of the missing royal symbols with the mr-hoe on the Libyan Palette is probably a bull; for the
bulls on these palettes, see Etienne, Archeo-Nil 9 (1999): 149-163. For detailed discussion of the bulls on
the Narmer Palette and the Bull Palette, see Section 6.1.4; Section 6.1.5. For further discussion of the bulls
in Predynastic iconography, see Section 5.2.3.
57
For Early Dynastic statuettes and statues of lions, see Davis, in Simpson and Davis, eds., Studies in
Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan, pp. 34-42; Adams and Jaeschke, The Koptos Lions; Schafer,
Principles of Egyptian Art, pp. 11-12; Adams, in Friedman and Adams, eds., The Followers ofHorus, pp.
69-76; Kemp, CAJ 10:2 (2000): 212; Grimm and Schoske, Am Beginn der Zeit, pp. 44, 52, 54.
386
During the dynastic period, especially in the New Kingdom, the lion often appears
alongside the king to assist him during battles and hunts; these depictions of lions could
represent exotic pets, but they probably are simply symbols of the king's military
CO .
prowess. In many texts, images, and statues of the pharaomc period, the king appears
as a lion/sphinx or is compared to a lion/sphinx in contexts that emphasize the his
military prowess.59
During the Predynastic Period, lion imagery is an important component of the
visual representation of the Sed Festival—both in military rituals and in hunting rituals.
Depictions of the royal lion hunt are completely absent from representations of the Sed
Festival during the dynastic period; however, the discovery of large stone lion sculptures
of the Egyptian ruler in the Sed Festival complexes of Niuserre at Abu Gurob and
Amenhotep III at Soleb (Fig. 332) may suggest that the militaristic images of the king as
a lion continued to be important at the Sed Festival during the dynastic period.60
Additionally, the lion-furniture sequence that appears in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre at Abu Gurob (Fig. 91), the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten
(Fig. 217), and the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 70) could relate to
the lion iconography of the Sed Festival in the Predynastic Period.61
58
For discussion of images of lions beside the king in battle, see Van Essche, in Delvaux and Warmenbol,
eds., Les divins chats d'Egypte, pp. 35-37.
59
For textual and iconographic descriptions of the king as a lion in military contexts, see de Wit, Le role et
le sens du lion, pp. 16-34, 39-56.
60
For Amenhotep Ill's lion statue from Soleb, see Kozloff, etai, eds., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, pp. 219-220;
forNiuserre's lion statue from his Valley Temple at Abusir, see Goedicke, RdE 11 (1957): 57-60.
61
For the lion-furniture sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see Section 2.2.3, Scene 5. For the
lion-furniture sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten, see Section 2.2.5, Scene 9. For the lion-
furniture sequence in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, see Section 2.2.6, Scene 4. For general
discussion of the lion-furniture sequence as a ritual of rejuvenation at the Sed Festival, see Vofi,
Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtiimern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 84, 97; Rummel, Pfeiler seiner Mutter—
387
5.2.2. Rows OF W I L D ANIMALS & ROYAL CONTROL OVER COSMIC ORGANIZATION
One of the most important iconographic motif in the Predynastic Period is the
organization of wild animals into neat and orderly rows; in the context of the royal
iconography of the Sed Festival, this motif represents the Egyptian ruler's control over
cosmic organization and his ability to keep potentially chaotic entities in line. In the
representation of the Sed Festival in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, a
row of small desert bovids (an oryx followed by three ibexes) appears above the two
dancers near the front cabin of the ceremonial barque that is used in the Konigslauf
sequence; a bird (perhaps an ostrich) appears directly above the dancer at the rear of this
barque (Fig. 131d).62 Rows of game animals (most commonly ostriches and small desert
bovids) also appear on Naqada II D-Ware pottery (Figs. 251-260)63 and in Predynastic
rock inscriptions (Figs. 264, 333-334).64 A wide variety of game animals is depicted in
orderly rows on several Predynastic ivory knife handles; rows of animals also appear on a
limited corpus of other objects, including mace handles, plaques, a comb, and a spoon.
Beistandseines Vater, pp. 90-91; Westendorf, MDAIKA1 (1991): 425-434; Gundlach, in Holtus, ed.,
Theaterwesen und dramatische Literatur, pp. 59-61; Kaiser, mAufsdtze zum 70. Geburtstag von Herbert
Ricke,pp. 101-105.
62
For identification of the animals, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 566. Vandier identifies the bird as "une
oiseau noir, tres fragmentaire." Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the
Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, Vol. 2, p. 30, tentatively identifies the bird as a falcon.
63
Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12, footnote 12, also point out that "some D-ware pots ...
feature rows of antelopes, like those in the tomb, alternating more or less severely with rows of
'mountains.'" For rows of ostriches and small desert bovids on D-Ware vessels, see references collected in
Section 3.1.1.2, footnotes 34-37. For various species of antelope, gazelle, and ibex commonly found in
ancient Egypt and for an overall discussion of the representations of small desert bovids in the Predynastic
Period, see Stolberg-Stolberg, Untersuchungen zu Antilope, Gazelle und Steinbock im Alten Agypten, pp. 9-
76, 125-126.
64
For ostriches from Wadi Barramiya and ibexes from Wai Umm Salam, see (with caution) Wilkinson,
Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 142-144. Cf the group of ostriches in Vahala and Cervicek, Katalogder
Felsbilder aus der tschechoslowakischen Konzession in Nubien, cat. no. 91.
65
For general discussions of the zoomorphic imagery depicted on the handles and related objects, see, e.g.,
Kelley, The Ancient World 6 (1983): 95-102; Churcher, in Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the
388
Ivory handles decorated with rows of animals were originally associated with ripple-flake
flint knives; the hunting and military motifs that appear on many of the knife handles
suggest that the knives were primarily used in military rituals and for the ritual slaughter
of sacrificial animals.66
Examples of Predynastic knife handles with rows of animals include the Gebel el-
Arak knife handle (Fig. 58),67 the Gebel Tarif knife handle (Fig. 335),68 the Carnarvon
knife handle (Fig. 336),69 the Abu Zeidan knife handle (Fig. 337),70 the Pitt-Rivers knife
handle (Fig. 338),71 the Petrie Museum knife handle (Fig. 339),72 the Berlin Museum
knife handle (Fig. 340),73 the Ashmolean Museum knife handle (Fig. 341),74 Abydos K-
Brooklyn Museum, pp. 152-168; Midant-Reynes, SAK 14 (1987): 214-221; Cialowicz, in Friedman and
Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 247-258; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 43-61; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,
L 'artde VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 195-226; Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 425-445; Huyge, in
Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, pp. 823-836; Flores, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its
Origins, pp. 748-749. Davis, JAOS 96 (1976): 404-418, refers to the organization of the animals into
orderly rows as "decorative serial representation" utilizing "imaginary baselines."
66
For general discussion of the manufacture and function of Pre- and Early Dynastic flint knifes/daggers,
see Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 41-43; Midant-Reynes, SAK 14 (1987):
185-224.
67
For discussion of the zoomorphic imagery on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see references collected in
681,
De Morgan, Recherches sur les origines de I'Egypte, Vol. 1, p. 115, fig. 136.
69
Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, pp. 250, 255, figs. 5, 8.
70
Hoffman, p. 248, figs. 1-2.
71
Hoffman, p. 249, figs. 3-4.
72
Midant-Reynes, SAK 14 (1987): 219; Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies
Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, p. 243, fig. 37; Huyge, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins,
Vol. 1, pp. 826-828.
73
Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 65, fig. 22; Huyge, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp.
826-827.
74
Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 425-446, fig. 1.
389
3325 handle fragment (Fig. 265),75 Abydos K-1103c handle fragment (Fig. 342),76
Abydos K-2185 knife handle,77 Abydos K-2186 knife handle,78 Abydos K-1262a knife
handle,79 Abydos K-1262b knife handle (Fig. 343).80 Other Predynastic and Early
Dynastic ceremonial objects with depictions of files of animals include the Davis Comb
(Fig. 344),81 the Sayala mace handle (Fig. 345),82 an ivory spoon from Tarkhan (Fig.
346), an unprovenanced Protodynastic ivory tube, and an unprovenanced
Protodynastic calcite vase with raised relief decoration (Fig. 347).85 Additionally, several
cylinder seal impressions from Cemetery U at Abydos organize animals and other
emblems into orderly rows in a similar fashion (Figs. 245,348).86
In many of these examples, each row consists of many examples of the same type
of animal; often a different type of animal appears at the end of the row and aggressively
pursues the other animals. Predatory animals and other symbols at the rear of the row—
75
Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 183, fig. 9.5 bottom.
76
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 221, fig. 10c.
77
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, pp. 204,219, fig. 9.
78
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 204,219, fig. 8.
79
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, pp. 203, 219, fig. 6.
80
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 219, fig. 7.
81
Hoffinan, p. 251, figs. 6-7.
82
Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, p. 80, fig. 3.
83
Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 56, fig. 12; Petrie, etal., Tarkhan I and Memphis V, p. 25, pi. 13.1-6.
84
Grimm and Schoske, Am Beginn der Zeit, p. 40, cat. no. 52, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, p.
59, fig. 17.
85
Grimm and Schoske, Am Beginn der Zeit, pp. 39-40, cat. no. 53, with references.
86
Hill, Cylinder Seal Glyptic in Predynastic Egypt, pp. 11-52, with references; Wengrow, Archaeology of
Early Egypt, pp. 188-191.
390
including canids, rosettes, fish, and lions—may symbolically control the animals that
appear in front of them in a particular row.88 Symbols of victory, power, and triumph
that appear on the knife handles and related objects include an elephant standing above
twin intertwined serpents,89 a long-necked bird with a serpent in its beak (often followed
by a giraffe),90 and a pair of intertwined snakes with rosettes in between their coiled
bodies.91 Fantastic animals—including serpopards,92 griffins,93 and other hybrid
For detailed discussion of the rosette as a royal symbol in the Predynastic and Protodynastic periods, see
Section 7.1.1.
88
For the symbols/animals at the rear of the rows of animals on the knife handles, see Cialowicz, in
Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 247-258, Table 1; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 736-739, Table 3.
89
For discussion of this motif, see primarily Hofmann, Anthropos 65 (1970): 619-632; Kelley, The Ancient
World 6 (1983): 97-99; Churcher, in Needier, ed., Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum,
p. 155; Finkenstaedt, ZAS i l l (1984): 109; Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus:
Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, p. 254; Van Lepp, GM168 (1999): 110; Dreyer, in Ziegler,
ed., L'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 203-204, fig. 7; Whitehouse, MDAIK58 (2002): 436-437;
Baque-Manzano, BIFAO 102 (2002): 37-38; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 112-
118; Flores, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, p. 749; Friedman, in Hendrickx, etal., eds.,
Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 161-162; Huyge, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp.
832-833; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 179-180. Baque-Manzano, loc. cit., compares
the symbolism of this motif to the later attested slaying of Apophis by Seth. For detailed discussion of a
related motif that depicts an elephant striding over mountains, see Section 6.1.4.
90
For discussion of the motif as a symbol of triumph, see primarily Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams,
ed., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, p. 251; Darnell, Theban Desert
Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 15-16, with references; Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 437; Wengrow, The
Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 181.
91
Discussion of the motif has mostly centered upon its similarity to a Mesopotamian glyptic design; see,
e.g., Petrie, Ancient Egypt (1917): 34; Frankfort, Studies in Early Pottery of the Near East, Vol. l , p . 123;
Boehmer, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 22-27; Teissier, Journal of Persian Studies 25
(1987): 34-35; Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., The Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael
Allen Hoffman, pp. 241-244; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., The Study of the Ancient Near East in
the Twenty-First Century, pp. 22-24; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 41-42; Dreyer, in L'art de
VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 199-200; Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 437; Wengrow, The Archaeology
of Early Egypt, p. 191.
92
The fantastical serpopard with its leonine body and long, serpentine neck appears to have evolved from
Predynastic depictions of giraffes as solar carriers; for both of these animals and the w's-scepter (a later
evolution of the motif) as solar carriers, see Westendorf, Altdgyptische Darstellungen des Sonnenlaufes auf
der abschussigen Himmelsbahn, pp. 37, 84-85; Helck, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 652-653; Westendorf, in LA,
Vol. 5, col. 653; Huyge, in R. Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 197-201;
Westendorf, in Moers, etal., eds., jn.t dr.w - Festschriftfiir Friedrich Junge, pp. 716-718, 721-722;
Darnell, in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World, pp. 32-33. For discussion of possible Mesopotamian
influence on this motif, see Benedite, MonPiot 22 (1916): 33-34; Frankfort, Studies in Early Pottery of the
391
animals —symbolize chaotic powers that can ultimately be beneficial when properly
controlled.
Perhaps as a later echo of these Predynastic depictions of orderly rows of animals
and related symbols of victory and power, Djoser commissioned the decoration of a
limestone block—presumably for his Sed Festival—with an intriguing assortment of
zoomorphic imagery (Fig. 349).95 Alternating recumbent jackals and lions—six of each
animal—appear below the royal serekh of Djoser on each of the two panels on the front
side of the monument; each of the panels on the left and right side depicts a long snake
with a forked tongue. This monument is most likely an example of the so-called
Schlangensteine that were typically placed at the entrance to cultic sanctuaries.96 Two
undecorated examples of Schlangensteine originally stood at the entrance to the Sed
Festival chapel of Niuserre in his solar temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob; a similar set of
Near East,Vol. l,pp. 119-121; Scharff, ZAS 71 (1935): 93, 97-98; Boehmer, Archaeologische
Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 38-40; Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies
Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, p. 236; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 97-98; Wengrow,
The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 191-193. For further discussion of giraffes as solar carriers, see
Section 7.4.0.
93
For discussion of the possibility of Mesopotamian influence on the use of the griffin as a symbol in
Predynastic Egypt, see Boehmer, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 19-23; Teissier, Journal
of Persian Studies 25 (1987): 31-32; Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 237-
238; Dreyer, in L'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 199; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p.
191.
94
Huyge, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, pp. 823-836, has interpreted a previously poorly
understood animal on several Predynastic knife handles as a tilapia-ibex hybrid "loaded with regeneration
and rebirth symbolism."
95
For this limestone block of Djoser, see primarily Hawass, JEA 80 (1994): 45-56; Baud, Djeser et lallf
Dynastie,p. 118, fig. 30.
96
The Egyptian term for these stelae, snw.t{y), is often determined by a pair of stelae decorated with
serpents; see Wb. 4, 153.3. Hawass, JEA 80 (1994): pp. 51-52, similarly suggests that the Djoser
monument is an example of the Schlangensteine. Wildung, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 655-656, suggests that these
monuments primarily served as "Instrumente der Belebung und Erneuerung des Konigs aus den Kraften der
Erde, insbesondere beim Sedfest, mit eigener Kultorganisation" with a secondary apotropaic function. The
royal annals of the Palermo Stone suggest that the Schlangensteine were part of Egyptian royal architecture
during the Early Dynastic Period; see Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 136-138.
392
stelae have also been discovered in the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara.
Two Schlangensteine appear in association with the "/?r.fy-shrines of the Souls of Pe"
(Itr.ty bS.w P) in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis (Fig. 350).98
In a separate scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, the
king performs an incense offering for the goddess Bastet in front of a row of at least ten
platforms on top of each of which stands a tall standard or pillar (Fig. 351)." On top of
the first platform rests the Wepwawet standard; along each side of the standard-pole, six
jackals stand in a gravity-defying pose in which the pole serves as the ground line. The
Wepwawet standard on the second platform is adorned with twin serpents intertwined
around the standard-pole.100 On top of the third platform, a column of eight recumbent
rams or perhaps criosphinxes—each adorned with a uraeus upon its brow—decorates a
pillory.101 The combination of orderly rows of animals and sacred insignia in these
scenes may be related to similar motifs on Predynastic decorated knife handles and to the
row of small desert bovids that appears in the depiction of Sed Festival rituals in Tomb
100. The overall symbolism of the motifs appears to be the subjugation of chaos and the
maintenance of cosmic order.
5.2.3. THE WILD BULL HUNT

97
See Wildung, in LA, Vol. 5, cols. 655-656, with references; Wildung, RdE 21 (1969): 141-142. For the
examples from the solar temple of Niuserre, see also Vol3, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der
5. Dynastie, pp. 88-90.
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 4bis. For discussion of the stelae depicted in this inscription, see
also Wildung, in LA 5, cols. 655-656.
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9. For discussion of the /wn-pillars and bull-headed pillars in
this scene, see Section 5.3.3.
100
The fragmentary inscription in front of the standard ([...] snw.t hnty inb.w di=frnh nb im Rr d.t) links the
twin serpents on this standard to the Schlangensteine.
For discussion of the ram imagery in this scene, see Kessler, in Luft, ed., Intellectual Heritage of Egypt,
pp. 343-353, who emphasizes Heliopolitan, solar connotations.
393
Another hunting motif that appears in representations of the Sed Festival from the
Predynastic Period is the lassoing of a wild bull. This motif appears to function similarly
to other hunting scenes in which large animals, such as lions or hippopotami, are pursued;
the ruler's ability to take down a large aggressive animal demonstrates his own power to
subdue chaotic forces in contexts that extend beyond the hunt to include royal control
over military dangers and threats to the organization of the cosmos. Demonstration of the
king's ability to control chaos and maintain cosmic order is an important leitmotif in the
ritual performance of the Sed Festival, as is suggested by the inclusion of a bull-lassoing
scene in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis. In the upper right corner of
the painted tableau (Fig. 13 lg), a hunter clad in a penis sheath appears in the midst of a
large group of desert bovids and successfully lassos a large animal that is almost certainly
a wild bull.102 This particular hunting technique resulted in the live capture of the bull;
the captured animal could then be transported to a specialized area for slaughtering and
butchery, as seems to be depicted in another scene from the painted tableau of Tomb 100
at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131c).103
Parallels for the bull-lassoing scene in Tomb 100 appear as early as Naqada I, e.g.
on the outside of a C-Ware bowl from Abydos (Fig. 321).104 The lassoing of wild cattle
For the identification of the lassoed animal as a bull, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 568; Cialowicz, in
Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists p. 274; Darnell, Theban
Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). For a more cautious identification of the "animal," see
Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 254; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent
Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
103
For discussion of the facilities used for butchery and the ritual significance of the slaughtering of cattle,
see Section 5.3.3.
104
Until recently the identification of the animal in this scene was uncertain; however, the recent
publication of an additional fragment of the bowl (discovered in Abydos tomb U-264) confirms that the
animal is a long-horned bull. For the interpretation of this scene as the lassoing of a bull, see Hendrickx
and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology
394
also appears commonly in Predynastic rock inscriptions (Figs. 280, 352-356); in several
examples, a nearby person celebrates the successful hunt by raising his or her arms in a
gesture symbolizing victory—which appears to indicate the ritualization of the hunt in
these scenes (Figs. 280, 353).105 The lassoing of other desert game animals also appears
in hunting scenes on Late Predynastic decorated ceremonial objects, such as the Hunters
Palette (Fig. 46) and a knife handle from Tomb U-503 at Abydos (Fig. 265).106
Wild cattle also appear on decorated Predynastic ceremonial objects in contexts
that are perhaps less clearly related to hunting but that, nevertheless, appear to make
similar statements about cosmic organization and the suppression of chaos. On the Two
Dogs Palette (Fig. 50), within a chaotic scene depicting a group of desert animals
including several fantastic hybrid animals, a long-horned bull flees from a griffin that
rears its front paws in rabid pursuit.107 At least two different types of wild cattle appear
in orderly rows on the Abu Zeidan knife handle (Fig. 337) and the Carnarvon knife
handle (Fig. 336); an aggressive animal at the rear of two of the rows maintains control
1 OS
over the cattle in these examples.
(forthcoming); contra Hartmann, in Engel, etai, eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 174-175, who suggests an
agricultural scene in which the bull pulls a plough.
105
For Predynastic rock art depictions of the lassoing of wild cattle, see examples collected in Otto, JNES 9
(1950): 174, footnote 42; Leclant and Huard, La culture des chasseurs du Nil et du Sahara, Vol. 1, pp. 224-
232; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 95-96, fig. 17; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etai, eds.,
Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, Theban Desert Road
Survey, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
106
For this scene from the Hunters Palette, see references collected in Section 5.2.1, footnote 39. For this
scene from the knife handle from Tomb U-503 at Abydos, see references collected in Section 5.2.2,
footnote 75.
107
For this scene from the Two Dogs Palette, see references collected in Section 5.2.1, footnote 37.
108
For the identification of the different species of cattle in these examples, see Sweydan, in Sesto
Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia: Atti, pp. 585-594. For further discussion of the decoration of the
Abu Zeidan and Carnarvon knife handles, see references collected in Section 5.2.2, footnotes 69-70.
395
Perhaps as early as Naqada I, the wild bull appears in Egyptian iconography as a
symbol for the ruler himself. The decoration on the outside of a C-Ware vase from
Abydos tomb U-415 shows a long-horned bull alongside three hunters, each of whom has
successfully harpooned a hippopotamus; in this scene the bull very likely represents ruler
(Fig. 49).109 The Narmer Palette (Fig. 39) and the Bull Palette (Fig. 44) both depict a
bull goring a fallen human enemy; in each case the bull appears to represent the king and
highlights his fierce nature by depicting him as a wild bull.110 The "double-bull" icon
that appears next to the pr-nw shrine on the Hunters Palette may also be a symbol of
royal power—perhaps already representing the duality of kingship, Upper and Lower
Egyptian (Fig. 46).111 The bull running over the uneven surface of an open courtyard on
a wooden label of Aha from Abydos may represent the king engaged in the Sed Festival
run (Fig. 45).112
The wild bull hunt continued to be a formal symbol of royal power during the
dynastic period. A fragmentary ivory label from the tomb of Den at Abydos depicts a
lassoed bull striding over mountainous terrain; the extant portion of the label does not
clearly depict the hunter, but the king himself is likely responsible for lassoing the wild
See Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 59 (2003): 80-82, fig. 5, pi. 15a; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, eta/.,
eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). The decoration on the vase is
divided into two scenes. The top scene depicts a tall man with a mace dominating six human captives; the
hippopotamus hunting scene appears directly below. As Hendrickx and Eyckerman, loc. cit., suggest, the
tall figure with the mace in the top scene and the bull in the bottom scene both likely represent the
victorious ruler.
110
On the Narmer Palette the bull also appears to attack a crenelated structure that presumably belonged to
the fallen enemy. For detailed discussion of the bulls in these scenes as representations of the king as king
in these palettes, see Section 6.1.4; Section 6.1.5.
111
For the "double bull" as a symbol of royalty, see references collected in Section 4.3.2, footnote 126.
112
For detailed discussion of the running bull on this label, see Section 4.3.2.
396
bull in this scene (Fig. 357).113 A series of scarabs commemorates a hunting expedition
in which Amenhotep III, riding upon his chariot, commanded his officials to corral 170
wild cattle into an enclosed hunting park, wherein the king himself captured a total of 96
animals in two separate phases of hunting.114 A scene in the eastern section of the north
wall of the so-called Corridor of the Bull in the temple of Seti I at Abydos depicts
Ramesses II and his son Amunherkhepeshef engaged in the lassoing of a bull (Fig.
358).115 The inscription accompanying this scene at Abydos indicates that the slaughter
of cattle and the offering of meat followed the lassoing of the bull; a ritual butchery scene
appears directly to the west of the bull-lassoing scene on the same wall.
In the famous royal wild bull hunt scene of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu (Fig.
359), the king takes down three large bulls with arrows and lances in a marshy area while
skillfully balancing himself at the front of his chariot with the reins tied around his
waist.116 The text accompanying this scene at Medinet Habu compares Ramesses Ill's
hunting skills to his military prowess in fighting the Asiatics; the king himself is
described as ki nht iw=fn$nw smS tl.w Sty.wfh pr.t-sn di hty nht.wfiy hr=sn dwnw (hr)
113
For discussion of this label of Den, see Dreyer, etal, MDAIK54 (1998): 163, pi. 12e; Hendrickx, in
Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 279.
114
For the wild cattle hunt scarabs of Amenhotep III, see primarily Blankenberg-Van Delden, Large
Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III, pp. 57-61; Ritner, JEA 72 (1986): 193-194; Decker, in Gamer-
Wallert and Helck, eds., Gegengabe: Festschrift fur Emma Brunner-Traut, pp. 70-71; Decker, Sports and
Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 150-152; Konrad, ZAS 127 (2000): 135-141; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: he
magnifique, pp. 187-189; Herb, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 23-26.
115
For the bull-lassoing scene in the Corridor of the Bull at Abydos, see Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 172-174;
Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, Vol. 2, p. 510,11.12; David, Religious Ritual at Abydos, pp. 203-209;
Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 348, cat. no. J 126; Decker, Sports and Games
ofAncient Egypt, p. 154; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, p. 144; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, p. 188,
fig. 40; Baque, SAK 30 (2002): 43-51; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
116
For the bull hunting scene from Medinet Habu, see Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 2, pi. 117;
Decker, Quellentexte zu Sport, pp. 86-88; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 350-
351, cat. no. J 129; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 153-154.
397
ti pn B.t=sn, "a victorious bull when he rages, who crushes the Asiatic lands, who
destroys their seed, who causes the mighty to retreat, so that their faces are raised up and
their back is stretched out (upon) this land."117 Thus, Ramesses III is imbued with the
power of these defeated bulls; the king himself transforms into a bull when he conquers
his enemies. In this way the royal ideology of the New Kingdom is very similar to
ideologies of royal power during the Predynastic Period; in some scenes the king is a
hunter of bulls, but in other scenes he rages against his enemy like an aggressive bull.
5.2.4. THE HUNTING OF ANTELOPES, ORYXES, GAZELLES, & IBEXES
Several vignettes from Tomb 100 depict canids participating in the hunting of
small desert bovids. In a scene in the right portion of the tableau (Fig. 131g), a man
raises his arms as two white canids attack a pair of small desert bovids; just to the right, a
black canid pursues a group of four small desert bovids.118 The raised arms of the man
who accompanies the dogs in pursuit of the small desert bovids in this scene perform a
gesture symbolizing victory, triumph, and power; the gesture likely indicates the
ritualization of hunting in this vignette.119 The dogs in this scene may be chasing the
small desert bovids towards the hunter who has already successfully lassoed one of the
animals (probably a bull).120
Similar depictions of dogs engaged in the hunting of small desert bovids appear
often in Predynastic rock inscriptions (Figs. 300, 360), on decorated pottery (Figs. 361-
117
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habit, Vol. 2, pi. 117,11. 7-9.
118
For the identification of the animals in this scene, see primarily Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 567-568.
119
For detailed discussion of this gesture in a variety of Predynastic ritual contexts, see Section 3.1.1.
120
For a similar interpretation, see Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 254; Hendrickx and Eyckerman,
forthcoming; Darnell, Dominion Behind Thebes, forthcoming. For discussion of the wild bull hunt, see
Section 5.2.3.
398
362), and on ceremonial objects (e.g., knife handles and palettes).121 In these examples
the organization of the game animals is occasionally similar to the orderly way in which
rows of animals are organized on Predynastic ivory handles;122 however, the more typical
organization of the zoomorphic imagery is less rigid and the pursuit of game animals by
the canids (in some examples under direct human control and in other examples acting
without human guidance) occurs in more chaotic and complex hunting vignettes.1 The
restraint of canids on leashes serves a functional purpose in guiding their movements
during the hunt; however, symbolically, the leashing of these animals may parallel the
restraint of solar carriers, such as the giraffe and serpopard—animals that play a
beneficial role in the proper functioning of the cosmos and the solar cycle when properly
controlled by humans.124
The animals that are typically interpreted as lions in the painted tableau of Tomb
100 at Hierakonpolis are actually canids interacting in a friendly manner with their
121
For examples of dogs in hunting scenes in Predynastic rock inscriptions, see Leclant and Huard, La
culture des chasseurs du Nil et du Sahara, Vol. 1, pp. 275-288; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 735, with references; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97-99,
fig. 19. For examples of dogs in hunting scenes on Predynastic decorated pottery and ceremonial objects,
see Hendrickx, CdE 67 (1992): 5-27; Baines, Archeo-Nil?, (1993): 57-74; Hendrickx, in Phillips, ed.,
Africa: The Art of a Continent, p. 59; Gransard-Desmond, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 51 -74; Gransard-Desmond,
Etude sur les Canidae des temps pre-pharaoniques en Egypte et au Soudan; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal.,
eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 723-749.
122
See, e.g., canids chasing small desert bovids on a black-topped red-war jar with incised decoration
(Brussels E.2631) and a C-Ware vase from Abydos Tomb U-415; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 723-735, with bibliography. Cf the discussion of orderly
rows of animals on Predynastic knife handles in Section 5.2.2.
123
See, e.g., the leashed canid under human control pursuing a small desert bovid on the boss side of the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle. Cf. the canids acting without human control in pursuit of a small desert bovids
on the Two Dog Palette and on the boss side of the Carnarvon knife handle. On the Hunters Palette, canids,
although not on leashes directly under human control, nevertheless, assist the human hunters in the pursuit
of small desert bovids.
124
For the restraint of giraffes and serpopards as representations of "human intervention in the solar cycle"
in Predynastic iconography, see Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
(forthcoming).
399
human masters after a successful hunting expedition in which several desert bovids have
been caught in circular traps (Figs. 131b-c).125 One desert bovid has been ensnared in
each of the traps in the top left corner of the tableau (Fig. 131b); five small desert bovids
(probably gazelles) have been caught in a trap of a slightly different construction in the
bottom left portion of the tableau (Fig. 131c). A gazelle below the circular trap and to
the right of the master-of-beasts has either been lassoed or—less likely—struck by a
javelin; the gazelle turns its head back perhaps to look for its pursuer, though there is no
hunter clearly associated with the animal in this vignette (Fig. 131c). The hunting of
small desert bovids in these vignettes from Tomb 100 results in their live capture; the
game animals are either caught in traps or lassoed by the human hunters with the
assistance by hunting dogs. The symbolism of the hunting of small desert bovids
(oryxes, ibexes, gazelles, etc.) relates to the subjugation of chaos.127
5.2.5. ROYAL HUNTING PARKS: T H E RITUAL LANDSCAPE OF THE DESERT HUNT
Alternatively, though less likely, the hunters may be disciplining the dogs for being uncooperative. For
identification of the circular objects in these hunting scenes from Tomb 100 as traps, see Vandier, Manuel,
Vol. 1, pp. 562-566; Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 41. Williams and Logan, JNES46 (1987): 254-255,
consider the circular object in Scene 2 to be a trap; however, they suggest that the circular objects in Scene
1 "could be some apparatus such as clap-nets, or they could even be town enclosures battered by raging
bulls, as on the Narmer Palette." Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International
Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275, suggests that the circular object in this scene might instead be a "hole"
into which sacrificial animals are thrown (based on a perceived parallel between this scene and the Narmer
Macehead). Circular traps are commonly depicted in Predynastic rock art; see Huard, RdE 17 (1965): 50-
53; Huard and Leclant, RdE 25 (1973): 140-147; Leclant and Huard, La culture des chasseurs du Nil et du
Sahara, Vol. 1, pp. 232-275; Allard-Huard and Huard, Les gravures rupestres du Sahara et du Nil, Vol. 1,
pp. 46-47.
126
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275,
suggests that the gazelle has been lassoed. Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by
the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, Vol. 2, p. 28, suggests that the gazelle "has been caught either
by a lasso, or a spear."
127
See, e.g., Quaegebeur, La naine et le bouquetin, pp. 116-117. Quaegebeur, pp. 120-123, suggests that
New Kingdom depictions of the hunting of these animals also evoke "the idea of rejuvenation." For the
symbolic importance of the slaughtering of small desert bovids, see Section 5.3.2.
400
The desert hunting scenes in Tomb 100 take place in the proximity of a large boat
procession outside of the normal area where one might typically find desert game animals
(Fig. 131).128 Though there is no clear indication that the hunting activities depicted in
Tomb 100 occurred within a man-made landscape, the fact that the hunting of desert
game animals takes place in an Nilotic environment may suggest that the animals were
transported to hunting parks close to the Nile for a ritualized hunt during the Sed Festival.
The enclosed area with a sinusoidal wall in which three gazelles run on the Narmer
Macehead (Fig. 60) probably represents the courtyard of the ritual complex at Locality
HK29a in Hierakonpolis (Fig. 363).129 Archeological evidence at the site clearly
indicates that butchery of wild and domesticated animals took place in the courtyard at
Locality HK29a; however, it is possible that the site could also have been used in a
limited way as a small hunting park for the sporting capture of gazelles and other game
animals.
The royal desert hunt appears in contexts that may relate to the celebration of the
Sed Festival in the relief decoration of several Old Kingdom royal mortuary complexes,
For detailed discussion of the interrelationship between hunting rituals and nautical processions in
Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival, see Section 7.2.
129
For HK29A as the ritual complex where Narmer celebrated the Sed Fesival depicted on the Narmer
Macehead, see Friedman, in Spencer, ed., Aspects of Early Egypt, pp. 16-35, especially pp. 30-33; Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 52-57. Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 56,
describes the area containing the gazelles as "a desert landscape beside a watercourse." Vandier, Manuel,
Vol. 1, p. 605, suggests that the gazelles have sacrificed and that their bodies have been laid in an oval
shaped pit; for similar interpretation, see also Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275. For recently revised plans of HK29A based on further
excavation work, see Friedman and McNamara, Nekhen News 20 (2008): 6-7; Friedman, JARCE 45 (2009):
79-103.
130
For discussion of archaeological evidence of butchery at Locality HK29a, see Section 5.3.3.
401
including Userkaf (Fig. 364),131 Sahure (Fig. 365),132 Unis (Fig. 366),133 and an unknown
late Old Kingdom king (Fig. 367).134 Another possible Old Kingdom example of the
desert hunt appears in the Weltkammer of Niuserre at his solar temple in Abu Gurob
without, however, any clear image of the king as the hunter.
In the fragmentary royal desert hunting scene depicted in the mortuary complex of
Sahure (Fig. 365), the king masterfully shoots arrows at a wide variety of game animals
gathered within an enclosed area to his right bordered by fences. The game animals—
the vast majority of which are small desert bovids—are arranged into four registers; the
uneven, rocky terrain with small shrubs indicates the desert landscape. At the far left of
the enclosed area, two of the king's basenjis participate in the hunt by attacking the
throats of two game animals. Royal officials stationed below the enclosed hunting park
131
This scene is very fragmentary; see Labrousse and Leclant, Les complexes funeraires d'Ouserkafet de
Neferhetepes, pp. 81-82, docs. 47-50; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the
Old Kingdom, p. 214.
132
Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-Re, Vol. 2, pi. 17; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 4, pp. 787-791;
Hoffmeier, Newsletter of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 6:2 (1975): 8-13; Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 299-301, cat. no. J 20; Baines, in Gundlach and Raedler,
eds., Selbstverstdndnis und Realitdt, pp. 146-148; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary
Complexes of the Old Kingdom, pp. 214-216; Herb, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 29-31.
133
The preserved portion of these scenes from the causeway of Unis includes depictions of canids chasing
desert game animals; no image of the king as hunter, however, is extant. See Hassan, ZAS 80 (1955): 138,
pis. 12-13; Labrousse and Moussa, La chaussee du roi Ounas, pp. 41-47, docs. 31-45; Cwiek, Relief
Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of the Old Kingdom, p. 216; Herb, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 29-
31.
134
Goedicke, Re-used Blocks, pp. 135-138, no. 83; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten,
p. 314, cat. no. J 50.
135
Edel and Wenig, Die Jahreszeitenreliefs aus dem Sonnenheiligtum des Konigs Ne-user-Re, pis. 13, 16;
Goedicke, Re-used Blocks, pp. 136-138; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 301-
302, cat. nos. J 21-22; Stolberg-Stolberg, Untersuchungen zu Antilope, Gazelle undSteinbock im Alten
Agypten,pp. 129-130.
136
Depictions of enclosed hunting areas bordered by fences also appear in many Middle and New Kingdom
private tombs; see Hoffmeier, Newsletter of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 6:2 (1975): 9;
Hoffmeier, JSSEA 10 (1980): 195-198; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 319-
324, 326-327, 331-339, cat. nos. J 66-68, J 71-72, J 74, J 79, J 91, J 94, J 96-98, J 105, J 107.
402
carry long staffs, perhaps used to corral the animals. Another group of officials stationed
to the right of the hunting park carries lassoes, which are perhaps used to remove the
injured animals struck by Sahure's arrows. However, in this scene the king alone
possesses the prerogative to carry a bow and to shoot arrows at the animals in the
enclosure; in doing so, Sahure symbolically suppresses chaotic forces in a liminal area
and re-establishes the proper order of the cosmos—a motif clearly linked to the hunting
vignettes of Predynastic royal iconography.137 Though not depicted in the desert hunting
tableau of Sahure, the game animals captured alive were probably ritually slaughtered by
the king.138
Scenes in which the king hunts desert game animals—including small desert
bovids and ostriches—continued to be an important expression of royal ideology in the
New Kingdom during the reigns of Amenhotep II,139 Tutankhamun (Figs 368-371),140
Seti I (Fig. 372),141 and Ramesses III (Fig. 373).142 Two fragmentary scenes
For a similar interpretation of the cosmic symbolism of the hunt, see Baines, in Gundlach and Raedler,
eds., Selbstverstdndnis und Realitdt, pp. 146-148. To support this interpretation, Baines points out that
desert hunting vignettes from Middle Kingdom private tombs at Beni Hassan include fantastical animals,
such as griffins and serpopards—hybrid animals that are widely attested as symbols of cosmic order and
disorder in the Predynastic Period.
138
For further discussion of the significance of the ritual slaughter of animals at the Sed Festival, see
Section 5.3.
139
The motif appears in the painted decoration of an official's tomb at Thebes (TT 72); see Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, p. 341, cat. no. J 110.
140
The motif appears on several decorated items from Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings,
including a bow-case, a painted chest, and an ostrich-feather fan; see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport
im alten Agypten, pp. 343-347, cat. nos. J 120-122.
141
In the example of this motif on a stela from Giza, Seti I stands on the ground while shooting at lions and
small desert bovids with bow and arrow; see Brand, Monuments of Seti I, pp. 152-153; Davies, Egyptian
Historical Inscriptions of the Nineteenth Dynasty, pp. 273-276; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im
alten Agypten, pp. 347-348, cat. no. J 125; Hoffmeier, JSSEA 10 (1984): 195-200.
142
The hunting of small desert bovids is depicted just above the famous bull hunting scene at Medinet
Habu; see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, pp. 349-350, cat. no. J 128.
403
reconstructed from talatat-blocks of Akhenaten in Thebes depict desert game animals—
including hares, ostriches, and small desert bovids—running freely under the rays of the
sun; the preserved portions of the scenes give no clear indication of hunting, though they
likely allude to the desert hunt (Figs. 374-375).143 The New Kingdom royal desert
hunting scenes do not include images of fenced enclosures or hunting parks—possibly
because the introduction of the chariot allowed the king to cover ground more quickly in
pursuit of game during the desert hunt.144 However, the discovery of postholes
demarcating an area measuring approximately 300 by 600 meters near the temple of
Amenhotep III at Soleb suggests that enclosed hunting parks probably continued to be
used during the New Kingdom.145 The hunting park at Soleb would have provided the
perfect setting for the king to hunt lions, wild cattle, or other desert game;
commemorative scarabs from the reign of Amenhotep III record the construction of a
similar hunting park for the wild bull hunt.146 Amenhotep Ill's large stone lion statue
from the temple at Soleb (Fig. 332) may allude to the king's preferred game animal
pursued during hunting rituals at the nearby park.147 The park's proximity to the Sed
143
Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments thebains d'Amenhotep IV, Vol. 1, pp. 140-142 (Assemblages
A0080, A0048); Vol. 2, pi. 53. Vergnieux, op. cit., pp. 162-163, suggests that the construction to the right
of the desert game animals in Assemblage A0080 is the Teny-Menou.
144
See Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 152-153.
145
See Leclant, in Le sol, la parole, et I'ecrit, Vol. 2, pp. 727-734; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient
Egypt, p. 153; Decker, in Gamer-Wallert and Helck, eds., Gegengabe: Festschrift fur Emma Brunner-
Traut,p. 71.
146
The lion hunt scarab does not record a location for the royal hunting expeditions; however, the wild
cattle hunt took place at Stp, an unknown location that Ritner, JEA 72 (1986): 193-194, has argued should
be identified with the Wadi Natrun (Stp.t). The hieroglyphic text on the wild cattle hunt scarab describes
how wd.n hm=frdi.t hwi.t nn ngi.w m sbty hnr sdy, "His majesty ordered the driving of these wild cattle
into an enclosure with a ditch"; see footnote 121.
147
For a similar interpretation, see Leclant, Le sol, la parole, et I'ecrit, Vol. 2, pp. 732-733; for the lion
statue of Amenhotep III from Soleb, see references collected in Section 5.2.1, footnote 60.
404
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb may suggest a connection between the festival
and the hunt. A talatat-block of Akhenaten found outside of its original architectural
context at Thebes depicts two canids pursuing small desert bovids in a desert environs
(indicated by a sinusoidal line) near the outside wall of an large walled construction—
probably a royal palace located in the Thebaid (Fig. 376).148
Since Amenhotep III is known to have studied ancient prototypes while planning
the celebration of his first Sed Festival, the performance of hunting rituals during
Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival may be an archaizing feature of the celebration that alludes
to the ubiquitous representations of hunting rituals in Predynastic representations of the
Sed Festival.149 The ritual waterway that Amenhotep III constructed at Thebes for the
nautical procession of his first Sed Festival may have also been the setting for a
hippopotamus hunting ritual; while such an interpretation remains purely speculative, the
symbolism of such of a ritual would clearly allude to the suppression of chaos necessary
for the proper functioning of the cosmos and the solar cycle.150
5.3. BUTCHERY & THE RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS
5.3.0. INTRODUCTION
The hunting scenes that appear prominently in Predynastic representations of the
Sed Festival on the Gebelein Linen (Fig. 52) and in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131) demonstrate the ruler's capacity to suppress chaos and to
maintain proper cosmic order. Similar hunting scenes that occur quite frequently in the
148
See Anus, BIFAO 69 (1971): 70-72, block 1.
149
For detailed discussion of Amenhotep Ill's claim to have studies ancient "documents" while preparing
for the celebration of his first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
150
For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's construction of a large ritual waterway at Thebes for the celebration
of his first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.0; Section 7.5.
405
Predynastic Period on a wide range of media share the same symbolism and likely also
formed part of the early royal festival cycle. Less commonly depicted in Predynastic
iconography, however, is the ritual slaughter and butchery of animals. In a scene in the
bottom left portion of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131c), a
man clad in a penis sheath reaches out both of his hands to the neck of a fettered bull that
rests on the ground next to a construction bearing a strong resemblance to later pharaonic
depictions of the /vwz-pillar—a long vertical pole with a short horizontal crossbar rising
up from a cairn.151 Later depictions of the slaughtering of cattle indicate that the proper
procedure for killing a bull is to bring the restrained animal down to the ground and sever
the carotid artery in its neck with a flint knife.152 Though a knife is not clearly depicted
in the man's hand as he reaches towards the bull in Tomb 100, the fact that the man
reaches towards the neck of the fettered bull on the ground likely indicates that the ritual
slaughter of the animal is depicted. If this interpretation is correct, Tomb 100 contains
one of the earliest depictions of butchery and ritual animal slaughter in Predynastic
Egypt. In contrast to hunting rituals, which fade in importance in later depictions of the
Sed Festival during the pharaonic period, the butchery of sacrificial animals—both wild
and domestic—continued to form an important role in the celebration of the Sed Festival
151
The scene is typically interpreted as a confrontation between the hunter and a wild bovid with bound
legs that has been caught in a trap; see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 566; Case and Payne, JEA 48 (1962):
12; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 277. For pharaonic depictions of the iwn-
pillar from the Old Kingdom through the Graeco-Roman Period, see Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and
Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur I'Ancien Empire et la necropole de Saqqdra dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol.
2, p. 324, fig. 1.
152
For a discussion of these procedures, see Ikram, Choice Cuts, pp. 44-48.
153
For similar interpretations of the scene as a ritual slaughter, see Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for
Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, Vol. 2, p. 28; Gordon and Schwabe, in
Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 463; Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, p. 159.
406
for several millennia.154 Evidence for the slaughtering of animals during the Sed Festival
includes architectural remains of butchery facilities, faunal remains, and lithic
assemblages at Sed Festival complexes, as well as reliefs and texts that depict and
describe the slaughtering rituals.
5.3.1. RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF BULLS
The animal slaughtered in the butchery scene from Tomb 100 is probably a wild
bull, as the numerous hunting scenes within the tableau would seem to indicate (Fig.
131c).155 In the Predynastic Sed Festival, the slaughtering of a wild bull appears to have
a symbolic value similar to the royal wild bull hunt; by hunting wild bulls, the king
demonstrates his own ability to rage against his enemies like an aggressive bull.15
Depictions of the slaughtering of sacrificial bulls were also included in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in
the tomb of Kheruef, and in the Sed Festival reliefs of Akhenaten in the Gempaaten. The
fragmentary butchery scenes from Niuserre's Sed Festival depict the cutting of the bull's
throat and the removal of one of the bull's forelegs, which is subsequently carried off as
an offering by a hm-ntr priest (Fig. 176).157 The butchery scene from the tomb of
Kheruef omits the throat-cutting episode but similarly depicts the removal of the
sacrificial bull's foreleg, which is carried off by a rh-nsw.t to a ceremonial barque loaded
154
Hunting imagery is sometimes employed in pharaonic depictions of the slaughtering of domestic
animals; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, p. 141, observes: "Through the imagery of the hunt, the domestic
animal is rendered wild: the tame, the nurtured animal is depersonalised—defined emotionally and
symbolically as the wild and dangerous animal that is properly and necessarily killed. The butcher is
defined symbolically as hunter and destroyer of danger, not as murderer."
155
For discussion of this scene, see references collected in Section 5.3.0, footnote 153.
156
For further discussion of the royal bull hunt, see Section 5.2.3.
157
Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 361-373; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 165-166;
Fischer, Orientalia 29 (1960): 183. For detailed discussion of this scene, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a.
407
with a wide variety of food-offerings (Fig. 174). In another scene from the tomb of
Kheruef, Amenhotep III presents food and meat offerings to the personified statue of the
Djed Pillar (Fig. 183).159 The ritual slaughter and butchering of fettered bulls is depicted
in several scenes from the Sed Festival talatat-blocks of Akhenaten from Karnak Temple
(Fig. 177).160 In some scenes butchers remove the bulls' forelegs; in other scenes the
butchers cut the bulls' throats.
In the butchery scenes from the Sed Festivals of Niuserre, Amenhotep III, and
Akhenaten, there is no indication that the bulls are wild as in the Predynastic version of
the rite in Tomb 100; in all likelihood the sacrificial bulls slaughtered at the Sed Festival
during the pharaonic period were domestic cattle. As such the symbolism of the motif
appears to be slightly altered from its Predynastic predecessor. The symbolism of the
bull slaughtering ritual of the Sed Festival—particularly the removal and subsequent
offering of the bull's foreleg161—may be similar to the symbolism of the slaughtering of
bulls at the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, at the Acacia House during funerary rites,
in the Cannibal Hymn, and in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus.162
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 58-59. For detailed discussion of this scene, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 2a.
159
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 54. For detailed discussion of this scene, see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 2b.
160
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-festival at Karnak, pis. 28, 36, 53, 54, 56, 85, 98, 99, 100; Redford, Akhenaten
Temple Project, Vol. 1, pis. 73, 74. In several of these scenes, the slaughtering of the bull(s) clearly takes
place in the presence of the king. For further discussion of these scenes, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a.
161
For an overview of the butchering procedure of removing the foreleg of an animal, see Montet, BIFAO 7
(1910): 56-57; Eggebrecht, Schlactungsbrauche im Alten Agypt, pp. 53-78; Ikram, Choice Cuts, pp. 50-51.
162
For an attempt at an integrated interpretation of the bull slaughtering episodes in these various rituals,
see Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 52-57, 102-103. For detailed discussion
of these rites, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a; Section 3.1.1.
408
In the two butchery sequences from the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, a
butcher removes the foreleg and the heart of a bull in the presence of a woman (identified
as a dr(y).t, "kite") and two priests (a sm-priest and a lector priest).163 The texts
accompanying these scenes describe the removal of the foreleg and the heart but do not
describe the cutting of the throat of the sacrificial bull before these activities—which
allows for the possibility that the foreleg may have been removed from the bull while it
was still alive.164 After the butchering of the sacrificial bull, the foreleg and heart were
offered to the statue of the deceased; this sequence imbued the deceased with
nourishment (in the form of meat for consumption) and power (in the form of hpS) in
order to effect the rejuvenation and reanimation of the deceased.165 In several New
For the two butchery sequences in Scenes 23-25 and Scenes 43-45 of the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony, see Otto, Das Agyptische Mundbjfnungsritual, Vol. 1, pp. 43-55,96-104; Vol. 2, pp. 73-80, 102-
106. In funerary contexts the Opening of the Mouth ceremony results in the reanimation of the deceased;
performance of the ceremony on a mummy or a statue allowed brought life and access to sustenance. For
discussion of the overall purpose of the ceremony, see Otto, op. cit.; Roth, JEA 78 (1992): 113-147; Roth,
JEA 79 (1993): 57-79; Roth, in Redford, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, pp. 605-609.
164
The relevant section of the caption to Scenes 23 and 43 reads:
imnh
hiy hr=f
stp hp$=f
Sd hi.ty=f
"Butcher:
Descending upon it;
Cutting off its foreleg;
Removing its heart."
For the view that the foreleg was removed from the sacrificial bull during the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony while the animal was still alive, see Gordon and Schwabe, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the
Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 461-469, with references. Gordon and Schwabe, in
Eyre, ed., loc. cit., suggest that the Egyptians interpreted the twitching muscles in the foreleg amputated
from the living bull as a type of magical life force that was transferred to the deceased during the Opening
of the Mouth ceremony.
165
The Egyptian word hpS, written with the hieroglyphic sign for the foreleg of a bull, means both "Arm,
Kraft" {Wb. 3, 268.10-269.19) and "(Vorder)schenkel" {Wb. 3,268.4-8); both senses of the word seem to
be appropriate for the offering of the bull's foreleg at the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. The offering of
the bull's foreleg and the adze to the mouth of the deceased in this ceremony may also be related to the
circumpolar stars and the constellation Ursus Major (msh.tyw in Egyptian), which was interpreted as either
an adze or the foreleg of a bull by the ancient Egyptians; see Roth, JEA 79 (1993): 70-71; Gordon and
Schwabe, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 467-468,
with references.
409
Kingdom tombs, the removal of the foreleg of a living calf is depicted in "la mutilation
rituelle du veau"—a ritual that may have been included in the performance of the Sed
Festival during the reign of Narmer.166 Otto has cleverly suggested that the butchery
episodes of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony find their origin in a "pre-mythical
hunting scene"; the woman labeled dr(y).t "represents a carrion bird circling above the
slain animal, with its shrieking interpreted as speech."167 The version of this same
butchery sequence in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus mythologizes the ritual by
identifying the human and animal actors with divinities—Horus as the hunter/butcher,
Isis as the dr(y).t-bird, and Thoth as the sacrificial bull.168
Starting in the Old Kingdom, the slaughtering of a bull appears often as part of the
funeral rites depicted within private tomb scenes.169 The butchery rites are performed as
part of the services in front of the tomb as the funeral procession arrives at its destination
for the interment of the deceased.170 In several Old Kingdom examples, the slaughtering
Guilhou, BIFAO 93 (1993): 277-301, considers a direct correspondence between this ritual and the
butchery sequence from the Opening of the Mouth ceremony to be unlikely since only the lower half of the
calf s foreleg (below the knee joint) is removed in "la mutilation rituelle du veau."
167
Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164-177. For detailed discussion of the dr(y).t-bird in this sequence, see Section
3.1.1.3.
168
See Sethe, Dramatische Texte zu altagyptischen Mysterienspielen, pp. 109-114; pi. 12,11. 8-10; Otto,
JNES 9 (1950): 171-172.
169
See, e.g., examples collected in Montet, BIFAO 7 (1910): 41-65; Eggebrecht, Schlactungsbrauche im
Alten Agypten. Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 164, fn. 1, interprets these scenes as "secularized" versions of the bull
slaughtering ritual preserved in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.
170
For the butchery rites taking place as the funeral procession arrives at the tomb, see Wilson, JNES 3
(1944): 216; Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, p. 55, fn. 10; Ayad, in Goyon and Cardin, eds., Proceedings of the
Ninth International Congresss of Egyptologists, p. 113, footonte 11. In the royal edict delivered to Sinuhe
in response to his request to return to Egypt, Sesostris I details the type of funeral that awaits Sinuhe in
Egypt (Sinuhe B192-B197):
Ir.tw n=k Sms-wd hrw smir tJ
wi m nbw
tp m hsbd
p.thr=k
di.t m mstp.t
iwi.w hr ith=k
410
of a bull takes place in the Acacia House, a cultic precinct that served as an abattoir for
the mortuary cult and a sanctuary of the goddess Sakhmet; the butchered meats of the
sacrificial bull prepared at the Acacia house likely served a dual purpose as nourishment
for the deceased and as offerings intended to pacify the violent goddess Sakhmet, who
might then be persuaded to aide the deceased. The movements of a group of female
dancers (hnr n Snd.t) at the Acacia House were intended to placate Sakhmet and to assist
the deceased in his rebirth; through their association with Sakhmet, the pugnacious
leonine form of the Hathoric wandering goddess of the eye of the sun, the dancers—
typically clad in Libyan costumes—had links to the Western Desert and were imbued
with the regenerative potential of the solar eye goddess.172 In this context, the
slaughtering of the bull should also be interpreted as the destruction of enemies and the
subjugation of chaos.
A group of female musicians and dancers clad in outfits similar to the hnr n Snd.t
and identified as hmw.t inn.w hr whi.t ("women brought from the oasis") appear directly
above the bull slaughtering sequence in the reliefs of the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep
irrf.w hr-hi.t=k
ir.tw hbb nny.w r ri is=k
nis.tw n=k dbh.wt-htp.w
sft.tw rri rbi.w=k
iwn.w=k hws.w m inr-hd m kib ms.w-nsw.t
"A funeral cortege will be made for you on the day of interment,
as well as a golden mummy-case,
and a lapis lazuli mask,
with the sky above you,
as you are placed in a portable shrine
with oxen dragging you,
and with singers in front of you.
The dance of the Weary Ones will be performed at the entrance to your tomb.
The funeral repast will be evoked for you.
Sacrifices will be made at the entrance to your offering stones,
with your pillars constructed from limestone in the midst of the royal children."
For the association of the Acacia House with Sakhmet, see Edel, Das Akazienhaus, pp. 19-22.
For detailed discussion of the "dance troupe of the Acacia House," see Section 3.1.1.1.
411
Ill in the tomb of Kheruef (Fig. 188c). The parallelism between this sequence from
the tomb of Kheruef and the rites of the Acacia House for the mortuary cult are striking;
thus, it seems very likely the butchery sequence at Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival shares
the same primary function as the Acacia House sequence—to facilitate rebirth and
rejuvenation through an association with the regenerative properties of the solar cycle and
to channel the violent power of Sakhmet to destroy enemies and any potential dangers.
Through the consumption of meat from the bull at the Sed Festival, the king could
hope to absorb the power of the bull—an animal that was once powerful and aggressive,
but that was rendered tame, helpless, subjugated, slaughtered, and destroyed through
ritual practice. In a similar way, the king was able to absorb power, legitimacy, and
claim to the throne in the so-called Cannibal Hymn by feeding upon the flesh of his
predecessors, the primeval gods.174 The sacrifice of domestic cattle at the Sed Festival
may seem far removed from the dual image of the king as hunter of wild bulls and the
king as aggressive bull attacking his human enemies. However, the bull's tail worn by
the king during the Sed Festival—especially during the more physically active rites—
confirms that the ideology of kingship expressed in the Sed Festival incorporated a royal
connection to the wild bull.175 The sacrifice of the bull and the offering of the foreleg at
the Sed Festival clearly links to an older hunting rite with its origin in the Predynastic
Period.
5.3.2. RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF ANTELOPES, ORYXES, GAZELLES, & IBEXES
173
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 59. For detailed discussion of these women, see Section 2.1.2,
Scene 4b; Section 3.1.1.1.
174
See Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 137-152.
175
For further discussion of the bull's tail worn by the king at the Sed Festival, see Section 1.1.1.
412
The hunting of small desert bovids such as gazelles, oryxes, and ibexes at the Sed
Festival during the Predynastic Period, as depicted in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131) and in other royal tableaux, asserts the ruler's control of chaos;
the slaughtering and butchery of these animals are not typically depicted.176 The gazelles
depicted on Narmer Macehead are not clearly linked to hunting or butchery; however,
archaeological evidence from Locality HK29a at Hierakonpolis strongly suggests that the
slaughter of both Nilotic and desert animals took place on site for grand royal rituals such
as the Sed Festival during the late Predynastic Period (Fig. 363).177 The depiction of
Snofru inspecting stalls of oryxes in his Sed Festival reliefs very likely alludes to the
ritual slaughter of these animals at the king's Sed Festival (Fig. 184).178 During the Old
Kingdom, the king was known to participate directly in the slaughter of small desert
bovids in ritual contexts; a heavily reconstructed scene from the mortuary complex of
Pepi II depicts the king preparing to slaughter a sacrificial antelope (Fig. 377).179 The
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef include an offering
scene in which the king presents a whole oryx and a bull to the statue of the Djed Pillar
(Fig. 183); however, only the slaughter of the bull is actually depicted in these reliefs
For discussion of the hunting of these animals at the Predynastic Sed Festival, see Section 5.2.4.
177
For discussion of the archaeofaunal remains of sacrificial animals at Locality HK29a at Hierakonpolis,
see primarily Linseele, etal., JARCE 45 (2009): 105-156, with references.
178
Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, p. 207, fig. 4. For
further discussion of this scene, see Section 2.2.2, Panel 11.
179
Jequier, Le monument funeraire de Pepi II, Vol. 2, pi. 41; Baines, in Gundlach and Raedler, eds.,
Selbstverstdndnis und Realitat, pp. 149-150; Cwiek, Relief Decoration in the Royal Funerary Complexes of
the Old Kingdom, pp. 216-217.
413
(Fig. 174).180 The mention of oryxes in a fragmentary inscription from the Sed Festival
reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis likely also refers to the slaughter of these animals at the
Sed Festival.181 The overall symbolism of the slaughter of desert game animals is similar
to the symbolism of the desert game hunting scenes that formed part of the Predynastic
Sed Festival; both motifs primarily concern the subjugation of chaos by the king.
Several Graeco-Roman examples of a ritual involving the sacrifice of an oryx by the king
identify the animal as an enemy of the eye of Horus—a symbolic value that accords well
with the sacrifice of these animals at the Sed Festival; in an early version of this ritual
from Luxor Temple, Amenhotep III cuts the throat of a sacrificial antelope (Fig 378).
5.3.3. ARCHITECTURAL SETTING FOR THE RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS
The /vw-pillar that appears next to the ritual slaughter of a sacrificial bull in the
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131c) seems mark an area that is
specially designated for butchery rites.184 The zwn-pillar also appears as an architectural
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis. 54, 59. In pi. 54, Amenhotep Ill's offerings to the personified
gW-pillar include an ox {iwi) and an oryx (ml-hd). For detailed discussion of these scenes, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 2.
181
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 13, no. 5. The relevant text reads: [...] ml.w-hd.w n it=flmn
[...], "[...] oryxes of his father Amun [...]."
182
Baines, in Gundlach and Raedler, eds., Selbstverstdndnis und Realitdt, p. 150, arrives at a similar
conclusion regarding the symbolism of the hunting and animal sacrifice in his discussion of the antelope
slaughtering scene from the mortuary complex of Pepi II; "Like the hunting scene, the sacrifice signifies
setting order against chaos, but simplifies, removing it from its social context and eliminating most of the
sense of conquering adversity."
183
For detailed discussion of this ritual, see Derchain, La sacrifice de I'oryx. Derchain, op. cit.,pp. 10-13,
tentatively dates the origin of this ritual to the Old Kingdom (because of the antelope heads that adorn the
prows of the Sokar barque) and possibly as early as the Predynastic Period (because of the Predynastic
hunting scenes); however, he dates the earliest occurrence of the ritual as part of a complex liturgy to the
reign of Amenhotep III in a scene from Luxor Temple. According to Derchain, op. cit, pp. 28-29,
"L'antilope ayant ete indentifiee avec Seth devient naturellement l'ennemi type, et en particulier celui de
l'oeil d'Horus, dans les textes tardifs." For the ritual slaughtering of the oryx, see also Labrique, in
Clarysse, etal., eds., Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years, Vol. 2, pp. 887-889.
184
For discussion of the slaughter of the wild bull in this scene, see Section 5.3.0; Section 5.3.1.
414
feature in the "les Maisons du Nord et du Sud" and in the Sed Festival chapels of
Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara; however, in the context of Djoser's Sed
Festival complex, the /wrc-pillar does not have any clear connection to butchery or the
ritual slaughtering of animals.185 The /wn-pillar also appears twice in a scene from the
Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in which the king—identified as the son of Atum—
performs an incense offering for Bastet in front of a series of platforms upon which
various standards and pillars have been erected (Fig. 351).186 A group of offerings rests
on the ground in front of each of the platforms. The pillar atop the fourth platform is
adorned with the head of a long-horned bull; the caption reads: ki Iwnw hnty hw.t r3.t hry-
tp ntr.w nb(.w) di=f ?w.t-ib nb(.t) mi rr rr nb, "bull of Heliopolis, foremost of the great
temple, chief of all the gods, as he gives all joy like Re every day." The /wn-pillar atop
the fifth platform is adorned with a similar bull's head; the caption reads: hb(-sd) Jwnw
hnty pr-wr di=f dd w3s nb hr=f mi Rc d.t, "the (Sed) Festival of Heliopolis, foremost of
the pr-wr shrine, as he gives all stability and dominion unto him like Re forever." The
z'ww-pillar atop the sixth platform appears without a bucranium adornment; the caption
reads: iwn imy Iwnw hnty hb.w-sd di=fir.n [...], "wn-pillar that is in Heliopolis, foremost
of Sed Festivals, as he gives that which [he?] made [...]." The Heliopolitan bull referred
to in these texts is the Mnevis bull, a deity with strong associations with the Heliopolitan
185
See Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur I'Ancien Empire et la necropole de
Saqqara dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol. 2, p. 316, with references.
186
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9. For discussion of the first three pillars/fetishes in this scene
and their relationship to Predynastic symbols of power, victory, and triumph, see Section 5.2.2.
187
For discussion of the pillars atop the fourth, fifth, and sixth platforms and the accompanying
hieroglyphic texts, see Zivie, in Hommages a Serge Sauneron, Vol. 1, pp. 494-495; Kessler, in Luft, ed.,
The Intellectual History of Egypt, p. 343-349; Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur
I'Ancien Empire et la necropole de Saqqara dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol. 2, p. 319.
415
solar creator god Re-Atum.188 In the depiction of the Sed Festival on a 19th Dynasty
sarcophagus from Deir el-Bahari, the deceased—identified as Osiris—performs the
Apislauf and grants offerings to the gods in front of a /wn-pillar with a bucranium
adornment (Fig. 316).189
The origin of the Heliopolitan Mnevis bull cult appears to be related to the bull-
headed /wn-pillar, which in turn may hearken back to the cairns used to demarcate ritual
space for the slaughtering of bulls at the Sed Festival in the Predynastic Period, as in the
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131c).190 In the Predynastic Period, a
royal emblem comprised of a bull's head (bucranium) on a standard appears to be
connected with the ritual sacrifice of defeated enemies of the ruler, e.g., in a rock-art
tableau at Gebel Tjauti commemorating a military victory of Scorpion (Fig. 287).191
As symbols of royal power over enemies, several hundred bucrania sit atop
benches along the outside of the outer walls of 1st Dynasty Saqqara Tombs 3504 and
3507 (Fig. 379). A bull's head discovered in a pit lined with limestone in front of the
188
For the Mnevis Bull, see Otto, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der Stierkulte, pp. 34-40; Kakosy, in LA, Vol. 4,
cols. 165-167. In Pyramid Texts § 486 and § 716, the deceased king identifies himself as abull from
Heliopolis. One of Akhenaten's boundary stelae from Amarna mentions the construction of a tomb and the
burial of the Mnevis bull in the eastern gebel; see Murnane and Van Siclen III, The Boundary Stelae of
Akhenaten, pp. 41, 169. Given the Mnevis bull's association to the solar/creator deity, the bull's
connection to the eastern horizon in this text suggests a link to solar rebirth, but also to the destruction of
Apophis (an enemy of the solar deity) and the punishment of the damned. For this interpretation of the
eastern horizon, see Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books, pp. 24-25, fn. 51.
189
See Moller, ZAS 39 (1901): 71-75. Cf. also, Morfin, in Berger el-Naggar and Mathieu, eds., Etudes sur
I'Ancien Empire et la necropole de Saqqara dediees a Jean-Philippe Lauer, Vol. 2, p. 317.
190
There is, however, no trace of a bucranium adorning the /ww-pillar in the bull-slaughtering scene from
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis.
191
See Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 10-19; Regulski, CdE 77 (2002): 5-22. Darnell,
op. cit., p. 16, suggests that the "head of a bull on a pole may indeed signify the capture and slaughter of an
extremely strong enemy (i.e., a bull) and the subsequent power now held over this enemy." For further
discussion of the Gebel Tjauti inscription and ritualized military violence in the early royal festival cycle,
see Section 6.1.1.
192
See Regulski, CdE 77 (2002): 19; Rice, The Power of the Bull, pp. 126-128, with references.
416
limestone altar adjacent to the pyramid in the southern courtyard of Djoser's Step
Pyramid complex appears to be connected to sacrifice during the Sed Festival.193 Three
bulls' heads were found in pits in the northeast, southeast, and southwest corners of the
foundation of a 12th Dynasty chapel at Lahun that was likely also used for the Sed
Festival.194 These examples suggest a long tradition of pillars and/or bucrania
(sometimes on standards) associated with butchery facilities and altars for ritual meat
offerings at the Sed Festival.
The sacrificial animals, whether they were wild animals caught in a hunt or
domestic animals raised specifically for sacrifice, were housed in enclosed stalls in
anticipation for the slaughtering and butchery rites of the Sed Festival.195 The three
gazelles depicted on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60) appear to run freely in a courtyard
bordered by a sinusoidal wall, perhaps corresponding to the open courtyard at the ritual
complex HK29A at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 363); the area in which they run could be a
hunting park, though it is could also represent a holding area for animals that had already
been caught and would eventually be slaughtered.196 In the top register before the king
on the Narmer Macehead, an adult cow and her calf stand inside a gated pen (Fig. 60).
This group, which has been subject to a great many interpretations,197 may in fact be
awaiting the performance of "la mutilation rituelle du veau"—a funerary ritual, found
193
See Firth, etal., Excavations atSaqqara: The Step Pyramid, p. 70, pi. 73; Rice, The Power of the Bull,
pp. 129-130.
194
See Burleigh and Clutton-Brock, JEA 66 (1980): 151-153.
195
For the storage of live cattle designated for slaughter in ancient Egypt, see Ikram, Choice Cuts, pp. 107-
108.
For further discussion of this scene, see Section 5.3.2.
For further discussion of this scene, see Section 5.3.1.
417
primarily in the decoration of New Kingdom tombs, in which the foreleg of a live calf is
amputated as the distressed mother cow watches.198 A Sed Festival scene from a pillar in
the Valley Temple of Snofru's Dahshur Bent Pyramid Complex depicts the king
inspecting stalls of oryxes; presumably these animals are housed near the butchery
facilities and available for the slaughtering rites (Fig. 184).199 A talatat-block of
Akhenaten from Karnak Temple depicts a royal palace that includes facilities for animal
husbandry that were very likely utilized for butchery rituals of the Sed Festival of
Akhenaten (Fig. 376) .200 At the far left of the talatat-block, a man attends to a group of
four cows inside of a fenced oval pen with a gate; the group of cattle includes a mother
cow and her calf like on the Narmer Macehead. In a courtyard to the right of the cattle
pen on the talatat-block, a man attends to two pairs of oryxes feeding at troughs—a scene
that perhaps parallels the royal inspection of oryx stalls in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Snefru.
Physical evidence from the late Predynastic Sed Festival ritual complex HK29a
(including complete skeletal remains of both wild and domestic animals and groups of
lithic artifacts associated with the production and sharpening of flint knives) confirms
that slaughtering and butchery of animals took place on site, probably on the floor of the
If this interpretation is correct, the Narmer Macehead would be the earliest example of "la mutilation
rituelle du veau." For a compilation of examples of this ritual and a discussion of their significance, see
Eggebrecht, Schlachtungsbrauche im Alten Agypten, pp. 55-61; Guilhou, BIFAO 93 (1993): 277-301; Eyre,
The Cannibal Hymn, pp. 102-103, with references.
199
Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 100-104, figs. 99-104; Edel, in Der
Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 206-208, fig. 4. The caption to the
scene reads: mii md.wt n(.t) ml.w-hd.w rnh(.w), "Inspecting the stalls of living oryxes."
200
Anus, BIFAO 69 (1971): 73-79, block 3.
418
open courtyard of the pr-wr shrine.201 An important parallel for this particular cultic use
of the pr-wr shrine appears in a Protodynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Nag el-
Birka that depicts a ritual butchering scene in the oval-shaped forecourt of a pr-wr shrine
(Fig. 380).202 The caption to the bull-lassoing scene of Ramesses II and
Amunherkhepeshef in Corridor of the Bull in the temple of Seti I at Abydos indicates that
the slaughtering of bulls took place in a courtyard.203 The bucranium discovered in front
of the limestone altar adjacent to the pyramid in the southern courtyard of Djoser's Step
Pyramid complex may suggest that slaughtering of animals took place in this area;204
another possible slaughtering area might have been located in the jubilee court in front of
201
For discussion of the archaeofaunal remains of sacrificial animals at Locality HK29a at Hierakonpolis,
see references collected in Section 5.3.2, footnote 177. For the use of open spaces as abattoirs in modern
Egypt, see Ikram, Choice Cuts, pp. 106-107.
202
Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 146-147, fig. 16; Darnell, Theban
Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation). According to Darnell, "a sacrificed desert quadruped"
hanging from a pillory "could then be an early representation of the imy-wt standard." Darnell interprets a
group to the left of the pillory consisting of a knife and three vertical lines as a hieroglyphic caption to the
scene: nm.t, "slaughtering place."
203
The text from the corridor pertaining to the slaughter of the animals (Kitchen, Rammeside Inscriptions,
Vol. 2, p. 510,11.4-8) reads:
sph=i n=k ngi tiy $mrw
lmm=i n=kSsr tjy mhw
rhs=i n=k ki.w m wsh.t
iwi.w rnn.w m shwy
m'.w-hd.w nri.w ghs.wt hws m ri-pr=k
wnd.w hr hiw.t n hl.wt=k
ddi.wt n hi.t md.wt
r smlr rib.wt n ki=k sdfi.w imny.wt=k
"It is for you that I lasso a male long-horned bull of Upper Egypt.
It is for you that I grasp a male victim of Lower Egypt.
It is for you that I slaughter bulls in the broad-court,
oxen and calves in the slaughterhouse,
oryxes, ibexes, and gazelles that are butchered in your temple,
short-horned cattle on the altar in front of you,
and fattened cattle in front of the byres,
in order to present offerings for your ki, provisions and daily offerings."
In his discussion of a rock art depiction of a bull-lassoing scene from the Western Thebaid, Darnell, Theban
Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation), also points out that the slaughtering of bulls takes place in a
broad-court in this ritual text from the Corridor of the Bull at Abydos.
For the bucranium discovered in the southern court of Djoser's Step Pyramid, see references collected
supra, this section, in footnote 193.
419
the facades of the pr-wr shrines. The solar temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, which
houses reliefs depicting the major rituals of the king's Sed Festival (including butchery
rituals), also contains facilities for the ritual slaughter and offering of animals—including
a large calcite altar (Fig. 381) and two slaughterhouses (Fig. 382) with groups of calcite
basins of slightly different sizes (probably for catching the blood of the sacrificial
animals) and grooved limestone floors (probably also for catching liquid runoff from the
sacrificial animals).
5.4. THE CATTLE COUNT & THE DRIVING OF CATTLE
A close examination of the relevant texts and images suggests a direct link
between the hunting scenes of the Sed Festival in the Predynastic Period and the butchery
episodes of the later celebrations of the Sed Festival of the dynastic period; in such
scenes the capture and death of the animal imparts power upon the king and fulfills the
royal imperative to suppress chaos. Another ritual at the Sed Festival—involving a
census of domestic livestock and the driving of herds around the walls of the ritual
complex—suggests the economic importance of livestock; however, perhaps more
importantly, the ritual ultimately relates to the ideological role of the king as military
leader.207 In the late Predynastic Period this ritual is most clearly linked to the Sed
205
This suggestion is not, however, supported by any clear archaeological evidence (such as faunal
remains, tethering stones, or flint knife blades). For the Sed Festival court at Djoser's Step Pyramid
complex, see, e.g., Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 920-926; Goedicke, BACE 8 (1997): 33-48; and additional
bibliography collected in Catalogue Entry.
Von Bissing, Das Re-Heiligtum, vol. 1, pp. 14-15; VoB, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der
5. Dynastie, pp. 110-112, with references. Verner, Abusir: Realm of Osiris, pp. 77-78, questions Von
Bissing's identification of the courtyard in the northeast part of the complex as a slaughterhouse because of
the lack of archaeological evidence of butchery at the site (such as tether stones, faunal remains, and flint
knives) and asserts that the facilities were instead used for "the ritual purification of the offerings, including
meat, to be laid on the altar of the sun god." Ikram, Choice Cuts, pp. 93-95, also doubts Von Bissing's
identification of slaughterhouses within the complex.
For Sed Festival rituals with a more direct link to military victory, see Chapter 6.
420
Festival on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60). Below the group of three men running
before the king on the Narmer Macehead is an accounting of cattle (400,000), caprines
(1,422,000), and humans (120,000); since the human figure is a bound prisoner, these
tallies most likely indicate an accumulation of war booty seized by Narmer.208 Of a
similar date, the Libyan Palette depicts rows of domesticated livestock—including cattle,
donkeys, and caprines—that may also represent war booty seized after a successful
military expedition to Libya.209 A similar grouping of domestic livestock— including
cattle, caprines, and possibly donkeys— appears organized in rows in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Niuserre at his solar temple in Abu Gurob (Fig. 191).210 Clearly, seized
domestic livestock was deemed to be an important aspect of military victory and triumph
in Egypt. New Kingdom representations of sacrificial cattle often show their horns
curved and decorated in such a way that the cattle appear to depict members of the Nine
Bows, the traditional enemies of the Egyptian; thus, the slaughter of sacrificial cattle
symbolized the destruction of enemies of the Egyptian state. Domestic livestock—an
important economic commodity in ancient Egypt—also clearly had a ritual significance
connected to warfare.
Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 604, similarly interprets this scene as an accounting of war booty; contra
Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 57-58, who instead interprets the scene as a census of all the cattle and people in
Egypt. For additional bibliographic references for the Narmer Macehead, see Catalogue Entry. A biennial
cattle count (tnw.i) played an important role in regnal year dating during the Early Dynastic Period and Old
Kingdom, e.g. in the royal annals of the Palermo Stone and associated fragments; see Wilkinson, Early
Dynastic Egypt, pp. 113-114; Redford, Pharaonic King-Lists, Annals andDay-Books, pp. 88-89;
Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 64, 67.
209
See Baines, in Potts, etai, eds., Culture through Objects, pp. 31-32. For additional references, see
bibliography collected in footnote 58.
210
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum, Vol. 2, pis. 6, 7; Vol. 3, pi. 16.
211
For discussion of numerous examples of this motif, see Leclant, MDAIK 14 (1956): 128-145.
421
Human attendants carrying sticks goad rows of cattle and donkeys to
circumambulate the walls (presumably of the ritual complex at Malkata) during the rites
of the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III depicted in the tomb of Kheruef (Fig. 189).212
This ritual perhaps relates to phr hi inb—the ritual which (along with sm?-t3.wy) marked
the first year of many new kings' reigns on the Palermo Stone.213 The number four is
often associated with the four cardinal directions in ancient Egypt; the driving of cattle
with sticks around the ritual complex four times could represent the king's control over
the entirety of the cosmos and his ability to defeat enemies of the state in every direction.
The Sed Festival talatat-blocks of Akhenaten preserve portions of several scenes in which
fattened cattle are driven and/or counted (Fig. 211).214
212
Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 61, 63. The relevant section of the caption reads: phr=sn
inb.w sp-4, "They circumambulate the walls four times." For further discussion of this scene, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 5.
213
For discussion of the ritual phr hi inb, see Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 38, 46-47,49, who connects the ritual to the Konigslauf. For an
alternative interpretation, see Goedicke, in Posener-Krieger, ed., Melanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, Vol. 1,
pp. 317-324.
214
Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments thebains, Vol. 1, p. 143; Vol. 2, pi. 71 (Assemblage A0049);
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-festival at Karnak, pis. 36, 52, 55, 100; Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol.
1, pi. 55.
422
(Jubilee Festival)
A Dissertation
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of
Yale University
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Volume 2
by
Marc Jeremy LeBlanc
Dissertation Director: Prof. John Coleman Darnell
May 2011
CHAPTER 6: ROYAL MILITARY VICTORY RITUALS
6.0. INTRODUCTION
The process of state formation in Egypt during the fourth millennium and early
third millennium BCE was in large part the result of military conflict.1 As Upper Egypt
became increasingly socially stratified during the fourth millennium BCE, control of
various economic and military resources became concentrated in the hands of the local
elite. Archaeological and iconographic evidence suggests that local rulers consolidated
power by means of warfare during Naqada IA-IIB (c. 4000-3600 BCE) at Upper
Egyptian polities, such as Hierakonpolis, Gebelein, Naqada, Hu, and Abydos.3 In
contrast to the Naqada cultural group of Upper Egypt, the Maadi-Buto cultural complex
of Lower Egypt lacked social stratification and maintained close contacts with the
contemporaneous cultural groups of the southern Levant during the fourth millennium
BCE.4
1
For an overview of the process of state formation in ancient Egypt, see primarily Wilkinson, MDAIK 56
(2000): 377-395; Campagno, GM188 (2002): 49-60; Andelkovic, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 535-546; Andelkovic, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern
Africa, pp. 593-609; Andelkovic, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1039-1056;
Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit, pp. 1119-1137; Kohler, in Midant-Reynes, etal.,
eds., op. cit., pp. 515-543. For the importance of military conflict in the process of state formation, see
especially Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 10-19; Hendrickx and Friedman, GM 196
(2003): 95-109; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 5-32, 116-119; Campagno, in
Hendrickx, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 689-703.
2
For discussion of social stratification in Upper Egypt during the Predynastic Period, see Castillos, JSSEA
12 (1982): 29-53; Seidlmayer, GM 104 (1988): 25-51; Bard, JEA 74 (1988): 39-55; Bard, Journal of
Mediterranean Archaeology 2 (1989): 223-248; Ellis, in van den Brink, ed., Nile Delta in Transition, pp.
241-258; Anderson, JARCE 29 (1992): 51-66; Griswold, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers of
Horus, pp. 193-198; Castillos, GM 163 (1998): 27-33; Castillos, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 255-259; Castillos, RdE 49 (1998): 25-36; Castillos, GM210
(2006): 13-17; Castillos, GM2X5 (2007): 9-24.
3
For discussion of the consolidation of power by local rulers in Upper Egyptian polities during the
Predynastic Period, see Wilkinson, MDAIK 56 (2000): 378-382; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt,
pp. 169-186; Andelkovic, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 535-537.
4
For discussion of the lack of evidence for social stratification in the burials of the Maadi-Buto cultural
complex, see Seeher, in van den Brink, ed., Nile Delta in Transition, pp. 225-233; Wilkinson, Early
423
As Upper Egyptian material culture spread to Lower Egypt and replaced the
indigenous cultures of the Maadi-Buto complex during Naqada IIC-IID (c. 3600-3350
BCE), a series of military conflicts took place between rival polities in Upper Egypt.5
Ultimately, these conflicts resulted in the political unification of Upper Egypt under a
single ruler in Naqada IIIA1 (c. 3350 BCE)—Horus Scorpion, likely the owner of Tomb
U-j at Abydos.6 A significant factor in the elevated levels of military conflict between
rival polities in Upper Egypt throughout the Predynastic Period was competition for
control over trade networks through which local elite and rulers acquired prestige goods
from Nubia and southwestern Asia.7 Sites in the northeastern Nile Delta (such as
Minshat Abu Omar, Tell el-Farkha, and Tell Ibrahim Awad) were part of a long distance
Dynastic Egypt, p. 28. For discussion of links between the Maadi-Buto cultural complex and the southern
Levant, see Levy and van den Brink, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 18-20;
Guyot, in Midant-Reynes, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 709-715; Maczynska, in Midant-
Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 763-781. For discussion of possible Levantine influence on the design of
semi-subterranean structures at Maadi, see Rizkana and Seeher, Maadi, Vol. 3, pp. 49-56; Watrin, in Eyre,
ed., Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 1215; Badawi, MDAIK59 (2003): 1-10; Hartung,
in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 337-356. For discussion of similar structures in
the southern Levant, see Perrot, Paleorient 10 (1984): 75-96; Levy, in Van den Brink, ed., op. cit., pp. 347-
353. For discussion of locally produced pottery of Levantine form at Buto, see Faltings, in Van den Brink
and Levy, eds., op. cit, pp. 165-170; Hartung, in Czerny, etal., eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of
ManfredBietak, Vol. 2, pp. 35-44.
5
For the spread of Upper Egyptian culture into Lower Egypt during Naqada IIC-IID, see Kohler, in van
den Brink, ed., Nile Delta in Transition, pp. 11-22; Faltings, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 365-375; Hartung, in Midant-Reynes, etal, eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 485-487; Cialowicz, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit, pp. 501-513; Kohler, in
Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 515-543; Guyot, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 719-732.
6
For the coalescence of power in Upper Egypt during late Naqada II and early Naqada III, see Campagno,
in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 689-703; Andelkovic, in Hendrickx, etal, eds.,
op. cit., pp. 537-541; Campagno, GM188 (2002): 49-60. For discussion of Tomb U-j at Abydos, see
primarily Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1. For further discussion of Tomb U-j, see references collected
infra, this section, in footnote 8.
7
According to Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 689-703, competition
over trade networks was the primary motivating factor for military conflict in Upper Egypt during the
Predynastic Period. Andelkovic, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., op. cit., pp. 542-543, questions this assertion;
instead, Andelkovic suggests that "what the Egyptian elite were really fighting for was absolute power."
For further discussion of the importance of trade in the formation of state in Upper Egypt during the
Predynastic Period, see also Wilkinson, MDAIK56 (2000): 377-395; Andelkovic, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 602-604.
424
trade network that brought foreign prestige goods from the southern Levant to Upper
Egypt.8 The military annexation of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt took place over several
hundred years and ultimately resulted in the creation of a politically unified pan-Egyptian
state in Naqada IIIC1 (c. 3150 BCE) under the rule of Narmer.9 At the end of the
Predynastic Period, at approximately the same time as Upper Egypt's military annexation
of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt established several colonies in the southern Levant; these
colonies were under the control of the increasingly complex administrative system of the
Upper Egyptian—and later the unified pan-Egyptian—government.10 The establishment
of colonies in the southern Levant by Upper Egypt ensured access to Levantine raw
For a discussion of Predynastic sites in the eastern Delta and their place in a trade network connecting
Egypt and southwestern Asia, see primarily Kroeper, in Archaeology of the Nile Delta, pp. 11-46;
Krzyzaniak, in Krzyzaniak, etal., eds., Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, pp. 267-285;
Krzyzaniak, in van den Brink, ed., Nile Delta in Transition, pp. 151-156; Krzyzaniak, etal., eds.,
Environmental Change and Human Culture in the Nile Basin and Northern Africa, pp. 321-325;
Chlodnicki, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 357-370; Cialowicz, in Hendrickx,
etal., eds., op. cit, pp. 371-388; Maczynska, in Hendrickx, etal, eds., op. cit., pp. 421-442; Kroeper, in
Hendrickx, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 859-880; Chlodnicki, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins,
Vol. 2, pp. 489-500, with references; Kohler, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 515-543. For an
overview of imported southwestern Asian objects discovered at Predynastic sites in Upper Egypt, see
Hendrickx and Bavay, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 58-80. An estimated
4500 liters of imported southern Levantine wine was stored in wine jars in Tomb U-j at Abydos; for
discussion of the wine jars in Tomb U-j, see McGovern, etal, Expedition 39 (1997): 3-21;Hartung, in van
den Brink and Levy, eds., op. cit., pp. 437-449; Morenz, Discussions in Egyptology 55 (2003): 59-75. For
discussion of Egyptian imports and Egyptianized goods discovered at southern Levantine sites dating to EB
I, see Brandl, in van den Brink, ed., Nile Delta in Transition, pp. 441-477; Watrin, in Matthiae, etal, eds.,
Proceedings of the First International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, pp. 1768-
1770; Levy and van den Brink, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., op. cit., p. 22, Table 1.9; van den Brink
and Braun, Archeo-Nil 13 (2003): 77-91.
9
For discussion of the political unification of Upper and Lower Egyptian state at the end of the Predynastic
Period, see Wilkinson, MDAIK56 (2000): 377-395; Andelkovic, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 535-546; Andelkovic, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern
Africa, pp. 593-609; Andelkovic, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1039-1056;
Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 1119-1137; Kohler, in Midant-Reynes, etal.,
eds., op. cit., pp. 515-543; Cialowicz, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 501-513.
10
For discussion of Egypt's colonial presence in the southern Levant in the late Predynastic and Early
Dynastic periods, see primarily Andelkovic, The Relations Between Early Bronze Age I Canaanites and
Upper Egyptians; Kansa, Smitten by Narmer, Andelkovic, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 75-92; Miroschedji, in van
den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 39-57; Braun, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., op. cit,
pp. 173-189; Braun, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 507-517; Braun and van den
Brink, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 643-688, with references; Yekutieli, in
Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 807-837.
425
materials and products (such as vegetable oil and wine) and continued a successful
program of territorial expansion by which Upper Egypt annexed Lower Egypt.11 The
high point of Egypt's Predynastic and Early Dynastic presence in the Levant occurred
during the reign of Narmer;12 however, beginning with the reign of Djer, Egypt's
influence in the region began to wane—perhaps as a result of the opening of new trade
networks with Byblos on the Lebanese coast.13
The main purpose of Upper Egypt's territorial expansion into Lower Egypt and
the southern Levant may have originally been to monopolize the Upper Egyptian elite's
access to foreign prestige goods; however, the concentration of power in the hands of the
Upper Egyptian ruler imbued the expansion of the political, military, and economic
power of the developing Egyptian state with a deeper, cosmographic significance.14 As
the ideology of kingship developed and became codified in Egypt, the waging of war and
the conducting of military affairs became inseparably intertwined with the king's
prerogative to subdue chaos and to impose order in the cosmos.15 The territorial
11
For discussion of the motives for Upper Egypt's establishment of colonies in the southern Levant, see
especially Andelkovic, The Relations Between Early Bronze Age I Canaanites and Upper Egyptians, pp.
67-74; Kansa, Smitten by Narmer, pp. 50-72; Andelkovic, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 75-92; Campagno, in Midant-
Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 689-694.
12
For discussion of the reign of Narmer as the high point of Egypt's colonial presence in the southern
Levant, see Levy and van den Brink, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 20-21.
13
The development of new nautical technologies may have facilitated the opening of these new trade
networks with Byblos. For discussion of the end of Egypt's colonial presence in the southern Levant, see
primarily Andelkovic, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 86-87; Miroshedji, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the
Levant, pp. 45-47, with references; Campagno, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2,
pp. 697-700.
14
For a similar cosmographic interpretation of Predynastic warfare and territorial expansion, see
Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 699-700; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-
Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1119-1137; Campagno, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds.,
op. cit., pp. 694-697. For an introduction to the origin and nature of early Egyptian kingship, see primarily
Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 95-156.
15
For discussion of the concept of the triumph of order over chaos in the context of warfare (as well as
hunting) in Predynastic Egypt, see Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 256-293; Helck, in Biologie von
Sozialstrukturen bei Tier und Mensch, pp. 81-92; Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed.,
426
expansion of Upper Egypt into Lower Egypt and the southern Levant represented the
exercise of this royal prerogative.
The archaeological record in Egypt provides important evidence for the role of
warfare during the Predynastic and Protodynastic periods. The expansion of Upper
Egyptian culture into Lower Egypt, which resulted in the supplanting of the native
Maadi-Buto cultural group during the late Naqada II Period, may have been in part a
peaceful process of cultural assimilation and acculturation. However, military raids and
periodic wars of conquest were almost certainly a part of the large-scale expansion of
Upper Egyptian culture and influence in the Delta.16 The cemeteries of Predynastic
Egypt include a limited number of examples of human remains with signs of trauma
consistent with battle wounds; however, mass graves of military casualties, such as the
Late Paleolithic burials at Site 117 at Gebel Sahaba in Lower Nubia, are absent from the
Predynastic Egyptian archaeological record.17 Archaeological remains of fortifications
and other military installations also provide limited information about warfare and
pp. 46-53; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 13-14, 109-121;
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, pp. 195-226; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un
royaume, pp. 151 -207; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-513;
Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through Objects, pp. 27-57; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 723-749; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 83-107.
16
For discussion of this cultural shift in Lower Egypt during the late Naqada II Period, see references
collected supra, this section, in footnote 5. For a similar conclusion regarding the role of warfare in Upper
Egypt's expansion into Lower Egypt, see Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 108-
111.
17
For discussion of the limited number of Predynastic Egyptian burials of individuals with signs of battle
wounds, see Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 73-80, with references. For
discussion of the mass grave at Site 117 at Gebel Sahaba, see Wendorf, etal., Kush 14 (1966): 22-24, fig. 2;
Wendorf, in Wendorf, ed., The Prehistory of Nubia, Vol. 2, pp. 954-995; Garcia, in Welsby and Anderson,
eds., Sudan: Ancient Treasures, pp. 22-23; Otterbein, How War Began, pp. 73-75.
427
1R
military strategy in Predynastic Egypt. Attested forms of military weaponry and
equipment from Predynastic Egypt include the mace, dagger, knife, shield, bow and
arrow, spear, axe, staff, club, and throw stick; such weapons and equipment provide
insight into battle techniques and forms of military conflict that were prevalent during
this time period—namely hand-to-hand combat and the use of small-scale projectile
weaponry.19 Ownership of hunting and military weapons—often with elaborate
decoration—was an indicator of elite status in Predynastic and Protodynastic Egypt; the
inclusion of weapons in elite burials in Upper Egypt during the Predynastic Period
suggests that the Upper Egyptian elite attained their status in part through their control
over military power.20
For discussion of the archaeological evidence of fortifications and other military installations in Egypt
during the Predynastic Period, see Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 99-108,
with references; Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 689-690.
19
For discussion of the typology, function, geographical distribution, and chronology of Predynastic
Egyptian weaponry and military equipment, see primarily Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in
Early Egypt, pp. 33-72, 146-210, with references; Cialowicz, Fontes archaeologici Posnanienses 34
(1985): 157-180. For discussion of Predynastic Egyptian maces, see primarily Cialowicz, Les tetes de
Massues desperiodespredynastique et archaique dans la Vallee du Nil; Cialowicz, in Krzyzaniak etal.,
eds., Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, pp. 261-266; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 53-59;
Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 223-225; Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 77-
82; Gautier and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 87-127; Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and
Civilization 8 (1997): 11-27; Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 35-42; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un
royaume, pp. 196-207; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First
Dynasty, pp. 51-57; Sievertsen, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 627-645. For discussion of
Predynastic daggers and knives, see primarily Kelley, The Ancient World 6 (1983): 95-102; Churcher, in
Needier, ed., Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, pp. 152-168; Midant-Reynes, SAK
14 (1987): 185-224; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-285; Aksamit, in Krzyzaniak and
Kobusiewicz, eds., op. cit., pp. 325-332; Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp.
247-258; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first
Century, pp. 9-32; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-
352; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'art de TAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 195-226; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un
royaume, pp. 166-176; Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 425-445; Hikade, in Meyer, ed., Egypt: Temple of
the Whole World, pp. 137-151; Huyge, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 823-836.
For discussion of possible examples of Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egyptian shields, see primarily
Hendrickx, CdE 73 (1998): 203-230; Crubezy, etal., Adaima, Vol. 2, pp. 72-82, 469; Darnell, Theban
Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, p. 13; Nibbi, ZAS 130 (2003): 170-172. For discussion of Predynastic bows
and arrows, see primarily Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 27 (1990): 63-79; Hendrickx, JEA 82 (1996): 23-42.
20
For discussion of ownership of decorated weapons as an indicator of elite status in Predynastic and
Protodynastic Egypt, see Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through Objects, pp. 46-47; Cialowicz, La
428
Two-dimensional representations of warfare provide additional insight into the
types of military weaponry, tactics, and strategies that were employed by Predynastic and
Early Dynastic Egyptians; representations of military activities from these time periods
appear in painted tableaux, in rock inscriptions, and on decorated ceremonial objects.
Because of the limited archaeological and two-dimensional representational evidence for
warfare in Predynastic and Protodynastic Egypt, the evolution of military tactics,
techniques, and strategies during the fourth millennium BCE is difficult to reconstruct.22
While some depictions of military activity in the Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods
may serve as a visual narrative of events taking place on the battlefield during the height
of battle, most representations of military activity depict ritualized aspects of warfare,
such as post-battle victory rituals and bouts of ritual combat.23 The first historical records
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-176, especially p. 173; Huyge, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 823-836. For discussion of the iconography and symbolism of Predynastic and
Protodynastic decorated knife handles, dagger handles, mace handles, and piriform maceheads, see
references collected supra, this section, in footnote 19.
21
For an overview of Predynastic and Protodynastic two-dimensional representations of warfare and other
military activities, see Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 88-99. For further
discussion of Predynastic and Protodynastic representations of warfare, see also Finkenstaedt, ZAS 111
(1984): 107-110; Monnet Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 227-242; Wilkinson, MDAIK 56 (2000): 377-395;
Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 79-91; Kohler,
in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-513; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds.,
Krieg undSieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altdgypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19-24; Darnell,
Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 10-19; Hendrickx and Friedman, GM196 (2003): 95-109;
Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 690; Harrung, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 671-685; Andelkovic, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt
at its Origins, Vol. 2, p. 1043; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 1119-1137.
22
For a detailed attempt to reconstruct a model for warfare in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, see
Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 25-32,116-119.
23
For discussion of Predynastic and Protodynastic depictions of ritualized military activities, see primarily
Hall, The Pharaoh Smites His Enemies, pp. 4-7; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1986): 245-285; Darnell,
Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 10-19; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 79-91; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant,
pp. 499-513; Miiller, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 477-493; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19
(2009): 97-99, 103; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest
Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion of ritualized Predynastic military
activities, see also Sections 6.1-6.3.
429
of Egyptian military conflicts appear in the Protodynastic and Early Dynastic periods in
rock inscriptions, on decorated ceremonial objects, and on small ivory and wooden
labels—e.g., the Scorpion tableau at Gebel Tjauti (Fig. 287), the major and minor Gebel
Sheikh Suleiman inscriptions (Figs. 383-384), and a decorated ivory cylinder from the
reign of Narmer (Fig. 385).24 These Protodynastic and Early Dynastic historical records
of military conflict are, in many ways, an extension of the Predynastic Egyptian tradition
of depicting ritualized warfare as a symbol of the royal prerogative to subdue chaos and
impose order in the cosmos. Like depictions of purely ritualistic warfare, historical
records of military victory may also function as a form of ritual in the Egyptian
understanding of history, religion, and royal ideology.25
In numerous Predynastic and Early Dynastic scenes, the Egyptian ruler
demonstrated his mastery over the natural world and his ability to suppress chaos through
the hunting of hippopotami, lions, bulls, and other desert bovids (such as oryxes, ibexes,
and gazelles).26 On several Protodynastic palettes, the Egyptian ruler—channeling the
aggressive nature of a bull or a lion—appears as a ferocious animal in pursuit of human
For discussion of the Scorpion tableau at Gebel Tjauti as a historical record of the Abydene ruler Horus
Scorpion's victory over his Naqadan enemies, see Section 6.1.1, footnote 74. For discussion of the major
Gebel Sheikh Suleiman tableau as a historical record of a Protodynastic Egyptian military campaign in
Lower Nubia, see references collected in Section 6.1.2, footnote 109. For discussion of the minor Gebel
Sheikh Suleiman tableau as a similar historical record of an Egyptian military campaign in Lower Nubia,
perhaps dating to the reign of Horus Scorpion, see references collected in Section 6.1.4, footnote 143. For
discussion of the smiting scene on a decorated ivory cylinder (most likely a mace handle) from the Main
Deposit at Hierakonpolis as a historical record of Narmer's military campaign against the Libyans, see
25
For the definitive discussion of the interrelationship of the concepts of history and ritual in ancient Egypt,
see Hornung, Geschichte ah Fest; Hornung, Idea into Image, pp. 147-164.
26
For a detailed discussion of Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egyptian hunting scenes and their
relationship to the ideology of kingship, see Chapter 5.
430
enemies on the battlefield. The human enemies of the ruler could also appear as
animals in the Protodynastic Period, e.g., as rhy.f-birds tied to a group of standards in the
top register of the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21).28 The interchangeability of
anthropomorphic and zoomorphic imagery in these scenes suggests that hunting and
military iconography shared similar symbolic values in the Predynastic and Protodynastic
periods; both hunting and warfare demonstrated the ruler's ability to subjugate chaos and
implement order in the cosmos.
The social organization required for successful group hunting activities—such as
those depicted on the Hunters Palette and in a Predynastic rock inscription from
"Dominion Behind Thebes" in the Western Thebaid—is similar to the complex
organization employed in military operations (Fig. 386).30 A key component of the
Egyptian ruler's power during the Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods was his ability
to assemble well-trained group hunting parties and battle-ready combat teams. Since a
similar set of weaponry was employed for hunting and warfare, a warrior could gain
The ruler appears as a bull in pursuit of his enemies on the Narmer Palette and Bull Palette; for
discussion of the bull as an image of the ruler on these palettes, see references collected in Section 6.1.4,
footnote 148-149. The ruler appears as a lion in pursuit of his enemies on the Battlefield Palette; for
discussion of the lion as an image of the ruler on this palette, see references collected in Section 6.1.4,
footnote 145.
28
For discussion of the rhy.t-bkds on the Scorpion Macehead as symbols for the defeated human enemies
of the ruler, see references collected in Section 6.1.3, footnote 123.
29
For a similar conclusion regarding the cosmic symbolism and interrelationship of hunting and military
imagery in the Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods, see references collected in Section 6.0, footnote 15.
30
For discussion of the social organization of group hunting and military campaigns during the Predynastic
and Protodynastic Periods, see primarily Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 84-
85; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 507-510; Hendrickx and
Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
For discussion of the group hunt depicted on the Hunters Palette, see references collected in Section 5.2.1,
footnote 39. For discussion of the group of hunters depicted in a Predynastic rock art tableau at Dominion
Behind Thebes in the western Thebai'd, see Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert,
pp. 145-146, fig. 17; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 88; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, loc. cit.; Darnell,
Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
431
important weapons training by taking part in group hunts.31 Participation in combat
sports and perhaps choreographed dance rituals provided soldiers with additional training
for hand-to-hand combat.32 Predynastic warriors and hunters wore a similar style of
dress, which typically consisted of a headdress (or cap) and a short kilt (or penis sheath)
with an animal's tail attached at the back of the waist;33 notably, many elements of this
specialized Predynastic clothing for hunting and combat were incorporated into the
distinctive garb later worn by the Egyptian king, e.g., on the Narmer Palette (Fig 39).34
To a certain extent, hunting may have been reserved for members of an elite class in
Egypt during the Predynastic Period; however, military combat was most likely a
universal activity performed by all adult male members of society in Predynastic Egypt.
As the ideology of kingship developed in Upper Egypt during the Predynastic Period,
iconographic representations of warfare—primarily royal victory rituals and bouts of
ritual combat—emphasized the king's control over military resources and his success on
31
For discussion of the similarity of hunting and military weapons in the Predynastic and Protodynastic
periods, see Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 33-72; Kohler, in van den Brink
and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 508; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent
Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
32
For discussion of combat sport as a form of military training, see Section 6.3.
33
For discussion of Predynastic hunting and combat garb, see Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds.,
Egypt and the Levant, p. 508; Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 145-146;
Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 740-742; Darnell,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 86, 88; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
34
For discussion of the animal's tail worn by the king during ritual activities such as the Konigslauf see
Section 1.1.1. For discussion of the archaic wrap-around garment worn by the Egyptian king, e.g., on the
Narmer Palette, see Section 2.2.1, footnote 531.
35
For discussion of hunting as an elite activity during the Predynastic Period, see Gilbert, Weapons,
Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 84-85; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early
Northeastern Africa, pp. 735-736; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries
and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). Gilbert, op. cit, pp. 81-82, argues against the
existence of a "military elite" class in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt; instead, Gilbert favors the
notion of a "universal warrior" society in Egypt during these periods.
432
the battlefield as important bases for royal power in the nascent Egyptian state. The
representation of military rituals in elaborate tableaux depicting the Sed Festival (the
grandest expression of Egyptian royal ideology), placed royal victory on the battlefield
into a larger cosmic context.37
6.1. ROYAL MILITARY VICTORY RITUALS IN EARLY EGYPT
6.1.0. INTRODUCTION
During the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods, the Egyptian ruler does not
typically appear as an active participant in scenes of military combat in which the result
of battle is still in question; instead, most military-related scenes depict post-battle royal
victory rituals and celebrations.38 For the most part, these Predynastic and Early
Dynastic royal military victory rituals and celebrations fall into six categories: (1) the
royal smiting scene; (2) the display of defeated enemy combatants at the royal, nautical
victory procession;40 (3) the inspection and census of defeated enemy combatants;41 (4)
For discussion of post-battle victory rituals in Predynastic and Early Dynastic iconography, see Section
6.1. For discussion of ritual combat, see Section 6.3.
37
For a discussion of military victory rituals as a component of celebrations of the Sed Festival in the
Predynastic and Protodynastic periods, see primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-285;
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 273-279;
Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 39-48; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 155-163,202-
206; Whitehouse, MDAIK5S (2002): 425-445; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 52-57, 61-62; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 83-107.
38
Possible depictions of actual combat on the battlefield from the Predynastic Period include the scenes of
hand-to-hand combat on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierkanpolis; however, these scenes most likely depict ritual combat rather than actual fighting on the field
of battle. For discussion of the scenes of hand-to-hand combat on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and in
Hierakonpolis Tomb 100, see Section 6.3.
39
For discussion of the royal smiting scene, see Section 6.1.1.
40
For discussion of the display of defeated enemy combatants at the nautical victory procession, see
Section 6.1.2.
41
For discussion of the inspection and census of defeated enemy combatants, see Section 6.1.3.
433
the trampling of defeated enemy combatants; (5) the razing of enemy fortifications;
and (6) the stabbing of the chest of a bound prisoner with a dagger.44 Often several of
these iconographic motifs are combined into a unified scene depicting the arrival of the
Egyptian king at the post-combat battlefield and his victorious procession therefrom.
Several icongraphic representations of royal military victory that developed during the
Predynastic Period (e.g., the royal smiting scene and the image of the king as a lion
trampling enemies) became long-lasting iconic symbols of kingship and royal power
during the pharaonic period.45 The royal military victory rituals of the Predynastic and
Early Dynastic periods affirm and highlight the royal prerogative to suppress chaos and
maintain order by means of military action against Egypt's foreign enemies; iconographic
expressions of this royal ideology of violence against foreigners remained a prominent

A/1
aspect of Egyptian kingship throughout all of pharaonic history.
6.1.1. ROYAL SMITING RITUAL

For discussion of the trampling of the defeated enemy, see Section 6.1.4.
43
For discussion of the razing of enemy fortifications, see Section 6.1.5.
44
For discussion of the stabbing of a bound prisoner in the chest with a dagger, see Section 6.1.6.
45
For discussion of the longevity of the royal smiting scene, see Section 6.1.1. For discussion of the
longevity of the image of the king as a lion (or sphinx) trampling his enemies, see Section 6.1.4.
46
For discussion of the royal ideology of violence against Egypt's foreign enemies and its cosmic
implications, see, e.g., Hornung, Geschichte als Fest; Derchain, in Lepouvoir et le sacre, Vol. 1, pp. 61-73;
Sliwa, Forschungen undBerichte 16 (1974): 97-117; Helck, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 306-310; Wildung, in LA,
Vol. 2, cols. 14-17; Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 146-148; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde; Hall, The
Pharaoh Smites his Enemies; Hornung, Idea into Image, pp. 147-164; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung
auswdrtiger Bevolkerung als Mittel dgyptischer Politik bis zum Ende des Mittleren Reiches, p. 10, with
references; Valbelle, Les neufarcs; Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, pp. 113-136,
with references; Baines, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first
Century, pp. 339-384; Belova, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 143-148; O'Connor, in Tait, ed., Never Had the Like Occurred, pp. 155-185; Muhlestein,
Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 324-356; Petschel and Von Falck, eds., Pharao siegt immer, pp. 13-
71; Campagno, in Midant-Reynes, ed., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 694-697. For discussion of the
distinction between realistic and stereotypical representations and literary descriptions of foreigners, see
Loprieno, Topos undMimesis; Smith, Askut in Nubia, pp. 175-188; Bresciani, in Donadoni, ed., The
Egyptians, pp. 221-253; Booth, The Role of Foreigners in Egypt.
434
The royal smiting scene—one of the most well-known and longest attested iconic
images of ancient Egyptian kingship—depicts the king in the moment just prior to his
delivering the coup de grace to the head of a cowering, defeated, defenseless foreign
enemy or group of foreign enemies with a single strike of his piriform mace.47 The
history of the motif can be traced from Naqada I through the Roman Period in Egypt—a
period of time spanning roughly four millennia.48 Carved on stelae, on temple walls, on
ceremonial objects, and in rock inscriptions throughout the pharaonic period, the royal
smiting scene serves as a commemoration of the king's military victories, a
demonstration of his military power, and a symbol of the triumph of order over the forces
of chaos.49 The royal smiting scene depicts a ritual that was probably performed quite
often by the king throughout pharaonic Egyptian history; however, whether or not the
king executed actual human prisoners during the performance of this ritual is an
unsettled, constroversial matter that has been the subject of considerable scholarly
Less commonly, the king dispatches his enemy with other weapons, e.g., a stick, a hpS-sword, or an axe.
For discussion of the different weapons employed by the king in the royal smiting scene, see Schoske, Das
Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 144-152; Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 345-346.
48
For diachronic studies of the royal smiting scene throughout pharaonic history, see primarily Schafer,
WZKM54 (1957): 168-176; Sliwa, Forschungen undBerichte 16 (1974): 98-104; Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2,
cols. 14-17; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 1-174; Hall, in De Meulenaere and Limme, eds.,
Artibus Aegypti, pp. 75-79; Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies; Schulman, Ceremonial Execution and
Public Rewards, pp. 8-115; Miiller-Wollermann, GM105 (1988): 69-76; Davis, The Canonical Tradition in
Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 64-68; Ahituv, Israel Exploration Journal 41 (1991): 301-305; Ward, JNES 5\
(1992): 152-155; Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, pp. 113-119; Ivery, in Donovan
and McCorquodale, eds., Egyptian Art: Principles and Themes in Wall Scenes, pp. 207-208; Muhlestein,
Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 331-356; Graefe, in Petschel and Von Falck, eds., Pharao siegt
immer, pp. 54-67; Goebs, in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World, pp. 276-279. For discussion of
Predynastic and Early Dynastic examples of the motif, see primarily Dochniak, VA 1 (1991): 101-107;
Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 197; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, pp. 80-91; K6hler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-
513; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 88-92; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in
Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
49
For a convenient catalogue of examples of the royal smiting scene from the pharaonic period, see
Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 21-174. For less comprehensive catalogues of examples of the
motif, see also Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2, cols. 14-17; Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies.
435
attention. Regardless of whether the royal smiting scene records the actual execution of
human prisoners, the very act of carving the scene had an apotropaic function—to ward
off evil, chaos, and the potentially ill effects of foreign enemies.51 The origin of the ritual
depicted in the royal smiting scene is uncertain; however, it likely derives from a
Predynastic Upper Egyptian military practice of executing foreign military leaders and/or
mortally wounded enemy combatants on the field of battle at the conclusion of a military
conflict.
The earliest two attestations of the royal smiting scene appear in victory scenes
comprised of one or more groups of stylized human figures on Naqada I C-Ware vessels
from Cemetery U at Abydos. In a victory scene that appears above a depiction of a
hippopotamus hunt on a vessel from Tomb U-415 at Abydos, a large human figure
celebrates a military triumph over a group of six smaller human figures in restraints (Fig.
49).52 The victor carries a piriform mace and wears a hunting/military outfit that is
For a critical overview of scholarly discussion and debate concerning the royal smiting scene and the
possibility that it depicts an actual event in which prisoners of war were executed by the king, see
Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 331-356. In his study of depictions of the royal smiting
scene on private New Kingdom stelae, Schulman, Ceremonial Execution and Public Awards, pp. 8-115,
has argued that such scenes represent "an actual depiction of a real event"—namely "a specific ceremonial
sacrifice which was performed in a specific temple at a specific point in time." Several authors have
strongly criticized Schulman's conclusion that depictions of the royal smiting scene correspond to actual
public executions of prisoners; for critical reviews of Schulman's monograph, see Muller-Wollermann, GM
105 (1988): 69-76; Ahituv, Israel Exploration Journal 41 (1991): 301-305; Ward, JNES 51 (1992): 152-
155. According to Ward, op. cit., p. 154, the royal smiting scene depicts a "simulated act" within a
religious drama in which no human sacrifice actually took place. Ahituv, op. cit, p. 304, similarly
questions whether depictions of the royal smiting scene from the New Kingdom record actual events in
which prisoners of war were ritually murdered: "Perhaps this scene, described on walls of temples and
pylons, was not merely an artistic decoration, but a substitute for the real act no longer practiced."
1
For discussion of the apotropaic function of the carving of the royal smiting scene, see Ritner, Mechanics
of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, pp. 113-119; Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 352-
355.
52
For discussion of the hunting and royal smiting scenes on this C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-415 at
Abydos, see primarily Hartmann, in Dreyer etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): 80-82, fig. 5; Hendrickx and
Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 815-816; Hendrickx, in Kroeper,
etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 742; Hartung, in Kroeper, etal., eds., op. cit, pp.
674-675, fig. 3; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I - Naqada II, pp. 82,247, cat. no. 161;
436
comprised of a headdress, a penis sheath, and an animal's tail; this outfit—elements of
which are later incorporated into Egyptian royal costume—most likely indicates the elite
status of the victor in this scene.53 In a military victory scene on a vessel from Tomb U-
239 at Abydos, three similarly clad victors carry maces and restrain a total of twelve
fettered prisoners (Fig. 48); a fourth victor in the scene raises both of his hands over his
head in a well-known gesture of celebration and triumph.54 Unlike the later canonical
version of the royal smiting scene, the victor and his prisoners are all depicted en face in
the examples of the smiting scene on these two Predynastic C-Ware vessels. Though
somewhat stylistically different from the later canonical version of the royal smiting
scene from the pharaonic period, the main thrust of these two Predynastic victory scenes
is clear: the victor, who probably represents an Upper Egyptian ruler, raises up his mace
to smite his fettered enemies. The placement of the royal smiting scene alongside
Hendrickx, etal., in Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology, p. 27; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele,
etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion
of the bull and the ritualized hippopotamus hunting imagery on the lower portion of this vessel, see also
Section 5.1; Section 5.2.3. Hendrickx and Eyckerman, loc. cit., tentatively suggest that Tomb U-415 at
Abydos may have contained the burial of a "victor and prisoner." The disturbed remains of the tomb
contained two bodies; the body of one man approximately 18-20 years old (perhaps the prisoner) lay at the
feet of a second man approximately 35-45 years old (perhaps the victor).
53
For discussion of the costume of Predynastic warriors and hunters and its connection to pharaonic royal
costume, see the references collected in Section 6.0, footnotes 33-34.
54
For discussion of the royal smiting motif and military victory scene on this C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-
239 at Abydos, see primarily Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 54 (1998): 111-114, figs. 12.1, 13, pi. 6d-f; Wilkinson,
Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 197; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 173-174, fig. 5f; Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 154-155; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp.
503-504, fig. 31.7; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, p. 16; Adams, CCdE3/4 (2002): 9-10;
Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, p. 332; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 78-79, fig.
21; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 88-89, fig. 8.1; Hendrickx, in Kroeper,
etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 742; Hartung, in Kroeper, etal., eds., op. cit., pp.
674-675, fig. 2; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I- Naqada II, pp. 82,245, cat. no. 155;
Hendrickx, etal., in Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology, p. 27; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele,
etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). For a problematic and
rather unlikely interpretation of the decoration on this vessel as a dancing sequence with no connection to
warfare, see with caution Garfinkel, CAJ11 (2001): 241-254, fig. 3; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of
Agriculture, pp. 235, 237, 239, 245-247, figs. 11.4b-d, 11.6a. For detailed discussion of the celebratory
gesture in which a male warrior or hunter raises his arms over his arms in triumph, see Section 3.1.1.
437
hunting iconography on the vessel from Tomb U-415 provides a notable parallel to
Predynastic Sed Festival tableaux that combine scenes of hunting and military victory,
e.g., the Gebelein Linen (Fig. 52) and the painted tableau of Hierakonpolis Tomb 100
(Fig. 131).55
Similar depictions of fettered enemy combatants appear in military victory scenes
on three other Naqada I C-Ware vessels; though the motif is strongly implied, the royal
smiting scene is not actually depicted on these vessels. In a victory scene on a second C-
Ware vessel from Abydos tomb U-415, a group of five fettered enemy combatants
appears below an intriguing scene in which a dog—perhaps representing the Egyptian
ruler—pursues a group of six Nilotic and desert game animals (Fig. 322).56 In victory
scenes on unprovenanced C-Ware vessels in Brussels (Fig. 282)57 and at the Petrie
For discussion of the hunting and military victory rituals of the Gebelein Linen, see Section 5.1; Section
6.1.2. For discussion of the hunting and military victory rituals of the painted tableau of Hierakonpolis
Tomb 100, see Section 5.2; Section 6.1.1; Section 6.3.
56
For discussion of the hunting and military victory scenes on this C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-415 at
Abydos, see primarily Hartmann, in Dreyer etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): 82-84, fig. 6a; Hendrickx, in Kroeper,
eta/., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 724, 729, fig. 4; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de
Nagada I - Naqada II, pp. 82, 247, cat. no. 162; Hendrickx, etal., in Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology,
p. 27; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in
Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion of the dog pursuing hippopotami and desert bovids in the
upper portion of the vessel, see Section 5.1; Section 5.2.4. Like the C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-415 that
includes a royal smiting scene and a hippopotamus hunting scene, the combination of military victory
rituals and hunting scenes on this C-Ware vessel parallels the combination of hunting and military victory
rituals in Predynastic Sed Festival tableaux, such as the Gebelein Linen and the painted wall of
Hierakonpolis Tomb 100. For discussion of the dog's association with elite and royal power in Predynastic
Egypt, see primarily Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., op. cit, pp. 723-749, with references.
57
For discussion of the military victory scene on this unprovenanced C-Ware vessel in the collection of the
Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels (E. 3002), see primarily Scharff, JEA 14 (1928): 268-269, pi.
28; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 117-118; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 287-288; Baumgartel, The Cultures of
Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 64-65, fig. 14; Asselberghs, Chaos En Beheersing, p. 303, cat. no. 9;
Tutundzic, Recueil de Travauxde la Faculte de Philosophic Universite de Belgrade 10:1 (1968): 41-46,
fig. 1; Williams, Decorated Pottery and the Art of Naqada HI, pp. 47-48, 93, fig. 35; Davis, The Canonical
Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 122-123, fig. 6.3; Hendrickx, Antiquitesprehistoriques et
protodynastiques d'Egypte, pp. 22-23; Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near
East, pp. 491-493, fig. 6; Hendrickx, in Phillips, ed., Africa: The Art of a Continent, p. 60; Hendrickx, CdE
73:146 (1998): 203-209, figs. 1-6, with references; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 171, 174;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 153-154; Adams, CCdE 2>IA (2002): 9; Wilkinson, Genesis of
the Pharaohs, pp. 75-76; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 94, fig. 8.15;
438
Museum (Fig. 281), large victorious human figures restrain fettered prisoners and
perform a celebratory gesture in which they raise their arms above their heads. The
victory scenes on these three C-Ware vessels very likely allude to the royal smiting
scene; the object attached to the victor's waist on the vessel at the Petrie Museum may
even be a piriform mace.59
An example of the royal smiting scene dating to Naqada IIC appears below a
white sickle-shaped boat in the bottom left corner of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis—most likely the tomb of the ruler of this Upper Egyptian polity (Fig.
131c).60 In Tomb 100 the smiting scene forms part of a large tableaux depicting various
Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 742; Graff, Bibliotheca
Orientalis 64 (2007): 260-262; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I - Naqada II, pp. 82,242, cat.
no. 145; Hendrickx, etal., in Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology, p. 27; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in
Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell,
Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation). For a problematic and rather unlikely interpretation of
the decoration on this vessel as a dancing sequence with no connection to warfare, see with caution
Garfinkel, CAJ11 (2001): 241-254, figs. 2, 14; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn ofAgriculture, pp. 235,
238-239,247-248, figs. 11.5, 11.6b.
58
For discussion of the military victory scene on this unprovenanced C-Ware vessel in the collection of the
Petrie Museum (UC. 153339), see primarily Capart, Primitive Art in Egypt, pp. 35-36, 109-110, figs. 13,
81; Petrie, The Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, p. 55, fig. 65; Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, p. 16, pi. 18.74;
Petrie, Corpus of Prehistoric Pottery and Palettes, pi. 25.100m; Scharff, JEA 14 (1928): 267-269, fig. 4;
Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 117-118; Raphael, Prehistoric Pottery and Civilization in Egypt, pp. 118-120, pi.
24.10; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 286-287; Baumgartel, The Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 1, pp.
30, 64; Turundzic, Recueilde Travaux de la Faculte de Philosophic Universite de Belgrade 10:1 (1968):
41-46, fig. 2; Williams, Decorated Pottery and the Art of Naqada III, pp. 49-51, 93, fig. 36; Williams, in
Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, pp. 492-493, fig. 7; Midant-Reynes, The
Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 171-174, fig. 5d; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 153-154, fig. 16.2;
Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, p. 76, fig. 19; Adams, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 9-10, footnote 15; Graff, Les
peintures sur vases de Nagada I - Naqada II, pp. 82,243, cat. no. 148; Hendrickx, etal., in Wendrich, ed.,
Egyptian Archaeology, p. 27; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and
Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in
preparation). For a problematic and rather unlikely interpretation of the decoration on this vessel as a
dancing sequence with no connection to warfare, see with caution Garfinkel, CAJ 11 (2001): 241-254, fig.
1; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 235-237, 248-249, figs. 11.3e, 11.4a.
59
For interpretation of this object as a piriform mace, see Williams, Decorated Pottery and the Art of
Naqada III, pp. 47-48; however, Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation), dismisses
this interpretation as unlikely.
60
For discussion of the royal smiting scene in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see
primarily Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 75-76; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 114; Vandier,
439
rituals performed during the celebration of the Sed Festival; the other rituals depicted in
the painted tableau include music and dance, the Konigslauf, hunting, the master of
beasts, butchery, ritual combat, and a boat procession (Fig. 131).61 Unlike the earlier
Naqada I versions of the motif in which the victor and his prisoners are depicted en face,
the smiting scene from Tomb 100 more closely mirrors the later canonical version of the
royal smiting scene that is found, e.g., on the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39) and on numerous
New Kingdom temple walls. In the example from Tomb 100, the victor strides to the
right and looks down upon a row of three bound prisoners kneeling beside him on the
ground.62 As the victor raises his mace to smite them, the terrified prisoners look away
Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 562; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 273,309, cat. no. 33, pi. 24; Case and
Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-15, pi. lb; Hornung, Geschichte ah Fest, pp. 12-13, fig. 3; Ridley, The
Unification of Egypt, pp. 22-24; Sliwa, Forschungen und Berichte 16 (1974): 98-99, footnote 2; Wildung,
in LA, Vol. 2, col. 16; Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of
Egyptology, Vol. 2, pp. 27-28; Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, p. 4, fig. 5; Monnet-Saleh, JEA 73
(1987): 55; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 254, 277, fig. 8; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit,
p. 88; Davis, The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 64-65; Hornung, Idea into Image, pp.
149-150; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 44, 129, 172, fig. 5; Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 41-42,44, fig. 6;
Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, pp. 113-115, fig. 3a; Schoske, Das Erschlagen
der Feinde, pp. 3, 128, cat. no. A435; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 37-38, fig. 24c;
Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 44; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 274; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 105-106, fig. 54;
Smith, The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, revised ed., p. 11, fig. 9; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic
Egypt, pp. 32-33; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, p. 208; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume,
p. 157-159, fig. 18; Kohler, in Levy and van den Brink, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 503, fig. 31.6;
Campagno, GM188 (2002): 50; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative
Wanddarstellungen von Altdgypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19,21, fig. 4; Partridge, Fighting Pharaohs, p. 5,
fig. 3; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, p. 79; Anselin, in Hendrickx, eta/., eds., Egypt at its Origins,
Vol. 1, pp. 549-551, fig. 2.1.2; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 89,94, fig. 8.2;
Schulz, in Petschel and Von Falck, eds., Pharao siegt immer, p. 68, fig. 1; Wengrow, The Archaeology of
Early Egypt, pp. 109-110, 115, fig. 5.6; Whitehouse, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 685-
688, fig. 3a; Hendrickx, etal., in Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology, p. 29; Hendrickx and Eyckerman,
in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
61
For discussion of the music and dance rituals of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see
Section 3.1.1.2. For discussion of the Konigslauf'scene depicted in Tomb 100, see Section 4.1.1. For
discussion of the hunting rituals and the "master-of-beasts" depicted in Tomb 100, see Section 5.2.1. For
discussion of the butchery ritual depicted in Tomb 100, see Section 5.3.0; Section 5.3.1; Section 5.3.3. For
discussion of the ritual combat scenes depicted in Tomb 100, see Section 6.3. For discussion of the boat
procession in Tomb 100, see Section 7.1.2; Section 7.4.3.
62
The painted tableau in Tomb 100 predates the invention of writing in Egypt; however, the depiction of
three prisoners in this scene may correspond to the later use of the number three to indicate plurality in the
440
from him—perhaps toward two men who wear belted penis sheaths and carry curved
staffs with forked bottoms.63 These two men—likely the same two men who are engaged
in ritual combat bouts in another section of the tableau (Fig. 131e)—are probably elite
members of the victorious ruler's military forces.64 The victor, who is depicted on a
larger scale than his prisoners, wears a belted penis sheath and a leather strap or sash
across his right shoulder; though he does not wear distinctive royal clothing or regalia,
the victor is almost certainly the triumphant Hierakonpolitan ruler—the same man who
performs the Konigslauf (Fig. 131d), controls two lions (Fig. 131c), and rides in a
ceremonial boat procession in other scenes from the tableau (Fig. 131d).65 Like the other
rituals depicted in the tableau, the royal smiting scene celebrates the power and elite
status of the Hierakonpolitan ruler and, more importantly, places his rule into a larger
religious and cosmic context.66 Thus, during the Predynastic Period, the royal smiting
Egyptian writing system. For a similar discussion of this feature of the tableau, see Hornung, Geschichte
als Fest, p. 12; Hornung, Idea into Image, pp. 149-150; Schoske, Das Erschalgen der Feinde, p. 128; Hall,
The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, p. 4; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 88; Anselin, in
Hendrickx, etal, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 549-551, fig. 2.1.2.
63
For discussion of the pastoral use of the curved staff and its significance as a royal accoutrement, see
64
For discussion of the ritual combatants depicted in Tomb 100, see Section 6.3.
65
Kohler, in Levy and van den Brink, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 503-504, similarly notes the victor's
lack of distinctive royal clothing and regalia in the smiting scene in Tomb 100; however, regarding the
victor in the smiting scenes from Tomb 100, a C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-239 at Abydos, and the
Narmer Palette, Kohler concludes: "For now, it seems to be safe to state that in the different treatments of
this motif the subduer is a significant person who claims or has gained power over others. He may be a war
leader, a chief or a king." For further discussion of the ruler's costume in the smiting scene from Tomb
100, see also Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 562; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 88; Cialowicz, in
Hendrickx, etal. eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 274-275; Whitehouse, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen
aus dem Sand, pp. 685-688. Whitehouse, in Engel, etal., eds., loc. cit, tentatively suggests that the
"curving feature, circumscribing the area of the shoulder joint" of the victor in the smiting scene from
Tomb 100 is a marker of elite status.
66
For a similar interpretation of Predynastic and Protodynastic rock inscriptions as "tableaux of royal ritual
power," see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 83-107.
441
scene appears to be a victory celebration forming part of a cycle of rituals comprising an
early version of the Sed Festival.
Of a similar or perhaps slightly later date (c. Naqada IIC-IIIA), the Gebel el-Arak
knife handle depicts many of the same iconographic motifs as the painted tableau of
Tomb 100, including hand-to-hand combat, the master of beasts, hunting rituals, and a
boat procession (Fig. 58).67 On the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, in the top left
corner of a scene depicting two rows of hand-to-hand combat, a man wearing a belted
penis sheath raises up a piriform mace to smite a bound prisoner standing beside him.
The smiting scenes in Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 and on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
both appear in proximity to hand-to-hand combat scenes, which probably represent bouts
of ritual combat.69 The smiting scene on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle is unusual in
that the victor and the vanquished are approximately the same size; typically in the royal
smiting scene, the victorious ruler is considerably larger than the prisoner whom he
For discussion of the hand-to-hand combat scenes depicted on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see
Section 6.3. For discussion of the master-of-beasts and the hunting rituals on the Gebel el-Arak knife
handle, see Section 5.2. For discussion of the military boat procession on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle,
see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3.
68
For discussion of the smiting scene on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see primarily Benedite, MonPiot
22 (1916): 8-9, fig. 9; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 122; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 537-538; Asselberghs,
Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 276, 313, figs. 55, 58; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 18-19; Monnet-
Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 230; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 263; Sievertsen, Baghdader
Mitteilungen 23 (1992): 14-18, 38-39; Vertesalji, in Charpin and Joannes, eds., La circulation des biens,
despersonnes et des idees dans le Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 30-35, figs. 1-2; Czichon and Sievertsen,
Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 51, 53-54; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., Study of the Ancient Near East in
the Twenty-first Century, p. 11, fig. 1; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 43, 55, fig. 38;
Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 69-70, 112, fig. 34; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour
of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-352, fig. 2; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde VAncien Empire
egyptien, p. 201; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 208,239; Delange, Les dossiers
d'archeologie 257 (2000): 55; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-169, fig. 20; Kohler, in van
den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 503; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg und
Sieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altdgypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19, 21, fig. 7; Gilbert, Weapons,
Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 93-94, fig. 8.12.
69
For further discussion of the scenes of hand-to-hand combat on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and in
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see Section 6.3.
442
smites. Based on the smiting motifs long history as an iconographic representation of
royal military power, the victor who dispatches his enemy with a strike from a piriform
mace on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle is most the ruler of an Upper Egyptian polity (or
coalition of polities).71
A similarly dated Predynastic rock inscription from Wadi Gash (Fig. 56)—a
tributary of the Wadi Hammamat in the Eastern Desert of Upper Egypt—depicts the
royal smiting scene in a context similar to the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and the painted
tableau of Tomb 100.72 In the middle of this carved tableau from Site 18. M 137a at
Wadi Gash, the red-crowned king raises up a staff in order to smite a kneeling enemy
combatant; other portions of the tableau depict desert game animals, a procession of two
ceremonial barques, and two bucranium—symbols of royal power in Predynastic Egypt.
For discussion of the relative size of the victor and the vanquished in the smiting scene on the Gebel el-
Arak knife handle, see Delange, Les dossiers d'archeologie 257 (2000): 55; Kohler, in van den Brink and
Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 503. In a fragmentary military victory scene on the Battlefield Palette,
the robed, victorious Egyptian ruler and the bound enemy combatant whom he leads off the field of battle
are approximately the same size; for discussion of this scene, see Section 6.1.3.
71
For identification of the victor in the smiting scene on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle as an Egyptian
chief or ruler, see primarily Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 230; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in
Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 349-352.
72
For discussion of the smiting scene in this rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a at Wadi Gash, see
Winkler, RockDrawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 24-25, pi. 13.3; Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil
19 (2009): 173-174. Hendrickx, etal., op. cit., p. 174, suggest that this scene "can be dated before the
Naqada III period, but our present knowledge of rock art does not allow a more precise date in Naqada I-
II."
73
For discussion of the bucranium as a symbol of royal power in Predynsatic Egypt, see references
collected infra, this section, in footnote 76. A depiction of an Upper Egyptian ruler wearing the red crown
also appears in a similarly dated, complicated rock inscription from Site 18. M 141a at Wadi Gash; for
discussion of this rock inscription, see Winkler, Rock Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 24-
26, pi. 14.2; Midant-Reynes, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp. 232-234, fig. 1;
Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 174-175, with references. As early as Naqada I-IIA, the red crown
was apparently a symbol of elite status and royal power in Upper Egypt; the earliest depiction of the red
crown appears on a sherd of black-topped ware (c. Naqada I-IIA) from Tomb 1610 at Naqada. For
discussion of the red crown depicted on this potsherd from Naqada, see primarily Wainwright, JEA 9
(1923): 26-33, fig. 2, pi. 10.3; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, p. 305, fig. 12; Baumgartel, JEA 61
(1975): 28-32, pi. 15.1; Midant-Reynes, in Berger, etal., eds., op. cit., p. 232, with references; Menu,
Mediterranees 6/7 (1996): 43-44; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 48-49; Midant-Reynes, The
Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 182-183, fig. 8A; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 81-82, fig. 25; Morenz,
443
The combination of hunting imagery, military victory rituals, and boat processions in the
painted tableau of Tomb 100, the carved scenes of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, and
the rock inscription at Wadi Gash suggests that these scenes all commemorate the
celebration of the Sed Festival by the Upper Egyptian ruler.
Another Predynastic example of the royal smiting scene appears in a complicated
rock inscription at Gebel Tjauti in the the western Thebai'd (Fig. 287); the inscription is a
historical document dating to Naqada IIIAl that commemorates the military victory of
the Abydene ruler Horus Scorpion over a rival Upper Egyptian polity centered at
Naqada.74 On the left side of the bottom register of the tableau, a man wearing a belted
penis sheath raises a piriform mace to smite a bound, longhaired prisoner whom he
controls with a rope; the victor's outfit and close-cropped hairstyle in this tableau are
similar to those of the victor in Tomb 100 and on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle.75 In
Bild-Buchstaben un symbolische Zeichen, pp. 32-33, 344, fig. 8; Hendrickx, etal., op. cit., p. 174, with
references.
74
For discussion of the Scorpion Tableau at Gebel Tjauti—particularly the royal smiting scene—as a
historical record of military conflict between rival Upper Egyptian polities, see primarily Darnell, Thebcm
Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 10-19; Hendrickx and Friedman, GM 196 (2003): 95-109. For similar
interpretations of the Scorpion tableau at Gebel Tjauti, see also Darnell and Darnell, in The Oriental
Institute 1995-1996 Annual Report, pp. 62-70, fig. 8; Wilkinson, MDAIK 56 (2000): 386; Darnell, in
Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, p. 142; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food
and Culture, p. 283; Regulski, CdE 11 (2002): 18-19; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and
the Levant, p. 502; Hendrickx and Friedman, Nekhen News 15 (2003): 8-9; Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal.,
eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 689-690, 699; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt
at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1130-1133; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 103. For alternative interpretations of
the tableau, see with caution Kahl, GM 192 (2003): 47-54; Castillos, GM208 (2006): 10-11; Hartung, in
Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 671-685.
75
A similarly outfitted man carrying a staff and a piriform mace appears on a rectangular palette (UC.
15841) from Tomb 1579 atTarkhan (c. Naqada IIB2); for discussion of the mace wielding hunter/warrior
depicted on this palette, see Petrie, Tarkhan, Vol. 2, pi. 6.1579; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, p. 115,
fig. 115; Braun, BASOR 290/291 (1993): 123, fig. 6; Baduel, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 2, p. 1074, fig. 18; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power.
Several members of a group of hunters in a Predynastic rock art tableau from Dominion Behind Thebes in
the western Thebaid carry maces and wear penis sheaths and feathered headdresses; for discussion of the
hunters in this tableau, see Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 145-146,
fig. 17; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in
Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 3 (in preparation).
444
the Gebel Tjauti inscription, the victor and his prisoner stand next to a bull's head
standard, which most likely serves as a symbol of royal military power and triumph.76
The falcon and scorpion at the right side of the bottom register serve to identify the
victorious ruler as Horus Scorpion; the bound prisoner is most likely an enemy combatant
defeated by Horus Scorpion during his military campaign along the 'Alamat Tal Road
and at Naqada.77 The Gebel Tjauti inscription does not merely record Horus Scorpion's
military victory; with its depiction of the royal smiting scene and various symbols of
royal power, the tableau serves as a ritualization of an actual historical event.78
Three examples of the royal smiting scene are known to date to the reign of
Narmer—the Upper Egyptian king typically credited with annexing Lower Egypt and
politically unifying the country at the end of the Predynastic Period. In the example of
the motif on the recto of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), the king wears the white crown of
For discussion of the bull's head standard as a symbol of royal power and the domination of enemies, see
primarily, Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, p. 16; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food
and Culture, p. 283; Regulski, CdE 11 (2002): 18-19; Hendrickx and Friedman, GM196 (2003): 95-109;
Hendrickx and Friedman, Nekhen News 15 (2003): 8-9. For an improbable suggestion that the standard
represents Bat, the goddess of the seventh nome of Upper Egypt, see with caution Kahl, GM 192 (2003):
47-54. For further discussion of the bull's head standard, cf. also Hartung, in Kroeper, etal., eds.,
Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 672-673,677; Hartung, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus
dem Sand, p. 191, footnote 35. Another symbol of royal power and military domination appears to the
right of the bound prisoner in the Gebel Tjauti inscription—a long-necked bird with a serpent in its beak;
for discussion of this iconographic motif, see references collected in Section 5.2.2, footnote 90.
For identification of the victor as Horus Scorpion and the vanquished as an enemy combatant from
Naqada, see primarily Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 10-19; Wilkinson, MDAIK 56
(2000): 386; Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, p. 142; Hendrickx and
Friedman, GM 196 (2003): 95-109; Campagno, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp.
689-690, 699; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1130-1133.
For criticism of this interpretation of the inscription from Gebel Tjauti, see with caution Kahl, GM 192
(2003): 47-54; Castillos, GM208 (2006): 10-11; Hartung, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of
Northeastern Africa, pp. 671-685.
78
For a similar interpretation of early historical documents from the Protodynastic Period and the
ritualization of history, see Hornung, Geschichte als Fest; Hornung, Idea into Image, pp. 147-164; Baines,
in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 128-135; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009):
83-107.
79
For discussion of Narmer's role in the political unification of Egypt, see references collected in Section
4.3.4, footnote 180.
445
Upper Egypt and is clad in the so-called archaic wrap-around garment with a bull's tail
attached at the back of the waist; the scene depicts Narmer in the moment before he
• SO
smites a smaller, kneeling, defeated enemy combatant with a piriform mace. The two
hieroglyphic signs to the right of the defeated enemy—a harpoon (Gardiner Sign T21)
over a garden pool (Gardiner sign N39)—probably write the enemy's name (W%
"Washi"); alternately, the signs may write an ethnonym or toponym indicating the
O 1
enemy's geographic place of origin ("Land of the Harpoon"). In front of the king, a
human-armed falcon, who probably represents the royal god Horus, grasps a rope that is
For discussion of the royal smiting scene on the Narmer Palette, see primarily Quibell and Petrie,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 29; Schott, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84 (1952):
21; Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, pp. 5-6, fig. 8; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde,pp. 21-22,
119, cat. no. A l ; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 116-120;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 182-188, fig. 29; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds.,
Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-513, fig. 31.1, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82-86, fig. 46, with references; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors
and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 88-92, fig. 8.3; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor ofAH
Radwan, Vol. 1, pp. 253-261, fig. 1. For further discussion, see also Quibell, ZAS 36 (1898): 81-84;
Gardiner, JEA 2 (1915): 72-74; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 595-599, fig. 391; Yadin, Israel Exploration
Journal 5 (1955): 1-16; Schafer, WZKM 54 (1957): 169-170; Kaplony, ZAS 83 (1958): 76-78; Asselberghs,
Chaos en Beheersing, p. 291, fig. 168; Kaiser, ZAS 91 (1964): 89-92; Hornung, Geschichte als Fest, pp. 12-
13, fig. 2; Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2, col. 16; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 47-48; Sliwa, Forschungen
undBerichte 16 (1974): 98-99, fig. 1; Trigger, in Gorg und Pusch, eds., Festschrift Elmar Edel, pp. 409-
419; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 263; Davis, The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art,
pp. 64-65, 159-162, fig. 6.14; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 90 (1990): 259-263, fig. 1; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990):
59; Fairservis, JARCE 28 (1991): 1-20; Schulman, BES 11 (1991-1992): 79-105; Ritner, Mechanics of
Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, p. 115; Bard, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers of Horus, pp.
303-304; Goldwasser, Lingua Aegyptia 2 (1992): 67-85; Hornung, Idea into Image, pp. 149-151, 153;
Goldwasser, From Icon to Metaphor, pp. 4-25, 127, fig. 1; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 88-121,
fig. 50; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 73-76, 84-86; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of
Praise, pp. 267, 270; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 49, 68; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of
Egypt, pp. 243-247, fig. 22; Morenz, GM 189 (2002): 81-88; Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order,
pp. 55-58; Morenz, Orientalia 72 (2003): 183-193; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp.
182-188, 347, fig. 14b; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 41-44, 207-208; Jimenez-Serrano,
in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1121-1126, fig. 1. For discussion of the
archaic wrap-around garment worn by Narmer in the smiting scene from the Narmer Palette, see references
81
For discussion of the two hieroglyphic signs to the right of the fallen enemy beside Narmer on the recto
of the Narmer Palette, see Gardiner, JEA 2(1915): 74; Kaplony, ZAS 83 (1958): 76-78; Kaiser, ZAS 91
(1964): 89-92; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 75-76; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume,
pp. 184-185, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the
First Dynasty, p. 82, with references; Morenz, GM 189 (2002): 85-87; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und
symbolische Zeichen, pp. 183-184.
446
attached to the nostrils of a human-headed hieroglyphic land sign (Gardiner Sign N18).
The six marsh plant fronds on the top of the anthropomorphized land sign may be a
hieroglyphic writing for the number of enemies whom Narmer has defeated ("6,000");
however, the combination of the hieroglyphic land sign and the marsh plant fronds are
most likely an unusual writing of tl-mhw, "Lower Egypt."82 The smiting scene on the
Narmer Palette appears to represent a military victory ritual associated with an actual
historical event; however, the identification of Narmer's defeated enemy has been subject
of considerable controversy.
An example of the smiting motif on a label of Narmer from Abydos (Fig. 387)
provides a notable parallel to the Narmer Palette.84 In this example of the motif, a
human-armed catfish—which forms part of the hieroglyphic writing of Narmer's name—
lifts up a piriform mace to smite a human prisoner who has three plant fronds sprouting
For discussion of the marsh plant fronds on top of the anthropomorphized land sign as a hieroglyphic
writing of the number "6,000," see Gardiner, JEA 2 (1915): 72-74; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat,
p. 76; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 82. For
the suggestion that this group of signs writes ti-mhw, "Lower Egypt," see Baines, in O'Connor and
Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 117; Morenz, GM189 (2002): 84-85, fig. 6; Morenz, Bild-
Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 183, 359, fig. 57. For further discussion of this group of signs,
see also Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 44-45, fig. 13; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 185, with
references. A similar human-headed land sign with seven plant fronds appears in a fragmentary scene on
the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle; for discussion of this group of signs/symbols, see
Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 247-248,273, fig. 1; Morenz, GM 189 (2002): 84.
83
For convenient critical reviews of literature pertaining to the historicity of the military victory depicted
on the Narmer Palette and the identification of Narmer's enemy in the smiting scene on the palette, see
Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-513, with references; Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82-86, with references.
84
For discussion of the smiting scene on an ivory label of Narmer from Abydos, see Dreyer, etal., MDAIK
54 (1998): 138-139, fig. 29, pi. 5c; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 266-267,270, fig.
26.1 lb; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 49; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82, 84, fig. 47; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the
Levant, p. 508; Morenz, GM1S9 (2002): 81-88, figs. 1,4; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in
Early Egypt, pp. 88, 90-92, fig. 8.4; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 182-183,223,
363, figs. 72-73; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor ofAli Radwan, Vol. 1, pp. 254-255, fig. 2;
Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 204-205, fig. 9.13 top; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-
Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1124-1125, fig. 3.
447
from the top of his head; a nw-pot appears directly to the left of the enemy. Like the
smiting scene of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), the identification of the enemy on this
label from Abydos is uncertain and controversial.85 The three plant fronds could be a
hieroglyphic writing for "3,000"—indicating the number of enemies defeated or killed by
Narmer. More likely, however, the three plant fronds are a writing of mhw, "Lower
Egypt"; a similar interpretation is most likely applicable to the human-headed land sign
with six plant fronds in the smiting scene on the Narmer Palette.86 Such an interpretation
would suggest that the Narmer Palette and the Abydos label of Narmer both celebrate the
final battles of unification in the Nile Delta. However, the nw-pot beside the enemy on
the Abydos label makes such an interpretation uncertain; the defeated enemy may be a
Q'J
"hunter" (nw) from "Lower Egypt" (mhw). Another—though less likely—possibility is
that the nw-pot is a phonetic complement for Thnw, "Libya."88 In an example of the
royal smiting scene on an ivory cylinder of Narmer from Hierakonpolis (Fig. 385), a
For discussion of the uncertainty of the identity of the enemy, see Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy,
eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 508; Morenz, GM189 (2002): 81-88, figs. 1,4.
86
For the interpretation of the three plant fronds on the label of Narmer as a writing of Mhw, see Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82, 84, fig. 47. The
captions on the bases of two statues of Khasekhemwy from Hierakonpolis, which depict defeated enemies
on the battlefield, read skr, "smiting," plus the image of a defeated enemy with five plant fronds on his
head. Since the tally of dead enemies is listed as 47,209 on these bases, it is unlikely that the five plant
fronds on the enemy's head refer to the number 5,000; instead, the caption probably reads skr Mhw,
"smiting Lower Egypt." For discussion of the caption on these statue bases of Khasekhemwy, see
references collected in Section 6.1.3, footnote 134. A disembodied mace appears above a kneeling person
with three plant fronds on the top of his head appears on several inscribed stone vessels of Khasekhemwy;
this group of signs probably also writes skr Mhw, "smiting Lower Egypt." For discussion of the mace and
the defeated enemy on these stone vessels from the reign of Khasekhemwy, see references collected in
87
For the tentative suggestion that nw might write "hunter" on this label, see Morenz, GM 189 (2002): 86.
88
For the reading of the enemy and the nw-pot as Thnw, see Dreyer, etai, MDAIK 54 (1998): 138-139, fig.
29, pi. 5c; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 266-267,270, fig. 26.1 lb.
448
catfish with human arms smites a group of bound, kneeling enemies with a long rod; the
caption to the scene indicates that the enemies on this cylinder are from Libya (Thnw).
Examples of the royal smiting scene from the reign of Narmer—on the Narmer
Palette (Fig. 39), an ivory cylinder from Hierakonpolis (Fig. 385), and a label from
Abydos (Fig. 387)—appear to record and ceremonialize Narmer's victory in battles
against Lower Egypt and Libya. The motif is employed in a similar way by other
Egyptian kings during the Early Dynastic Period, e.g., in the reigns of Aha, Djet, and
Den, and Semerkhet. The royal smiting scene on a wooden label of Aha from Abydos
For discussion of the smiting scene depicted on the ivory mace handle of Narmer from the Main Deposit
at Hierakonpolis, see Quibell, ZAS 36 (1898): 81-84, pi. 13; Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi.
15.7; Wildung, in Z,i, Vol. 2, col. 16;Dochniak, ^ 7 ( 1 9 9 1 ) : 101-107, fig. 1; Gundlach, Die
Zwangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger Bevolkerung als Mittel agyptischer Politik bis zum Ende des Mittleren
Reiches, pp. 41-44; Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, p. 115; Baines, in O'Connor
and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 117; Baines, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., Study of the
Ancient Near East in the Twenty-First Century, pp. 364-367, fig. 6; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic
Egypt, p. 43, fig. 29; Park, Discussions in Egyptology 37 (1997): 56, fig. 4; Logan, in Teeter and Larson,
eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 266-267, 270, fig. 26.1 la; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 162; Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 86-87, fig. 48; Kohler,
in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 501, fig. 31.3; Whitehouse, MDAIK58 (2002):
433-434,439, fig. 4; Morenz, GM189 (2002): 81-88, fig. 3; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in
Early Egypt, pp. 88-90, 92, fig. 8.5; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 174-175, 182,
223,226, 354, fig. 42; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor of Ali Radwan, Vol. 1, p. 255, fig. 3;
Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 204-205, fig. 9.13 bottom; Hope, in Hawass and Richards,
eds., The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt, Vol. l,pp. 400-401; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes,
etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1124-1126, fig. 4. Morenz, GM 189 (2002): 87, suggests that
the group of signs below Thnw on this mace handle write Ssm.t, "Land im Osten" (Wb. 4, 538.12-13). An
intriguing parallel to the smiting scene on the label of Aha occurs in Coffin Texts Spell 322, in which the
deceased king claims to have smote the Nubians, as well as an inimical group of people identified as Ssm.w
(de Buck, Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 4, pp. 150-151):
ink smi ity (or Ikr) rhi
ph.wy=fm dw
hi.t=fm hrpy
hwy Sty.w Ssm.w ipf
(r)dy(.w) n-i hr tb.t=i Bb.t
"I am a wild bull, a sovereign, and a fighter,
whose hind-quarters are in the mountain,
whose forepart is in the Nile,
who smites those Nubians and ^/n.w-people,
who have been placed under my left sandal for me."
For discussion of the term Ssm.w in Coffin Texts Spell 322, see Faulkner, Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, p.
251, note 9.
449
(Fig. 388) records the king's military victory over Nubia (T3-Sti); a similar scene in
which the royal serekh smites Nubia (Tl-Sti) appears on a label of Djet from Abydos
(Fig. 389).91 The depiction of Den smiting an enemy on an ivory label from Abydos
(Fig. 40) commemorates the "first occasion of smiting the East" (sp tpy skr Bb.t).92
However, the smiting motif could also be used in a ritualistic way that refers to an
enduring, nonspecific royal victory over chaos rather than a specific military victory. For
example, a rock inscription site at Wadi el-Humur in southern Sinai includes four 1st
Dynasty examples of the royal smiting scene, including three depictions of Den (Figs. 41,
390) and one depiction of Semerkhet smiting an unidentified enemy (Fig. 42).93
For discussion of the smiting scene on a wooden label of Aha from Abydos, see primarily Petrie, Royal
Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, Vol. 2, p. 20, pis. 3.2, 11.1; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 834-835, fig. 558
top; Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2, col. 16; Brovarski, Serapis 4 (1977-1978): 1-2; Helck, Untersuchungen zur
Thinitenzeit, p. 145; Logan, JARCE 27 (1990): 65-66, with references; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt,
pp. 178,180,223, fig. 5.3.3; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First
Dynasty, p. 87, fig. 50, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, in Krzyzaniak, etal., eds., Cultural Markers in
the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa and Recent Research, pp. 261 -262; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben
undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 191,223, fig. 76.
91
For discussion of the depiction of the smiting of Nubia on a label for Djet from Abydos, see Dreyer, et
al, MDAIK54 (1998): 162-163, pi. 12a; Dreyer, etal., MDAIK59 (2003): 93-94, pi. 18f; Jimenez-Serrano,
Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 89-90, fig. 52.
92
For discussion of the smiting scene on an ivory label of Den from Abydos, see primarily Spiegelberg,
ZAS 35 (1897): 7-11; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 858-859, fig. 573; Wildung, in LA, Vol. 2, col. 16;
Sliwa, Forschungen undBerichte 16 (1974): 99-100, fig. 3; Hall, The Pharoah Smites his Enemies, p. 6,
fig. 9; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 157, footnote 18; Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pp.
151-154, pi. 11; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 37-38, cat. no. A6; Park, Discussions in
Egyptology 37 (1997): 53, fig. 2; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 155-157,223, fig. 5.1.1; Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 90-91, fig. 53;K6hler,
in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 504-505, fig. 31.8; Kaplony, in van den Brink
and Levy, eds., op. cit, pp. 466-468, fig. 29.7; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp.
91-92, fig. 8.6.
For discussion of the four 1st Dynasty royal smiting scenes from a rock inscription site in Wadi el-Humur
in southern Sinai, see primarily Resk Ibrahim and Tallet, RdE 59 (2008): 155-180, pis. 14-16; Resk Ibrahim
and Tallet, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 179-184. The tall, narrow hieroglyphic sign to the right of the enemy in
inscription no. 2, which Resk Ibrahim and Tallet, RdE 59 (2008): 163, interpret as Bb.t, "l'Est," does not
closely resemble the hieroglyphic sign for "East" (Gardiner Sign R15) in the caption to the royal smiting
scene on the previously discussed ivory label of Den from Abydos (sp tpy skr iib.t, "first occasion of
smiting the East"); for discussion of this label of Den, see references collected supra, this section, in
footnote 92.
450
Additionally, a limestone palette from Saqqara depicts an unidentified king—probably
Djer—smiting a cowering enemy in front of a lion (Fig. 391).94
The numerous images of a man smiting a prisoner with a piriform mace, which
appear on a Protodynastic ceremonial ivory mace handle from the Main Deposit at
Hierakonpolis, also suggest that the royal smiting scene could serve as a symbol of royal
victory and military power without necessarily referring to a specific military
engagement (Fig. 392).95 Large, decorated, ceremonial maceheads from the Main
Deposit at Hierakonpolis, such as the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21) and the Narmer
Macehead (Fig. 60), served as a medium for depicting the Sed Festival during the
Protodynastic Period.96 A Protodynastic bone mace handle from the Main Deposit at
Hierakonpolis depicts four large ceremonial maces on display within three rows of
animals (Fig. 393); the depiction on this mace handle—as well as another depiction of
For discussion of the smiting scene on a decorated palette from Tomb 3471 at Saqqara, see Emery, Great
Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 1, p. 60, fig. 31; Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, pp. 4-5, fig. 7;
Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, p. 119, cat. no. A5; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in
Early Egypt, pp. 91-92, fig. 8.7; Baduel, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp.
1074-1075, fig. 19. Like the smiting scene on the wooden label of Aha, the bow above the head of the
enemy in this scene may identify him as a Nubian. For discussion of the bow as a hieroglyphic writing of
Nubia, see, e.g., Montet, Kemi6 (1936): 43-62.
95
For discussion of the smiting scenes depicted on the cylindrical, ivory mace handle from the Main
Deposit at Hierakonpolis, see Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pis. 15.1-2,15.4; Wildung, in LA,
Vol. 2, col. 16; Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, p. 4, fig. 6; Baines, Antiquity 63 (1989): 475-476,
fig. 4; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 37-38, cat. nos. A2-A4; Ritner, Mechanics of Ancient
Egyptian Magical Practice, p. 115; Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, p. 77;
Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, p. 43, fig. 28; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt
and the Levant, p. 501, fig. 31.2; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 89,91-92,
fig. 8.9.
96
Discussions of the large, decorated, ceremonial maceheads from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis are
quite numerous; see primarily Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pp. 8-10, pis. 25, 26a-c; Quibell
and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pp. 39-41; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 599-605; Ridley, The
Unification of Egypt, pp. 60-68; Cialowicz, Les tetes de Massues des periodes predynastique et archalque
dans la Vallee du Nil, pp. 31-45, figs. 3-6, with references; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 53-59; Millet, JARCE
28 (1991): 223-225; Gautier and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 87-127; Cialowicz, Studies in
Ancient Art and Civilization 8 (1997): 11-27; Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 35-42; Cialowicz,
La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 196-207; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period
and the First Dynasty, pp. 51 -57.
451
large ceremonial maces in a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Magar (Fig.
394)—suggests that large ceremonial maces, such as the Narmer Macehead and the
Scorpion Macehead, were displayed prominently in Egyptian temples during the
Protodynastic and Early Dynastic periods.97
Thus, throughout the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods, the piriform mace
appeared as a symbol of royal military authority and served as the primary tool with
which the king was able to subjugate his enemies and, thereby, to maintain order in Egypt
and the cosmos. During the Predynastic Period, the royal practice of executing enemy
leaders and mortally wounded enemy combatants on the field of battle after an Egyptian
victory evolved into a ritual that the king performed during the grandest of all Egyptian
royal celebrations: the Sed Festival. The royal smiting scene appears as part of the
celebration of the Sed Festival, e.g., in the painted tableau of Hierakonpolis Tomb 100
and on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle. In several instances the royal smiting scene
commemorates a specific military victory of the Egyptian king during the Protodynastic
and Early Dynastic periods, e.g., Narmer's victories over Lower Egypt and Lybia.
However, the royal smiting scene also served as a general—though potent—iconographic
symbol of Egyptian royal military power without reference to a particular military
conflict, e.g., as a decorative emblem on a ceremonial mace handle from the Main
Deposit at Hierakonpolis.
Though the royal smiting scene continued to serve as an important symbol of
royal military power throughout all of pharaonic Egyptian history, with a few exceptions,
97
For discussion of the display of large ceremonial maces on this bone mace handle from the Main Deposit
at Hierakonpolis, see Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 77-82, figs. 1-2;
Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, p. 13, fig. 6. For the display of large ceremonial maces in a
Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Magar, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 101, fig. 22.
452
at the end of the Predynastic Period the performance of the royal smiting ritual ceased to
appear regularly in the ritual iconography of the Sed Festival. A depiction of the royal
smiting ritual appears, e.g., in a Sed Festival relief of Pepi I from the Wadi Maghara in
Sinai (Fig. 8); in this royal stela, the king performs the Konigslauf and the royal smiting
• OS
ritual during the celebration of his first Sed Festival. The caption to the smiting scene
notes that Pepi I is "smiting the Mntyw-Asiatics and all foreign lands" (skr Mntyw his.wt
nb.(wt)). Another depiction of the royal smiting ritual appears in a Sed Festival relief of
Merenptah from Kom el-Qal'a (Fig. 395); the relief depicts the double enthronement of
the king and the performance of the royal smiting ritual at the king's Sed Festival." In
the double-enthronement scene, Merenptah receives symbols for long life, stability, and
millions of Sed Festivals from the gods Horus and Seth; in the royal smiting scene, the
king presents his prisoners to Ptah at the steps of the god's shrine and exclaims: di(=i) n
hpS=k hty dw.w m nb ti.w nb.w, "I deliver the one who traverses the mountains to your
sword as the lord of all lands!"
6.1.2. DISPLAY OF DEFEATED ENEMY COMBATANTS AT NAUTICAL PROCESSIONS
Another notable royal military victory ritual that occurred during the Predynastic
Period as part of the celebration of the Sed Festival is a boat procession at which captive
For discussion of the depiction of the Konigslaufand the royal smiting ritual at the first Sed Festival of
Pepi I in a relief from the Wadi Maghara in Sinai, see Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 2, pi. 116a; Moret, Du
caractere religieux de la royaute pharaonique, p. 264, fig. 88; Gardiner and Peet, Inscriptions of Sinai,
Vol. 1, pi. 8, no. 16; Helck, in Biologie von Sozialstrukturen bei Tier undMensch, p. 83, fig. 1; Hall, The
Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, p. 11, fig. 20; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 17.
99
For discussion of the depiction of the double-enthronement of the king and the royal smiting ritual at the
Sed Festival of Merenptah in a relief from Memphis, see Petrie, Palace ofApries, pp. 18-19, pi. 21;
Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, p. 98, cat. no. A159; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum
Sedfest, pp. 29, 70, 72-73, fig. 17, with references.
453
and/or dead enemy combatants were denigrated and placed on display. The earliest
example of this motif (Fig. 52f) appears in the representation of the Sed Festival on the
painted tableau of the Gebelein Linen (Naqada IC-IIA). In the bottom center portion of
this tableau—which also depicts hippopotamus hunting, celebratory gestures, and
dancing—a bound prisoner kneels beside the cabin of ceremonial barque with a crescent-
shaped hull that is manned by several rowers; a piriform mace attached to the boat's
cabin hangs ominously above the prisoner's head and suggests that his ultimate fate rests
in the hands of the Upper Egyptian ruler, who metes out punishment for his enemies with
a swift strike from his mace.101 The unidentifed Predynastic Upper Egyptian ruler
celebrating the Sed Festival sits in another barque that appears directly above the barque
on which the prisoner is displayed; the festival outfit worn by the ruler in this scene
includes the long Sed Festival robe and a cap.102 In the context of this ritual scene, both
For recent discussions of the display of defeated enemies at Predynastic, royal boat processions, see
primarily Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97-99; Hendrickx, eta/., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 169-178; Darnell,
The Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele,
etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion
of the boat procession as part of the Sed Festival and its connection to the rebirth imagery of the solar
cycle, see Chapter 7.
101
For discussion of the depiction of a captive prisoner on board a boat in the painted tableau of the
Gebelein Linen, see Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 5; Landstrom, Ships of
the Pharaohs, p. 14, fig. 22; Aksamit, Fontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 156, 159, 165, fig.
5; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 255-256,270-272,279-281, fig. 15; Adams and Cialowicz,
Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-37, fig. 23; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 39-48, fig. 1; Morrow and
Morrow, in Rohl, ed., Followers of Horus: Eastern Desert Survey: Supplement, p. 184; Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 155-157, fig. 17; Campagno, GM188 (2002): 56-57; Gilbert, Weapons,
Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 86, fig. 7.2; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 109;
Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power.
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene in the painted tableau of the Gebelein Linen, see Section
5.1; Section 7.2. For discussion of the dancing and celebratory gestures depicted on the Gebelein Linen,
see Section 3.1.1.2.
12
For discussion of the image of the king seated in the royal barque in the painted tableau of the Gebelein
Linen, see Section 7.1.1; Section 7.4.3. For discussion of the outfit worn by the Upper Egyptian ruler in the
painted tableau of the Gebelein Linen and its similarity to the outfit worn by the "master-of-beasts" on the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see references collected in Section 5.2.1, footnote 35.
454
the mace and the boat on which the prisoner is displayed likely appear as symbols of
royal military power.
On the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (c. Naqada IIC-IIIA), directly
below the hand-to-hand combat scene, several dead enemies are strewn about the ground
(or perhaps in the water) between two rows of ships (Fig. 58).103 The top row consists of
two boats with high upturned prows and sterns—a native Egyptian design with
superficial similarities to contemporaneous Mesopotamian boat types.104 The bottom row
For discussion of the scene depicting defeated enemy combatants and two rows of boats on the Gebel el-
Arak knife handle, see Benedite, MonPiot 22 (1916): 8-12, 31-32, fig. 9; Petrie, Ancient Egypt (1917): 26-
28, 31, 35; Frankfort, Studies in Early Pottery of the Near East, Vol. 1, pp. 138-142; Boreux, Etudes de
nautique egyptienne, pp. 41-48, figs. 9-11; Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp.
38-39; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 122, 124; Schott, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaftzu Berlin
84 (1952): 12-14, fig. 3; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 537-539, fig. 359; Asselberghs, Chaos en
Beheersing, pp. 276-277, 313, figs. 55, 58; LandstrSm, Ships of the Pharaohs, pp. 14-15, fig. 18; Ridley,
The Unification of Egypt, pp. 18-19; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 230; Williams and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 248-251,263; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 136, footnote 20; Davis, Canonical
Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 127-128, fig. 6.6; Boehmer, MDA1KA1 (1991): 51-53; Sievertsen,
Baghdader Mitteilungen 23 (1992): 14-18,40-47; Vertesalji, in Charpin and Joannes, eds., La circulation
des biens, despersonnes etdes idees dans le Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 30-35, figs. 1-2; Czichon and
Sievertsen, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 51, 54; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and Ships, p. 17; Pittman, in Cooper and
Schwartz, eds., Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century, p. 11, fig. 1; Mark, From Egypt
to Mesopotamia, pp. 69-87, 112, fig. 34; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 44-45, 55, fig. 38;
Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-352, fig. 2; Dreyer, in
Ziegler, ed., L'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 201; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, p. 239;
Rohl, Followers of Horus:Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 7-8; Morrow and Morrow, in Rohl,
ed., Followers of Horus:Eastern Desert Survey: Supplement, pp. 183-185; Delange, Les dossiers
d'archeologie 257 (2000): 55-56; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-171, fig. 20; Morenz,
SAK30 (2002): 277-283, fig. 3; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 71-72; Kohler, in van den Brink
and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 503; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p.
93, fig. 8.12; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 114; Gilbert, Ancient Egyptian Sea Power, p. 12.
104
For the unlikely suggestion that the boats with high upturned prows and sterns on the Gebel el-Arak
knife handle are a non-Egyptian—perhaps Mesopotamian—type of boat, see with caution Benedite,
MonPiot 22 (1916): 8-12, 31-32; Petrie, Ancient Egypt (1917): 26-28, 31, 35; Frankfort, Studies in Early
Pottery of the Near East, Vol. 1, pp. 138-142; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp. 41-48; Winkler,
Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 38-39; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 537-539;
Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, pp. 14-15; Boehmer, MDA1KA1 (1991): 51-53; Sievertsen, Baghdader
Mitteilungen 23(1992): 14-18,40-47; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and Ships, p. 17; Mark, From Egypt to
Mesopotamia, pp. 69-87, 112, with references; Rohl, Followers of Horus: Eastern Desert Survey Report,
Vol. 1, pp. 7-8; Morrow and Morrow, in Rohl, ed., Followers of Horus: Eastern Desert Survey:
Supplement, pp. 183-185. This type of boat is found often in Predynastic and Protodynastic Egyptian
representational art, and there is no convincing evidence that it is anything other than a native Egyptian
form; for the prevalence of boat with high prows and sterns in Predynastic and Protogynastic Egyptian
iconography, see Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 18-19; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p.
136, footnote 20; Williams and Logan, JNES46 (1987): 248-251,263; Davis, Canonical Tradition in
455
consists of three boats with crescent-shaped hulls and deck structures—including a kiosk
with an angled awning—similar to those of the boat in the Konigslauf scene of the
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131d) and to those of the leftmost
boat in the newly discovered Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus
Qa-a in the western Thebai'd (Fig. 300e).105 The Egyptian ruler does not appear on board
any of the boats on the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle; however, in the context
of the nautical procession and the group of lifeless corpses of Egypt's defeated enemies,
the boats themselves serve as a potent symbol for Egyptian royal military power.
In a damaged nautical scene (Fig. 53) on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum
knife handle (c. Naqada IIC-IIIA), two distinct types of boats are organized into two
separate rows in a fashion quite similar to the Gebel el-Arak knife handle.106 The
Egyptian ruler, who wears the white crown and the long Sed Festival robe, sits in a high-
ended boat in the top row of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle; the bottom row
consists of three boats with crescent-shaped hulls. In the heavily damaged portion of the
knife handle to the left of the royal barque in the top row, there are traces of a group of
three bound prisoners. The presence of prisoners in this scene strongly suggests that the
Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 127-128; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga
Lipinska, pp. 339-352; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-171.
105
For discussion of the "les cabines similaires aux kiosques heb-sed" on the the three boats on the bottom
row of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and on the boat in Scene 6 of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis, see Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 350-
351; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 171. Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Ritual
Power, also notes the similarity of the deck structures on the these boats, as well as the deck structures on
the leftmost boat (fig. 8) in the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a. For further
discussion of the kiosk with angled awning in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 and in the Wadi of the
Horus Qa-a inscription, see Section 4.1.1; Section 4.3.4.
106
For discussion of the boat procession on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see
primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-252,273,275, figs. 1,3; Mark, From Egypt to
Mesopotamia, pp. 72-74, fig. 37; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 44-45, fig. 30; Dreyer, in
Ziegler, ed., L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 200; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 172-
173, fig. 21; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 176.
456
boat procession on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle is a royal military
victory parade.
A recently discovered Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus
Qa-a in the western Thebai'd (c. Naqada IIC-IID)—a significant new contribution for the
study of Predynastic rock art and royal iconography—also demonstrates the importance
7
of the boat as a symbol of royal power in Predynastic Egypt (Fig. 300).' A standing
prisoner, who has been shot with an arrow, is bound to a large pole at the prow of a
barque with a crescent-shaped hull in the right portion of the tableau; a piriform mace is
attached to the pole directly above the head of the prisoner (Fig. 300f). Like the
Gebelein Linen, the mace hanging above the head of the bound prisoner in this rock
inscription alludes to the royal smiting scene. The placement of this symbol of royal
military power within the larger context of the tableau's zoomorphic imagery, hunting
scenes, ceremonial standards, and depictions of sacrifice confirms that the display of
defeated enemy combatants at the royal boat procession formed part of grand royal ritual
celebrations, such as the Sed Festival, during the Predynastic Period.
The right portion of a Protodynastic rock inscription at Gebel Sheikh Suleiman (c.
Naqada IIIB) depicts the corpses of four defeated enemies, which are strewn about the
ground (or perhaps in the water) below a high-ended barque (Fig. 383); a fifth enemy,
who is alive but apparently has been struck by an arrow, is restrained and bound to the
107
For discussion of the late Naqada II rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, see Darnell,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97-99, figs. 19-20; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual
Power.
108
For the prisoner attached to a large pole at the prow of a barque in the right portion of the inscription,
see Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, figs. 10-11. The large addax
behind the prisoner on the boat reinforces the sacrificial nature of the scene, since the addax often appears
as a sacrificial animal on D-Ware pottery. The gazelle that is struck by an arrow in the section of the
tableau to the right of the barque also serves as a parallel to the bound prisoner; for the gazelle struck by an
arrow, see Darnell, op. cit., figs. 12-13.
457
barque with a rope. The empty falcon-topped serekh in the left portion of the tableau
indicates that the major Gebel Sheikh Suleiman inscription is a royal Egyptian document;
however, the inscription cannot be dated to a specific Egyptian ruler within Dynasty 0.110
The location of this rock inscription in the vicinity of the second cataract in Lower Nubia
suggests that the defeated enemies beside the boat in the right portion of the inscription
are the Nubian enemies of the victorious Egyptian ruler; this interpretation is confirmed
by the bow in the hand of a restrained enemy in the left portion of the inscription, which
writes (T3)-Sty, "Nubia." The serekh and the high-ended barque in this inscription both
serve as symbols of the royal military power of the unnamed protodynastic Egyptian ruler
who led his forces into Lower Nubia.
A late Protodynastic rock inscription in the Nag el-Hamdulat)—near the
traditional border between Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia—includes an image of the
white-crowned Egyptian ruler walking in a procession, as well as a depiction of a high-
ended barque with several large ceremonial maces as decorative elements beside the
For discussion of the depiction of dead enemies, a bound prisoner, and a boat in a rock inscription from
Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, see primarily Arke\\,JEA 36 (1950): 27-31, fig. 1, pi. 10; Landstrom, Ships of the
Pharaohs, pp. 24-25, fig. 73; Williams, etal, JNES46 (1987): 263-264,282-285, fig. lb, with references;
Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 126-127, fig. 35; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswdrtiger
Bevblkerung als Mittel dgyptischer Politik bis zum Ende des Mittleren Reiches, pp. 54-57, fig. 6; Gautier
and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 119, fig. 16; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 177-179, fig.
5.3.2; Wilkinson, MDAIK 56 (2000): 389-390; Midant-Reynes, Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 225-226, fig. 14;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 62-63, fig. 3; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 88-89, fig. 51, with references; Kohler, in van den Brink and
Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 502, fig. 31.5; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg und Sieg:
Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altdgypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19,21-22, fig. 10; Jimenez-Serrano, in
Krzyzaniak, etal., eds., Cultural Markers in the Later Prehistory of'Northeastern Africa, pp. 258-261,263,
fig. 3; Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 59-63, 79, fig. 2.3; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and
Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 93-94, fig. 8.13; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99, 103; Hendrickx, etal.,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-176; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power;
Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in
110
For the dating of the major Gebel Sheikh Suleiman inscription, see primarily Williams, etal., JNES 46
(1987): 263-264, 282-285; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First
Dynasty, pp. 88-89, with references; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 502.
458
deck-structures (Fig. 396).111 No prisoners are depicted on board the boat; however, the
ceremonial maces clearly indicate that the boat symbolizes the Egyptian ruler's military
authority in the important border town of Aswan.
Another decorated object that depicts the ritual display of defeated enemies at the
royal boat procession as an iconographic symbol of the Egyptian ruler's military
domination of Lower Nubia during the Protodynastic Period is the so-called Qustul
incense burner (c. Naqada IIIB) from the A-Group Cemetery L at Qustul in Lower Nubia
(Fig. 54).112 The decoration on the outside of this cylindrical incense burner consists of a
procession of three high-ended barques toward the niched brick facade of a palace.
Inside the first barque, a helmsman carrying an oar restrains a bound prisoner who is
kneeling on a raised, sloping platform.113 In the second barque, an unidentified, white-
crowned Egyptian ruler sits next to an empty, falcon-topped serekh and a rosette. A
bound prisoner is attached to the prow of a third barque; a large quadruped—most likely
a lion that serves as a symbol for the Egyptian ruler—stands inside of the barque and
faces toward the prisoner in an aggressive posture.l u
111
For discussion of the late Protodynastic Nag el-Hamdulab inscription, see Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil
19 (2009): 169-178, with references.
112
For discussion of the decoration on the Qustul incense burner, see primarily DeVries, in Johnson and
Wente, eds., Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, pp. 55-74, figs. 13-18; Williams, University of
Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 138-145, pi. 34; Williams and Logan,
JNES 46 (1987): 252-253; Williams, CCdE 1 (2000): 10-11; Gatto, Archeo-Nil 16 (2006): 70-71, fig. 7;
Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99, 103; Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-176; Darnell, Wadiof
the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds.,
Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
113
The helmsman with an oar at the stern of the boat in Scene 3 of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis provides an intriguing parallel to the helmsman on the Qustul incense burner; in both cases,
the helmsman may represent the Egyptian ruler. For discussion of the helmsman in the painted tableau of
Tomb 100, see Section 7.4.3.
114
The quadruped has been variously interpreted as a baboon or a feline; for the identification of the
quadruped within the barque, see DeVries, in Johnson and Wente, eds., Studies in Honor of George R.
Hughes, pp. 70-74; Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1,
459
In a composite military victory scene on the verso of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39),
the king, his attendants, and the Followers of Horus walk in procession to a post-combat
battlefield to inspect the bound, decapitated, and mutilated corpses of the king's enemies,
which have been neatly arranged in two rows below a high-ended barque.115 Narmer's
inspection of these corpses probably represents a post-battle census of war dead and
captive enemy combatants.116 The presence of restraints on the beheaded corpses in front
of the king suggests that these enemy combatants were captured alive and executed on
pp. 140-141; Gatto, Archeo-Nil 16 (2006): 71; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175. The antelope
behind the bound prisoner confirms the sacrificial nature of the scene, since the antelope is a well-known
sacrificial animal in Predynastic (and later dynastic) Egyptian iconography; for discussion of antelopes
similar desert game animals (such as gazelles, ibexes, and oryxes) as sacrificial animals in Predynastic
Egyptian iconography, see Section 5.2.4; Section 5.3.2.
115
For discussion of the boat and the royal inspection of enemy corpses on the Narmer Palette, see
primarily Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 29; Anthes, ZAS 65 (1930): 29-30, fig. 3; Hassan,
Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, p. 36, fig. 7; Schott, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu
Berlin 84 (1952): 22,25; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 116-
120; Davies and Friedman, Nekhen News 10 (1998): 22; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 182-
188, fig. 29; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-513, with references;
Jimenez-Serrano,/?oya/ Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82-86, fig. 46,
with references; O'Connor, in Tait, ed., Never Had the Like Occurred, pp. 157-158, fig. 9.3; Muhlestein,
Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 55-58; Gilbert, Ancient Egyptian Sea Power, p. 13; Hendrickx and
Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming).
For further discussion, see also Quibell, ZAS 36 (1898): 81-84, pi. 12; Boreux, Etudes de nautique
egyptienne, pp. 89-90, fig. 29; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 595-599, fig. 392; Yadin, Israel Exploration
Journal 5 (1955): 1-16; Kaplony, ZAS 83 (1958): 76-78; Kaiser, ZAS 85 (1960): 118-137; Asselberghs,
Chaos en Beheersing, p. 291, fig. 169; Kaiser, ZAS 91 (1964): 90; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 48-
52; Sliwa, Forschungen und Berichte 16 (1974): 99, 107-108, fig. 2; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987):
263; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 90 (1990): 259-263, fig. 1; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 59; Fairservis, JARCE 28
(1991): l-20,fig.2;Schulman,5£511 (1991-1992): 79-105; Hornung.Wea into Image, p. 151;Mark,
From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 89, 96-97, fig. 49; Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean
and the Near East, pp. 484-486, fig. 1, with references; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 76-86;
Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 267, 270; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 49,
68; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 245-247, fig. 22; Morenz, SAK30 (2002): 277-283, figs.
2,4; Davies and Friedman, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian Museum Collections around the World,
Vol. 1, pp. 243-246; Morenz, Orientalia 72 (2003): 183-193; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in
Early Egypt, p. 95, fig. 8.16; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 38, 346, fig. 14a;
Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor ofAli Radwan, Vol. 1, pp. 253-254, fig. 1; Droux, BSEG 27
(2005-2007): 38-40,42, fig. 2; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 41-44,207-208, fig. 2.2;
Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1121-1126, fig. 1.
116
For further discussion of this scene on the verso of the Narmer Palette as a post-battle census of war
dead and captive enemy combatants, see Section 6.1.3.
460
the field of battle as a form of post-battle ritual.117 The high-ended barque above the
corpses strongly alludes to another post-battle military victory ritual: the dipslay of
enemy combatants at the royal boat procession. The hieroglyphic signs above the corpses
and the boat indicate that the royal god "Horus the Harpooner" (Hr msnw) presides over
the victory rituals at a place called the "Great Door" (r3-wr)—an unknown locality
probably on one of Egypt's border.118
Though the display of defeated enemies at the royal boat procession apparently
ceased to be performed in connection with the celebration of the Sed Festival by the end
of the Predynastic Period, the practice of celebrating military victory in this apparently
brutal way continued in Egypt during the pharaonic period. For example, 18th Dynasty
historical sources indicate that Tuthmosis I and Amenhotep II displayed the upside down
bodies of ritually slaughtered or captive foreign military leaders on the prow of the royal
barque at a nautical, military victory procession following successful military campaigns
117
For the view that the beheaded enemy combatants on the verso of the Narmer Palette were executed as a
form of post-battle military victory ritual, see primarily Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, pp.
55-58; O'Connor, in Tait, ed., Never Had the Like Occurred, p. 157; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and
Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 95.
118
For discussion of the hieroglyphic inscription above the corpses and the boats on the verso of the
Narmer Palette, see Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, p. 36, fig. 7; Kaplony, ZAS 83 (1958): 76-
78; Kaiser, ZAS 91 (1964): 90; Fairservis, JARCE 28 (1991): 15; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds.,
Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 116-117; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, p. 97; Williams, in Phillips,
ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, p. 485; Gundlach, Der Pharao und sein Staat, pp. 76-86;
Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, p. 246; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 184; Jimenez-
Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 84-86; Morenz, Bild-
Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, p. 38; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor ofAli Radwan,
Vol. 1, pp. 253-254; Hendrickx and Eyckerman, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Recent Discoveries and Latest
Researches in Egyptology (forthcoming). The "harpooner" and the decapitated enemy corpses on the verso
of the Narmer Palette recall a similar scene on a seal impression of Den in which the king harpoons a
hippopotamus while standing above the decapitated corpses of several human enemies; for discussion of
this seal impression of Den, see Mttller, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 477-493, figs. 1-3;
Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology
(forthcoming).
461
in Nubia and Syria-Palestine, respectively.119 In a variant of this ritual that appears on a
relief fragment of Tutankhamun from Karnak, a captive Asiatic military leader is
displayed inside of a cage on the prow of the royal barque as a form of military victory
ritual (Fig. 397).120 A connection between the procession of the royal barque and the
ritual punishment of foreign enemies during the dynastic period is further attested by
several New Kingdom and 3rd Intermediate Period reliefs that depict the royal smiting
scene as a decorative element on the side of a kiosk on the royal barque (Fig. 398).
6.1.3. INSPECTION & CENSUS OF DEFEATED ENEMY COMBATANTS
For discussion of the display of upside down foreign military leaders on the prow of the royal barques
of Tuthmosis I and Amenhotep II, see Werner, JARCE 23 (1986): 107; Muhlestein, Violence in the Service
of Order, pp. 59-61, 174-182, 350-351; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 18-19, 218, note
31. For the description of Tuthmosis I's display of a Nubian military leader on the prow of the royal
barque that appears in the autobiographical text of Ahmose son of Ibana, see Sethe, Urkunden der 18.
Dynastie, Fasc. 1, pp. 8-9. For the description of Amenhotep IPs dispaly of seven Syria-Palestinian
military leaders on the prow of the royal barque that appears on a pair of royal victory stelae (from
Elephantine and Amada), see Helck, Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Fasc. 17, pp. 1297-1298; Beylage, Aufbau
der kbniglichen Stelentexte vom Beginn der 18. Dynastie bis zur Amarnazeit, Vol. 1, pp. 278-279; Klug,
Konigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis III, pp. 283-285,290-292. Darnell and Manassa,
loc. cit., connect the symbolism of Tuthmosis Ps display of the upside down body of his Nubian enemy on
the royal barque to "the solar deity in his bark sailing over the back of the defeated chaos serpent Apep."
Darnell and Manassa's interpretation of the solar significance of this 18* Dynasty example of the display of
foreign enemies on the prow of the royal barque may be equally applicable to similar Predynastic and
Protodynastic examples of this ritual. Grimm, JEA 73 (1987): 202-206, has highlighted a variant of this
ritual in which a captive foreign leader is displayed within a cage on the prow of the royal barque;
120
For the relief fragment of Tutankhamun from Karnak that depicts a captive Asiatic leader inside of a
cage on board the royal barque, see Chevrier, ASAE 53 (1956): 11, pi. 7; Grimm, JEA 73 (1987): 202-206,
fig. 2, pi. 14; Grimm, SAK16 (1989): 111-119, fig.l; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp.
182,267, note 206. Grimm's assertion that an "enigmatic wooden object" from the pyramid complex of
Cheops at Giza is an example of this type of cage is uncertain. For further discussion of this "enigmatic
wooden object" from Giza, see also Lehner and Lacovara, JEA 71 (1985): 169-174; Muhlestein, Violence
in the Service of Order, pp. 92-94, 176-177, 350.
121
For discussion of examples of the royal smiting scene as a decorative element on a kiosk on the royal
barque in reliefs of Akhenaten, Ramesses III, and Herihor, see Hall, The Pharaoh Smites his Enemies, pp.
25-26, 36,41, figs. 40, 66, 82; Werner, JARCE 23 (1986): 120-121, fig. 19; Muhlestein, Violence in the
Service of Order, pp. 350-351. For discussion of a depiction of Nefertiti smiting a foreign woman as a
decorative element on a kiosk on the queen's barque on a talatat block from Hermopolis, see Hall, op. cit,
pp. 25-26, fig. 39; Werner, op. cit., pp. 120-121, fig. 18; Roth, Gebieterin aller Lander, pp. 27-29, with
references; Petschel and von Falck, eds., Pharao siegt immer, p. 58, cat. no. 52; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 34-35, 225, note 120, fig. 4.
462
Another military victory ritual that develops in the Predynastic Period as a
component of the Sed Festival is the post-battle royal inspection and census of enemy
casualities and prisoners of war. After a successful Egyptian military campaign, the
Egyptian ruler would visit the field of battle, where he viewed the lifeless corpses of his
fallen enemies and presided over a procession of prisoners of war away from the
battlefield. On the recto of the Battlefield Palette (c. Naqada IIIB), the robed Egyptian
ruler himself participates in this procession by leading a bound captive away from a
i •yy
battlefield that is littered with the corpses of his enemies (Fig. 57). The procession on
the Battlefield Palette also includes two additional bound enemy captives who are in the
grasp of a pair of human-armed Egyptian royal military standards. Similarly, bound
rhy.t-birds and bows—which probably represent Lower Egyptian rebels and foreign
enemies of the Egyptian king—are attached to standards in the top register of the
Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21).123 The depiction of the symbolic procession of bound
For discussion of the procession of prisoners of war on the Battlefield Palette, see primarily Vandier,
Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 584-587, fig. 385; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 289, 335, figs. 151, 153;
Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 39-42, pi. 14, with references; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 42-43,
fig. 11; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 231 -232, pi. 28a; Davis, Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian
Art, pp. 79, 149-151, fig. 6.11; Cialowicz, Lespalettes egyptiennes, pp. 53-54, with references; Davis,
Masking the Blow, pp. 119-144, figs. 33-34; Menu, BIFAO 96 (1996): 339-340; Williams, in Phillips, ed.,
Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, pp. 484, 488, 490, fig. 4; Midant-Reynes, Prehistory of
Egypt, pp. 242-243, fig. 20; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 176-179, fig. 26, with references;
O'Connor, JARCE 39 (2002): 12-13, 19, fig. 2; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the
Levant, p. 502, fig. 31.4; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative
Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19-20,22, fig. 1; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors
and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 92-94, fig. 8.10; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 213. The
identification of the robed man on the Battlefield Palette is controversial; for an overview of scholarly
discussion of the îdentification of this individual, see Cialowicz, op. cit, pp. 178-179. For the
identification of the robed man as the Egyptian ruler, see primarily Menu, op. cit., p. 340; O'Connor, op.
cit., p. 19.
123
For discussion of the bound rhy.t-birds and bows that are attached to standards in the top register of the
Scorpion Macehead, see primarily Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 9, pis. 25, 26c; Quibell and
Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, p. 41; Schott, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84
(1952): 18-21, fig. 5; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 600-601, fig. 393; Baumgartel, The Cultures of
Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 117-118; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 60-62; Baines, Fecundity
Figures, p. 42; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 234-236, with references; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues
463
enemy captives on the Scorpion Macehead suggests that this ritual formed part of the
celebration of the Sed Festival by the Protodynastic Upper Egyptian ruler Horus
Scorpion.124
The Narmer Macehead provides further evidence for the inclusion of military
victory rituals in the celebration of the Sed Festival during the Protodynastic Period (Fig.
60). In the portion of the tableau to the right of the royal stepped dais and below the
cermonial running course is a tally of war booty being presented to the enthroned king:
cattle (400,000), caprids (1,422,000), and bound human captives (120,000).125 Narmer is
des periodes Predynastique etArchaique dans la Vallee du Nil, pp. 32-38, with references; Monnet-Saleh,
BIFAO 90 (1990): 263-264, 269-270, 272, fig. 2; Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 225; Gautier and Midant-
Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 88, 92-93,108-111, figs. 1, 13-15, with references; Baines, in O'Connor and
Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 119; Menu, BIFAO 96 (1996): 340-341; Cialowicz, Studies
in Ancient Art and Civilization 8 (1997): 14, 18,21, 23, with references; Adams and Cialowicz,
Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 43-44; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 64-66, fig. 13; Midant-Reynes,
Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 249-250; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 197, 200, fig. 35; Morenz,
Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 140-142, 153-154, with references; Wengrow, Archaeology
of Early Egypt, p. 213. For discussion of the symbolism of the rhy.t-birA in general, see also Nibbi,
Discussions in Egyptology 46 (2000): 39-48, with references.
124
For discussion of the foundation rites and boat processional rite of the Sed Festival depicted on the
Scorpion Macehead, see Section 7.5. For discussion of the music and dance rituals of the Sed Festival on
the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.1.2. For discussion of the palanquin procession of the royal
daughters at the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.2.1.2.
125
The image of a bound, kneeling human figure that is associated with the number 120,000 suggests that
the number represents captive enemy combatants rather than enemy casualties. For discussion of the cattle
and caprids being presented to Narmer on the Narmer Macehead, see Section 5.4. For discussion of the
120,000 bound human captives who are presented to Narmer on the Narmer Macehead, see primarily
Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 9, pis. 25,26b; Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, p.
41; Schott, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84 (1952): 25-28, fig. 7; Vandier,
Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 603-604, fig. 394; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 65-68; Sliwa, Forschungen
undBerichte 16 (1974): 109-110, fig. 13; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des periodes Predynastique et
Archaique dans la Vallee du Nil, pp. 39-40, fig. 4; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 99; Kemp,
Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 60, fig. 20g; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 90 (1990): 265-
266, fig. 3; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswartiger Bevblkerung als Mittel dgyptischer Politik bis
zum Ende des Mittleren Reiches, pp. 33-41, figs. 3-4; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient
Egyptian Kingship, pp. 118-119; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 68-73, fig. 14; Logan, in Teeter
and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 264; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 203-204, fig. 36;
Whitehouse, MDAIK58 (2002): 433, fig. 3; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic
Period, p. 52; Raffaele, in Bickel and Loprieno, eds., Basel Egyptology Prize, pp. 107-108; Gilbert,
Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 95, fig. 8.17; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in
Honor ofAli Radwan, Vol. 1, p. 256; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 211. For an alternative
view that the number 120,000 refers to a census of population of Lower Egypt or Egypt as a whole, see
Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 57-58; Yurco, JSSEA 25 (1995): 85-95.
464
known to have conducted military campaigns against Lower Egypt and Libya;
however, since the Narmer Macehead does not mention a specific military campaign, it is
not clear whether the tally of seized property and captured enemy combatants refers to
total amount of war booty from a single campaign or perhaps several campaigns.
Though the practice of presenting captured enemy combatants and war booty to the king
at the Sed Festival is not otherwise attested with any certainty, the practice of counting
and registering prisoners of war is known to have been practiced during the pharaonic
period, e.g., in the the reliefs commemorating Ramesses Ill's victory over the Sea
Peoples at Medinet Habu (Fig. 399).128
In a related military practice, Egyptian soldiers severed the hands and/or phalluses
of enemies whom they killed in battle; the acculumation of large piles of these severed
body parts facilitated the creation of a post-battle census of enemy casualties. The
earliest definite examples of this practice appear in the New Kingdom, e.g., in the reliefs
commemorating Ramesses Ill's victory over the Libyans at Medinet Habu (Fig. 400).
A close inspection of the military victory scene on the verso of the Narmer Palette (Fig.
39) reveals that nine of the ten beheaded enemies who are laid out in two rows before
126
For Narmer's campaigns against the Nubians and the Libyans, see Section 6.1.1.
127
The exceedingly large number of cattle, caprids, and captives being presented to Narmer might make
more sense if the tally reflects the total from multiple military campaigns over multiple years—perhaps the
grand total for all of Narmer's military campaigns prior to the celebration of the Sed Festival.
128
For the counting and registering of prisoners of war in the reliefs commemorating Ramesses Ill's victory
over the Sea Peoples at Medinet Habu, see Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 1 pi. 42; Drews, JNES
59 (2000): 172, 175, fig. 6, Panel XV; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 68.
129
For discussion of this practice from the New Kingdom onwards, see Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 76-77,240, note 146; Davies and Friedman, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds.,
Egyptian Museum Collections around the World, Vol. 1, p. 245, with references; Galan, in Eldamaty and
Trad, eds., op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 441-452. For the counting of severed hands and phalluses in the reliefs
commemorating Ramesses Ill's victory over the Libyans at Medinet Habu, see Epigraphic Survey, Medinet
Habu, Vol. 1, pis. 22-23; Drews, JNES 59 (2000): 173-174, Panel IX.
465
Narmer have had their phalluses removed and placed above their heads.130 The military
victory scene on the verso of the Narmer Palette does not include large piles of severed
hands and phalluses like those depicted at Medinet Habu; however, the depiction of nine
severed phalluses on the Narmer Palette very likely alludes to a post-battle census of
enemy casualties. A similarly dated, fragmentary carved ivory object from the Main
Deposit at Hierakonpolis depicts twelve decapitated prisoners neatly organized in four
rows behind a group of seated men wearing feathered headdresses (Fig. 401);
unfortunately, because of the poor state of preservation of this object, it cannot be
ascertained whether the phalluses of the decapitated prisoners are intact or have been
removed.132
The decoration on the bases of two small statues of Khasekhemwy from
Hierakonpolis connects the post-battle census of enemy combatants to the celebration of
the Sed Festival during the 2nd Dynasty (Figs. 92-93). The two statues—one slate, the
For discussion of the king's inspection of the corpses of his enemies on the Narmer Palette, see
references collected in Section 6.1.2, footnote 115. Davies and Friedman, Nekhen News 10 (1998): 22,
were the first to point out the depiction of severed phalluses on the verso of the Narmer Palette; cf. also
Davies and Friedman, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian Museum Collections around the World, Vol. 1,
pp. 243-246.
131
Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 86, footnote
733, similarly concludes that the "severed heads and penises could be related to a count of dead enemies
after a battle." Davies and Friedman, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian Museum Collections around the
World, Vol. 1, pp. 243-246, point out that severed phalluses were used for post-battle census-taking during
the New Kingdom; however, the authors ultimately reject the notion that the severed phalluses depicted on
the Narmer Palette might have been used for this purpose. Instead, Davies and Friedman, Nekhen News 10
(1998): 22, suggest that the "severance of the heads and members of the enemy signifies not only their utter
humiliation, but also their total extinction in this world and the next." For a similar interpretation of the
removal of the phalluses of the dead prisoners on the Narmer Palette as a purely punitive and humiliating
act, see also O'Connor, in Tait, ed., Never Had the Like Occurred, p. 157; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and
Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 95; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor ofAli Radwan, Vol. 1, pp.
253-254.
For discussion of the decapitated prisoners depicted on this fragmentary ivory object from the Main
Deposit at Hierakonpolis, see Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 6, pi. 6.7; Droux, BSEG 27
(2005-2007): 33-42, fig. 1. Without any definitive conclusion, Droux, op. cit, p. 39, also considers the
possibility that the decapitated prisoners depicted on this ivory object might have had their phalluses
removed.
466
other limestone—both depict the enthroned, white-crowned king wearing the long Sed
Festival robe.133 The decoration on the base of each statue depicts the unbound,
contorted bodies of numerous fallen enemy combatants; the caption to the scene
describes the quashing of rebellion in the Delta (skr (t3)-mhw, "smiting Lower Egypt")
and includes a tally of enemy casualties and/or captive enemy combatants ("47,209").134
The combined imagery of these statues and the decoration of their bases records a ritual
in which defeated enemies appear at the feet of the enthroned king at the Sed Festival.
The placement of war booty and bound enemy combatants at the base of Narmer's
stepped dais on the Narmer Macehead provides an earlier parallel to this ritual (Fig. 60).
Later examples of this ritual motif appear, e.g., in the depictions of the enthroned king in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III from the Tomb of Kheruef. In the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, the texts carved on the platform of the royal tnfi.t-daxs
describe the subservience of all foreign peoples to the Egyptian king (Fig. 138).135 The
decoration on the platform of the royal tnt?.t-dais in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third
For discussion of both statues' iconographic representation of the enthroned king wearing the long Sed
Festival robe, seeQuibell andPetrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 11, pis. 39,41; Hornungand Staehelin,
Studien zum Sedfest, p. 19; Sourouzian, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 1, pp. 507-
508, with references; Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des Alten Reiches, pp. 141-
143, pi. 51, with references; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 78.
134
For discussion of the depiction of defeated enemies on the bases of these two statues of Khasekhemwy,
see Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 11, pi. 40; Junker, in Firchow, ed., Agyptologische
Studien, pp. 162-175, pis. 1-2; Adams, JEA 76 (1990): 161-163, figs. 1-2, pi. 10; Ritner, Mechanics of
Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, p. 119, with references; Davis, Canonical Tradition in Ancient
Egyptian Art, p. 168, fig. 6.19; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 126, 128, fig. 36; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic
Egypt, p. 92; Morenz, GM189 (2002): 84; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 93-
94, fig. 8.14.
135
Epigraphic Survey, The Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 26; for further discussion of the decoration and texts on the
platform of the royal tnti.t-dais in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef,
see Section 2.1.1, S cene 1.
467
Sed Festival includes depictions of nine bound foreign enemies of the Egyptian king—the
so-called Nine Bows (Fig. 169).136
Depictions of bound foreign prisoners appear often on decorated ceremonial
objects from the Protodynastic and Early Dynastic periods, e.g., on the Metropolitan
Museum knife handle (Fig. 53),137 on a knife handle from Tomb U-127 at Abydos (Fig.
-I T O 1 TQ
402), on a knife handle from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 341), on a
plaque from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 403),140 and on several other
inscribed ivory objects from Hierakonpolis (Fig. 404) and Abydos (Fig. 405).141 The
depiction of bound prisoners on these ceremonial objects probably alludes to a post-battle
military victory ritual in which the king inspects the corpses of his defeated enemies on
the battlefield and receives a census of enemy casualties and captive enemy combatants.
In some examples of the motif, such as the Metropolitan Museum knife handle (Fig. 53),
Epigraphic Survey, The Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 49; for further discussion of the depiction of the Nine
Bows on the platform of the royal tnti.t-dais in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb
ofKheruef, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 1.
137
For discussion of the bound prisoners on the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see primarily Williams
and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-251,273-276, figs. 1-7, with references; Midant-Reynes, SAK 14 (1987):
218; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,L'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 200; Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002):
438; Bagh, in Czerny, etal., eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2, p. 10.
138
For discussion of the bound prisoners on the knife handle from Tomb U-127 at Abydos, see primarily
Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 49 (1993): 26-27, pi. 6d-f; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien,
pp. 205-209, 220, fig. 10b; Whitehouse, MDAIK 5% (2002): 438; Bagh, in Czerny, etal., eds., Timelines:
Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2, pp. 10-11, fig. 1; Hartung, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus
dem Sand, pp. 184-185, fig. 1.
139
For discussion of the bound prisoners on the knife handle from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, see
primarily Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 425-446, fig. 1; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 181-
185, fig. 9.5 top.
140
For discussion of the bound prisoners on the plaque from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, see
primarily Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 433-434, fig. 5.
141
For discussion of the bound prisoners on an assortment of inscribed late Predynastic and Early Dynastic
ivory objects from Hierakonpolis and Abydos, see Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 12.4;
Petrie, Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, Vol. 2, p. 22, pis. 4.12, 4.20; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors
and Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 95-96, fig. 8.18; Bagh, in Czerny, etal., eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour
of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2, pp. 11-14, fig. 3.
468
a connection between the ritual subjugation of foreign enemies and the celebration of the
Sed Festival is clear; in other cases, there is no clear link between the two.
6.1.4. RITUAL TRAMPLING OF THE ENEMY
An important aspect of the celebration of the Sed Festival is the elaborate set of
costumes worn by the king; one component of the royal Sed Festival costume is the bull's
tail that is attached to the back of the king's waist during the festival's more active ritual
performances. The bull's tail imbues the king with virility and power and signifies his
ritual transformation into a wild bull.142 In several Protodynastic tableaux of royal
power, the king's animal-like vigor and strength is indicated by his complete
iconographic transformation into a wild animal; in the form of a scorpion, wild hunting
dog, lion, bull, or elephant, the king tramples his enemies and celebrates victory on the
battlefield. Variants of this motif survive into the dynastic period and continue to serve
as a key expression of royal military power throughout all of pharaonic Egyptian history.
In the minor Gebel Sheikh Suleiman inscription (Fig. 384), a large scorpion rises
up to trample a bound prisoner as two Egyptian soldiers stand vigilantly nearby with their
weapons—a staff and a bow and arrow—at the ready.143 The location of the rock
inscription in the second cataract region of Lower Nubia indicates that the bound prisoner
is probably a Nubian enemy of the Egyptian ruler. The large scorpion in the inscription
may be a hieroglyphic writing of the name of the Dynasty 0 ruler Horus Scorpion;
142
For discussion of the bull's tail and the taurine transformation of the king during the more active rituals
of the Sed Festival, see Section 1.1.1; Section 4.3.2.
143
For discussion of the military victory scene in the minor Gebel Sheikh Suleiman inscription, see
Needier, JARCE 6 (1967): 87-91, pis. 1-2; Hofmann, Bibliotheca Orientalis 28 (1971): 308-309; Schoske,
Das Erschlagen der Feinde,p. 162, cat. no. F71; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 178-179, fig. 5.3.1;
Wilkinson, JEA 86 (2000): 25, 27; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and
the First Dynasty, pp. 80-81, fig. 45; Jimenez-Serrano, in Krzyzaniak, etal., eds., Cultural Markers in the
Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, pp. 258,263, fig. 2; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal.,
eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 1130, 1132, fig. 8; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 103, footnote 29.
469
perhaps equally likely, the scorpion is simply a symbol of the royal military authority of
the Egyptian ruler.144
Two additional early examples of the iconographic transformation of the Egyptian
ruler into a wild animal (Fig. 57) appear in the royal military victory celebrations
depicted on the recto of the Battlefield Palette (c. Naqada IIIB). In the lower portion of
the tableau, in the midst of a sea of fallen enemy combatants and circling carrion birds, a
fearsome lion simultaneously tramples and bites the naked, contorted corpse of a human
enemy of the Egyptian state.145 In the upper right hand portion of the tableau, a wild
hunting dog tramples the lifeless corpse of another fallen enemy combatant.146 The
For the identification of the scorpion in the minor Gebel Sheikh Suleiman inscription as a hieroglyphic
writing of the name of the Upper Egyptian ruler Horus Scorpion, see Needier, JARCE 6 (1967): 87-91;
Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 80; Jimenez-
Serrano, in Krzyzaniak, etal., eds., Cultural Markers in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, pp.
258,263; Jimenez-Serrano, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, p. 1130. For the
interpretation of the scorpion in the tableau as a symbol of royal military power, see Wilkinson, JEA 86
(2000): 25,27; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 178-179.
145
For discussion of the lion trampling and biting a fallen enemy combatant on the Battlefield Palette, see
primarily Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 584-587, fig. 385; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp. 289, 335,
figs. 151, 153; RUhlmann, WZMLU 13 (1964): 651, pi. la; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 39-40, pi.
14; Sliwa, Forschungen undBerichte 16 (1974): 105-106, fig. 8; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 231-
232; Davis, Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, p. 79,149-151, fig. 6.11; Van Essche-Marchez,
in Delvaux and Warmenbol, eds., Les divins chats d'Egypte, pp. 31-32, fig. 9; Schoske, Das Erschlagen
der Feinde, pp. 365-366, cat. no. El; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 121-122, 132-144, figs. 33-34; Menu,
BIFAO 96 (1996): 340; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 190; Midant-Reynes, Prehistory of Egypt, pp.
242-243, fig. 20; Wilkinson, JEA 86 (2000): 27; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 176-179, fig.
26, with references; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen
von Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19-20, fig. 1; O'Connor, JARCE 39 (2002): 12-13, fig. 2; Kohler, in
van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 502; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food
and Culture, p. 277; Baines, in Potts, etal., eds., Culture Through Objects, p. 45; Gilbert, Weapons,
Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 92-93, fig. 8.10; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 211.
146
For discussion of the wild dog trampling a fallen enemy combatant on the Lucerne fragment of the
Battlefield Palette, see primarily Mttller, ZAS 84 (1959): 68-70, fig. 1, pi. 3A; Harris, JEA 46 (1960): 104-
105; Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, p. 337, fig. 158; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 41-42;
Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, p. 367, cat. no. E341; Davis, Maskingthe Blow, pp. 121, 124, 138,
fig. 33; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 176-179, fig. 26, with references; Schulz, in Bietak and
Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19-20,
fig. 1; Gransard-Desmond, Etude sur les Canidae des temps pre-pharaoniques en Egypte et au Sudan, pp.
50-51, fig. 38, cat. no. 23; Hendrickx, in Kroper, etal., ed., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p.
741. For general discussion of the dog as a symbol in Predynastic representational art, see Hendrickx, CdE
67 (1992): 5-27; Baines, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 57-74; Bianchi, Discussions in Egyptology 42 (1998): 7-14;
470
hunting dog and lion are both manifestations of the brutal military power of the Egyptian
ruler, who appears in human form in the central portion of the tableau.147 At least one of
the fallen enemies on the recto of the Battlefield Palette has his arms bound behind his
back; this detail suggests that some enemy combatants may have been ritually executed
on the battlefield after being taken as prisoners of war.
On both sides of the fragmentary Bull Palette (c. Naqada IIIB-IIIC), the Egyptian
ruler takes the form of an aggressive wild bull in the act of goring and trampling a fallen
human enemy (Fig. 44).148 In the section below the bull on one side of the palette, five
human-armed military standards grasp a rope that probably restrains one or more captive
enemy combantants in a portion of the tableau that is now missing. In a similar scene in
the bottom register of the verso of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), a wild bull tramples the
Gransard-Desmond, Etude sur les Canidae des temps pre-pharaoniques en Egypte et au Sudan; DuQuesne,
The Jackal Divinities of Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 1-36; Hendrickx, in Kroper, eta/., ed., op cit, pp 723-749. For
discussion of the dog as a Predynastic symbol of kingship, e g, in a Protodynastic rock inscription from
Gharb Aswan, see also Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 170-172, figs. 1-2.
147
The identification of the lion on the Battlefield Palette as the Egyptian ruler represents the Egyptological
communis opinio; for discussion of the royal symbolism of the lion on this palette, see references supra,
this section, in footnote 145. For the identification of the wild dog on the Lucerne fragment of the
Battlefield Palette as the Egyptian ruler, see Harris, JEA 46 (1960): 104-105; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der
Feinde, p. 367, cat. no. E341; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 178; Schulz, in Bietak and
Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSteg- Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, p 19.
148
For discussion of the military victory scenes depicted on the Bull Palette, see primarily Steindorff, in
Aegyptiaca Festschrift fur Georg Ebers, pp. 128-131; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 592-594, figs. 389-
390; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 67 (1969): 174-175, 178-179; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 37-38, with
references; Sliwa, Forschungen undBenchte 16 (1974): 105; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 42-43, fig. 12,
Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 232-233, pi. 29; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 97; Davis,
Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, p. 78, fig. 4.11; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, p 366,
cat. nos. E318-E319; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 143-144, 169, fig. 37, Baines, in O'Connor and
Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 112-113; Menu, BIFAO 96 (1996). 340, Adams and
Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 43-44; Rice, The Power of the Bull, pp. 120-121, fig. 10.1, Etienne,
Archeo-Nil 9 (1999): 149-163, figs, la-b; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 190; Midant-Reynes,
Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 242-243; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 179-180, fig. 27, with
references; Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg Narrative Wanddarstellungen von
Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 22-23, fig. 11; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the
Levant, p. 502; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp 93, 97, fig. 8 11; Wengrow,
Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 208.
471
contorted body of a lifeless fallen enemy while breaking down the walls of an enemy
fortification.149 The depictions of wild bulls in the act of trampling fallen enemy
combatants on the Bull Palette and the Narmer Palette symbolize the military power of
the Egyptian ruler;150 a connection between the wild bull and the king is made clear by
the depiction of Narmer wearing the bull's tail while smiting a foreign military leader on
the recto of the Narmer Palette.151
In the decorative panel on the side of the Protodynastic colossal statue of Min
from Coptos that is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, three aggressive wild
animals—an elephant, a bull, and a lion—are depicted in the act of trampling a range of
For discussion of the bull trampling a fallen enemy and breaking down the walls of an enemy
fortification on the Narmer Palette, see primarily Quibell, ZAS 36 (1898): 82; Quibell and Petrie,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 10, pi. 29; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 597-599, fig. 392; Yadin, Israel
Exploration Journal 5 (1955): 3,11-12; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 67 (1969): 175,178; Ridley, The
Unification of Egypt, pp. 49-50, 52; Sliwa, Forschungen und Berichte 16 (1974): 99, 105, fig. 2; Davis,
Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 78-79, 160, fig. 6.14; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 59;
Fairservis, JARCE28 (1991): 16-17; Schulman, BES 11 (1991-1992): 80-81, 84-85; Schoske, Das
Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 366-367, cat. no. E320; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 169-177; Bard, in
Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, pp. 303-304, fig. 5; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman,
eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 117; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 98-99; Rice, The Power of
the Bull, pp. 120-121; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 267; Etienne, Archeo-Nil 9
(1999): 149-163, fig. 4a; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 190; Wilkinson, JEA 86 (2000): 27-28;
Cialowicz, Lanaissance d'un royaume,pp. 182-188, fig. 29; Wengrow, CAJ11 (2001): 93-95, fig. 1;
Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82-86, fig. 46;
Kaplony, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 467-469, figs. 29.8.1, 29.11; Schulz,
in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altdgypten bis ins
Mittelalter, pp. 19-20, fig. 3; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 278; Gilbert,
Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 90, 93, 97, 99, fig. 8.3; Wengrow, Archaeology ot
Early Egypt, p. 208. For further discussion of the razing of enemy constructions as a post-battle military
victory ritual, see Section 6.1.5.
150
The identification of the bulls trampling human enemies on the Bull Palette and the Narmer Palette as
representations of the Egyptian ruler reflects the Egyptological communis opinio; for discussion of the
royal symbolism of the bulls on these palettes, see references collected supra, this section, in footnotes 147-
148. Very similar depictions of bulls appear as symbols of Egyptian royal power on several Egyptian
potsherds from EB I sites in North Sinai and in several graffitos on the EB I "Picture Pavement" from
Megiddo; for discussion of these inscribed images of bulls, see Yekutieli, in van den Brink and Yannai,
eds., In Quest of Ancient Settlements and Landscapes, pp. 244-245, figs. 2-4, with references; Yekutieli, in
Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 807-837, figs. 6-12, with references. These
inscribed Protodynastic Egyptian images of bulls from North Sinai and Megiddo are not depicted in the act
of trampling foreign enemies of the Egyptian ruler; however, these taurine images most likely symbolize
the military authority of the the Egyptian ruler in Sinai and Syria-Palestine during the Protodynastic Period.
151
For discussion of the royal smiting scene on the recto of the Narmer Palette, see Section 6.1.1.
472
mountains (Fig. 406).152 Similar depictions of an elephant trampling a range of
mountains also appear in a Protodynastic rock inscription from Gebel Tjauti in the
western Thebaid (Fig. 407), on several Protodynastic ivory labels from Cemetery U at
Abydos (Fig. 408), on a Protodynastic carved ivory from Hierakonpolis (Fig. 409), and
i n
in a Predynastic rock inscription from Wadi Magar (Fig. 410). The mountain range
under the feet of each of these wild animals is probably the hieroglyphic sign for the
word h?s.(w)t, "foreign land(s)." Though slightly more hieroglyphicized than the earlier
depictions of wild animals trampling defeated foreign enemies, the Protodynastic
depictions of wild animals trampling mountains probably also symbolize the military
victory of the Egyptian ruler over his foreign enemies.
Later adaptations of these zoomorphic Egyptian royal military victory motifs are
quite common throughout all of pharaonic Egyptian history. For example, the Egyptian
ruler often appears in military contexts as a griffin, lion, or sphinx trampling the foreign
enemies of the Egyptian state;154 this motif can be traced back directly to the depiction of
For discussion of the elephant, lion, and bull trampling mountains on the side of the colossal statue of
Min from Coptos that is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, see primarily Petrie, Koptos, pis. 3.4,4;
Williams, JARCE 25 (1988): 37-38,43-45, fig. 2d; Dreyer, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunstdes
Alten Reiches, pp. 49-56, fig. 1; Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1, pp. 175-179, fig. 104; Kemp, CAJ10
(2000): 213, 215,218,232-236, figs. 3, 7; Baque-Manzano, BIFAO 102 (2002): 37-39, 56, fig 8, with
references; Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 278; Jimenez-Serrano, in Hendrickx,
eta/., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 847-848, fig. 1, with references.
153
For discussion of the depictions of an elephant trampling mountains in a rock inscription from Gebel
Tjauti in the western Thebaid, on several ivory labels from Cemetery U at Abydos, on a carved ivory from
Hierakonpolis, and in a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Magar, see Quibell and Petrie,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pp. 6-7, pis. 6.6, 16.4; Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1, pp. 118-120,134-135,140-
141, 173-180, figs. 76, 82, cat. nos. 52-60, X184; Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, pp. 19-22;
Breyer, JEA 88 (2002): 56-58, 61-63, fig. 4; Jimenez-Serrano, in Hendrickx, etai, eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 847-858, figs. 2-3, with references; Whitehouse, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., op. cit, pp.
1125-1127, with references; Friedman, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., op. cit., p. 162, with references; Huyge, in
Hendrickx, etal., eds., op. cit., p. 833, with references; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 200-201,
fig. 9.12; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 96-97, fig. 18.
154
For discussion of the commonly found motif in which the Egyptian ruler appears as a griffin, lion, or
sphinx trampling, devouring, or otherwise dominating Egypt's foreign enemies, see de Wit, Le role et le
A13
an aggresive lion trampling a fallen enemy on the Battlefield Palette (Fig. 57). The
seemingly ubiquitous royal title kl-nht, "victorious bull," likely has its origins in the
Protodynastic depictions of the king as a fierce bull trampling his enemies on the Bull
Palette (Fig. 44) and the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39).155 In the context of the Sed Festival,
the 18th Dynasty king Amenhotep III appears in the form of a sphinx trampling his
enemies in the decoration on the royal throne and on the base of the royal tnrt.t-dais in
the enthronement scenes from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tombs of Surer (Figs. 97,172-173) and Khaemhat (Figs. 143,171).156
6.1.5. RAZING OF ENEMY FORTIFICATIONS
Another royal military victory ritual that appears in the Protodynastic and Early
Dynastic periods as a component of the celebration of the Sed Festival is the punitive
post-battle razing of enemy fortifications. The earliest attestations of the motif appear in
the late Protodynastic Period in the decoration of three ceremonial slate palettes: the
Libyan Palette (Fig. 192), the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), and the Bull Palette (Fig. 44).
sens du lion, pp. 16-34, 39-56; Rtthlmann, WZMLU13 (1964): 651-658, pis. 1-7; Sliwa, Forschungen und
Berichte 16 (1974): 105-107, figs. 8-10; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 356-404; Van Essche-
Marchez, in Delvaux and Warmenbol, eds., Les divins chats d'Egypte, pp. 31-37; Ritner, Mechanics of
Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, pp. 122, 125, 130, fig. 10a; Roller, GM152 (1996): 35-42, with
references; Bell, in Phillips, etal., eds., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, Vol. 1, pp. 81-86;
Koller, GM 187 (2002): 83-90.
155
Hendrickx, in Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 298, similarly connects the royal title ki-nht,
"victorious bull," to the Predynastic and Early Dynastic royal symbolism of the bull. For a similar
connection, see also Rice, The Power of the Bull, p. 147.
156
For the depictions of the king as a sphinx on the royal throne in the Sed Festival enthronement scenes of
Amenhotep III in the tomb of Khaemhat (Theban Tomb 57), see Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 3, pis. 76b, 77c.
For the depictions of the king as a sphinx on the royal throne and on the base of the royal tntl.t-dais in the
Sed Festival enthronement scenes of Amenhotep III from the tomb of Surer (Theban Tomb 48), see Davies,
BMMA 10 (1915): 228-236, fig. 4; Save-Soderbergh, Private Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pis. 30-33, 35. For
discussion of the royal military symbolism of the sphinx trampling his enemies in these scenes, see
Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 402-403, cat. nos. E161, E163; Martin-Valentin, in Eyre, ed.,
Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 742-744, 749-750, with references.
For further discussion, see also Section 2.1.2, Scene 1.
474
The verso of the fragmentary Libyan Palette (c. Naqada IIIB-IIIC) depicts seven fortified
enclosures, each of which contains a unique group of hieroglyphic signs that probably
5
write a toponym or ethnonym. Zoomorphic symbols of royal military power—a
falcon, a lion, and a scorpion—wield mr-hoes above three of the fortified enclosures;158
two falcon-standards wielding mr-hoes appear above a fourth enclosure. Similar hoe-
wielding royal symbols probably originally appeared above the other three enclosures in
the portion of the Libyan Palette that is now damaged and missing In other contexts,
e g, on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig. 21), the Egyptian ruler wields the mr-hoe as a
ground-breaking implement during the rites associated with the foundation of a temple or
For discussion of the destruction of fortified enclosures on the Libyan Palette, see primarily Steindorff,
mAegyptiaca Festschrift fur GeorgEbers, pp 122-124, Vikentiev, ,4&4£ 41 (1941) 286, fig 45, Schott,
Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84 (1952) 15-18, fig 4, Vandier, Manuel, Vol
l,pp 590-592, fig 388, Asselberghs, Chaos en Beheersing, pp 290, 337, 339, fig 164, Hornung,
Geschichte alsFest, pp 11-12, fig 5, Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 67 (1969) 173-187, Ridley, The Unification
ofEgypt,pp 43-46, Barta, GM 54 (1982) 11-16, Barnes, Fecundity Figures, pp 42-43,45, fig 10,
Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986) 233-234, Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thimtenzeit, pp 96-99,139-140,
Kemp, Ancient Egypt Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed ,p 50, fig 16, Schulman, BES 11 (1991-1992) 84,
86, 101, pi 7a, Hornung, Idea into Image, pp 148-149, Davis, Masking the Blow, pp 229-233, fig 53,
Bard, in Friedman and Adams, eds , Followers ofHorus, p 304, Schoske, Das Erschlagen derFeinde, p
367, Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswartiger Bevolkerung, pp 19-33, fig 2a, Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p 546, doc LI, Barnes, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds , Ancient
Egyptian Kingship, pp 112,151, fig 3 4, Gautier and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995) 89, 91, 115,
120, fig 4, Barnes, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds , Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first
Century, pp 364-366, fig 5a, Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol l,pp 173-175, Etienne, Archeo-Nil 9 (1999)
149-163, fig 2, Midant-Reynes, Prehistory of Egypt, pp 243-244, fig 21, Cialowicz, La naissance d'un
royaume, pp 180-182, fig 28, with references, Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds , Krieg undSieg
Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp 19-20, fig 2, Breyer, JEA 88 (2002)
59-60, 64-65, fig 10, Baines, in Potts, etal, eds , Culture through Objects, pp 29-34, fig 1, Gilbert,
Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp 97-98, fig 8 23, Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und
symbohsche Zeichen, pp 144-150, 345, fig 11, Dreyer, in Daoud, etal, eds , Studies in Honor of Ah
Radwan, Vol l,pp 253-261, fig 5, Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp 208-209, fig 9 14, Hope,
in Hawass and Richards, eds , The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt, Vol 1, p 400
158
For discussion of the lion as a Predynastic symbol of royal military power, e g, on the recto of the
Battlefield Palette, see Section 6 1 4 For discussion of the scorpion as a Predynastic symbol of royal
military power, e g, in the minor Gebel Sheikh Suleiman inscription, see Section 6 1 4 For discussion of
the falcon as a Predynastic symbol of royal power, see primarily Hendnckx and Friedman, in Morenz, ed ,
Vorspann oder formative Phase7 (in press)
475
sacred canal.159 However, in the military victory scene on the verso of the Libyan
Palette, the hoe hieroglyphically writes the word hbS, "to destroy" (Wb. 3, 253.2-11);
thus, the hoe-wielding falcon-standards and zoomorphic symbols of royal power are in
the process of tearing down seven fortified structures that belong to the defeated enemies
of the Egyptian ruler. The decoration on the recto of the Libyan Palette consists of a
grove of trees, the hieroglyphic toponym Thnw ("Libya"), and three rows of cattle,
donkeys, and sheep; these animals and trees probably represents the accumulated war
booty seized by the Egyptian ruler during a military campaign in Libya.160 Like the
depiction of Narmer receiving war booty and prisoners of war on the Narmer Macehead
(Fig. 60), the damaged upper sections of the recto of the Libyan Palette probably depicted
the Egyptian ruler receiving war booty at the celebration of the Sed Festival.161
Another example of the post-battle razing of enemy fortifications appears in the
bottom register of the verso of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39); in this military victory scene,
Narmer appears as a wild bull in the act of trampling the contorted body of a lifeless
fallen enemy and breaking down the walls of an enemy fortification.162 The enigmatic
hieroglyphic signs within the fortified structure are very similar to the group of signs
159
For discussion of the foundation rites on the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.1.2; Section 7.5. For the
unlikely suggestion that the Libyan Palette depicts the foundation of cities, see with caution Nibbi, GM 29
(1978): 89-94, fig. 4;Nibbi,y4&4£63 (1979): 143-154, fig. 1; Ogdon, GM49 (1981): 61-64; Bietak, in
Societes urbaines en Egypte etau Soudan, pp. 29-35, pi. 3; Largacha, VA 5 (1989): 217-226; Dochniak, VA
1 (1991): 108-114; Nibbi, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian Museum Collections around the World,
Vol. 1, pp. 855-861, fig. 4; Bagh, in Czerny, etal., eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak,
Vol. 2, pp. 15-16, fig. 5.
160
For further discussion of rows of animals and grove of trees on the recto of the Libyan Palette, see also
Section 2.1.2, Scene 5; Section 5.4.
161
For further discussion of the king's reception of war booty and prisoners of war in the depiction of the
Sed Festival on the Narmer Macehead, see also Section 2.1.2, Scene 5; Section 5.4; Section 6.1.3.
162
For discussion of the bull trampling a fallen enemy and breaking down the walls of a fortified enclosure
on the Narmer Palette, see references collected in Section 6.1.4, footnote 149.
476
within a fortified enclosure in the bottom right portion of the verso of the Libyan
Palette.163 Enigmatic hieroglyphic signs also appear within two fortified enclosures just
below the depiction of a bull trampling a fallen human enemy on the Bull Palette (c.
Naqada IIIB-IIIC).164 The Bull Palette (Fig. 44) does not depict the actual destruction of
these fortified enclosures; however, the placement of these fortifications directly below
the trampled enemy suggests that they too are subject to the military domination of the
royal bull. A clearer representation of the destruction of these enemy fortifications may
have originally appeared in the section of the Bull Palette that is not damaged and
missing.
Two labels from the reign of Aha include obscure scenes that may possibly depict
the post-battle razing of enemy fortifications; however, the scenes in question on these
labels most likely depict ground-breaking rites {M-ti) associated with the foundation of a
temple, sacred precinct, or canal.165 The third register of a wooden label of Aha from
Abydos depicts a nautical procession of three boats and two circular fortified enclosures
(Fig. 45); the obscure hieroglyphic signs that appear within these enclosures probably
The significance of these hieroglyphic signs—as well as the signs above the two defeated enemies in the
bottom register of the recto of the Narmer Palette—has been the subject of much scholarly debate. For
discussion of the significance of these signs, which probably record an ethnonym or toponym, see primarily
Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. l,p. 10; Yadin, Israel Exploration Journal 5 (1955): 3, 11-12;
Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 50, 52; Fairservis, JARCE 28 (1991): 16-17; Schulman, BES 11
(1991-1992): 84-85; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 169-173; Bard, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers
ofHorus, p. 303; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, p. 117; Mark, From
Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 98-99, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 86; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt,
p. 93.
164
For discussion of the fortified enclosures and the aggressive bull on the Bull Palette, see references
165
the World and Symbol of the Creator, p. 57; Montet, Kemi 17 (1964): 85-87, Scene 4, fig. 2. For further
discussion of this rite, see also Section 2.1.2, Scene 4; Section 3.1.2; Section 7.5.
477
refer to toponyms.166 Two nearly identical groups of hieroglyphic signs appear above the
two rightmost boats in the procession: a rar-hoe and an empty wn.^-enclosure. Previous
attempts to translate the toponyms and the hieroglyphic text above the boats have arrived
at vastly different conclusions; however, the inscribed text probably refers to the ground-
breaking rites (te-tl) associated with the foundation of sacred precincts at the two
localities recorded inside the circular enclosures on the left side of the scene. The
variously interpreted and poorly understood hieroglyphic inscription to the left of the
barque of Sokar in the first register of an ivory label of Aha from the tomb of Neithhotep
at Naqada probably also refers to the foundation of a sacred precinct or canal (Fig.
308).167 Tentatively reading clockwise from the top left, the inscription states: Hr rki b?-
(ti) (n) wn.t r mr, "Horus Aha breaks (ground) (for) the fortified enclosure at the
For discussion of the nautical procession and the hieroglyphic text in the third register of a wooden label
of Aha from Abydos, see primarily Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, p. 21, pis. 3a.5-6,
10.2, 11.2; Legge, PSBA 29 (1907): 22-23, cat. nos. 2-3; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp. 69-79,
fig. 24; Vikentiev, ASAE 41 (1941): 285-286, fig. 44; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 837-840, fig. 560;
Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 67 (1969): 176, 178; Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 25, fig. 80; Ogdon, GM
49 (1981): 61-62, fig. 1; Barta, GM54 (1982): 15-16; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 148;
O'Connor, Expedition 29 (1987): 33-34, fig. 11; Logan, JARCE 27 (1990): 64, fig. 2; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11
(2001): 172-173, fig. 6; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 57-60, figs.
23-24, with references; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 189-191, 364, fig. 75.
167
For discussion of the hieroglyphic inscription to the left of the barque of Sokar in the first register of an
ivory label of Aha from the tomb of Neithhotep at Naqada, see primarily Vikentiev, ASAE 33 (1933): 224-
234, pis. 1-3; Vikentiev, ASAE 34 (1934): 7-8; Vikentiev, ASAEA\ (1941): 281, 284-285, figs. 35,42-43;
Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 828-832, fig. 556; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 17-19;
Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 25, fig. 76; Barta, GM54 (1982): 16; Helck, Untersuchungen zur
Thinitenzeit, pp. 146-147; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001): 164, 171-172, figs. 5, 5a; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 94-96, fig. 55, with references; Kinnaer, GM 196 (2003): 25.
168
Vikentiev, ASAE 33 (1933): 233, suggests that the ritual described in this text may be related to the
king's visit to the Crooked Canal in the Sed Festival reliefs from the Palace of Apries at Memphis; for
discussion of the Apries's visit to the Crooked Canal at the celebration of the Sed Festival, see primarily
Kaiser, MDAIK43 (1986): 131, 140-141, fig. 9, pi. 46, with references. For further discussion of the
significance of the construction of a canal for the nautical boat procession at the Sed Festival, see Chapter
7.
478
A hieroglyphic text in the second register of an ebony label of Den from Abydos
records the destruction of enemy fortifications by the Egyptian ruler (Fig. 61); although
portions of the text are not completely certain, the text begins with a clear and direct
reference to royal military action against foreigners:16
wp hb? ri cn
skr Sn.w
ini(.t) sm hnti
"The opening and destruction170 of the (fortress known as) Beautiful Door;171
the smiting of the S«-people;172
and the bringing forward of the sm-priest and the A«rf-sledge."
The depiction of the Konigslaufand the enthronement of the king at the Sed Festival in
the top register of the label strongly suggests that the destruction of enemy fortications
may be connected to the celebration of the Sed Festival by Den.173
Several copies of this ebony label of Den from Abydos have been preserved; for discussion of the
hieroglyphic text in the second register of the label, see primarily Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty,
Vol. 1, p. 41, pis. 11.14-15, 15.16-17; Legge, PSBA 29 (1907): 102-103,106, 152-153, cat. nos. 5, 7-8;
Vikentiev, ASAE 41 (1941): 286-287, fig. 46; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 853-855, fig. 570; Monnet-
Saleh, BIFA0 61 (1969): 175-176, 178; Ogdon, GM49 (1981): 62-63, fig. 2; Barta, GM 54 (1982): 16;
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 158-159; Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pp. 27-29, 43-61,
tablets 1-3, pis. 1-6, with references; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp.
66-68, figs. 32-33, with references; Kaplony, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp.
464-486, figs. 29.8.3-5, 29.10, with references; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt,
pp. 97-98, fig. 8.24; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., Studies in Honor ofAURadwan, Vol. 1, pp. 258-260,
figs. 6b-c. The inscription in the second register of this label also appears as the primary inscription in
another label of Den from Abydos; for discussion of this label, see Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 56 (2000): 115-
117, pi. lOi; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal., eds., op. cit., pp. 258-260, fig. 6a.
170
Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 56 (2000): 116, interprets the mr-hoe as a determinative for the verb wp, "to
open," rather than a separate verb meaning "to destroy."
171
Kaplony, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 468,470, unconvincingly suggests
that the name of the fortification is rin—a variant of rim, "the Asiatic."
172
The name of the people whom Den smites appears more clearly in a variant of this text in the primary
inscription of a label of Den from Abydos; for a discussion of the S«-people whom the king smites, see
Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 56 (2000): 116. Kaplony, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp.
470,472, unconvincingly suggests that the people whom Den smites are from the Asiatic locality Kdn,
"Qatna."
173
For discussion of the depiction of the Konigslauf and the enthronement of the king at the Sed Festival in
the top register of the ebony label of Den from Abydos, see Section 4.3.4.
479
6.1.6. RITUAL STABBING OF A PRISONER IN THE CHEST WITH A DAGGER
A rarely depicted 1st Dynasty ritual involving the stabbing of a captive prisoner in
the chest with a dagger is probably also a military victory ritual, which perhaps has a
connection to the celebration of the Sed Festival. The earliest example of this ritual
appears below the caption Ssp Snfw mhw ("seizing of Upper and Lower Egypt") on an
ebony label of Aha from Abydos (Fig. 411);174 just to the right of the falcon-topped royal
serekh and the door of a palace or temple, a man carrying a staff stands by vigilantly as a
crouching man carrying a small bowl drives a dagger into the chest a bound prisoner who
kneels beside him.175 The function of the bowl in this scene is uncertain; however, it was
most likely used to collect the blood of the executed prisoner.176 To the right of this
The caption to the execution scene depicts the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt above the
triliteral sign for Ssp, "to receive/seize." Understanding the placement of the signs as a form of honorific
transposition, most commenters read the caption Ssp Snfw mhw, "Reception/Seizing of Upper and Lower
Egypt"; however, Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10, Supplement (2000): 3-5, have offered a plausible
alternative interpretation of the caption: Rsy Mhw Szp, "Haute et Basse Egypte; mainmise."
175
Portions of the scene are preserved on two fragmentary labels of Aha from Abydos; when taken
together, these two fragments create a more-or-less complete version of the original scene. The central
scene on the label is typically interpreted as the ritual execution of a prisoner; for this interpretation, see
primarily Petrie, Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, Vol. 2, pp. 20,49, pis. 3.4, 3.6; Legge, PSBA 29
(1907): 248, cat. no. 14; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 835, fig. 559; Helck, in Biologie von Sozialstrukturen
bei Tier und Mensch, p. 87, fig. 2; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 149; Logan, JARCE 27
(1990): 66-67; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 266-267, fig. 8.2.1; Crubezy and Midant-Reynes,
Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 29-31, fig. 3; Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10, Supplement (2000): 3-5,15-16, figs.
2a-b; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001): 164, 169-170, 175, figs. 2-4; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the
Late Predynastic Period, pp. 61-62, fig. 25; Manley, ed., Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt, p. 35;
Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, p. 194, footnote 824; Dougherty, Nekhen News 16
(2004): 12; Dougherty and Friedman, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2, p. 328.
For a rather unlikely alternative interpretation of the scene as a life-giving surgical procedure
(tracheotomy), see Vikentiev, BIE 32 (1951): 171-173,189-200, fig. 6, pi. la. For the unfounded
suggestion that the execution of the prisoner on the label of Aha served as a substitute for regicide at the
celebration of the Sed Festival, see Jimenez-Serrano, op. cit., p. 61. Vikentiev, loc. cit., also connects the
ritual depicted on this label to the Sed Festival; however, his interpretation is completely unrelated to ritual
execution or regicide.
176
Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001): 163-175, speculates that the blood of sacrificial victims was poured on the
the ground as a fertility ritual before the sowing of fields during the Early Dynastic Period. Large calcite
basins at the solar pyramid complex of Niuserre at Abu Gurob were used for collecting the blood of
sacrificial animals during the performance of the Sed Festival; for discussion of these basins and the
sacrifice of animals atNiuserre's Sed Festival, see Section 5.3.3.
480
brutal scene, the royal falcon standard and the /m/.wr-standard are fixed in the ground
below the hieroglyphic sign ms(.t), "to create or produce"; taken as a whole, this group of
signs records the "production" of royal standards for use in ritual settings, such as the
ritual execution of the prisoner that is depicted on the label.177
The next example of the ritual stabbing of captive prisoner in the chest with a
dagger appears on a wooden label of Djer from Saqqara (Fig. 110); in the right portion of
the first register of the label, below the caption Ssp Snfw mhw ("seizing of Upper and
Lower Egypt"), a crouching man carrying a small bowl drives a dagger into the chest of a
bound prisoner who kneels beside him.178 In the left portion of the first register of this
label, five men carrying large cult objects—a spear, a pelican, a catfish, a mummiform
statue, and an enigmatic object that probably represents the /m/.wf-standard—walk in a
procession towards the falcon-topped royal serekh of Djer.179 The hieroglyphic sign
For discussion of the significance of the ™/.w?-standard during the Predynastic and Early Dynastic
periods, see primarily Logan, JARCE 27 (1990): 61-69.
178
The scene depicted on this label of Djer is typically interpreted as the ritual execution of a prisoner; for
this interpretation, see primarily Emery and Saad, Tomb ofHemaka, pp. 35-39, fig. 8, pis. 17a, 18a;
Vikentiev, BIE32 (1951): 171-173, 189-200, fig. 7, pi. lb; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 845-848, fig. 565;
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 153-154; Logan, JARCE 27 (1990): 66-67; Wilkinson, Early
Dynastic Egypt, pp. 266-267, fig. 8.2.2; Crubezy and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 29-31, fig. 2;
Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10, Supplement (2000): 1-22, fig. 1; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001): 164-166,
175, fig. 1; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 21, 61, fig. 4; Muhlestein,
Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 58-59, 79, fig. 2.2; Manley, ed., Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient
Egypt, p. 35; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 194-195, 365, fig. 77; Dougherty,
Nekhen News 16 (2004): 12; Dougherty and Friedman, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins,
Vol. 2, p. 328. For a rather unlikely alternative interpretation of the scene as a life-giving surgical
procedure (tracheotomy), see Vikentiev, BIE 32 (1951): 171-173, 189-200, fig. 7, pi. lb.
179
Identification of this obscure cult object is far from certain; however, it bears some resemblance to the
depiction of the //w'.wr-standard that appears next to the ritual execution scene on the previously discussed
ebony of label of Aha. For discussion of the uncertainty of the identification of this obscure cult object on
the wooden label of Djer, see Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 153; Logan, JARCE 27 (1990):
66; Crubezy and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 29; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische
Zeichen, p. 194. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 266, interprets this enigmatic cult object as "a ladder-
like object (perhaps symbolising the ladder, mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, by which the king ascended
to the stars)." Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 846-847, offers a different—but equally unlikely—
interpretation of this obscure cult object: "Le cinquieme personnage tient un autel a feu d'oii s'echappent
deux flammes."
481
ms(.t), which appears above the procession, indicates that the "production" of the cult
objects was specially undertaken for display at this ritual.
The connection between the ritual execution of the prisoner and the caption
("seizing of Upper and Lower Egypt") on these two labels has been the source of
considerable speculation and confusion.180 However, the significance of this ritual is
almost certainly connected to the military symbolism of sm3-t?.wy, the ritual "unification
of the two lands; simply put, the "seizing of Upper and Lower Egypt" is most likely a
101
precursor or early variant of the "unification of the two lands." In early examples of
the "unification of the two lands" (Fig. 412), the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower
Egypt typically appear in place of the dual form of the land-sign (Gardiner Sign N17);
thus, early examples of sml-tl.wy may perhaps more correctly be read smi Srrfw mhw,
"unification of Upper and Lower Egypt."182
From its origin, the "unification of Upper and Lower Egypt" symbolized the
Egyptian ruler's suppression of rebel groups within Egypt and his defeat of foreign
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 149, characterizes this apparent disconnect between the
scene and the caption well: "Es ist eindeutig ein Menschenopfer, das aber in der beschriebenen Weise
bewuBt vergessen worden ist, so daB wir den gedanklichen Zusammenhang zwischen diesem
Menschenopfer und dem 'Entgegennehmen' der beiden Landesteile nicht mehr nachvollziehen konnen."
181
For discussion of the connection between the ritual depicted on these two labels and the military
symbolism of smi-ti.wy, see primarily Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10, Supplement (2000): 15-16;
Crubezy and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 31.
182
For discussion of early forms of smi-ti.wy in which the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt
appear in place of "the two lands," see Schafer, MDAIK 12 (1943): 73-95; Schafer, Principles of Egyptian
Art, pp. 155-156; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 69-70. The late Old Kingdom collection of royal annals
on the Palermo Stone and its associated fragments records the performance of smi Snfw mhw (the
"unification of Upper and Lower Egypt") during the first regnal year of Djer, Semerkhet, Qa-a, Djoser,
Shepseskaf, and Neferirkare; for discussion of the record of this ritual in the Palermo Stone and its
associated fragments, see Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, pp. 92-95, 136, 149-151, 172-176,
195, 201; Goedicke, in Posener-Krieger, ed., Melanges GamalEddin Mokhtar, Vol. 1, pp. 307-324; Goebs,
in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World, pp. 278-279. Contemporary Early Dynastic sources also confirm
that the original name of the ritual was smi Smrw mhw (the "unification of Upper and Lower Egypt"); the
hieroglyphic inscription smi $mrw mhw appears on several inscribed stone vessels from the reign of the 1st
Dynasty king Anedjib. For discussion of these inscriptions of Anedjib, see references collected infra, this
482
enemies beyond Egypt's borders; Early Dynastic examples of the motif from the reigns
of Adjib and Khasekhemwy clearly link the "unification of the two lands" to the royal
smiting ritual (Fig. 413).183 An unusual 11th Dynasty royal smiting scene in the Dendera
chapel of Montuhotep II confirms the continued use of the sm3-t3.wy motif as symbol of
royal military power during the Middle Kingdom (Fig. 414); an image of the king raising
a piriform mace to smite the intertwined heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt
appears above a depiction of Horus (and perhaps Seth) tying the $mrw-plmt and the mhw-
plant to the sm^-sign.184 From the New Kingdom onwards, representations of the srni-
tl.wy motif often include the ritual display of foreign prisoners who are bound to the srni-
sign with the vines of the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt (Fig. 415); such
representations clearly indicate that the "unification of the two lands" continued to be a
symbol of royal military power and the suppression of enemies during this time period.
The hieroglyphic inscription smi SmFw mhw appears next to an image of the white-crowned king
carrying a piriform mace and a staff on several inscribed stone vessels of Adjib; for discussion of these
insribed stone vessels of Anedjib, see primarily Lacau and Lauer, Lapyramide a degres, Vol. 4, Fasc. 1,
pp. 4, 11, pis. III.1-2, 7.30-33; Lacau and Lauer, op. cit, Vol. 4, Fasc. 2, pp. 16-19, cat. nos. 30-33;
Schafer, MDAIK12 (1943): 75-76, fig. 2; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 69-70, fig. 42. On several
inscribed stone vessels of Khasekhemwy, the goddess Nekhbet presents a hieroglyphicized image of smi
Smrw mhw—in which the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt are bound to the smi-sign—to the
falcon-topped royal serekh; the inscription skr mhw, "smiting Lower Egypt," appears just to the right of this
offering scene. For discussion of these inscribed stone vessels of Khasekhemwy, see primarily Quibell and
Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, p. 11; pis. 36-38; Schafer, op. cit, pp. 76-78, figs. 3-4; Baines, op. cit, p.
245, fig. 144; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 119, 178, cat. no. 156; Nibbi, Discussions in
Egyptology 37 (1997): 36, 41, fig. 8; Morenz, GM189 (2002): 84, fig. 5; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and
Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 88-89, 91-92, fig. 8.8.
184
For discussion of the royal smiting scene and the smi-ti.wy motif in this unusual royal relief of
Montuhotep II from Dendera, see primarily Schafer, MDAIK 12 (1943): 83-88, fig. 21; Habachi, MDAIK
19 (1963): 21-23, fig. 6, pi. 5; Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, pp. 175-177, 180, cat. no. A46; Nibbi,
Discussions in Egyptology 37 (1997): 34,41, fig. 7; Dohrmann, SAK 34 (2006): 112, fig. 8; Marochetti,
The Reliefs of the Chapel ofNebhepetre Mentuhotep at Gebelein, pp. 19, 135, fig. 27b. For a recent
discussion of the text that appears to the right of the royal smiting scene in this relief, see Darnell, RdE 59
(2008): 81, 89, 95-96,99, with references. Montuhotep II, who reunited the country at the end of the 1st
Intermediate Period, adopted the Horus name smi-ti.wy after achieving this feat; for discussion of changes
to Montuhotep IPs titularly over the course of his reign, see primarily Habachi, op. cit., pp. 16-52.
185
For discussion of examples of the "unification of the two lands" in which foreign prisoners are bound to
the smi-sign, see primarily Schafer, MDAIK 12 (1943): 88-92, figs. 28-36; Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp.
483
In the context of the Sed Festival, the binding of foreign prisoners to the sml-sign
with the vines of the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt appears as a decorative
element on the royal throne in the Sed Festival enthronement scenes of Amenhotep III
from the tomb of Khaemhat (Figs. 143, 171).186 The depictions of bound human
representatives of the Nine Bows on the platform of the royal tnrt.t-dais in the Sed
Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tombs of Khaemhat (Fig. 143, 171), Kheruef
(Fig. 169), and Surer (Fig. 172) are probably also connected to the military symbolism of
the sml-B.wy motif;187 the vines of the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt are very
often used to bind the Nine Bows in New Kingdom reliefs.188 A relief on the base of a
seated statue of Sesostris I—one often seated royal statues—from his mortuary temple at
el-Lischt may also demonstrate a connection between the celebration of the Sed Festival
and the rites of the "unification of the two lands" (Fig. 416); beside the depiction of two
Hapi figures binding the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt to the smi-sxgn is the
following caption:189
245-250,296, fig. 168; Nibbi, Discussions in Egyptology 37 (1997): 39-45; Hussein, Discussions in
Egyptology 51 (2001): 38-39.
186
For the depictions of foreigners bound to the sml-sign on the royal throne in the Sed Festival
enthronement scenes of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Khaemhat (Theban Tomb 57), see Lepsius,
Denkmdler, Vol. 3, pis. 76b, 77c. For the depiction of two female foreign prisoners who are bound to the
smi-s\gn on the throne of Tiye in the Sed Festival enthronement scene from the third Sed Festival of
Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Theban Tomb 192), see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi.
49; for further discussion of this relief, see also Section 2.1.2, Scene 1.
187
For discussion of the depiction of the Nine Bows on the base of the /«/:>.r-platform in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tombs of Khaemhat, Kheruef, and Surer, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 1, with
references.
188
For the use of the vines of the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt as binds used to restrain the
Nine Bows, see references collected supra, this section, in footnote 185.
189
For discussion of the possible connection between the relief on this seated statue of Sesostris I and the
celebration of the Sed Festival, see primarily Baines, Fecundity Figures, pp. 134-138, 155-156; Dohrmann,
in Amenta, etal, eds., L'acqua nell'Antico Egitto, pp. 299-308, fig. 1; Dohrmann, SAK34 (2006): 107-124,
figs. 4-5, 12,20. Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 80, raise legitimate doubts about the
significance of this statue in relation to the Sed Festival: "Die aus seinem Totentempel in Lischt
484
dd mdw dl n n=k ir( t) hb w-sdpsd tcS t
dd mdw dinn-k hc( t) hr s t-Hr psd.t wr t
"Words to be spoken: 'To you has the Great Ennead granted

the performance of the Sed Festival rites.'
Words to be spoken: 'To you has the Great Ennead granted
the appearance on the throne of Horus.'"
The text from this statue, however, does not provide any clear link between the military
symbolism of the "unification of the two lands" and the celebration of the Sed Festival.
6.2. RITUAL DESTRUCTION OF ENEMIES: SHOOTING ARROWS & STRIKING BALLS
The Sed Festival reliefs of Tuthmosis III in the Akhmenu at Karnak Temple
depict a pair of rituals in which the king apparently receives instruction in the military
arts of archery and stick fighting from the gods Seth and Horus (Fig. 417).190 The scene
opens with a royal procession in which the white-crowned king—clad in the short Sed
Festival robe and carrying the w^-scepter—walks behind the iwn-mw t=f priest to a
special area for the performance of these military rituals; two human-armed symbols (the
r
/z/2-sign and the vWs-scepter) carry royal standards at the head of the procession. In the
first of the two military rituals in this scene, Seth of Ombos assists Tuthmosis III as he
prepares to shoot an arrow in the direction of a human-armed standard that is topped with
stammenden Sitzstatuen Sesostris' I konnen wir nicht mit einem gefeierten Sedfest des Konigs in
Verbindung bringen Sie sind nicht mit dem Hebsed-Mantel, sondern mit Konigsschurz und Nemes-
Kopftuch bekleidet, und bei den Inschnften von Kairo CG 415 handelt es sich um die ublichen Sedfest-
Wunsche "
190
For discussion of the military instruction scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Tuthmosis III in the
Akhmenu at Karnak Temple, see primarily Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol 3, pi 36b, Moret, Du caractere
rehgieuxde la royautepharaomque, pp 105-106, fig 21, Seligman, Eurasia Septentrionahs Antiqua 9
(1934) 349-354, Seligman, Egypt and Negro Africa, pp 14-15, 17, fig 2, Frankfort, Kingship and the
Gods, pp 88, 369, note 28, Barguet, he temple d'Amon-Re a Karnak, pp 165-166, Touny and Wemg,
Sport in Ancient Egypt, pp 34-35, fig 14, Keel, Wirkmachtige Siegeszeichen im Alten Testament, pp 113-
114, 190, fig 56, Porter and Moss, Topographical Bibliography, Vol 2, p 113, no 354, Behrens, in LA,
Vol 4, cols 1007-1008, Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, pp 264-265, fig 356, Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p 146, doc E2, with references, Morenz, in Gundlach and
Rochholz, eds , Agyptische Tempel Struktur, Funktwn und Programm, p 226, Troy, in Cline and
O'Connor, eds , Thutmose HI A New Biography, pp 149, 151-152, Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien
zum Sedfest, pp 24, 60
485
two crossed arrows—the standard of Neith, the goddess of warfare and hunting.191 In the
second military ritual from this scene, Tuthmosis III, who is once again stationed in front
of the Neith standard, receives receives guidance from Horus of Edfu as he grasps a long
staff with both hands and perhaps prepares to carry out an offensive combat move.192 On
a superficial level, the shooting of arrows by the king in the first ritual is easily
understandable; however, the act that the king peforms with the long staff in the second
ritual is not entirely clear. Since the hieroglyphic texts accompanying these intriguing
scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Tuthmosis III do not provide an explanation of the
king's actions, an examination of similar scenes from other contexts is necessary in order
to determine the symbolic significance of these royal ritual performances.
The festival reliefs of Taharqa on the so-called Edifice of Taharqa at Karnak
Temple contain a scene (Fig. 418) in which the God's Wife of Amun peforms an arrow-
For discussion of Neith's association with warfare and hunting, see primarily Schhchting, in LA, Vol 4,
cols 392-394, with references, El-Sayed, La deesse Neith de Sais, Vol 1, pp 72-75, Hoffmann, in
Boulogne, etal, eds , Amazones et deesses guerneres, p 49 The standard with two crossed arrows in this
scene is an archaic variant of the Neith standard, early examples of the standard appear in the Predynastic
Period as decorative elements on Naqada II D-Ware pottery For discussion of examples of the Neith
standard with two crossed arrows on D-Ware pottery, see Hendnckx, JEA 82 (1996) 39, footnote 87,
Aksamit, in Kroeper, etal, eds , Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp 573, 576-577, 586, Graff,
Les peintures sur vases de Naqada I - Naqada II, pp 45, 173, Designation N5k Similar examples of the
Neith standard with two crossed arrows also appear in three scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre
in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, for discussion of these Neith standards in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre, see Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, no 17, Von
Bissmg and Kees, op cit, Vol 3, nos 102, 108, Hendnckx, op cit, p 39, fig 11a
192
The action performed by the king in this scene has been the source of confusion and speculation In
their description of this scene, Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p 60, characterize the act
performed by the king as enigmatic " erscheint der Konig, vom falkenkopfigen Horus umarmt, bei einer
immer noch ratselhaften Handlung, die er mit einem Stab an zwei gekreuzten Pfeilen auf einer Standarte
ausfuhrt " According to Barquet, Le temple d'Amon-Re a Karnak, p 166, "le roi place deux fleches
entrecroisees sur un pavois " Porter and Moss, Topographical Bibliography, Vol 2, p 113, no 354,
suggest that the scene depicts "[Horus] teaching King to shoot" Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, eds ,
Thutmose HI A New Biography, p 149, similarly suggests that Horus is providing the king with instruction
in archery in this scene Such an interpretation of the scene, however, seems unlikely since neither
Tuthmosis III nor Horus carries a bow
486
shooting ritual and an adjoining scene in which the king carries a staff and throws a
series of balls.194 The performance of a royal ritual, such as the royal arrow-shooting
ritual, by the God's Wife of Amun was not unusual during the time of Taharqa; in a late
25th or early 26* Dynasty relief from Karnak, for example, the God's Wife Shepenwepet
II performs the grand festival of Egyptian kingship—the Sed Festival (Fig. 419).195 The
caption to the arrow-shooting ritual on the Edifice of Taharqa provides a detailed
explanation of the symbolic significance of this ritual:196
hm t-ntr
Ssp n=s iwn t
sti r rsy mh ty imn ty lib ty
r tnw( t)-frdi t n=fn=s
[Tl-Sty], [St t] Thnw, Srrfw mhw
sp-tpy dd mdw
iw pn imy r?=i
dd=i sw n bnnw hty
(r) [shr] hnn w
sp-snnw dd mdw
hy n=k
in Rr s3 w=i m sbi w hSk w-ib w hr=i
For discussion of the depiction of the God's Wife performing an arrow-shooting ritual on the Edifice of
Taharqa at Karnak Temple, see primarily Parker, etal, Edifice of Taharqa, pp 61-62, 64, pi 25, Von
Bissmg and Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heihgtum des Rathures, p 109, Seligman,
Eurasia Septentrionahs Antiqua 9 (1934) 349-354, Seligman, Egypt and Negro Africa, pp 14-16, fig 1,
Keel, Wirkmachtige Siegeszeichen im Alten Testament, pp 115-118, 190-191, fig 58, Otto, in LA, Vol 1,
col 609, Behrens, in LA, Vol 4, col 1007', Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, p 115,Gillam,
Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p 123, Troy, in Clme and O'Connor, eds , Thutmose III A New
Biography, pp 151-152, Ayad, God's Wife, God's Servant, pp 87-90
194
For discussion of the depiction of the king performing a ball-throwing ritual on the Edifice of Taharqa at
Karnak Temple, see primarily Parker, etal, Edifice of Taharqa, pp 61-65, pi 25, Von Bissing and Kees,
Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heihgtum des Rathures, p 109, Vikentiev, BIE 37 (1956) 146,
fig 11, Keel, Wirkmachtige Siegeszeichen im Alten Testament, pp 115-118, 190-191, fig 58, Goyon,
BIFAO 75 (1975) 352, Otto, in LA, Vol 1, col 609, Behrens, in LA, Vol 4, col 1007, Decker, Sports and
Games of Ancient Egypt, pp 115-116, Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp 137-
138, doc Dl, with references, Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p 123, Troy, in Cline
and O'Connor, eds , Thutmose III A New Biography, pp 151-152
195
For discussion of the ritual function of the office of God's Wife of Amun, see primarily Ayad, God's
Wife, God's Servant, pp 34-115, with references For discussion of the performance of the Sed Festival by
the God's Wife Shepenwepet II, see primarily Ayad, op cit, pp 110-115, fig 2 28, with references
196
For the caption to the arrow-shooting ritual on the Edifice of Taharka, see Parker, etal, Edifice of
Taharqa, p 64, pi 25
487
sp-hmt-nw dd mdw
hr hr hr-tn hfty.w sbi.w
irt<n> n=i wl
sp-fdnw dd mdw
[si] [Tihrk] cnh-dt wr
pry m ih.t
"The God's Wife,

who seizes the bow for herself
and shoots towards the South, North, West, and East
according to his (i.e., Re's) count, which he has given to her:
[Nubia], [Asia], Libya, and Upper and Lower Egypt.
First time: Words to be spoken:
'As for this cry that is in my mouth,
I utter it for the inscribed circular target
(to) drive away the trouble-makers.'
Second time: Words to be spoken:
'Hail unto you!'
Thus Re speaks: 'My sons are rebels and are disaffected toward me.'
Third time: Words to be spoken:
'Fall upon your face, enemies and rebels!
Make yourselves far from me!'
Fourth time: Words to be spoken:
' [Taharqa], living forever, [protects] the great one
who comes forth from the ih.t-cow (i.e., Re).'"
The God's Wife's shooting of four circular targets—which are stationed in the South,
North, West, and East—symbolizes the destruction of the enemies of the solar deity, the
protection of Egypt and the cosmos, and the supression of rebels and foreign enemies of
the Egyptian state.
The fragmentary caption to the adjoining scene on the Edifice of Taharqa
indicates that the ball-throwing ritual performed by the king probably had a similar
symbolic significance.197 By throwing balls towards the four cardinal points, the king
sought to protect Osiris, the solar deity, the Egyptian state, and himself from dangerous
forces at the edges of the cosmos. The mythological texts of several Late Period papyri
For the caption to the royal ball-throwing ritual on the Edifice of Taharka, see Parker, etal., Edifice of
Taharqa, p. 65, pi. 25.
488
indicate that the ball-throwing ritual served to protect Osiris from Seth; however, in its
original form, the ball-throwing ritual assured the safety of the solar deity.198 The balls
used in the ball-thowing ritual typically bore the names of solar-friendly tutelary deities,
such as Amun, Montu, Shu, Tefnut, Neith, Wadjet, Sakhmet, and Bastet.199 During the
ball-throwing ritual, these deities traveled—in the form of balls—to the four cardinal
points at the edge of the cosmos to ward off potentially destructive, chaotic enemies of
Re.
An archaic precursor to the royal ball-throwing ritual appears in the second
register of a wooden label of Djer from Saqqara (Fig. 110); in the left portion of the
second register of this label, a man bringing up the rear of a procession carries a group of
four balls.200 The man at the head of the procession carries a large image of a bull on a
standard; behind him, another man carries a large rectangular object that probably
The ball-throwing ritual is described at length in the following Late Period papyri: Pap. Berlin 3037,
Pap. Brooklyn 47.218.138, Pap. Louvre 3237, Pap. Louvre 3239, and Pap. New York MMA 35.9.21. For a
hieroglyphic transcription and translation of Pap. New York MMA 35.9.21, cols. 26-32a, as well as a
detailed discussion of the ball throwing-ritual in the other papyri, see Goyon, BIFAO 75 (1975): 349-399;
Goyon, Le Papyrus d'Imouthes Fils de Psintaes, 63-73, pis. 25-31. For discussion of the solar imagery of
the ball-throwing ritual, see primarily Parker, etal., Edifice ofTaharqa, p. 63, with references.
199
For discussion of the names of the protective deities recorded on the balls used for the ball-throwing
ritual, see primarily Goyon, BIFAO 75 (1975): 398-399; Ziegler, BIFAO 79 (1979): 437-439, pi. 60;
Parker, etal., Edifice ofTaharqa, p. 65, with references.
200
For discussion of the man throwing four balls in the second register of a wooden label of Djer from
Saqqara as an example of the royal ball-throwing ritual associated with the destruction of enemies, see
Otto, in LA, Vol. 1, col. 609; Baud and Etienne, Archeo-Nil 10, Supplement (2000): 16-17; Menu, Archeo-
Nil 11 (2001): 166. For the suggestion that the man is juggling rings, balls, disks, or loops, see Emery and
Saad, Tomb ofHemaka, p. 38; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 847. Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p.
154, similarly suggests that the man is performing a "Ballspiel" in which he juggles four balls; additionally,
Helck suggests that the bird above the balls writes the word bd, "ball." According to Crubezy and Midant-
Reynes, Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 29, the man is preparing an offering of balls of incense. For discussion of
the depiction of the stabbing of a prisoner in the chest with a dagger in the first register of this label, see
Section 6.1.6.
489
represents a portable shrine or chest containing a divine statue. The man at the rear of
the procession is most likely preparing to throw a ball towards each of the four cardinal
points. The performance of the ball-throwing ritual in this scene is intended to protect the
divine statue in the portable shrine from inimical forces during the potentially dangerous
period of time when the deity is outside of the secure confines of his or her temple.
In the ball-throwing ritual depicted on the Edifice of Taharqa (Fig. 418), the king
carries a stick in his left hand; the presence of the stick in this scene most likely alludes to
a ritual that is closely related to the ball-throwing ritual—namely, the ritual striking of a
ball with a stick.202 In this ritual, which is attested from the 18th Dynasty to the Graeco-
Roman Period, the king strikes a ball representing the eye of Apophis in front of the
image of a tutelary goddess; the king's striking of the ball in this ritual destroys the eye of
Apophis and renders this inimical serpent deity impotent and unable to harm the king or
the solar deity.203 The scene from the Akhmenu at Karnak Temple in which Tuthmosis
III swings a long staff in the presence of Horus of Edfu is probably an example of the
ball-striking ritual—although admittedly there is no clear depiction of a ball in the
scene.204 Though rarely depicted, the ball-striking ritual is known to have been
performed during the reign of Tuthmosis III; a clear example of Tuthmosis III performing
201
For a similar interpretation of this object as a shrine or a chest, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 847;
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 154; Crubezy and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 10 (2000): 29;
Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001): 165-166, fig. 1.
202
For discussion of the ball-striking ritual and a compilation of examples of the ritual, see primarily
DeVries, in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson, pp. 25-35; Borghouts, JEA 59 (1973): 122-140; Otto, in
LA, Vol. 1, cols. 608-609, with references; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 114-115;
Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 132-137, docs. Cl-Cl9.
203
For discussion of the mythological symbolism of the ball-striking ritual, see primarily Borghouts, JEA
59 (1973): 114-150, especially pp. 122-140.
While such an interpretation is speculative, the juxtaposition of this ritual and the arrow-shooting ritual
in the Akhmenu reliefs closely parallels the layout of the ball-throwing ritual and arrow-shooting ritual on
the Edifice of Taharqa.
490
the ball-striking ritual in front of the goddess Hathor appears in a relief from the mortuary
temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari (Fig. 420).205 Like the arrow-shooting ritual in
the Akhmenu reliefs of Tuthmosis III, the stick-swinging ritual that the king performs in
the adjoining scene almost certainly refers to the destruction of enemies at the Sed
Festival.
A possible archaic precursor to the arrow-shooting ritual appears in an Early
Dynastic relief fragment from Gebelein (Fig. 43).206 In the top portion of the relief, an
unidentified Egyptian ruler stands in front of a pair of royal officials and a long-haired
royal woman named Mw.t-nfr.(t) who is clad in a leopard-skin tunic. The king's outfit
in this scene—which consists of a penis sheath with a bull's tail attached to the back of
his waist—suggests that he is performing a physically demanding ritual at the celebration
205
For discussion of the scene from Deir el-Bahari in which Tuthmosis III strikes a ball before the goddess
Hathor, see Naville, Temple of Deir el-Bahari, Vol. 4, p. 4, pi. 100; DeVries, in Studies in Honor of John A.
Wilson, pp. 27-28, 31-35; Porter and Moss, Topographical Bibliography, Vol. 2, p. 351, no. 38; Borghouts,
JEA 59 (1973): 122-123, §11; Otto, in LA, Vol. 1, cols. 608-609; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient
Egypt, pp. 114-115, fig. 78; Decker and Herb, Bildatlaszum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 132, doc. CI, with
references; Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, pp. 88-89; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor,
eds., Thutmose 111: A New Biography, pp. 151-152.
206
For discussion of a fragmentary Early Dynastic relief from Gebelein in which the king carries four
arrows, see Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 8; Williams and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 261; Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und
Programm, pp. 221-227, figs. 1-2, pi. 1; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 14.
207
Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und Programm, pp.
222-223, 227, ignores the obviously feminine physical features of the individual wearing a leopard-skin
tunic and suggests that this person is a male royal official—the same individual who is labeledt_(l)t(y)on
the Narmer Palette and the Narmer Macehead. However, the hieroglyphic inscription associated with this
individual—Mw t-nfr.(t)—is a well-attested feminine personal name, which clearly indicates that this
person is a woman. Aware of this problem, Morenz offers an unusual—and ultimately untenable—
alternative interpretation of the clearly written hieroglyphic inscription associated with this person; Morenz
reads the inscription wbi Nhb t, "Diener/Aufwarter der Nechbet." For discussion of Predynastic and
Protodynastic depictions of individuals wearing leopard-skin clothing, see references collected in Section
6.3, footnotes 248-249.
491
of his Sed Festival. With his piriform mace tucked into the waistband of his penis
sheath, the king grasps a bundle of four arrows in his right hand; unfortunately, the
portion of the relief depicting the king's left hand is now damaged and missing. In its
original form, the relief probably depicted the king holding a bow in his left hand and
performing a ritual in which he shot arrows at a series of targets stationed at the four
cardinal points: South, North, West, East. The lower portion of the relief depicts the
procession of the high-ended royal barque to the pr-wr shrine; the fragmentary caption to
the scene records the presence of a "Follower of Horus" {Sms-Hr) at the city of Wnw,
Allusions to the arrow-shooting ritual also appear in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre at Abu Gurob, the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at Soleb, the Sed
Festival reliefs of Akhenaten at Karnak, and the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at
Bubastis. Two scenes from the Lower Egyptian palanquin procession in the Sed Festival
reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob depict the transfer of a bow and arrow set from the hry-
hb priest to the sm-priest and ultimately to the king himself—presumably for the
performance of the ritual shooting of arrows (Figs 204-205).210 Like the arrow-shooting
Djoser wears a similar outfit during the performance of the Konigslauf'm the Sed Festival relief panels
from the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara; for discussion of Djoser's outfit in this panels, see Section
2.2.1, with references.
209
The hieroglyphic caption does not indicate whether the locality is Wnw-mh ty or Wnw-rsy.
210
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 44-45. For discussion of
the presentation of the bow and arrow to Niuserre in these scenes, see Von Bissing and Kees,
Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures, p. 107; Helck, Anthropos 49 (1954):
988; Barta, Untersuchungen zur Gottlichkeit des regierenden Konigs, pp. 68-69; Keel, Wirkmachtige
Siegeszeichen im Alten Testament, pp. 114-115,189, fig. 57; Behrens, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 1007-1008;
Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 16, Scenes 9-10; Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds.,
Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und Programm, p. 226; Vofi, Untersuchungen zu den
Sonnenheiligtumern der 5. Dynastie, pp. 87, 98. For further discussion of the Sed Festival reliefs of
Nisuerre from his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see Section 2.2.3.
492
ritual from the Akhmenu reliefs of Tuthmosis III, the transfer of the bow and arrow set to
the king at the Sed Festival of Niuserre is linked to the god Seth; the caption to the scene
at Abu Gurob indicates that the presentation of the bow and arrow to Niuserre takes place
at the "gateway of Seth of Ombos" (sb? Sth Nb t). In several other Sed Festival scenes
from Abu Gurob, a royal attendant walking in the presence of Niuserre carries a large
bow or quiver.211 Additionally, in several other scenes from Niuserre's Sed Festival, a
large unearned bow has been placed upright in the ground next to the royal standards.212
In several scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III from Soleb, a
royal attendant walking in the presence of the king carries a large bow (Figs. 294-297); in
one of these scenes, the attendant bears the title hrp-iwn t, "overseer of the bow."213 In a
scene depicting the appearance of the king at the steps of a dais in the Sed Festival reliefs
of Akhenaten at Karnak, a human-armed rn/*-sign carries a large bow (Fig. 421).214 In
two scenes from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, one or more human-
armed symbols (including a d<i-pillar) carry a large bow in the presence of the king (fig.
422). In another scene from Bubastis, a hm-ntr priest walking in the presence of
211
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 27, 33a, 39,43, Von
Bissing and Kees, op at, Vol 3, nos 104,140,194
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 33a, 44d, Von Bissing
and Kees, op cit ,Vo\ 3, nos 102-103
2,3
Giorgini, Soleb, Vol 5, pis 100, 110, 113, 115, 127
214
Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-festival at Karnak, pi 20, Scene 44, Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple
Project, Vol 1, pi 77
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis 1 5 , 9 6 For discussion of the large bows in these two scenes
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis, see Uphill, JNES24 (1965) 372, 376 The latter
scene parallels the just mentioned Sed Festival relief of Akhenaten in which the king appears at the steps of
a dais, for discussion of the Karnak relief, see references cited supra, this section, in footnote 214
493
Osorkon II carries a large bow (Fig. 423).216 Finally, in an additional scene from the Sed
Festival reliefs of Osorkon II, an unidentified royal attendant transfers a large bow to the
hry-P ("Chief of Pe") in the presence of the sra-priest (Fig. 424). None of these scenes
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, or Osorkon II, however,
contains a clear reference to Seth of Ombos, the transfer of the bow to the king, or the
ritual shooting of the bow.
A fragmentary mythological text from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef probably also alludes to the performance of the royal
arrow-shooting ritual at the Sed Festival. The Hymn of the Carob Seed Pod in the tomb
of Kheruef describes the destruction of a dangerous and chaotic creature, identified as
"the inverted one" and "the pale one," who is driven away during the night by the sharp-
taloned solar falcon.218 This inimical creature is almost certainly the serpent deity
Apophis whom Re encounters and defeats during his nocturnal journey through the
underworld. In the text of the hymn, Apophis suffers a bloody, gruesome death after
being shot by the solar deity: dSr ir.ty n sti.t irk.t, "the two eyes become red through the
shooting of the inverted one." The performance of an arrow-shooting ritual—though not
depicted in the tomb of Kheruef—would serve as a perfect ritual enactment of the
destruction of Apophis that is described in this hymn.
6.3. RITUAL COMBAT: A CELEBRATION OF THE MILITARY POWER OF THE KING
216
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 2.11. For discussion of the priest carrying a large bow in this
scene, see Uphill, JNES 24 (1965): 370-371.
Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 19.5. For discussion of the transfer of the bow from one official
to another in this scene, see Uphill, JNES 26 (1967): 377.
218
For transliteration and translation of the Hymn of the Carob Seed Pod with detailed commentary, see
494
The reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef depict a
series of boxing and stick-fighting bouts at the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony—an
Osirian ritual that symbolizes the regeneration and resurrection of the corpse of Osiris in
the underworld (Fig. 193).219 The caption to the ritual combat scene in the tomb of
Kheruef identifies some of the combatants as "men of Dep" and "men of Pe"; both of
these titles refer to the Lower Egyptian cultic center of Buto. Additionally, the victor in
each combat bout is indentified as the triumphant royal god Horus. Though not explicitly
stated in the accompanying hieroglyphic texts, the performance of boxing and stick
fighting at the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony during the celebration of Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival probably alludes to the mythological conflict between Horus and
990
Seth. During this mythological conflict, Horus struggled with Seth in order to protect
the corpse of his father Osiris in a critical phase of his regenerative process. In this way,
the boxing and stick-fighting rituals of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival may borrow
from mythological traditions of the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, such as the
Pyramid Texts and the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus.
Scene 18 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus describes a bout of hand-to-hand
combat between a "child of Horus" and a "follower of Seth" as a ritual re-enactment of
For discussion of the symbolic significance of the Raising of the Djed Pillar at Amenhotep Ill's third
Sed Festival, see primarily Section 2.1.2, Scene 3. For the ritual combat scenes from the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pp.
63-64, pis. 59, 61, 63. For a detailed discussion of these ritual combat scenes, including a transliteration
and translation of the accompanying texts, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 6, with references.
220
For a similar conclusion regarding the symbolism of the ritual combat scenes from the tomb of Kheruef
and the mythological struggle between Horus and Seth, see primarily Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient
Egypt, pp. 84-88; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 341-344; Decker, in Ulf, ed.,
Ideologie, Sport, Aussenseiter; pp. 129-134.
495
the struggle between Horus and Seth.221 In Pyramid Texts Spell 469, an individual
identified as the "foremost of Letopolis" uses a nfti f-stick to protect the deceased king
(in the form of the underworld god Osiris) from the "evil" of an unidentified source (most
likely Seth).222 Scene 38 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus describes the ritual re-
enactment of a battle between Horus and Seth at Letopolis; in order to protect the corpse
of Osiris, the "children of Horus" take up nfil f-sticks and engage in a stick-fight with the
"followers of Seth."223 In Pyramid Spell 482, the "Souls of Pe" perform a ritual dance
with sticks while extolling Horus for smiting the person who murdered Osiris—Seth; the
stick-dance described in this passage undoubtedly represents a ritual re-enactment of
Horus's struggle with Seth.224
The use of papyrus-stalks in place of wooden sticks in the stick-fighting scene
from the tomb of Kheruef suggests that the performance of ritual combat at Amenhotep
Ill's third Sed Festival may contain an allusion to the ritual shaking of papyri (s$S wid)
for the goddess Hathor.225 The ritual shaking of papyri typically occurs as a prelude to
the hieros gamos of the king and Hathor—or the hieros gamos of the king and the queen
221
For Scene 18 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp 166-167, Scene
18,11 56-58, p 252, Image 12 For detailed discussion of this scene, including transliteration and
translation, see Section 2 1 2, Scene 6, with references
222
For the relevant passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 469, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte,
Vol 2, p 2, § 908 For detailed discussion of this passage, including transliteration and translation, see
Section 2 1 2, Scene 6, with references
2
For Scene 38 of the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, see Sethe, Dramatische Texte, pp 223-225, Scene
38,11 117-119, p 257, Image 24 For detailed discussion of this scene, including transliteration and
224
For the relevant passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 482, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte,
Vol 2, pp 64-66, § 1005-1008 For detailed discussion of this passage, including transliteration and
225
Altenmuller, SAK 30 (2002) 31-33, similarly suggests that the stick-fighting scene in the tomb of
Kheruef may relate to the ritual shaking of papyri (sSS wld) for Hathor According to Decker, Sports and
Games of Ancient Egypt, pp 84-86, the use of papyrus-stalks in the stick-fighting scene from the tomb of
Kheruef emphasizes the regenerative aspects of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony
496
(as a human representative of the goddess).226 In several scenes from the reliefs of
Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, the royal daughters
shake Hathoric implements in the presence of the king and the queen (Figs. 161, 187);
the shaking of these implements mimics the sound of rustling papyri and alludes to the
performance of the hieros gamos at the Sed Festival.227
The stick fighting bouts from Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival may also refer to
another Hathoric ritual—the performance of a stick-dance by a group of Nubians at the
New Year festival in celebration of the return of the wandering goddess of the eye of the
sun to Egypt.228 The depiction of a pair of stick-fighters on an unprovenanced 26th
Dynasty New Year's flask suggests that stick-fighting rituals were interchangeable with
the stick-dance at the New Year Festival (Fig. 425).229 The stick fighting rituals that
Herodotus observed at the entrance to a temple at Papremis probably also formed part of
the celebration of the New Year and the return of the wandering goddess to Egypt.
226
For discussion of the ritual shaking of papyrus (sSS wid) as a prelude to the hieros gamos, see references
227
For discussion of the shaking of Hathoric implements by the royal daughters of Amenhotep III in the
tomb of Kheruef as a reference to the sSS wid and the hieros gamos, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 7; Section
2.1.2, Scene 4a.
228
In the hymn to Hathor at Medamud, club-wielding Nubians dance for the wandering goddess of the eye
of the sun during her return to Egypt during the New Year festival; for discussion of these club-wielding
Nubians, see Darnell, SAK 22 (1995): 64-65, 69, 73-74.
229
For discussion of the stick-fighters depicted on this unprovenanced 26th Dynasty New Year's flask in the
collection of the Brooklyn Museum, see Fazzini, JSSEA 28 (2001): 55-57, pi. 1.
230
For Herodotus's account of stick-fighting rituals at Papremis in Histories, Book 2, Chapter 63, see
Lloyd, Herodotus Book II, Vol. 2, pp. 285-286; Lloyd, in Murray and Moreno, eds., A Commentary on
Herodotus Books I-IV, pp. 279-280. Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 178-180, with references,
suggests that the ritual combat scenes in the tomb of Kheruef are part of the same mythological tradition as
the so-called Papremis ritual. Altenmiiller, JEOL 18 (1964): 271-279, attempts to link the stick-fighting
ritual in Herodotus's account to the stick-fighting rituals in Pyramid Texts Spell 469 and in Scene 38 of the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus. Altenmiiller unconvincingly argues that Papremis and Letopolis are the
same town; and, based on this assumption, Altenmiiller links each of these ritual combat episodes to
mythical accounts of Onuris and the cult center of Letopolis. Altenmiiller's interpretation of the Papremis
ritual—particularly his equation of Papremis and Letopolis—has not gained universal acceptance and
497
The ritual combat scenes from Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival contain
allusions to the mythological struggle between Horus and Seth, as well as the Hathoric
stick-fighting rituals performed in celebration of the return of the wandering goddess to
Egypt at the New Year festival. Ritual combat, however, also appears as a component of
royal celebration in other festival settings throughout pharaonic Egyptian history. The
ritual combat scenes in the tomb of Kheruef probably also contains allusions to the
performance of ritual combat at the royal military victory celebration, at the celebration
of the royal durbar, and at the appearance of the king at the Window-of-Appearances.
Several recently discovered blocks from the causeway of the mortuary complex of
Sahure at Abusir contain depictions of celebratory rites associated with the
commemoration of the newly constructed mortuary temple of the king.231 One of these
blocks depicts several groups of men engaged in wrestling (Fig. 426), stick fighting (Fig.
427), archery (Fig. 428), and rowing alongside the image of a construction crew and a
group of architects.232 Until a full publication of the reliefs on this block is available,
remains controversial. For a recent critical survey of various discussions of the Papremis ritual, see
Borghouts, in DuQuesne, ed., Hermes Aegyptiacus, pp. 43-52, with references. Borghouts concludes that
the Papremis ritual probably corresponded to "a New Year celebration of local tailoring" and symbolized
the triumphant restoration of a "chief god" to the throne "after a period of cosmic decline." For further
discussion of Herodotus's account of the Papremis stick-fighting ritual, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 7, with
references.
231
For a preliminary publication of these blocks from the causeway of Sahure at Abusir, see Hawass and
Verner, MDAIK 52 (1996): 177-186, pi. 1. For the publication of four additional blocks from the causeway
of Sahure's mortuary complex, which depict a flotilla of ships from the royal fleet, see El-Awady, in
Hawass, etal., eds., Realm of the Pharaohs, pp. 177-200, pis. 1-4, figs. 1-4.
232
For discussion of the scenes of ritual combat associated with the foundation of Sahure's mortuary
complex on this recently discovered block from Abusir, see Hawass and Verner, MDAIK 52 (1996): 184-
186, fig. 2b, pi. 56b; Hawass, in Silverman, ed., Ancient Egypt, p. 189; Decker, in Ulf, ed., Ideologie, Sport,
Aussenseiter, pp. 114-129, fig. 4; Hawass, Secrets from the Sand, pp. 61-62; Verner, Abusir: Realm of
Osiris, p. 44; Verner, in Kloth, etal, eds., Es werde niedergelegt als Schriftstuck, p. 446; Decker, in Decker
and Thuillier, Le sport dans VAntiquite, pp. 35-38, figs. 18-20; Decker, in Rollinger and Truschnegg, eds.,
Altertum und Mittelmeerraum, pp. 462-464, fig. 1. Photos and line-drawings of a small portion of the
block—including part of the wrestling and archery scenes—appear in Hawass and Verner, op. cit., p. 185,
fig. 2b, pi. 56b; however, to date, neither a photo nor a line-drawing of the complete relief decoration on
498
only preliminary conclusions regarding the significance of the scenes are possible.
Middle Kingdom reliefs from the tombs of Amenemhat (Fig. 429), Khety (Fig. 430), and
Baqti III (Fig. 431) at Beni Hasan, which juxtapose depictions of sportive wrestling and
depictions of hand-to-hand combat on the actual field of battle, suggest that the combat
sports—such as wrestling, boxing, and stick fighting—probably served as a form of
military training for Egyptian soldiers.
During the 18th Dynasty, Egyptian kings are known to have celebrated successful
military campaigns with a nautical procession of the so-called "falcon ship" (bik)—a
royal warship decorated with images of the falcon-headed war-god Montu.234 In two
scenes from the 19f Dynasty tomb of Khonsu at Thebes, a stick-fighting duel takes place
atop the cabin of a rowboat in the procession of the barque of Montu at Armant (Fig.
this block has been published According to Verner, in Kloth, etal, eds , loc cit, the performance of these
sporting activities took place at "the conclusion of the building work "
233
For discussion of the wrestling scenes in the tombs of Amenemhat, Khety, and Baqti III at Beni Hasan,
see primarily Newberry, Beni Hasan, Vol l,pp 32-33, pis 14-16, Newberry, op cit, Vol 2, pp 47-48,
59-60, pis 5, 8, 15, 19, Wilsdorf, Ringkampfim alten Agypten, pp 23-42, 55-59, figs 13-15, Decker, in
LA, Vol 5, cols 265-266, Decker, Sports and Games ofAncient Egypt, pp 71-77, figs 38-43, Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp 551-553, docs LI8, L19, L21, with references, Shedid,
Die Felsgraber von Beni Hassan in Mittelagypten, pp 21, 29, 31, 35, 37, 46, 69-72, figs 24, 43-45, 53-55,
114-118, Decker, in Decker and Thuilher, Le sport dans VAntiquite, pp 43-44, fig 24 For discussion of
wrestling, boxing, and stick-fighting as forms of military training in ancient Egypt, see also Poliakoff,
Combat Sports in the Ancient World, pp 95-96, Decker, Sports and Games ofAncient Egypt, pp 76-77,
Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds , Gold of Praise, pp 336-337, Gillam, Performance and Drama in
Ancient Egypt, p 89
234
According to Ahmose son of Ibana, Tuthmosis I celebrated his successful military campaign in Nubia
with a military victory celebration involving the display of an upside down Nubian on the prow of his
"falcon ship " For discussion of the display of a defeated Nubian on the royal warship in the military
victory celebration of Tuthmosis I, see references collected in Section 6 1 2, footnote 119 For discussion
of the decoration of 18th Dynasty royal warships with images of the falcon-headed war-god Montu, see
primarily Werner, JARCE 23 (1986) 107-123 As a reward for their loyal service, the royal falcon-ship
also traveled in the funerary processions of several high officials of the royal court m the 18th Dynasty, for
discussion of the appearance of the royal warship in reliefs from the tombs of Kenamun (Theban Tomb 93),
Amenhotep-Sise (Theban Tomb 75), and Huy (Theban Tomb 40), see Werner, loc cit
499
432). Similar performances of ritual combat probably also took place of at the
procession of the falcon warship during royal military victory celebrations of the New
Kingdom; the reliefs from the causeway of Sahure may depict an Old Kingdom example
of a similar royal military victory celebration.
In the depiction of the royal durbar of Akhenaten in the tomb of Meryre II at
Amarna, the enthroned king receives prisoners-of-war and a vast array of gifts and tribute
from foreign lands in the North, South, East, and West (Fig. 433).236 Most likely,
Akhenaten's durbar served as a victory celebration for the king's successful military
campaign in Nubia in regnal year 12; however, more generally, the durbar also affirmed
the divinity and military power of Akhenaten by presenting him as the ruler of all lands
through which the solar disc travels—including Egypt and all foreign lands.237 Among
the rows of tribute-bearers and foreign captives who surround the royal tntl.t-dais at
Akhenaten's durbar, a group of soldiers—comprised of both native Egyptians and Nubian
auxiliaries of the Egyptian military—competes in wrestling, boxing, and stick fighting.
For discussion of the stick-fighting scenes in the tomb of Khonsu (Theban Tomb 31), see Davies, Seven
Private Tombs at Kurnah, pp. 14-15, pis. 11-12; Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, p. 87, fig. 57;
Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 567-568, doc. M6; Piccione, in Teeter and
Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 344-345; Beck, BACE 11 (2000): 8-9, figs. 3-4; Gillam, Performance and
Drama in Ancient Egypt, p. 89; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 273, note 107.
236
For the depiction of Akhenaten's durbar in the tomb of Meryre II at Amarna, see Davies, Rock Tombs of
El Amarna, Vol. 2, pp. 38-43, pis. 37-40.
237
For discussion of the symbolic significance of the durbars of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, see
primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 125-131, 134-135,184,208-209.
238
For discussion of the ritual combat scene in the depiction of Akhenaten's durbar in the tomb of Meryre
II, see primarily Davies, Rock Tombs of El Amarna, Vol. 2, p. 40, pis. 37-38; Wilsdorf, Ringkampfim alten
Agypten, pp. 42-44, fig. 27; Wilson, JEA 17 (1931): 211-212,216-217,219-220, pi. 37, figs. 1-6; Carroll,
Journal of Sport History 15 (1988): 123-124, fig. 2; Decker, in Mendel and Claudi, eds., Agypten im afro-
orientahschen Kontext, p. 99, fig. 3; Decker, Sports and Games ofAncient Egypt, pp. 77-78, 83, 89; Decker
and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 555-556, 566, 572-573, docs. L28, M3, N2, with
references; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds. Gold of Praise, p. 344; Beck, BACE 11 (2000): 8, fig. 2;
Decker, in Ulf, ed., Ideologic, Sport, Aussenseiter, pp. 135-138, fig. 8; Decker, in Decker and Thuillier, Le
sport dans I'Antiquite, pp 38-39; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 208-209.
500
The multiethnic makeup of the Egyptian soldiers in this ritual combat scene is not
surprising; after a rigorous process of acculturation, foreign prisoners-of-war routinely
joined and served in the Egyptian military.239 In the context of the military victory
celebration of Akhenaten's durbar, the performance of ritual combat by Egyptian soldiers
demonstrated the high-level combat skills of the victorious Egyptian military, which had
just recently returned from Nubia. With this elite army under his control, Akhenaten was
able to extend his rule beyond the boundaries of Egypt into all foreign lands; through
military power, Akhenaten suppressed chaos and maintained order in the cosmos.
A similar depiction of ritual combat appears below two large royal smiting scenes
in the reliefs of Ramesses III at the Window-of-Appearances in the first courtyard of
Medinet Habu (Fig. 434).240 The entire decorative scheme of Ramesses Ill's Window-of-
Appearances at Medinet Habu emphasizes the military dominance of the king over his
foreign enemies; the three-dimensional heads of the Nine Bows below the feet of the king
in the royal smiting scenes indicate that he literally "tramples" all of his foreign enemies.
In the ritual combat scene below the window, a group of foreign dignitaries and high-
ranking Egyptians watches enthusiastically as members of the Egyptian military—
For discussion of acculturation of foreign prisoners-of-war and the service of foreign auxiliaries in the
Egyptian military, see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 67-69, 184, with
references.
240
For discussion of the ritual combat scene of Ramesses III beneath the Window of Appearances at
Medinet Habu, as well as the nearly identical ritual combat scene of Ramesses II originally from the
Ramesseum, see primarily Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 2, pis. 111-112, 127b-c; Holscher, ZAS
67 (1931): 43-51, pis. 5-6; Wilson, JEA 17 (1931): 211-220, pis. 37-38, figs. 11-21, txts. 9-11; Wilsdorf,
Ringkampfim alten Agypten, pp 44-46, figs. 10-11, 28-30, Nims, in Studies m Honor of George R
Hughes, pp. 169-175; Carroll, Journal of Sport History 15 (1988): 124-129, figs. 4-9; Decker, in Mendel
and Claudi, eds., Agypten im afro-orientahschen Kontext, pp. 99,101-103, figs. 6-8; Decker, Sports and
Games of Ancient Egypt, pp. 78-81, 84-85, figs. 47-50, 54; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten
Agypten, pp. 558-561, 569-570, docs. L31, L34, M9, with references; Beck, BACE 11 (2000): 11,13, figs.
9, 13; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 345-346; Decker, in Ulf, ed., Ideologie,
Sport, Aussenseiter, pp. 139-143, fig. 9; Decker, in Decker and Thuilher, Le sport dans I'Antiquite, pp. 39-
40, figs. 21-22; Decker, in Rollinger and Truschnegg, eds., Altertum und Mittelmeerraum, pp. 467-470,
figs. 3-4; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 208-209.
501
including native Egyptians, as well as Nubian, Libyan, and Syrian auxiliaries—compete
in stick-fighting and wrestling.241 Like the ritual combat scenes at Akhenaten's durbar,
the hand-to-hand combat scenes at the Window-of-Appearances of Ramesses III
demonstrate the prowesss and elite status of the multiethnic Egyptian army; additionally,
these scenes affirm the king as the head of the Egyptian army and the subjugator of
chaos.242 While watching these bouts of hand-to-hand combat, the spectators hail
Ramesses III as a divinely supported military leader:243
dd mdw in ms.w-nsw.t sr.w

tw-k mi Mntw pr-rB cnh(.w) wdl(.w) snb(.w) piy-n nb nfr
dh n=k Imn n? hls.ty.w i.ii.(w)
r tny.t=w
"Words to be spoken by the royal children and the officials:

'You are like Montu, Pharaoh, L.P.H., our good lord!
Amun has knocked down for you the foreigners who have come
to distinguish themselves.'"
One of the victorious stick-fighters similarly praises the god-given military prowess of
the king: 'Imn pi ntr i.wd sw pi nht n pi hki r ti nb pi si ci n Wsr-Mic.t-Rr mry-lmn

c
nh(.w) wdi(.w) snb(.w) hiw.ty, "The god who decrees it, namely the victory of the one
who rules over every land, is Amun, O great regiment of Usermaatre, Beloved-of-Amun,
O foremost one!"244
For a similar conclusion regarding the ethnic identity of the men participating in the competition and the
status of these men as foreign auxiliaries in the Egyptian military, see Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds.,
Gold of Praise, p. 345; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 208.
242
According to Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 208-209, the scenes of ritual combat at
the Window of Appearances of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu "reinforced the image of the ruler as
warlord."
243
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 2, pi. I l l , 11. 11-12; for further discussion of the transliteration
and translation of these lines, cf. Wilson, JEA 17 (1931): 213, txts. 8-12; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum
Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 559, doc. L34; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, p. 209.
244
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 2, pi. I l l , 11. 31-33; for further discussion of the transliteration
and translation of these lines, cf. Wilson, JEA 17 (1931): 213, txt. 16; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum
Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 560, doc. L34; Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, p. 346.
502
The 19 Dynasty tomb of Amenmese at Thebes depicts the performance of ritual
combat in front of a statue of the deified 18th Dynasty king Tuthmosis III in the barque
shrine of the king's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari (Fig. 435).245 The festivities
depicted in this scene form part of the Theban celebration of the festival of the deified
king Amenhotep I; during the festival, the barque of Amenhotep I visited various cultic
sites along the west bank at Thebes, including the mortuary temple of Tuthmosis III.246
The performance of wrestling and stick fighting by Egyptian soldiers at the festival of the
deified king celebrated the great military power of the Egyptian king. In a victory cry
that closely mirrors the exclamation of a triumphant stick-fighter at the Window-of-
Appearances of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, one of the wrestlers at the barque shrine
of Tuthmosis III proclaims that the sovereignty of the king over all lands is divinely
granted by Amun.
As the previous examples clearly show, the performance of ritual combat at royal
festivals—including the Sed Festival—during the New Kingdom demostrates the elite
combat skills of a multiethnic Egyptian military that included both native Egyptians and
foreign auxiliaries. The Egyptian king's control over this army vested him with
enormous military power. Mirroring the journey of the solar deity through the cosmos,
the king marched into foreign lands and forcibly brought order to the world beyond
245
For discussion of the wrestling and stick-fighting scenes in the tomb of Amenmese (Theban Tomb 19),
see Wilson, JEA 17(1931) 211-214, 217, 219, pi 37, figs 8-10, txts 1, 6, 8, Wilsdorf, Rmgkampfim alten
Agypten, pp 22-23, 59-60, fig 12, Porter and Moss, Topographical Bibliography, Vol 1, Part 1, pp 33-34,
no 4, Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, pp 81-83, fig 51, Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum
Sport im Alten Agypten, pp 557-558, 567, docs L30, M5, Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds , Gold of
Praise, p 344, Beck, BACE 11 (2000) 13, fig 12, Decker, in Ulf, ed , Ideologic Sport, Aussenseiter, pp
126-127, fig 6, Gillam, Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, p 89
246
For discussion of the depiction of the visit of the barque of the deified Amenhotep I to the mortuary
temple of the deified Tuthmosis III in the tomb of Amenmese (Theban Tomb 19), see primarily Porter and
Moss, Topographical Bibliography, Vol l , P a r t l , p p 33-34, no 4, Piccione, in Teeter and Larson, eds,
Gold of Praise, p 344
503
Egypt's borders. The defeated enemies of the king had two choices: submission or death.
After a period of acculturation, those who submitted to the king joined the ordered world
of Egypt and had the opportunity to serve the king as foreign auxiliaries of the Egyptian
military. Depictions of Egyptian soldiers and foreign auxiliaries participating in ritual
combat in the presence of the king emphasized the king's divinely bestowed power to
impose order and suppress chaos in the cosmos.
The depiction of stick fighting and wrestling in a relief from the causeway of
Sahure's mortuary temple at Abusir suggests that the performance of ritual combat
occurred at royal festivals as early as the Old Kingdom. However, depictions of combat
sports also appear in several Predynastic royal tableaux and on several Early Dynastic
inscribed royal objects; these Early Egyptian sportive combat scenes suggest that the
performance of ritual combat at royal festivals predated the Old Kingdom considerably.
In a scene from the painted Sed Festival tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (c.
Naqada IIC), two pairs of men engage each other in hand-to-hand combat with sticks
(Fig. 131e).247 In each of the two duels, the combatant on the right wears an elaborate
leopard-skin garment and the combatant on the left wears a simple penis sheath. In other
For discussion of the depiction of hand-to-hand combat at the bottom of Scene 4 in the painted Sed
Festival tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see primarily Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis.
75-76; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 114; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 563, 566, fig. 375; Case and Crowfoot-
Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-14, 16, fig. 4, pi. lb; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, p. 23; Avi-Yonah, in
Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, The Hebrew
School, Vol. 2, p. 30; Williams and Logan, JNES46 (1987): 254; Monnet-Saleh, JEA 73 (1987): 55;
Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 42, fig. 7; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 37-38, fig. 24c;
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 274;
Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, pp. 489-491, fig. 5; Hendrickx,
CdE 73 (1998): 217,220-224; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, p. 208; Cialowicz, La naissance
d'un royaume, pp. 157-159; Kohler, in Van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 503;
Schulz, in Bietak and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins
Mittelalter, pp. 19, 21, figs. 8-9; Nibbi, ZAS 130 (2003)- 171-172, fig. 5; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and
Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 43-44, 68, 92, figs. 5.12, 5.45; Schulz, in Petschel and Von Falck, eds., Pharao
siegt immer,p. 68, fig. 2; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 109-110,114-115, fig. 5.6.
504
Early Egyptian contexts, leopard-skin clothing seems to serve as an indicator of the elite
status of high-ranking royal officials, such as the t{l)t(y) ("vizier") who appears next to
the king on the Narmer Macehead (Fig. 60) and the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39) .248 In the
hand-to-hand combat scene from Tomb 100, the leopard-skin garment may function as a
form of protective military clothing; one of the combatants in Tomb 100 holds up a
leopard-skin pelt like a shield to ward off a blow from his opponent.249 The placement of
this combat scene in between two clear examples of ritual performance—a bull-
slaughering ritual and a musical performance—strongly suggests that the stick-fighters in

50
Tomb 100 are engaged in ritual combat rather than actual combat on the battlefield.
Like the ritual combat scene from the Window-of-Appearances of Ramesses III at
Medinet Habu (Fig. 434), the stick-fighting scene in Tomb 100 appears in proximity to a
ritual demonstrating the military authority of the Egyptian ruler: the royal smiting
For discussion of leopard-skin garments as indicators of the elite status of high-ranking officials at royal
festivals in Early Egypt, see primarily Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near
East, pp. 483-496; Hendrickx, CdE 73 (1998): 224-228. Less likely, the spotted garment is a foreign style
of dress similar to the long spotted robes worn by foreign (possibly Libyan) tribute-bearers on several Early
Egyptian inscribed objects; for discussion of the long spotted robes of foreign tribute bearers, see Bagh, in
Czerny, etal, eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2, pp. 12-13, figs. 3e-3i, with
references.
249
For discussion of the leopard-skin garment as a form of protective clothing in this scene, see Gautier,
Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 42, fig. 7. For discussion of the possible use of the leopard-skin pelt as a shield in this
scene, see Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 566; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, p. 23; Avi-Yonah, in Groll,
ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, The Hebrew School,
Vol. 2, p. 30; Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, p. 491; Nibbi, ZAS
130 (2003): 171-172, fig. 5; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 43-44, fig. 5.12.
Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 16, have proposed an alternative interpretation of the scene
involving the man who holds the leopard-skin pelt: "the figure kneeling before the priest is surely offering a
skin rather than defending himself with a shield, and his overthrow may be an amusing illustration of
magic." Picking up on this idea, Hendrickx, CdE 73 (1998): 217,220-224, suggests that the scene depicts
the presentation of insignia of power, including staffs and ceremonial clothing. Such an interpretation,
however, does not adequately account for the defeated, upside-down man in the duel on the right.
250
For discussion of the bull-slaughtering ritual in Scene 4 of the painted Sed Festival tableau of Tomb
100, see Section 5.3.0; Section 5.3.1; Section 5.3.3. For discussion of the three seated female musicians in
Scene 4 from Tomb 100, see Section 3.1.1.2.
505
951
scene. Thus, the performance of ritual combat in the painted tableau of Tomb 100
likely serves to affirm the military power of the Egyptian ruler during the performance of
the Sed Festival.
The top section of the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (c. Naqada IIC-
959
IIIA) depicts images of hand-to-hand combat next to the royal smiting scene (Fig. 58).
The combat scenes in the first two registers of the knife handle include a three-person
melee and two duels in which penis sheath clad men attack each other with clubs and
knives.253 The juxtaposition of the royal smiting scene and the images of hand-to-hand
combat suggests a ritual setting for the melee and duels on the recto of the Gebel el-Arak
knife handle.254 Club fighting is a well-attested variant of ritual stick fighting; however,
knife fighting is not otherwise attested as a form of ritual combat in ancient Egypt.
Despite the unusual use of knives, the hand-to-hand combat scene on the Gebel el-Arak
51
For discussion of the royal smiting scene in Scene 2 from the painted tableau of Tomb 100, see Section
6.1.1.
252
For discussion of the royal smiting scene in the top section of the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife
handle, see Section 6.1.1.
253
For discussion of the hand-to-hand combat scenes in the top two registers of the recto of the Gebel-el
Arak knife handle, see primarily Benedite, MonPiot 22 (1916): 8-12, 15-16, fig. 9; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944):
122; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 537-539; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 18-19; Monnet-Saleh,
BIFAO 86 (1986): 230; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 263; Sievertsen, Baghdader Mitteilungen 23
(1992): 14-18, 38-39; Vertesalji, in Charpin and Joannes, eds., La circulation des biens, despersonnes et
des idees dans le Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 30-35, figs. 1-2; Czichon and Sievertsen, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993):
51; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 546-547, doc. L3; Delange, Dossiers
d'archeologie 257 (2000): 55; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., The Study of the Ancient Near East in
the Twenty-first Century, p. 11; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 69-70, 112, fig. 34; Adams and
Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 43, 55, fig. 38; Cialowicz, in Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga
Lipinska, pp. 342-344, 345-348, 350-351; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 201;
Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 208, 239; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-
168, fig. 20; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 503; Schulz, in Bietak and
Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19, 21,
fig. 7; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 68, 93-94, figs. 5.45, 8.12.
254
For the tentative suggestion that the hand-to-hand combat scenes on the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife
handle may represent sportive combat rather than actual military conflict, see Decker and Herb, Bildatlas
zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 546-547, doc. L3.
506
knife handle most likely depicts the performance of ritual combat in the presence of the
Egyptian ruler. Like other examples of ritual combat, these sportive combat bouts affirm
the Egyptian ruler as a triumphant military leader.
A depiction of two men wrestling appears in an unusual context on the verso of
the Libyan Palette (c. Naqada IIIB-IIIC); the two wrestlers appear inside one of seven
fortified enclosures (Fig. 192).255 The depiction of a royal symbol or group of royal
symbols wielding a mr-hoe above each of the fortified enclosures symbolizes the
"destruction" (hbT) of these forts.256 A group of enigmatic hieroglyphic signs appears
within each of the fortified enclosures—perhaps as a hieroglyphic rendering of the name
of the fort or of the defeated enemies who formerly possessed the fort.257 If the signs
within the enclosures write the names of foreign peoples or foreign fortifications, the two
wrestlers could possibly stand for an unknown toponym called Kmi—the Egyptian term
For discussion of the two wrestlers who appear inside of a fortified enclosure on the verso of the Libyan
Palette, see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 546, doc. LI, with
references; Steindorff, in Aegyptiaca: Festschrift fur Georg Ebers, p. 123; Schott, Mitteilungen der
Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84 (1952): 15-17, fig. 4; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 67 (1969): 174;
Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, p. 43; Decker, Kolner Beitrage zur Sportwissenschaft 5 (1976): 8-10, fig.
1; Decker, in LA, Vol. 5, col. 265; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 139; Decker, Sports and
Games of Ancient Egypt, p. 71; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswartiger Bevolkerung, pp. 21,23-24,
26, fig. 2a; Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1, pp. 173-175; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 180;
Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 71-72, 144-150, 345, fig. 11; Dreyer, in Daoud,
etal., eds., Studies in Honor of AH Radwan, Vol. 1, p. 258, fig. 5; Forster, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 75, fig. 2a;
Morenz, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 2 p. 947.
256
For discussion of the destruction of the fortified enclosures on the verso of the Libyan Palette, see
Section 6.1.5, with references.
257
For the suggestion that the hieroglyphs within the enclosures write the name of the defeated enemies or
their fort, see, e.g., Steindorff, in Aegyptiaca: Festschrift fur Georg Ebers, pp. 122-124; Schott,
Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84 (1952): 15-17; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp.
590-591; Ridley, The Unification ofEgypt, p. 43;Decker, Kolner Beitrage zur Sportwissenschaft 5 (1976):
8-10; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 139-140; Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswartiger
Bevolkerung, pp. 19-33; Midant-Reynes, Prehistory of Egypt, p. 243; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un
royaume, pp. 180-181, fig. 28, with references; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p.
97; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 208.
507
for wrestling. A very similar depiction of two wrestlers appears on several labels from
tombs in the Protodynastic and Early Dynastic royal cemeteries at Abydos: Tomb U-j
(Fig. 436)259 and Tomb B16 (Fig. 437).260 The depiction of the two wrestlers probably
has the same meaning on the Libyan Palette and on the royal labels from Abydos;
however, the writing of an inimical foreign toponym or the name of an enemy
fortification on these royal labels seems unlikely. Another possibility is that the image of
the two wrestlers serves as an emblem of a victorious Egyptian military regiment; a
similar depiction of two wrestlers appears as an emblem on an Egyptian military standard
in an 18th Dynasty relief from the tomb of Tjanuni at Thebes (Fig. 438).261 In the case of
the Libyan Palette, perhaps the military regiment that is represented by the two wrestlers
was responsible for the successful capture of an enemy fortification of great strategic
importance.
The performance of stick lighting in the context of royal military celebration is
also attested during the Early Dynastic Period. The first register of a label of Djet from
For discussion of the Egyptian term for wrestling, kml, see primarily Forster, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 73-
79, with references. For the reading of the pair of wrestlers on the Libyan Palette as kmi, see Morenz, Bild-
Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 71-72, 147; Forster, op. cit., p. 75, fig. 2a. Based on his
speculative interpretation of the heron within one of the other enclosures on the Libyan Palette as Dtfw.t,
"Buto," Morenz, op. cit., pp. 71-72, 144-150, suggests that Kmi is in the general vicinity of Buto.
259
For discussion of the two wrestlers on labels 44 and XI83 from Tomb U-j at Abydos, see primarily
Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. l,pp. 118-119, 134-135, 140, figs. 76, 82, cat. nos. 44, X183; Morenz, Bild-
Buchstaben und symbolische Zeichen, pp. 71-72, 350, fig. 25; Morenz, in Midant-Reynes, etal., eds., Egypt
at its Origins, Vol. 2, pp. 947-948, 952-953, fig. 4.
260
For discussion of the two wrestlers on the label from Tomb B16 at Abydos, see primarily Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 546, doc. L2, with references.
261
For discussion of the pair of wrestlers that appears on an Egyptian military standard in a relief from the
tomb of Tjanuny (Theban Tomb 74), see primarily Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten,
p. 555, doc. L27, with references; Wilsdorf, Ringkampfim alten Agypten, p. 46, pi. 3, fig. 32; Faulkner,
JEA 27 (1941): 15, pi. 4, fig. 6; Kemp, JEA 73 (1987): 46-47, fig. 5; Carroll, Journal of Sport History 15
(1988): 122-123, fig. 1; Decker, in Mendel and Claudi, eds., Agypten im afro-orientalischen Kontext, pp.
98-99, fig. 2; Forster, Nikephoros 18 (2005): 75, fig. 2c.
508
Abydos depicts a human-armed royal serekh smiting the hieroglyphic name of Nubia (73-
Sti) with a large stick (Fig. 389) .262 In a scene affirming the military authority and power
of Djet, two Egyptian military recruits (nfr.wy) next to the royal serekh in the first
register of the label participate in an intense stick-fighting duel. As this example and the
previously discussed examples of ritual combat suggest, the performance of sportive
combat by members of the Egyptian military at royal festivals such as the Sed Festival
primarily served to reinforce the image of the Egyptian ruler as a strong military leader
with an elite army at his disposal. In the Middle Kingdom and thereafter, ritual combat
scenes also often included mythological allusions to the return of the wandering goddess
of the eye of the sun and the struggle between Horus and Seth.
262
For discussion of this label of Djet, see references collected in Section 6.1.1, footnote 91.
509
CHAPTER 7: NAUTICAL PROCESSIONS
7.0. INTRODUCTION
A remarkable scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef depicts the living king, queen, and a small group of royal officials as
standing occupants of a solar barque that is towed by a crew of officials in a ceremonial
harbor at Thebes (Fig. 159).] The fragmentary inscriptions accompanying the scene
suggest that the main purpose of the barque procession was to rejuvenate the king by
associating him with the self-renewing, ever-regenerating perpetuum mobile of the solar
cycle, which the Egyptians understood as a journey of the solar deity through the cosmos
on the day barque and the night barque. The solar falcon tail-feathers worn by
Amenhotep III during his ride upon the solar barque serve as an indicator of the king's
ritual transformation into the solar deity at the celebration of the Sed Festival.3 Many
elements of the scene depicting the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first
Sed Festival are without parallel in other representations of the Sed Festival from the
dynastic period; however, an intriguing text in the tomb of Kheruef suggests that
Amenhotep III consulted "writings/images of ancient times" (sS.w isw.t) during the
planning of his first Sed Festival.4
1
For the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb
of Kheruef, pis. 44-46, pp. 52-54. For detailed discussion of the towing of the solar barque in this scene,
see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2.
2
For transliteration and translation of texts describing the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's
first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1; Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
3
For discussion of the significance of the solar falcon costume worn by Amenhotep III in several scenes
from the reliefs of his first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.2.2, Scenes 1,4-6. For
detailed discussion of the solar symbolism of this costume, see also Section 1.1.2.
4
For detailed discussion of the textual passage from the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb
of Kheruef that suggests that the king consulted ancient prototypes while preparing for the celebration of
his first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
510
Evidence for similar performances of a solar barque procession at the celebration
of the Sed Festival during the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom is scanty and
inconclusive. Boat processions with uncertain ritual functions appear in several
fragmentary reliefs from the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru at Dahshur and the Sed
Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob; however, none of these reliefs indicates with
any degree of certainty that Snofru or Niuserre actually traveled as an occupant of a
barque during the performance of the Sed Festival. The festival calendar in the
dedicatory inscription of Niuserre's solar temple at Abu Gurob records the performance
of a ritual involving the "transporting of Re by rowing" (hn R°) on several occasions
during the king's reign.6 The solar barque processions of Niuserre may have possibly
served as prototypes for the solar barque procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival;
however, there is no firm evidence to suggest that a solar barque procession actually took
place during the celebration of Niuserre's Sed Festival.
5
For discussion of a fragmentary scene that depicts the hauling of an unknown ceremonial barque in the
Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, see Section 2.2.2, Panel
19. For depictions of several fragmentary boat processional scenes in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in
his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol.
2, no. 38; Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 193,198,201-204, 299; Brovarski,
The Senedjemib Complex, Vol. 1, p. 98. The boat in von Bissing and Kees, op cit, Vol. 3, no. 204,
resembles the /znw-barque of Sokar; for discussion of the A«w-barque of Sokar, see primarily Brovarski, in
LA, Vol. 5, cols. 1066-1067; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar, Vol 1, pp. 17-33, with references.
Another fragmentary scene in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob depicts a group of officials
pulling a rope that could conceivably be attached to a ceremonial barque; alternatively, the rope could be
attached to a fishing or fowling net; for the rope-pulling scene in the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre, see
Kees, op cit, Vol. 3, no. 426.
6
For the ritual "transporting of Re by rowing" (hn If) that is mentioned several times in the dedicatory
inscription of Niuserre's solar temple at Abu Gurob, see primarily Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-
woser-re, Vol 3, nos. 432, 436, 438, 471, 475-478, 491, 495, 507; Posener-Krieger, Les archives du temple
funeraire de Nefenrkare-Kakai, Vol. 1, p. 97; Helck, SAKS (1977): 50, 58-60, 62-65, 73-74, pi. 2,11. 2-4,
10-13; Gabolde, BIFAO 89 (1989): 177-178; Postel, Protocole des souverams egyptiens et dogme
monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 231, 236; Vofi, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern
der 5 Dynastie, p. 65; Karlshausen, L "iconographie de la barqueprocessionelle divine en Egypte au
Nouvel Empire, p. 11.
511
A limited number of early 18 Dynasty temples reliefs include representations of
a Sed Festival robe clad Egyptian ruler as a seated occupant of a ceremonial barque;
however, the depictions of the royal nautical procession in these reliefs differ from the
depiction of Amenhotep Ill's nautical procession in the tomb of Kheruef in several
significant ways. In a relief from the so-called Chateu de l'Or in the Temple of Amun at
Karnak, Tuthmosis III—clad in a short Sed Festival robe—appears as a seated occupant
of a self-propelled ceremonial barque (Fig. 160); in his hands, the king grasps a towrope
that is attached to a ceremonial barque trailing behind the royal barque.7 A fragmentary
text labeling the scene suggests that this nautical procession is part of the celebration of
Tuthmosis Ill's Sed Festival; however, unlike barque that Amenhotep III travels in
during the celebration of his first Sed Festival, Tuthmosis Ill's barque is not identified as
a solar barque.
In an unusual pair of reliefs from the temple of Tuthmosis III at Semna, a seated
statue of the deceased 12th Dynasty Egyptian ruler Sesostris III appears on the deck of a
portable barque resting at a way station (Fig. 439).8 The statue of Sesostris III in these
two reliefs is clad in a short Sed Festival robe and a white crown; however, the king
himself had been dead for several hundred years when this ritual nautical procession took
place. In sets of reliefs depicting the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the
Valley in the Chapelle Rouge at Karnak (Figs. 440-441) and the mortuary temple of
7
For detailed discussion of the nautical procession of Tuthmosis III that is depicted in the so-called
Chateau de l'Or in the Temple of Amun at Karnak, see Section 7.4.1. For further discussion of the nautical
procession of Tuthmosis III in the Chateau de l'Or, see references collected in Section 7.4.1, footnote 174.
8
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the barque procession of Sesostris III in the temple of
Tuthmosis III at Semna in Lower Nubia, see Section 7.4.4. For further discussion of depiction of the
barque procession of Sesostris III in the temple of Tuthmosis III at Semna, see references collected Section
7.4.4, footnote 243.
512
Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari (Figs. 442-443), seated statues of the living coregents
Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III appear as occupants of ceremonial barques in large nautical
processions.9 The seated statues of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III are clad in long Sed
Festival robes; however, unlike the nautical procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival, these nautical processions of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis do not actually take
place as part of the celebration of the Sed Festival.
Since evidence for a nautical procession similar to the one at Amenhotep Ill's
first Sed Festival is inconclusive in representations of the Sed Festival from the Old
Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and early 18th Dynasty, prototypes for Amenhotep Ill's
nautical procession most likely derive from another period of ancient Egyptian history.
When Amenhotep III states that he performed the rites of his first Sed Festival "in
accordance with the writings/images of ancient times" (m sn r sS.w isw.t), he is most
likely referring to Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival on decorated
ceremonial objects and in rock inscriptions. Amenhotep Ill's interest in decorated
Predynastic ceremonial objects is confirmed by the existence of a Predynastic slate
palette that was re-inscribed during Amenhotep Ill's reign (Fig. 132).10 The surviving
fragments of this palette show that the original decoration on the front included the
depiction of a Protodynastic Sed Festival ritual similar to the ritual scene depicted on the
Narmer Macehead; the reverse of the palette contains a depiction of Amenhotep III and
9
For detailed discussion of the depictions of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III wearing the Sed Festival robe in
the reliefs of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley and the Opet Festival in the Chapelle Rouge at Karnak and
the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, see Section 7.4.1; Section 7.4.2; Section 7.4.3. For
further discussion of the nautical procession in the reliefs from the Chapelle Rouge, see references
collected in Section 7.4.1, footnotes 177-178. For further discussion of the nautical procession the reliefs
from the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, see references collected in Section 7.4.1, footnote 178.
10
For discussion of the fragmentary slate palette with a late Predynastic Sed Festival scene on one side and
an image of Amenhotep III and Tiye on the reverse, see references collected in Section 1.2, footnote 156.
513
Tiye engaged in a ritual activity of some sort—possibly a ritual from the king's Sed
Festival. The addition of Amenhotep Ill's cartouche and the name of a high-ranking
royal official to a Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi Abbad also strongly suggests
that Amenhotep III took an interest in Predynastic ritual iconography (Fig. 444); the rock
inscription depicts a multi-boat nautical procession and includes an image of a crowned
individual standing on top of the rear cabin of a ceremonial barque.11
Ritual barque processions appear very frequently in the royal and elite
iconography of the Predynastic Period, particularly in Predynastic depictions of the Sed
Festival. Thus, if Amenhotep III consulted Predynastic depictions of the Sed Festival in
planning his own Sed Festival celebration, he almost certainly came across images of the
royal barque procession in these Predynastic sources. Because Amenhotep III most
likely utilized Predynastic sources in the planning of his first Sed Festival, a review of the
context and ritual function of boat processions in Predynastic depictions of the Sed
Festival is necessary in order to explain fully the significance of the solar barque
procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. The context and ritual function of boat
processions in Predynastic royal and elite iconography are varied. Not all Predynastic
depictions of royal boat processions have a clear link to the Sed Festival; however, such
scenes provide an important body of comparative evidence that often assists in explaining
the ritual significance of boat processions in Predynastic depictions of the Sed Festival.
11
For the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abbad near the temple of Seti I at Kanais, see Rohl,
Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 18-21, figs. 7-17. The addition of
Amenhotep Ill's cartouche and the name of Mermose, the viceroy of Kush, appears in Rohl, op. cit., Vol. 1,
pp. 19-20, fig. 14. For further discussion of the depiction of the Egyptian ruler on board one of the boats in
the Predynastic nautical procession, see Section 7.1. For further discussion of the carving of the name of
Mermose, the viceroy of Kush, at this site, see Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, p. 55; T6rok,
Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region Between Ancient Nubia and Egypt, p. 173.
514
In several Predynastic Sed Festival tableaux, boats serve as a form of ritual
transport for the enthroned Egyptian ruler when he appears in the long Sed Festival robe
and other royal garb; royal insignia and standards often adorn the royal barque in
Predynastic depictions of the royal barque procession (Section 7.1). Boat processions
often appear in connection with Nilotic hunting rituals and desert hunting rituals in
Predynastic depictions of the Sed Festival; C-Ware vessels, rock inscriptions, decorated
ceremonial objects, and painted tableaux contain numerous examples of boats in similar
contexts (Section 7.2). The ritual display of defeated enemies and/or captive prisoners
on ceremonial barques symbolizes the military power of the Egyptian ruler in several
Predynastic Sed Festival scenes; such scenes appear in Predynastic rock inscriptions, on
decorated ceremonial objects, and in painted tableaux (Section 7.3).
Depictions of nautical processions also appear to be linked to the journey of the
solar deity through the cosmos in several different Predynastic iconographic contexts,
including rock inscriptions, decorative scenes on the outside of D-Ware pottery, and royal
tableaux on a variety of media (Section 7.4). In Predynastic depictions of the Sed
Festival, the Egyptian ruler's control over the navigation of boats on the Nile symbolizes
his control over the solar cycle and—by extension—his ability to maintain the proper
functioning of the cosmos. Iconographic and textual evidence from the Protodynastic
and Early Dynastic periods suggests that the celebration of the Sed Festival required the
construction of sacred precincts with specialized landscape and waterscape for the
performance of ritual boat processions that mimicked the journey of the solar deity
through the cosmos (Section 7.5).
515
Depictions of barque processions in Predynastic Sed Festival tableaux—such as
the Gebelein Linen (Fig. 52), Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131), and the Scorpion
Macehead (Fig. 21)—very likely served as prototypes for the solar barque procession at
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. For the staging of his Sed Festivals, Amenhotep III
constructed a vast ritual precinct that included an elaborate network of canals and
artificial harbors spanning both banks of the Nile at Thebes (Figs. 133-135).12 The large-
scale theatrical staging of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival and the monumental scale of
his Sed Festival complex at Malqata undoubtedly made an indelible impression on the
collective consciousness of the Egyptian state; later kings who celebrated the Sed Festival
copied many elements of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival celebrations. The solar barque
procession of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival very likely influenced the performance
of boat processions at the Sed Festivals of later kings, such as Ramesses III and Osorkon
II.
7.1. THE BOAT AS A FORM OF ROYAL TRANSPORT IN EARLY EGYPT
7.1.0. INTRODUCTION
In the barque processional scene from the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, the solar barque serves as a mode of ritual transport for
the royal couple and the king's retinue (Fig. 159).13 Similar depictions of the Sed
Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler as an occupant of a ceremonial barque are rare during
the dynastic period; a limited number of examples appear in temple reliefs from the early
12
For detailed discussion of the vast waterscape constructed for the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's Sed
Festivals at Thebes, see Section 2.1.0; Section 7.5.
13
For the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb
of Kheruef, pis. 44-46, pp. 52-54. For detailed discussion of this scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6; Section
7.4.2; Section 7.4.3.
516
18 Dynasty. However, scenes depicting the Egyptian ruler as an occupant of a
ceremonial barque are relatively common in representations of the Sed Festival from the
Predynastic Period. In at least four—possibly five—Predynastic representations of the
Sed Festival, the enthroned Egyptian ruler appears as a seated occupant of a ceremonial
barque in a multi-boat nautical procession; in each of these scenes, the Egyptian ruler
wears the long Sed Festival robe and royal headware.14 In at least five—possibly six—
additional Predynastic royal tableaux, the Egyptian ruler appears as a standing occupant
of a ceremonial barque in a multi-boat nautical procession; although the Egyptian ruler
does not wear the Sed Festival robe in these royal tableaux, several iconographic aspects
and ritual components of the scenes suggest that the nautical procession forms part of the
celebration of the Sed Festival.
The practical function of royal barque procession at the Sed Festival is clear
during the Predynastic Period. Boats deliver the Egyptian ruler to various locations for
the performance of rituals associated with the celebration of the Sed Festival; these rituals
include Nilotic and desert hunting (Section 7.2), military victory rites (Section 7.3), the
Konigslauf (Section 7.4.3), and temple foundation rites (Section 7.5). The significance
of the boat procession at the Sed Festival, however, extends beyond this purely
transportational function. Boats actually serve as the setting for military victory rituals
involving the display of defeated enemies in several Predynastic representations of the
Sed Festival (Section 7.3). Additionally, the royal boat procession itself also serves as a
ritual of great symbolic importance at the Sed Festival; the Egyptian ruler's control over
For detailed discussion of the history and symbolism of the long and short Sed Festival robe, see Section
1.1.2.
517
navigation on the Nile during the boat procession demonstrates his mastery over the
cosmos and links him to the rejuvenating aspects of the solar cycle (Section 7.4).
Among the limited corpus of Predynastic royal tableaux depicting the Egyptian
ruler as an occupant of a ceremonial barque at the Sed Festival, at least two distinct
general types of boats serve to transport the ruler: a crescent-shaped barque and a high-
ended barque.15 Both of these types of boats appear often in Predynastic iconography;
however, the crescent-shaped barque and the high-ended barque are not restricted solely
to royal use. Since the shape of a boat is not in itself diagnostic of royal status or royal
use, royal standards and insignia often appear on or above the deck of the Egyptian
ruler's barque in Predynastic royal tableaux.16
7.1.1. THE EGYPTIAN RULER AS SEATED OCCUPANT OF CEREMONIAL BARQUE
The earliest representation of the Egyptian ruler as a seated occupant of a
ceremonial barque in a nautical procession (Fig. 52f) appears on the Gebelein Linen (c.
15
The standard references for the typology of boats in the representational art of Predynastic Upper Egypt
and Lower Nubia are Engelmayer, Die Felsgravierungen im Distrikt Sayala-Nubien, Vol 1, pp 60-70,
Cervicek, Felsbilder des Nord-Etbai, Oberagyptens und Unternubiens, pp 98-138 For a critical
discussion of the shape and profile of boats used in Predynastic royal barque processions, see Williams and
Logan, JNES 46 (1987) 280-282, Appendix B, with references For further discussion of the assorted
shapes and profiles of ceremonial barques in Predynastic representational art, see also Landstrom, Ships of
the Pharaohs, pp 11-22, Aksamit, Fontes Archaeologici Posnanmenses 32 (1981) 156-168, Vinson,
Egyptian Boats and Ships, pp 11-20
For catalogues of the standards and "cult-signs" that adorn boats in decorative scenes on D-Ware pottery,
see Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, pp 19-20, pi 23 5, Vandier, Manuel, Vol 1, pp 340-341, fig 231, Aksamit,
in Kroeper, etal, eds , Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp 557-592, with references, Graff, Les
peintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, pp 44-45, Table 2 6, pp 69-70, Tables 2 18, 2 19, p 173,
Designation N5 With the possible exception of the elephant standard and the falcon standard, the
standards that adorn boats on D-Ware pottery do not appear to be—strictly speaking—royal standards,
Graff, op at, p 45, Table 2 6, however, suggests that the elephant standard (Designation N5m) and the
falcon standard (Designation N5o) are the standards of Upper Egyptian nomes Currently, no catalogue
exists for standards and insignia that adorn boats in other Predynastic iconographic contexts, e g , in rock
inscriptions, on ceremonial objects, or in painted tableaux, such a catalogue would undoubtedly be a
valuable research tool
518
Naqada IC-IIA).17 The fragmentary painted tableau on the Gebelein Linen consists of
several interconnected scenes, including ritual dancing (Figs. 52b-c), hippopotamus
hunting (Figs. 52de), and a nautical procession of four double-cabined, crescent-shaped
ceremonial barques (Figs. 52f-h). Though equipped with numerous oars, the two small
barques in the bottom left portion of the tableau are without human occupants;
unfortunately, the tableau contains no clear indication of the ritual function of these two
small barques. Each of the two large barques in the bottom right portion of the tableau
contains several human occupants; the actions and orientation of these human occupants
provide important information concerning the ritual significance of these two large
barques. A ritual demonstrating the military victory of the Egyptian ruler over his
enemies takes place on the deck of the larger of the two manned boats in the bottom right
portion of the tableau.1 The other manned barque in the tableau contains two human
occupants. The helmsman seated in the rear guides the boat with a long steering oar.
17
For discussion of the nautical procession depicted on the Gebelein Linen, see primarily Galassi, Rivista
dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, Nova Series 4 (1955): 12-17, figs. 7, 10, 12, pi. 1;
Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 5; Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 14,
fig. 22; Aksamit, Fontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 156,159, 163, 165, fig. 5; Williams and
Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 255-256, 270-272,279-281, fig. 15; Donadoni Roveri, in Robins, ed., Beyond the
Pyramids: Egyptian Regional Art from the Museo Egizio, Turin, p. 25, fig. 3.4; Davis, Masking the Blow, p.
45, fig. 4; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-37, fig. 23; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33
(1997): 39-48, fig. 1; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 33; Morrow and Morrow, in Rohl, ed., Followers
ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 183-184; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp.
155-157, fig. 17; Campagno, GM188 (2002): 56-57; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early
Egypt, p. 86, fig. 7.2; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 109; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009):
99; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Darnell, in Friedman and
McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
18
For detailed discussion of the dancing sequence depicted on the Gebelein Linen, see Section 3.1.1.2. For
detailed discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene in the painted tableau of the Gebelein Linen, see
Section 5.1; Section 7.2.
19
For detailed discussion of the scene of military domination and triumph on the largest boat in the painted
tableau of the Gebelein Linen, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3.
For detailed discussion of the significance of the helmsman on this barque in the Gebelein Linen, see
Section 7.4.3.
519
Near the front of the boat, a man carrying a flail and wearing the long Sed Festival robe
and a cap sits upon a ceremonial throne and faces the front of the barque; the costume
and accoutrements of the enthroned man at the front of the barque confirm the identity of
this man as the Egyptian ruler and suggest that the rituals depicted on the Gebelein Linen
form part of the celebration of the Sed Festival.21 The Egyptian ruler's cap and long robe
in this scene are similar to the outfit worn by the so-called master-of-beasts on the Gebel
el-Arak knife handle (Fig. 58).22
A similar depiction of the Egyptian ruler enthroned upon a barque (Fig. 53)
appears in a fragmentary scene on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle (c.
Naqada IIC-IIIA). The nautical procession on this knife handle contains two distinct
types of watercraft, each of which appears in a separate row. The top row of the
procession consists of one single-cabined, high-ended ceremonial barque with a crescent-
shaped standard just in front of the boat's trussed stern.24 At the rear of this high-ended
21
For discussion of the garb and accoutrements of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on the boat in the Gebelein
Linen, see Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 255-256; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, p.
36; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 40, 43; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, p. 275; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 156; Darnell,
Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds.,
Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
For a comparison of the garb of the enthroned man on the Gebelein Linen and the master-of-beasts on the
Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see primarily Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 43; Cialowicz, in Eyre,
ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 274-275. Both figures likely
represent the Egyptian ruler. For further discussion of the master-of-beasts on the Gebel el-Arak knife
23
For discussion of the boat procession on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see
primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 245-252, 273, fig. 1; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia,
pp. 72-74, 91, 108-109, 112, 115, fig. 37; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 44-45, fig. 30;
Schneider, SAK2A (1997): 244, 247, fig. 6; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 190, 194-195, fig. 6.3.2;
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 200; Morrow and Morrow, in Rohl, ed.,
Followers of Horus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 184; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume,
pp. 172-173, fig. 21; Hendrickx, eta/., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 176.
24
A similar crescent-shaped standard appears in front of the trussed stern of two high-ended boats on the
verso of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle. A cultic function for these crescent-surmounted poles is most
likely; however, a practical function—perhaps as a stabilizing pole—is also possible. For discussion of the
520
boat, a man wearing the ceremonial garb of the Egyptian ruler sits upon a throne, grasps
the boat's steering oar, and faces the front of the barque; his clothing and accoutrements
consist of the long Sed Festival robe, the white crown, and the royal flail.25 The five-
pointed, star-shaped rosette that appears just above the Egyptian ruler in the top row of
the nautical procession confirms the royal status of this individual and his barque.26 The
left portion of the top row of the nautical procession is heavily damaged; however, a
close inspection of the knife handle reveals traces of a group of three bound prisoners to
the left of the high-ended barque in this row.27 In the bottom row of the nautical
procession, three club-ended, crescent-shaped boats travel past the facade of a temple; a
bearded man with an upraised arm kneels at the rear of the last boat in the procession.
The Egyptian ruler also appears as a seated occupant of a high-ended barque in a
nautical procession (Fig. 54) depicted on the so-called Qustul incense burner (c. Naqada
IIIB); this incense burner is one of several decorated incense burners from an elite Lower
possible practical function of the crescent-shaped standards on the Gebel el-Arak and Metropolitan
Museum knife handles, see, e.g., Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, pp. 14-15; Williams and Logan, JNES
46 (1987): 248, with references; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 72-76, with references.
25
For discussion of the Egyptian ruler's clothing and accoutrements in this scene from the recto of the
Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 248-249; Mark,
From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 108-109, 112, 115; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 190, 194;
Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 200; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume,
p. 173; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 176.
26
For detailed discussion of the rosette as a royal symbol in the late Predynastic Period, see infra, this
section.
27
For discussion of the bound prisoners in the top left portion of the decoration on the recto of the
Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3.
28
Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 249, identify the building in the bottom row of the nautical
procession on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle as "a 'Lower Egyptian' shrine"—i.e., the
pr-nw shrine. A similar shrine appears along the banks of a ceremonial canal depicted on the Scorpion
Macehead; for detailed discussion of the significance of the canal, barque procession, temple, and
foundation ritual on the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 3.1.2; Section 7.5.
521
Nubian A-Group cemetery at Qustul. The decorative scene on the outside of the Qustul
incense burner depicts a procession of three high-ended barques moving towards the
niched facade of a palace or temple; the stern of each barque ends in a shape reminiscent
of a sharpened knife blade.30 Inside the first barque, a man carrying an oar restrains a
bound prisoner who kneels on a raised, sloping platform;31 the rectangular sail in the
front of the boat is one of the earliest Egypto-Nubian representations of a sail. In the
second barque, the white-crowned Egyptian ruler sits next to a falcon-topped serekh and
a rosette, both of which symbolize the royal status of the ruler and his barque. Below
the neck, the body of the Egyptian ruler on the Qustul incense burner has not been
preserved; however, he most likely wears a long Sed Festival robe and carries a royal
For discussion of the nautical procession on the Qustul incense burner from Cemetery L at Qustul, see
primarily DeVries, in Johnson and Wente, eds., Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, pp. 55-74, figs. 13-
18; Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980): 16-18; Aksamit, Fontes ArchaeologiciPosnannienses 32 (1981):
157, 161, 165, fig. 7; Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1,
pp. 138-145, pi. 34; Williams and Logan, JNES46 (1987): 252-253, 281; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and
Ships, p. 16, fig. 8; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 109, 112-115; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33
(1997): 43; Schneider, SAK 24 (1997): 244, 247-248, fig. 5; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 39, 49,
194-195, fig. 6.3.1; Williams, CCdE 1 (2000): 10-11; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 61-62,
fig. 2.1; Darnell, Bibliotheca Orientalis 60 (2003): 111; Gatto, Archeo-Nil 16 (2006): 70-71, fig. 7;
Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 167-168, fig. 8.5, middle; Anselin, GM213 (2007): 10;
Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99, 103; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-176; Darnell, Wadi of
the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Huyge and Darnell, GM 225 (2010): 72; Hendrickx, in
Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, in
Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
30
For discussion of the profile of the barques on the Qustul incense burner, see especially Williams and
Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 281.
31
For detailed discussion of the man carrying the oar on the first barque on the Qustul incense burner, see
Section 7.4.3. For detailed discussion of the bound prisoner on the barque, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3.
32
For discussion of the rectangular sail on the first barque on the Qustul incense burner, see primarily
DeVries, in Johnson and Wente, eds., Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, p. 67; Aksamit, Fontes
Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 161; Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian
Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, p. 143; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 252; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and
Ships, p. 16; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99; Huyge and Darnell, GM225 (2010): 72; Darnell, in
Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). For a compilation of
Predynastic Egyptian and Nubian depictions of boats with sails, see Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A
Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, endnotes 10-12, with references.
33
For detailed discussion of the falcon-topped serekh and rosette as Predynastic royal symbols, see infra,
this section.
522
flail.34 Notably, unlike the Gebelein Linen and the Metropolitan Museum knife handle,
the Egyptian ruler on the Qustul incense burner faces the rear, rather than the front, of the
ceremonial barque upon which he rides.35 A large quadruped—most likely a lion—
within the third barque looks aggressively toward an incapacitated, bound human
prisoner attached to the barque's prow; several other animals appear in the area below
and in front of this barque. In numerous Predynastic scenes, the Egyptian ruler appears
in the form of an aggressive animal attacking a human enemy; thus, the aggressive
quadruped on the Qustul incense burner most likely symbolizes the animal-like ferocity
of the Egyptian ruler in battle.37
Two very similar depictions of nautical processions appear on a decorated incense
burner from the same Lower Nubian A-Group cemetery at Qustul (Fig. 55)—i.e., the
Archaic Horus incense burner (c. Naqada IIIB). Because of the poor state of
preservation of the scenes on the Archaic Horus incense burner, several important
iconographic details are absent or unclear; however, each of the two nautical processions
on the incense burner consists of three high-ended ceremonial barques traveling towards
34
A similar scene on the Archaic Horus incense burner confirms the outfit of the Egyptian ruler in the
reconstruction of the Qustul incense burner proposed by Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980): 16.
35
The unusual orientation of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on the second barque of the Qustul incense
burner has seemingly gone unnoticed in relevant secondary literature.
36
For detailed discussion of the zoomorphic and anthropomorphic imagery associated with the third barque
of the Qustul incense incense burner, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3.
37
For detailed discussion of Predynastic representations of the Egyptian ruler as an aggressive animal
attacking human enemies, see Section 5.2.1; Section 5.2.3; and Section 6.1.4.
38
For discussion of the two nautical processions depicted on the Archaic Horus incense burner from
Qustul, see primarily Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980): 16; Williams, University of Chicago Oriental
Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 145-146, pi. 33; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 253;
Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 109, 112; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 61-62, fig.
2.2; Gatto, Archeo-Nil 16 (2006): 71; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-176; Darnell, Archeo-Nil
19 (2009): 100; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of
523
the niched facade of a palace or temple. Like the high-ended barques in the nautical
procession depicted on the Qustul incense burner, the stern of each of the barques on the
Archaic Horus incense burner ends in a shape resembling a sharpened knife blade.39 In
the high-ended barque at the front of each of the nautical processions on the Archaic
Horus incense burner, the white-crowned Egyptian ruler—clad in the long Sed Festival
robe—sits upon a throne and faces the front of the barque upon which he rides. In one of
the processional scenes, the enthroned Egyptian ruler carries a flail; in both scenes, a
falcon-topped serekh appears in front of the ruler.40 A bound, kneeling prisoner appears
to be the sole occupant of the second boat in each of the nautical processions on the
Archaic Horus incense burner; however, a clear depiction of the bound prisoner is
preserved in only one of the two scenes. The third boat in each of the processions
probably originally contained a large falcon; however, a clear depiction of this falcon is
preserved in only one of the two scenes. Paralleling the aggressive quadruped on the
Qustul incense burner, the large falcon on the Archaic Horus incense burner is probably
also a zoomorphic representation of the Egyptian ruler.41
A possible fifth Predynastic example of the enthroned Egyptian ruler as a seated
occupant of a ceremonial barque appears in a complex rock inscription (Fig. 56) at Site
For discussion of the profile of the high-ended barques on the Archaic Horus incense burner, see
primarily Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 145-
146.
40
For detailed discussion of the falcon-topped serekh as a Predynastic royal symbol, see infra, this section.
41
For discussion of the large falcon on the Archaic Horus incense burner as a royal/divine symbol linked to
the god Horus, see primarily Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3,
Part 1, p. 145; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 253; Gatto, Archeo-Nil 16 (2006): 71; Darnell,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 100. For further discussion of the large falcon on the Archaic Horus incense burner,
see infra, this section.
524
18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash (c. Naqada IIC-IID). In the center portion of the tableau,
a group of desert quadrupeds iconographically encircles a red-crowned Egyptian ruler
who raises a short staff to smite a kneeling, bound prisoner.4 A small, unmanned barque
and a pair of bucrania appear to the left of the royal smiting scene in this tableau.44 To
the right of the royal smiting scene is a depiction of a large, single-cabined ceremonial
barque with zoomorphic decoration on its prow and its in-curved stern;45 a Min standard
rising from the top of the cabin in the rear of the boat provides additional adornment and
suggests a cultic ritual significance for the scene.46 The schematically carved seated
human figure in front of the boat's rear cabin appears to wear the red crown and the long
Sed Festival robe.47 Like the white-crowned Egyptian ruler on the Qustul incense burner,
For discussion of the nautical procession depicted in the rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the
Wadi Gash, see Winkler, Rock Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 24-25, pi. 13.3; Williams
and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 281; Berger, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies
Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 112-113, fig. 8.20; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 173-
174; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, endnote 42; Darnell, in Friedman
and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). Hendrickx, etal., op. cit., p. 174, suggest
that this scene "can be dated before the Naqada III period, but our present knowledge of rock art does not
allow a more precise date in Naqada I-II."
43
For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scene in the central portion of the rock inscription from Site
18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash, see Section 6.1.1; Section 7.3.
44
For discussion of the bucranium as a Predynastic symbol associated with the royal military power and
triumph, see references collected in Section 6.1.1, footnote 76.
45
For discussion of the zoomorphic decoration on the prow and in-curved stern of the boat in the right
portion of the rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash, see Berger, in Friedman and Adams,
eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 112-113, fig. 8.20.
46
For discussion of Predynastic representations of Min standards as adornments of boats, see primarily
McFarlane, The God Min to the End of the Old Kingdom, pp. 157-173, pis. 1-2; Goedicke, MDAIK 58
(2002): 254; Aksamit, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 560-571, 575,
581, 583, 586-587, cat. nos. 31 -32; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, pp. 44-45, 173,
Designation N5h; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, endnotes 41 -42;
Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming), with references.
47
Previous studies of the rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash do not recognize the
figure in front of the rear cabin of the boat in the right portion of the tableau as a depiction of the Egyptian
ruler.
525
the red-crowned Egyptian ruler in the royal tableau at Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash
faces the rear, rather than the, front, of the ceremonial barque upon which he rides.
A common feature in several Predynastic Sed Festival scenes that depict the
enthroned Egyptian ruler as a seated occupant of a ceremonial barque is the presence of
an insignia or standard that indicates the royal status of the Egyptian ruler and his barque.
On the Metropolitan Museum knife handle (Fig. 53) and the Qustul incense burner (Fig.
54), a rosette appears just above the image of the Egyptian ruler who is seated on a high-
ended ceremonial barque. As a widely attested Predynastic symbol for kingship, the
rosette iconographically confirms the presence of the Egyptian ruler on board the
ceremonial barque in these scenes; the actual depiction of the enthroned Egyptian ruler
For discussion of the rosette as a Predynastic Egyptian royal symbol, see primarily Kaplony, Die
Inschriften der agyptischen Fruhzeit, Vol. 2, pp. 994-995, § 1586-1587; Williams and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 248-250, 257; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 90 (1990): 274-277; Kahl, Das System der agyptischen
Hieroglyphenschrift in der 0.-3. Dynastie, pp. 55-56; p. 590, Sign M10; Winter, in Bietak, etal.,Zwischen
den beiden Ewigkeiten, pp. 279-290, with references; Schneider, SAK 24 (1997): 241-267, with references;
Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 736-739, with references
As a royal symbol, the rosette is directly linked to the Egyptian ruler on the Metropolitan Museum knife
handle, the Qustul incense burner, and the Scorpion Macehead. On the Metropolitan Museum knife handle
and the Qustul incense burner, a rosette and a serekh appear in front of an enthroned Egyptian ruler inside
of a ceremonial barque at the celebration of the Sed Festival; for discussion of the royal barque procession
on the Metropolitan Museum knife handle and the Qustul incense burner, see supra, this section; Section
6.1.2. On the Scorpion Macehead, a scorpion and a rosette appear in front of an Egyptian ruler as he
performs a foundation ritual at the celebration of the Sed Festival; for discussion of the foundation ritual on
the Scorpion Macehead, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 4; Section 3.1.2; Section 7.5. A rosette appears in the title
of a royal official who carries the Egyptian ruler's sandals on the Narmer Palette and the Narmer
Macehead. The proper translation of this official's title is controversial and hitherto unresolved; however,
the most likely possible translation for the title is wdpw-nsw t, "royal butler"; wdpw-Hr, "butler of Horus";
or wdpw-nb(=i), "butler of (my) lord." For discussion of the title of the royal sandal-bearer on the Narmer
Palette and Narmer Macehead, see primarily Baumgartel, ZAS 93 (1966): 9-13; Simonet, CdE 62 (1987):
53-54; Fairservis, JARCE2S (1991): 6-8, figs. 4.5-4.6; Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers of
Horus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, p. 244; Winter, in Bietak, etal, Zwischen den beiden
Ewigkeiten, pp. 279-290, with references; Kahl, Das System der agyptischen Hieroglyphenschrift in der 0.-
3. Dynastie, pp. 55-56; p. 590, Sign M10; p. 801, Sign W22; Schneider, SAK24 (1997): 241-267, with
references; Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 739. Rosettes
also appear in connection with zoomorphic imagery, such as intertwined snakes and rows of animals, on
several Predynastic ceremonial objects; in these instances, the rosette most likely symbolizes power,
authority, and control. Intertwined snakes and rosettes appear, e.g., on the Gebel Tarif knife handle, the
Petrie Museum knife handle, and the Berlin Museum knife handle. Discussion of the Predynastic Egyptian
motif involving intertwined snakes and rosettes has mostly centered upon its similarity to early
Mesopotamian and Susan glyptic designs; for the speculative view that the Predynastic Egyptian
serpent/rosette motif is based on contemporary Mesopotamian/Susan glyptic designs, see with caution
526
is almost superfluous. An intriguing Predynastic seal impression from Tomb U-127 at
Abydos depicts a high-ended barque that is surrounded by several Nilotic and desert
animals (Fig. 445); a large five-pointed star-shaped rosette and two small six-pointed
star-shaped rosettes appear just above the high-ended barque on this seal impression.
Though the Egyptian ruler does not appear anywhere on the seal impression, the large
rosette strongly implies the presence of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on board the high-
ended barque on the sealing.50 Thus, the depiction of the high-ended barque on this
Predynastic seal impression from Abydos probably refers to the same royal nautical
procession that appears on the Metropolitan Museum knife handle and the Qustul incense
burner. An incised potmark on a Predynastic ceramic vessel from Beda that depicts an
Petrie, Ancient Egypt (1917): 33-34, figs. 5-7; Frankfort, Studies in Early Pottery of the Near East, Vol. 1,
p. 123; Boehmer, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 21-27, figs. 5-6; Teissier, Journal of
Persian Studies 25 (1987): 34-35, fig. 5; Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies
Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 241-244, figs. 26-37; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., The
Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century, pp. 22-24; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia,
pp. 41-42, 109-112, 117, fig. 19; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 199-200,
217, fig. 2; Whitehouse, MDAIK 58 (2002): 437; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 191. The
iconographic combination of rosettes and rows of animals appears on several Predynastic objects, e.g., the
Gebel Tarif knife handle, the Abu Zeidan knife handle, the Davis Comb, the Carnarvon knife handle, an
ivory spoon from Tarkhan, and a sealing from Tomb U-j at Abydos; for discussion of the iconographic
combination of rosettes and rows of animals in Predynastic Egypt, see primarily Cialowicz, in Friedman
and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 247-258;
Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 736-739, Tables 3-4, with
references.
49
For discussion of the decoration on this Predynastic seal impression from Tomb U-127 at Abydos, see
Hartung, MDAIK 54 (1998): 190-191, 211-214, cat. nos. 3a-3b, figs. 2, 12, pi. 20d; Hill, Cylinder Seal
Glyptic in Predynastic Egypt and Neighboring Regions, pp. 19,31,51, figs. 5c, 25b.
50
Previous studies of this Predynastic seal impression from Tomb U-127 at Abydos have failed to
recognize the rosette above the high-ended barque as a royal symbol. Hartung, MDAIK 54 (1998): 212,
instead, has suggested that the star-shaped rosettes above the boat are astronomical or religious symbols
that may perhaps be linked to the celestial cow goddess who appears on a Predynastic sealing from Tomb
U-210 at Abydos; for discussion of the latter sealing, see Hartung, op. cit., pp. 200-202,208,211-213, cat.
no. 22, figs. 8, 12; Hill, Cylinder Seal Glyptic in Predynastic Egypt and Neighboring Regions, pp. 21, 40,
figs. 8a, 22b.
527
empty serekh, a high-ended barque, and a six-pointed rosette is most likely also an
abbreviated representation of this royal nautical procession (Fig. 446).51
As a widely attested Predynastic symbol for the royal god Horus, a falcon
indicates the royal status of the Egyptian ruler and his barque in several Predynastic royal
tableaux that depict the procession of the royal barque at the Sed Festival. For example,
an empty falcon-topped serekh appears above the Egyptian ruler's barque in the nautical
processions depicted on the Qustul incense burner (Fig. 54) and the Archaic Horus
incense burner (Fig. 55).53 Additionally, a falcon standard adorns a ceremonial barque
carrying a large quadruped on the Qustul incense burner; the presence of the falcon
standard on the barque strongly suggests that the occupant of the barque is a zoomorphic
representation of the Egyptian ruler.54 Falcon standards also appear as adornments of
ceremonial barques in a pair of Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi Abu Subeira
and the Wadi Magar. The rock inscription at the Wadi Abu Subeira (Fig. 263) is a large
tableau that contains images of ceremonial barques and desert games animals; a royal
51
For discussion of the significance of the potmark on this Predynastic jar from Beda, see Cledat, ASAE 13
(1914): 120, fig. 5; Kaiser and Dreyer, MDAIK3S (1982): 263, fig. 14.12; William and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 257.
52
For discussion of the falcon as a Predynastic royal symbol referring to the royal god Horus, see primarily
Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 184-185,286-287, with references; Darnell, Theban Desert Road
Survey, Vol l,pp. 12, 14-15; Hendrickx and Friedman, NekhenNews 19 (2007): 9-10; Kohler, in
Wendrich, ed., Egyptian Archaeology, pp. 49-50; Gatto, etai, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 163; Hendrickx, eta/.,
in Morenz and Kuhn, eds., Vorspann oder formative Phase7 Agypten undder Vordere Orient
(forthcoming).
53
For discussion of the falcon-topped serekhs on the Qustul incense burner and Archaic Horus incense
burner, see primarily Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980)' 16-18; Williams, University of Chicago Oriental
Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol 3, Part l,pp. 141-142, 145-146; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987):
252-253; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 62; Hendrickx, etai, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-176.
54
For discussion of the the falcon-standard as a royal symbol in Predynastic Egypt, see primarily Gatto,
etai., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009). 163; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power,
Hendrickx, etai., in Morenz and Kuhn, eds., Vorspann oder formative Phase9 Agypten undder Vordere
Orient (forthcoming); Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3
(forthcoming).
528
falcon standard is affixed to the rear cabin of an unmanned, double-cabined, sickle-
shaped, club-ended barque in the central portion of the tableau.55 At the Wadi Magar
(Fig. 447), a falcon standard is affixed to the deck of an unmanned barque in the left
portion of a complex tableau that contains images of a flotilla of ceremonial barques,
numerous crocodile standards, and several other zoomorphic representations.56 Human
occupants are not present on the ceremonial barque with falcon standards in either of
these rock inscriptions; however, the falcon standard designates each of these boats as a
royal barque and strongly implies the presence of the Egyptian ruler in these scenes. In a
Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a (Fig. 300), a falcon
standard appears just to the right of a pair of ceremonial barques; though the falcon
standard does not appear on board either of the barques in this inscription, the presence of
the falcon standard strongly suggests that the nautical procession is a royal ritual.57
Predynastic and Early Dynastic representations of large falcons on board
ceremonial barques probably also imply the presence of the Egyptian ruler at the royal
barque procession of the Sed Festival. The large falcon that appears as an occupant of a
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abu Subeira that contains a depiction of
a falcon standard as an adornment of a ceremonial barque, see Gatto, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 162-163,
fig. 16.
6
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Magar that contains a depiction of a
falcon standard as an adornment of a ceremonial barque, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 100-101, fig.
21. In a separate Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Magar, a standard depicting an elephant
trampling a mountain range adorns a ceremonial barque; for discussion of this rock inscription, see Darnell,
op. cit., pp. 96-97, fig. 18; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3
(forthcoming). In the latter rock inscription from the Wadi Magar and in other Predynastic contexts, the
depiction of an elephant trampling a mountain range is a symbol of royal power and military authority; for
a detailed discussion of Predynastic representations of elephants trampling mountains, see Section 6.1.4.
57
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a with the depiction of
falcon standard and a nautical procession, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97-99, figs. 19-20; Darnell,
Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds.,
Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). A prisoner tied to a pole appears at the prow of one of the
barques in the tableau; for detailed discussion of the prisoner on board this boat, see Section 6.1.2; Section
7.3. For discussion of the assorted desert hunting imagery in the tableau, see Section 5.2.4; Section 7.2.
529
ceremonial barque on the Archaic Horus incense burner is most likely a symbolic
zoomorphic representation of the Egyptian ruler (Fig. 55); a similar depiction of a large
falcon as an occupant of a ceremonial barque appears in a Predynastic rock inscription
from the Wadi Magar (Fig. 447).58 On the verso of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39), a
depiction of a falcon grasping a harpoon in its talons appears above a ceremonial barque
in a ritual scene that shows the victorious Egyptian ruler inspecting his defeated enemies
on the battlefield; the depiction of the falcon above the barque in the scene suggests that
Narmer arrives at the battlefield by boat as part of a victory celebration.59 In the top
register of a label of Aha that commemorates the opening of a sacred canal, a falcon
appears as an occupant of a small ceremonial barque that is positioned just above a larger
boat that closely resembles the barque of Sokar (Fig. 308).60 The representation of the
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Magar that contains a representation of
a large falcon as an occupant of a ceremonial barque, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 100-101, fig. 21.
59
For the identification of the falcon holding the harpoon on the verso of the Narmer Palette as a
representation of the royal god Horus, see Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp. 89-90, fig. 29;
Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, p. 36, fig. 7; Kaplony, ZAS 83 (1958): 76-78; Kaiser, ZAS 91
(1964): 90; Fairservis, JARCE 28 (1991). 10; Barnes, in O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian
Kingship, p 117; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, p. 97; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 76-
86; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, p. 246; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 84-86; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbohsche Zeichen,
p. 38, Dreyer, in Daoud, etai, eds., Studies in Honor of Ah Radwan, Vol. 1, p. 254; Anselin, GM213
(2007): 11; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology
(forthcoming). For detailed discussion of the ritualized post-battle inspection of enemy casualties depicted
on the verso of the Narmer Palette, see Section 6.1.2, Section 6.1.3; and Section 7.3.
60
The bird that appears above a small ceremonial barque in the top register of an ivory label of Aha from
Naqada is most likely a representation of the Horus falcon. For the identification of this bird as the Horus
falcon, see Legge, PSBA 28 (1906)" 254, 256-257, pis. 1-2; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp. 90-
96, fig 30; Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, pp 37-38, fig. 9, Landstrom, Ships of the
Pharaohs, p. 25, fig. 76; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thimtenzeit, pp. 146-147; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11
(2001): 171-172, figs 5, 5a; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 94-96,
fig. 55, with references; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 100, footnote 20. For discussion of an
alternative—and less likely—interpretation of the bird as a Nekhbet vulture, see Vikentiev, ASAE 33
(1933)- 219-224, pis. 1-3; Vikentiev, ASAE 34 (1934): 7, Vikentiev, ASAEA\ (1941): 280-281, figs. 35-36,
41; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 831; Gaballa and Kitchen, Onentaha 38 (1969): 17-19 For detailed
discussion of the hieroglyphic text in the left portion of the top register of the label, see Section 6.1.5;
Section 7.5.
530
falcon above the small ceremonial barque in the top register of this label suggests that
Aha travels by boat in a nautical procession as part of a series of rites celebrating the
opening of a sacred canal.
7.1.2. THE EGYPTIAN RULER AS STANDING OCCUPANT OF CEREMONIAL BARQUE
A relatively small corpus of Predynastic royal tableaux depicting the Egyptian
ruler as a standing occupant of a ceremonial barque provides further evidence for the use
of watercraft as a form of royal transport in Predynastic Egypt; in each of these scenes, a
man wearing royal garb stands in a prominent position on top of a cabin on the deck of a
ceremonial barque. Several iconographic elements of these royal tableaux suggest that
the nautical processions depicted therein are ritual performances of the Sed Festival;
however, in none of these scenes is the Egyptian ruler clearly wearing the Sed Festival
robe. In a scene from the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (c. Nagada IIC),
the standing Egyptian ruler appears in a running pose inside a kiosk that is positioned
above the rear cabin of a white, double-cabined, crescent-shaped, club-ended ceremonial
barque; a second image of the running Egyptian ruler behind the barque suggests that the
Konigslauf 'took place on land beside—or perhaps around—the barque after the Egyptian
ruler's disembarkation (Fig. 131d).61 Several iconographic elements of this scene from
Tomb 100—including the running king, the kiosk, the woman kneeling in front of the
61
For discussion of the images of the Egyptian ruler engaged in a running ritual above and behind a
ceremonial barque in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see Quibell and Green,
Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 75-77; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 115-117, figs. 3a, 6a; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1,
pp. 565-569, figs. 375-376; Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-15, figs. 4.8, 5.9, 5.11,5. 13, pi.
1; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 22-24, pi. 7; Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion
Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Jerusalem, The Hebrew School, Vol. 2, pp. 8, 24-27; Williams
and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 254-255, 271, 277-278, figs. 11-13; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit,
pp. 87-88; Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 39, 41-42, fig. 5; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp.
37-39, fig. 24d; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of
Egyptologists, pp. 273, 275-277, fig. 2a; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 32; Cialowicz, La naissance
d'un royaume, pp. 158-161, figs. 18.1-18.2. For detailed discussion of the Konigslauf scene from Tomb
100, see Section 4.1.1; Section 7.4.3.
531
kiosk, and the group of three women performing a ceremonial dance mimicking the
flapping of a bird's wings—have parallels in depictions of the Sed Festival from the
ft")
Predynastic and dynastic periods.
A Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abbad similarly depicts the
performance of a royal ritual on the deck of a double-cabined, crescent-shaped, club-
ended ceremonial barque (Fig. 448).63 Clad in the white crown and carrying a hk3-
scepter and a flail, the Egyptian ruler stands on top of the front cabin of this barque and
presides over the rites of the nautical procession. A kiosk that appears above the rear
cabin of the barque is nearly identical to the kiosk on top of the rear cabin of the barque
in the Konigslaufscene from the painted tableau of Tomb 100 (Fig. 131d).64 Unlike the
scene from Tomb 100, however, the Egyptian ruler in the Predynastic rock inscription
from the Wadi Abbad appears in a standing pose rather than a running posture.
Another similarly dated Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi Abbad near the
temple of Seti I at Kanais (c. Naqada IIC-IID) depicts a crowned man standing on top of
the rear cabin of a triple-cabined, in-curved, crescent-shaped ceremonial barque (Fig.
444); this barque appears within the context of a large multi-boat nautical procession with
For an overview of the Konigslauf as a ritual component of the Sed Festival, see Chapter 4. For
discussion of the kiosk above the rear cabin of the ceremonial barque in this scene from Tomb 100, see
Section 4.1.1; Section 4.3.4. For discussion of the significance of the dancing women in this scene from
Tomb 100, see Section 3.1.1.2. For discussion of the woman who kneels in front of the ruler in the kiosk in
this scene from Tomb 100, see Section 3.2.1.1. A bird and a row of desert game animals appear of the
ceremonial barque in this scene from Tomb 100; for discussion of the significance of the zoomorphic
imagery above the boat in this scene, see Section 5.2.2.
63
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi Abbad that depicts the Egyptian ruler as a
standing occupant of a crescent-shaped ceremonial barque, see Kees, Ancient Egypt: A Cultural
Topography, pp. 19, 35, pi. 3a; Basch, Musee imaginaire de la marine antique, pp. 57, 60, fig. 102; Raban,
in Tzalas, ed., TROPISIV: 4' International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, pp. 378, 386,
388, fig. 4; Ward, Antiquity 80 (2006): 119-120, fig. 2a.
64
For discussion of this kiosk and its association with the Konigslauf'and the enthronement of the king at
the Sed Festival, see primarily Section 4.1.1; Section 4.3.4.
532
several depictions of people and desert animals. The crowned man standing on top of
the barque's cabin carries a long staff and what appears to be a hki-scepter.66 Above the
middle cabin of the barque, a standing bull raises one of his front legs towards an image
of the ithyphallic god Min who stands in a prominent position at the front of the barque.
Several aspects of this royal tableau are similar to a Predynastic rock inscription from
Site 18 M. 137a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 56); the latter rock inscription includes a
depiction of the Min standard and the enthroned Egyptian ruler on board a ceremonial
barque.67 The depictions of Min and his standard in these two Predynastic royal tableaux
suggest that Min may have played an important role in the royal barque procession of the
Sed Festival during the Predynastic Period. During the pharaonic period, Min plays a
prominent role in rituals depicted in the the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru at Dahshur, the
Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, and the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep
III at Soleb.68
Another Predynastic depiction of the Egyptian ruler standing on top of a cabin in
the rear of a ceremonial barque (Fig. 449) appears in a rock inscription in the Khor Abu
For discussion of this Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abbad near Kanais, see Weigall,
Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts, p. 157, pi. 29.2; Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt,
Vol. 1, pi. 34.22; Basch, Musee imaginaire de la marine antique, pp. 57, 59, fig. 100a; Berger, in Friedman
and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 109-112, fig. 5.2;
Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 18-21, figs. 7-17; Wilkinson, Genesis
of the Pharaohs, pp. 191-192, fig. 58.
66
It is unclear whether the man standing on top of the rear cabin of the barque in this scene from the Wadi
Abbad wears the white crown or a feathered headdress.
67
For detailed discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18 M. 137a in the Wadi Gash, see
supra, this section; Section 6.1.1.
68
For discussion of the prominent role of Min in the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of
the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, see Section 2.2.2, Panel 18. For discussion of the prominent role of Min in
the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see Section 2.2.3, Scene 6. For
discussion of the prominent role of Min in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III at the Temple of Soleb,
see Section 2.2.4, Register 6.
533
Subeira near Aswan (c. Naqada IIC-IID). The Predynastic tableau at this site depicts a
flotilla of ceremonial barques surrounded by desert animals. The largest boat in the
flotilla is a single-cabined, crescent-shaped, club-ended ceremonial barque that is towed
by a crew of 32 men standing in a long row. Eight additional men are positioned inside
of the barque, including a crowned man who stands on top of a cabin in the rear of the
barque and faces in the direction of a large standard in the front of the barque. The
emblem on top of the standard vaguely resembles a stylized bucranium; however, the
symbolism and significance of this standard are not certain.71
An intriguing possible parallel to the previously discussed rock inscription from
the Khor Abu Subeira appears in a Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 141a in
the Wadi Gash (Fig. 262).72 The main iconographic motifs of the latter rock inscription
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor Abu Subeira that depicts the Egyptian
ruler standing on top of a cabin of a ceremonial barque, see Murray and Myers, JEA 19 (1933): 129-132,
figs. 1-3, pi. 20.3; Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, pi. 33.5; Landstrom, Ships of the
Pharaohs, p. 16, fig. 44; Boehmer, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 1 (1974): 28-29, fig. 9a;
Boehmer, MDAIK 47 (1991): 51-52, fig. 2; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and Ships, pp. 14-15, fig. 6; Gatto,
etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 159, 163-164, fig. 17; Lippiello, Sacred Space and Central Place
(forthcoming).
70
It is unclear whether the man standing on top of the cabin in the rear of the barque in this scene from the
Khor Abu Subeira wears the white crown or a feathered headdress.
71
For discussion of the large standard on the deck of the ceremonial barque in this scene, see Murray and
Myers, JEA 19 (1933): 130. The standard in this scene bears a strong resemblance to a standard that
appears quite frequently on D-Ware pottery. Aksamit, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early
Northeastern Africa, pp. 566-569, 573-574, 577-580, 586, cat. no. 5, identifies 74 examples of this standard
on 50 D-Ware vessels; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagadall, pp. 44-45, 173, Designation
N5c, identifies examples of this standard on 40 D-Ware vessels. Though she offers no definitive
interpretation for the symbolism of this particular standard, Graff, op. cit., p. 44, follows Hendrickx, in
Hassan, ed., Droughts, Food and Culture, p. 277, in tentatively suggesting that the standard represents
bovine horns.
72
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash that depicts the
red-crowned Egyptian ruler standing above a ceremonial barque, see Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern
Upper Egypt, pp. 24-26, pi. 14.2; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol.
1, docs. 9c-9d; Midant-Reynes, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp. 232-234, fig.
1; Hendrickx and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 819, Table 3;
Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 173-174, fig. 4; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 91, footnote 13;
Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 88-89, fig. 8; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
534
are a hippopotamus hunt and a procession of two ceremonial barques, both of which are
being towed by a crew of men. A red-crowned man in the central portion of the tableau
stands above—though not clearly on top of—a. cabin in the rear of a single-cabined, high-
ended, square-shaped ceremonial barque; the crowned man above the barque carries a
royal /z/B-scepter and faces the general direction of a tall standard that is positioned in the
front of the barque.7 Above the ruler's barque, a group of four men is in the process of
harpooning a pair of hippopotami; in their pursuit of these hippopotami, the hunters
utilize two ropes that are attached to the deck of the ruler's barque.74 Thus, the Egyptian
ruler standing above the barque appears to be presiding over the ritual hunting of
hippopotami in this scene.
Yet another Predynastic depiction of the Egyptian ruler standing on top of a cabin
on a ceremonial barque appears in an elaborate rock inscription in the Wadi el-Faras near
Aswan (Fig. 450).75 The main iconographic feature of the tableau at this site is a flotilla
of seven large ceremonial barques; on shore, several groups of men—some of whom
carry bows—raise their arms towards the flotilla in a gesture of respect and salutation.76
A crowned man stands on top of a cabin in the rear of a single-cabined, high-ended,
square-shaped ceremonial barque in the flotilla; the crowned man carries an object
73
The standard in the front of the barque in this rock inscription from the Wadi Gash consists of a tall pole
without any clearly-rendered adornment at its top.
74
For further discussion of the iconographic combination of the ruler's barque procession and the
hippopotamus-hunt in this Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash, see Section
7.2.
75
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi el-Faras that depicts the Egyptian ruler
standing on top of a cabin of a ceremonial barque, see Storemyr, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 126-128, figs. 8,
11.
76
For discussion of raising of both hands before the king or a god as a gesture of greeting and respect, see
Dominicus, Gesten und Gebdrden in Darstellungen des Alten undMittleren Reiches, pp. 25-32, figs. 8-9.
535
resembling a flail and faces the general direction of a large standard in the front of the
barque.77 A helmsman stationed aft guides the ruler's barque by means of a long steering
oar.
7.1.3. RITUAL PERFORMANCE & THE BARQUE OF THE EGYPTIAN RULER
Several Predynastic royal tableaux, including the previously discussed Konigslauf
scene from Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 13Id), depict the Egyptian ruler performing
or presiding over ritual activities on land somewhere in the general vicinity of a nautical
procession. Such tableaux give the impression that the Egyptian ruler traveled by boat to
specially designated locations on land for the performance of rituals associated with the
celebration of the Sed Festival. The previously discussed Predynastic rock inscription
from Site 18 M. 137a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 56) provides a good example of this type of
scene.78 In one portion of the tableau, the Egyptian ruler is enthroned inside of a
ceremonial barque; in another portion of the tableau, the ruler stands in the middle a
group of desert game animals and smites a human enemy with a short staff. The
narrative of this scene from the Wadi Gash is fairly clear: after disembarking from the
royal barque, the Egyptian ruler performs the royal smiting ritual at a spot on shore. The
overall iconographic context in which royal barques appear in Predynastic representations
of the Sed Festival is varied; however, royal barques carrying the Egyptian ruler most
The crown worn by the man standing on top of the cabin of the square-shaped barque in this Predynastic
rock inscription from the Wadi el-Faras bears a strong resemblance to the white crown. Storemyr, Archeo-
Nil 19 (2009): 127, identifies the standard on this barque as "an unidentified animal standard." A falcon
standard would seem appropriate in this situation; however, without an inspection of the original
inscription, a definitive identification of the animal on the standard is not possible.
78
For further discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription at Site 18 M. 137a in the Wadi Gash, see
536
commonly appear in association with the hunting of Nilotic and desert game (Section
7.2) and military victory rituals (Section 7.3).
7.2. NAUTICAL PROCESSIONS & ROYAL HUNTING RITUALS
During the Naqada I and early Naqada II periods, one of the most commonly
depicted iconographic motifs in Egypt was the hippopotamus hunt; examples of the motif
appear in several rock inscriptions, on numerous C-Ware vessels, on an incised rhomboid
palette, and in the painted tableau of the Gebelein Linen. In several Predynastic
hippopotamus hunting scenes, boats play important roles in the hunting process—as a
form of transportation for the hunters, as a launching point for the hunters' harpoons, as
an anchor point for the ropes attached to the hunters' harpoons, and as a vehicle for
hauling the captured hippopotamus to shore. In a hippopotamus hunting scene on the
inside of a shallow C-Ware bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig. 451), a boat is
used to transport a hunter to the Nilotic habitat of the hippopotamus; standing on the deck
of the boat, the hunter prepares to throw a harpoon at the hippopotamus in the water.80 In
a hippopotamus hunting scene on the Stockholm Palette (Fig. 328), a hunter stands on the
For convenient catalogues of Predynastic representations of hippopotamus hunting, see Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 353-356, cat. nos. Kl. 1 -Kl.14; Hendrickx and Depraetere, in
Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 818-819, Table 3, with references.
80
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene on the inside of a shallow C-Ware bowl in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA 35.10), see primarily Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 18, fig. 10;
Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 25a; Davies, Canonical
Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, pp. 121 -122, fig. 6.2b; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten
Agypten, p. 355, cat. no. Kl .11; Hendrickx and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins,
Vol. 1, p. 819; Hartmann, in Engel, etal, eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 172; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases
de Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 232, cat. no. 117; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First
Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
537
deck of a small boat and grasps a rope attached to a harpoon that has pierced a
hippopotamus in the water nearby.81
In a Predynastic royal inscription from Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash (Fig.
262), a group of five hunters controls a pair of hippopotami by means of several ropes
attached to harpoons that have pierced the two animals; two of these ropes are anchored
to the deck of a boat that is being towed along the banks of the Nile in the bottom right
portion of the rock inscription.82 The setting for the hippopotamus hunt in this scene is
not entirely clear; however, the hunters are most likely standing on the riverbank or in
shallow water near the shore. A similar rock inscription from the Dominion Behind
Thebes in the Western Thebaid depicts a hunter who stands on shore and grasps a coil of
rope attached to a harpoon that has piereced a hippopotamus (Fig. 267); an unmanned
boat next to the hunter serves as an anchor point for the rope. Notably, the hunter in
this scene carries a piriform mace in one of his hands; this weapon was probably used by
Predynastic Egyptian hunters to deliver the final death blow to a captured hippopotamus
at the end of a successful hippopotamus hunt.
81
For discussion of the hippopotamus-hunting scene on the so-called Stockholm Palette, see references
collected in Section 5.1, footnote 22.
2
For discussion of the hippopotamus-hunting scene in the Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M
141a in the Wadi Gash that depicts, see primarily Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, pp.
24-26, pi. 14.2; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 9d;
Midant-Reynes, in Berger, etal., eds., Hommages a Jean Leclant, Vol. 4, pp. 232-234, fig. 1; Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 353, cat. no. K1.2; Hendrickx and Depraetere, in
Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 819, Table 3; Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009):
173-174, fig. 4.
For discussion of the hippopotamus-hunting scene in the Predynastic rock inscription from the
"Dominion Behind Thebes" (WHW cat. no. 353), see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 88-89, fig. 8; Darnell,
in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
84
For discussion of the mace as a military weapon in Predynastic Egypt, see references collected in Section
6.0, footnote 19. In Predynastic Egyptian iconography, the mace was most often used by the Egyptian ruler
during a ritual in which he smote one or more of his enemies; for detailed discussion of the Predynastic
royal smiting scene, see Section 6.1.1. The mace was also used as a hunting weapon during the Predynastic
538
Most Predynastic representations of hippopotamus hunting are abbreviated scenes
that show only a small portion of the action of the hunt. For example, hippopotamus
hunting scenes on several C-Ware vessels (Figs. 452-454) and in at least one Predynastic
rock inscription (Fig. 455) simply show a coiled rope and a captured hippopotamus that
has been pierced by a harpoon.85 Other Predynastic hippopotamus hunting scenes
include a schematically represented depiction of a hunter alongside abbreviated images of
a coiled rope and a captured hippopotamus; the hunter in these scenes is sometimes
represented by little more than a straight vertical line resembling a post fixed in the
ground (Figs. 456-457). Although not all Predynastic representations of hippopotamus
hunting include depictions of boats, in reality, the successful hunting of hippopotami in
Predynastic Egypt probably required the use of one or more boats.
Period; depictions of Predynastic Egyptian hunters carrying maces appear, e.g., on the Hunters Palette and
in a rock inscription from the Dominion Behind Thebes (WHW cat. no. 86). For discussion of the use of
the mace as a hunting weapon in these Predynastic tableaux, see Darnell, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and
Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 145-146, fig. 17; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p.
35; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 88, fig. 7; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First
85
For abbreviated Predynastic hippopotamus hunting scenes on C-Ware vessels with depictions of only a
coiled rope and a captured hippopotamus, see Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten
Agypter, Vol. 1, docs. 22a, 26a, 26b; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 354-355,
cat. nos. K1.6, K1.9, K1.12; Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada 1—Nagada II, pp. 207, 214,219,
244,246, cat. nos. 40, 62, 77, 152, 158. For a similar abbreviated hippopotamus hunting scene in a
Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 140 in the Wadi Gash, see Winkler, Rock-Drawings of
Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 24, pi. 14.1; Behrmann, op. cit, doc. 9c; Decker and Herb, op. cit, p.
353, cat. no. Kl .2.; Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, p. 221.
86
For examples of Predynastic hippopotamus hunting scenes on C-Ware vessels with a schematically-
represented depiction of a hunter alongside images of a coiled rope and a captured hippopotamus, see
Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, docs. 23b, 24f, 25b; Decker and
Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 353-355, cat. nos. K1.3, K1.4, K1.10; Graff', Les peintures
sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, pp. 214, 221-222, 226, 247, cat. nos. 63, 84, 86, 98, 161; For a similar
abbreviated hippopotamus hunting scene in a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Mineh, see
Winkler, Volker und Volkerbewegungen im vorgeschichtlichen Oberdgypten, pp. 8-10, fig. 8; Behrmann,
op. cit., doc. 9a; Decker and Herb, op. cit., p. 353, cat. no. Kl.l; Wilkinson, in Rohl, ed., Followers of
Horus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 160; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 64-65, fig.
6; Wengrow, Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 112-113, fig. 5.7, center.
539
The remarkable decoration on the inside of a shallow C-Ware bowl in the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo combines depictions of Nilotic hunting and desert hunting
within a single, unified scene (Fig. 321); one of the main iconographic focii of this scene
is a hippopotamus hunt that seems to take place without any human actors.87 This
unusual hunting scene depicts a large hippopotamus that has been struck by four
harpoons; three unmanned boats surrounding the hippopotamus serve as anchor points for
ropes attached to the four harpoons. The captured hippopotamus is firmly under the
control of these three boats, which—at least iconographically—have entirely subsumed
the role of the men who typically hunt hippopotami in Predynastic hunting scenes. The
absence of humans in this hippopotamus hunting scene suggests that the boats themselves
are iconographic symbols for the power of a hunter over his intended target.
During the Predynastic Period, the hippopotamus hunt emerged as an
iconographic representation of the suppression of chaos by the Egyptian ruler. For
example, in the previously discussed hippopotamus hunting scene from Site 18. M 141a
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene on the inside of a shallow C-Ware bowl in the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo (CG 2076), see primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 260;
Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 25c; Decker and Herb,
Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 354, cat. no. Kl .5, with references; Hendrickx, CdE 73 (1998):
211-212, fig. 11; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 154, fig. 16.4; Wolterman, JE0Z, 37 (2001-
2002): 5-30, figs. 1,3; Hendrickx and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p.
818; Hartmann, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 167-179, figs. 4-5; Graff, Lespeintures sur
vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 218, cat. no. 74; Navajas, CdE 84 (2009): 63-64, 85, fig. 10; Hendrickx,
in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
Remarkably, Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 74-75, fig. 18, has suggested that this C-Ware bowl
has been "[o]verlooked by generations of scholars and visitors to the Egyptian Museum"; for criticism of
Wilkinson's incorrect assertion that this C-Ware bowl has eluded scholarly notice and discussion, see
Hendrickx, CAJ 14 (2004): 124. For discussion of the bull-lassoing scene on the outside of this bowl, see
Section 5.2.3.
88
Commenting on the symbolic significance of boats in Predynastic hunting and military scenes, Darnell,
in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming), similarly notes that "boats
may themselves symbolise the triumph of order over chaos, as boats may exceptionally hunt both animals
and enemies without any other humans present." For further discussion of the Predynastic scenes in which
unmanned boats symbolically restrain or control animals, see Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds.,
Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
540
in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 262), the red-crowned Egyptian ruler presides over the ritual
hunting of two hippopotami. The ceremonial barque upon which the Egyptian ruler
stands serves as an anchor point for a pair of ropes used in the hippopotamus hunt;
however, the Egyptian ruler does not participate directly in the hunting of the
hippopotami in this rock inscription. Instead, the hunters in pursuit of the hippopotami
act as representatives of the Egyptian ruler; their actions are an extension of the ruler's
power over chaotic elements of the cosmos.
A depiction of hippopotamus hunting on the Gebelein Linen (c. Naqada IC-IIA)
suggests that the hippopotamus hunt was performed as part of the celebration of the Sed
Festival during the Predynastic Period (Figs. 52d-e).90 The fragmentary hippopotamus
hunting scene on the Gebelein Linen depicts two men as active participants in the hunt.
One of these men stands next to a hippopotamus and restrains the animal by means of a
harpoon and a rope. In another portion of the scene a second man participates in the hunt
by casting an unusual netlike object into the water.91 The exact purpose of this netlike
object is unknown; however, the object's association with hippopotamus hunting in this
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene in the Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M
141a in the Wadi Gash, see references collected supra, this section, in footnote 82.
90
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene in the painted tableau of the Gebelelin Linen, see
primarily Galassi, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, Nova Series 4 (1955): 6,
9-12, figs. 1, 5-6, pi. 1; Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pis. 3-4; Williams and
Logan, JNES46 (1987): 256, 260, 279, fig. 15; Behrmann, DasNilpferdin der Vorstellungswelt der Alten
Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 34; Donadoni Roveri, in Robins, ed., Beyond the Pyramids: Egyptian Regional Art
from the Museo Egizio, Turin, p. 25; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 354, cat.
no. Kl .7, with references; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-37, fig. 23; Cialowicz, Folia
Orientalia 33 (1997): 40-43, fig. 1; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 33,216-217, fig. 6.6.1;
Wilkinson, in Rohl, ed., Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 160; Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 155-157, fig. 17; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, p. 65; Hendrickx and
Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 819.
For a similar discussion of the man with the net and his association with the hippopotamus hunting scene
on the Gebelelin Linen, see Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 256; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33
(1997): 42-43; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, p. 156.
541
and other Predynastic scenes suggests that it is probably a hunting implement of some
sort. A direct connection does not exist between the two men participating in the
hippopotamus hunt and the four ceremonial barques that appear elsewhere in the painted
tableau of the Gebelein Linen; however, the Egyptian ruler who is enthroned in one of
these barques most likely presides over the hippopotamus hunt as a symbolic expression
of the suppression of chaos.
Contemporary iconographic evidence—as well as later iconographic and textual
evidence—confirms that the hippopotamus hunt, as depicted on the Gebelein Linen, is a
symbol of the suppression of chaos by the Egyptian ruler. For example, the decoration
on the outside of two C-Ware vases from Tomb U-415 at Abydos juxtaposes images of
hippopotamus hunting and depictions of the smiting of human prisoners (Figs. 49, 322);
the bull presiding over the hippopotamus hunting scene on one of these vessels is most
likely a symbolic zoomorphic representation of the Egyptian ruler.93 The hippopotamus
A similar netlike object appears on at least four other Predynastic objects: a shallow C-Ware bowl in the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo (Graff, Lespeintures sur vases de Nagada I—Nagada II, p. 218, cat. no. 74); a
ceramic box from el-Amrah (Graff, op. cit., p. 250, cat. no. 171); a C-Ware bowl from Mahasna (Graff, op.
cit., p. 234, cat. no. 123); and a C-Ware vase in a private collection (Graff, op. cit., p. 242, cat. no. 147).
On the C-Ware bowl in the Egyptian Museum (CG 2076), this netlike object appears in the context of a
hippopotamus hunting scene; for discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene on this C-Ware bowl, see
references cited supra, this section, in footnote 87. The box from el-Amrah also includes images of a
hippopotamus, a crocodile, and an in-curved boat. For discussion of the similarity of the netlike objects on
the Gebelein Linen and on these other Predynastic objects, see primarily Williams, and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 256, 260; Hendrickx, CdE 73 (1998): 209-212, 228; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 42-43;
Wolterman, JEOL 37 (2001-2002): 9-10,; Hartmann, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 173-
174. Wolterman's interpretation of the netlike object as a portable sunshade cannot be reconciled with the
use of this object in the hippopotamus hunting scenes on the Gebelein Linen and on the C-Ware Bowl in
the Egyptian Museum (CG 2076). The netlike object in these Predynastic scenes is most likely a hunting
implement with a hitherto unrecognized function. This engimatic netlike object perhaps functioned as a
baiting device to attract hippopotami to the boats of Predynastic Egyptian hunters. In the hippopotamus
hunting scene on the C-Ware bowl in the Egyptian Museum (CG 2076), one of these netlike objects is
attached to the prow of a boat participating in the hunt; the object dangles in the water just in front of the
captured hippopotamus's face. Alternatively, this enigmatic netlike object may perhaps function as an
obstruction that blocks the escape of captured hippopotami.
9
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scenes that appear on the outside of two C-Ware vases from
Tomb U-415 at Abydos, see primarily Hartmann, in Dreyer etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): 80-84, figs. 5, 6a;
Hendrickx and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, pp. 815, 818; Hendrickx, in
542
hunt also appears as a symbol of the Egyptian ruler's suppression of chaos on a seal
impression of Den from Cemetery U at Abydos; on this sealing, Den simultaneously
harpoons a hippopotamus and tramples the decapitated corpses of several bound human
enemies (Fig. 323).94 The hippopotamus hunt remained an important symbol of royal
dominance over chaotic elements of the cosmos throughout all of ancient Egyptian
history. The grandest literary expression of the hippopotamus hunt occurs in a series of
Ptolemaic religious texts from the Temple of Edfu that describes a violent conflict
between the gods Horus and Seth.95 During the struggle between these two gods, Seth
takes the form of a violent red hippopotamus; ultimately, however, the royal god Horus
claims victory over Seth by hurling harpoons at this red hippopotamus. Despite the vast
span of time separating the Gebelein Linen and the myth of Horus of Edfu, the symbolic
Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 724, 729, fig. 4; Graff, Les peintures sur
vases de Nagada 1- Naqada II, p. 247, cat. nos. 161-162; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings
of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For discussion of the smiting rituals
depicted on both of these C-Ware vases, see Section 6.1.1. For discussion of the depiction of the bull on
one of these vases as a zoomorphic symbolic representation of the Egyptian ruler, Section 5.2.3.
94
For discussion of the sealing of Den that juxtaposes images of the hippopotamus hunt and the mutilation
of inimical human prisoners, see Miiller, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, pp. 477-493, figs. 1-3,
with references; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of
Egyptology (forthcoming). Further examples of Den's hippopotamus hunting ritual appear on additional
seal impressions from Abydos, on several ivory and wooden labels from Abydos, and in the royal annals of
the Palermo Stone; for discussion of these images and textual descriptions of the ritual performance of a
hippopotamus hunt by Den, see Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus Hunting
as a Religious Motive, pp. 16-17, fig. 7; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten
Agypter, Vol. 1, docs. 53a-53b, 54a-54b, 71; Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pp. 27-31, 65-66, 127-129,
pis. 1-10, 18, figs. 1-20, 35; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, pp. 356-357, cat. nos.
K1.15-K.1.17, with references; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 216-217, 274-276, figs. 6.6.2, 6.6.3,
8.4.1; Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt: The Palermo Stone and its Associated Fragments, pp.
112-115, fig. 1; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp.
79-81, figs. 43-44.
95
For discussion of the the conflict between Horus and Seth that is described in a series of Ptolemaic
religious texts at the Temple of Edfu, see Save-Soderbergh, On Egyptian Representations of Hippopotamus
Hunting as a Religious Motive, pp. 26-29; Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten
Agypter, Vol. 1, docs. 228a-228f. For translations of the relevant Edfu texts, with commentary, see
Fairman, JEA 21 (1935): 26-36; Blackman and Fairman, JEA 28 (1942): 32-38; Blackman and Fairman,
JEA 29 (1943): 2-36; Blackman and Fairman, JEA 30 (1944): 5-22.
543
significance of the hippopotamus hunt in both documents is probably the same; the
harpooning of the hippopotamus by the Egyptian ruler suppresses chaos and
(re)establishes order in the cosmos.
During the Predynastic Period, boats served as the primary means of
transportation for hunters who pursued hippopotami on the Nile. In the context of
Predynastic royal tableaux, boats often functioned iconographically as symbols of the
Egyptian ruler's prowess in Nilotic hunting; however, the boat also came to function
iconographically as a symbol of the Egyptian ruler's prowess in hunting in a more
general sense that was not restricted to Nilotic contexts. The iconographic combination
of boats and desert game animals appears in numerous Predynastic scenes; for example, a
Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Mineh depicts a bull tethered to the cabin of
an unmanned royal barque (Fig. 458).96 Predynastic scenes such as the one from the
Wadi Mineh suggest that boats could serve as symbols of the Egyptian ruler's prowess in
the hunting of desert animals.
Similarly, an unrealistic blending of Nilotic and desert hunting imagery appears
on several C-Ware vessels and in numerous Predynastic rock inscriptions. For example,
an unnatural intermingling of desert animals and Nilotic animals appears in a complex
hunting scene on the inside of a C-Ware bowl in the Egyptian Museum (Fig. 321); the
decoration on the inside of the bowl contains a depiction of boats pursuing a
96
For discussion of the depiction of a bull attached to the cabin of an unmanned royal barque in a
Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Mineh, see Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey
Report, Vol. 1, pp. 82-83, figs. 10-11; Wilkinson, in Rohl, ed., Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey
Report, Vol. 1, p. 161; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 88; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings
of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds.,
Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). Similar depictions of a land animal attached to an unmanned
boat by means of a rope appear in rock inscriptions from the Wadi Barramiya and the Wadi Umm Salam;
for discussion of these inscriptions, see Fuchs, African Archaeological Review 7(1989): 136-139, fig. 15;
Rohl, op. cit., pp. 37-38, figs. 1-4; p. 59, fig. 2; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal, eds., loc. cit.
544
hippopotamus and a depiction of a hunting dog pursuing a large desert quadruped. A
hunting scene on the outside of a C-Ware vessel from Tomb U-415 at Abydos contains
an image of a hunting dog in pursuit of an unusual group of animals that includes four
hippopotami and two antelopes (Fig. 322).98 A royal tableau from Site 18 M. 141A in
the Wadi Gash also contains depictions of Nilotic hunting and desert hunting within the
context of a single, unified scene (Fig. 262); the top portion of the tableau includes a
depiction of five hunters harpooning a pair of hippopotami and a depiction of a hunting
dog in close pursuit of a gazelle." The discovery of the faunal remains of both Nilotic
and desert game animals in the same area of the ritual precinct of Locality HK29a at
Hierakonpolis confirms that animals from both Nilotic and desert environments had an
importantant ritual function in Predynastic Egyptian religion.100 The intermingling of
Nilotic and desert hunting imagery in Predynastic rock inscriptions has the effect of
symbolically "Niloticizing" the desert landscape and, as a result, demonstrates the
triumph of order over chaos in the wild, untamed areas of the cosmos.101
For discussion of the hunting scene on the inside of a shallow C-Ware bowl in the Egyptian Museum
(CG 2076), see references collected supra, this section, in footnote 87. For the identification of the large
desert quadruped on this vessel as a wild ass, see Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the
First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
98
For discussion of the depiction of a dog pursuing hippopotami and antelopes on the outside of a C-Ware
vessel from Tomb U-415 at Abydos, see primarily Hartmann, in Dreyer etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): 82-84,
fig. 6a; Hendrickx and Depraetere, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, p. 818; Hendrickx,
in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, pp. 724, 729, fig. 4; Graff, Les peintures
sur vases de Nagada I- Naqada II, p. 247, cat. no. 162; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of
the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
99
For discussion of the hunting scenes in the rock inscription from Site 18 M. 141A in the Wadi Gash, see
references collected supra, this section, in footnote 82.
100
For discussion of faunal remains from Locality HK29A at Hierakonpolis as evidence of animal sacrifice,
see primarily Friedman, in Spencer, ed., Aspects of Early Egypt, pp. 24, 30; Linseele, etal., JARCE 45
(2009): 105-136.
101
For a similar interpretation of the signficance of combined desert and Nilotic hunting imagery in
Predynastic rock inscriptions, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 87-89; Darnell, in Friedman and
McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming); Darnell, in Allen and Shaw, eds., Oxford
545
Several Predynastic royal tableaux contain depictions of desert hunting and a
multi-boat nautical procession as part of a single, unified scene of ritual performance.
For example, the painted Sed Festival tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (c. Naqada
IIC) depicts an elaborate nautical procession comprised of five white, crescent-shaped,
club-ended barques and one black, crescent-shaped barque with a high-ended prow (Fig.
131). The accompanying scenes in between the boats and on the periphery of the
nautical procession in Tomb 100 include several notable depictions of desert hunting
activities: the capturing of antelopes and similar desert quadrupeds in circular traps, the
lassoing of a gazelle and a wild bull, the use of hunting dogs in the pursuit of antelopes
and similar desert quadrupeds, and the domination of fierce wild animals in the so-called
master-of-beasts motif.103 The nautical procession and the desert hunting rituals in the
Handbook of Egyptology (forthcoming); Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First
102
For discussion of the nautical procession in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see
primarily Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 75-78; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp.
31-48, fig. 8; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 114-119; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 561-570, figs. 375-377; Case
and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-18; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 22-24, pi. 7; Avi-Yonah,
in Groll, ed., Papers for Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Vol. 2, pp. 13-27;
Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 253-255, 270-272; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 87-
88; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-40, fig. 24; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1998):
44-45; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 69-87; Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh
International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 273-279; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 32-33;
Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 207-210; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 157-
162, fig. 18; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, pp. 109-111, 114-115; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19
(2009): 94-95, 97-99; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3
(forthcoming). For an inexplicable reinterpretation of the boats in the tableaux as temples, see with caution
Monnet Saleh, JEA 73 (1987): 51-58.
103
For general discussion of the desert hunting scenes in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis,
see Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pis. 75-78; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 114-119; Vandier,
Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 561-570, figs. 375-377; Case and Crowfoot-Payne, JEA 48 (1962): 12-16, figs. 4.1, 4.6,
4.12; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp. 22-24, pi. 7; Leclant and Huard, La culture des chasseurs du Nil
etdu Sahara, Vol. 1, 224-225, 234-235, figs. 72.5, 77.2-77.5; Avi-Yonah, in Groll, ed., Papers for
Discussion Presented by the Department of Egyptology, Vol. 2, pp. 28-36; Williams and Logan, JNES 46
(1987): 253-255; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, pp. 87-88; Gautier, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 41-45;
Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten, p. 295, cat. no. J12, with references; Adams and
Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-40, fig. 24; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1998): 44-45;
Cialowicz, in Eyre, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, pp. 274-275,
279; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, 157-162, fig. 18; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 94-95, 97-
546
painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis take place as part of the celebration of the
Sed Festival; the other rituals depicted in the tableau—such as the Konigslauf, the royal
smiting ritual, the ritual slaughter of a sacrificial bull, bouts of ritual combat, and the
performance of music and dance rituals—have clear parallels in representations of the
Sed Festival from both the Predynastic Period and the dynastic period.
Like the painted tableau in Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, the Predynastic royal
tableau at Site 18 M. 147a in the Wadi Gash includes a depiction of a multi-boat nautical
procession and an image of a hunter lassoing a wild bull (Fig. 280).105 The presence of a
royal falcon in the top right corner of the tableau confirms the royal nature of the ritual
scenes in this Predynastic rock inscription. The iconographic combination of a nautical
procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull also occurs in several other Predynastic rock
inscriptions, including a pair of Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abu Markab
el-Nes (Fig. 353, 356),106 a pair of Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi el-
99; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming); Hendrickx, in
Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For
detailed discussion of the trapping of antelopes and similar desert quadrupeds in the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see Section 5.2.4. For detailed discussion of the lassoing of a gazelle and a
wild bull, see Section 5.2.3; Section 5.3.4. For detailed discussion of the use of hunting dogs in the pursuit
of antelopes and similar desert quadrupeds, see Section 5.2.4. For detailed discussion of the domination of
wild animals in the "master-of-beasts" motif, see Section 5.2.1.
104
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the Konigslauf 'in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis, see Section 4.1.1; Section 7.4.3. For detailed discussion of the depiction of the royal
smiting ritual in this tableau, see Section 6.1.1. For detailed discussion of the ritual slaughter of a
sacrificial bull in this tableau, see Section 5.3. For detailed discussion of the bouts of ritual combat in this
tableau, see Section 6.3. For detailed discussion of the depiction of the performance of music and dance
rituals in this tableau, see Section 3.1.1.2.
105
For discussion of the Predynastic rock inscription at Site 18 M. 147a in the Wadi Gash, see Winkler,
Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pp. 24-25, pi. 15.1; Otto, JNES 9 (1950): 174, footnote
42; Leclant and Huard, La culture des chasseurs du Nil et du Sahara, Vol. 1, pp. 226,229, fig. 73.8;
(forthcoming).
106
For discussion of a pair of Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes with
depictions of a nautical procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull, see Winkler, Rock-Drawings of
Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pis. 22.1, 23.2; Leclant and Huard, La culture des chasseurs du Nil et du
547
Barramiya (Figs. 354, 459),I07 a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi el-Atwani
(Fig. 355),I08 a Predynastic rock inscription from the Dominion Behind Thebes (Fig.
352),109 a Predynastic rock inscription from the Naga Wadi Abyad,110 and a Predynastic
rock inscription from the Naga Abu Zana.111 Unlike the rock inscription at Site 18 M.
147a in the Wadi Gash, the Predynastic rock inscriptions at these other sites lack a clear
indication of the presence of the Egyptian ruler; nevertheless, like the painted painted
tableau of Tomb 100, these rock inscriptions probably depict ritual scenes from the
celebration of the Sed Festival.112
Sahara, Vol. 1, pp. 226, 229, fig. 73.6; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1,
pp. 104-106, figs. 14-20; pp. 114-115, figs. 1-4; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First
107
For discussion of a pair of Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi el-Barramiya with depictions of
a nautical procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull, see Fuchs, African Archaeological Review 7 (1989):
136-145, 148, 151, figs. 12-27; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 29-30,
figs. 1-5; pp. 37-41, figs. 1-14; Zajac, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 12 (2008): 13-20, fig. 1;
(forthcoming).
108
For discussion of a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi el-Atwani with depictions of a nautical
procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull, Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol.
1, p. 148, figs. 5-8; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of
109
For discussion of a Predynastic rock inscription from the Dominion Behind Thebes (WHW cat. no. 334)
with depictions of a nautical procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19
(2009): 95-96, fig. 17.
110
For discussion of a Predynastic rock inscription from the Naga Wadi Abyad with depictions of a
nautical procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull, see Vahala and Cervicek, Katalog der Felsbilder aus
der tschechoslowakischen Konzession in Nubien, pi. 57, cat. no. 221; Darnell, Bibliotheca Orientalis 60
(2003): 111.
111
For discussion of a Predynastic rock inscription from the Naga Abu Zana with depictions of a nautical
procession and a hunter lassoing a wild bull, see Vahala and Cervicek, Katalog der Felsbilder aus der
tschechoslowakischen Konzession in Nubien, pi. 74, cat. no. 287; Darnell, Bibliotheca Orientalis 60 (2003):
111.
112
For a similar conclusion regarding the link between the rituals in these Predynastic rock inscriptions and
the Sed Festival, see Darnell, Bibliotheca Orientalis 60 (2003): 111; Zajac, Studies in Ancient Art and
Civilization 12 (2008): 13-20.
548
The Gebel el-Arak knife handle also combines desert hunting imagery and a
nautical procession into a single, unified tableau depicting the performance of royal
rituals at the celebration of the Sed Festival (Fig. 58).I13 Like the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, the Gebel el-Arak knife handle includes depictions of a
multi-boat nautical procession, the human domination of wild lions in the so-called
master-of-beasts motif, and the use of hunting dogs in the pursuit of antelopes and similar
desert quadrupeds.114 At first glance, the two sides of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
seem to depict separate, self-encapsulated scenes. Desert hunting imagery, including the
master-of-beasts motif, covers the entire verso of the knife handle; in contrast, the recto
of the knife handle depicts primarily militaristic imagery, such as a nautical victory
procession, bouts of hand-to-hand combat, and the display of the corpses of several
defeated enemy combatants.115 However, the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
also includes an image of a hunter carrying a long rope—most likely a leash or lasso—
For further discussion of the nautical procession on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle and its connection to
performance of military victory rituals, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3. For discussion of the desert hunting
rituals on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see primarily Benedite, MonPiot 22 (1916): 12-15, 30-31, fig. 16;
Petrie, Ancient Egypt (1917): 28-30, 35, fig. 4; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 122; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp.
534-537, fig. 358; Du Mesnil du Buisson, BIFAO 68 (1969): 63-83; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt, pp.
18-20, pi. 6; Williams and Logan, JNES46 (1987): 263; Midant-Reynes, SAK 14 (1987): 219-220;
Sievertsen, Baghdader Mitteilungen 23 (1992): 11-14,18-37; Vertesalji, in Charpin and Joannes, eds., La
circulation des biens, des personnes et des idees dans le Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 31, 35, fig. 1; Czichon
and Sievertsen, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 49-55; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr.
Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 339-352, fig. 1; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, pp. 200-
201; Delange, Les dossiers d'archeologie 257 (2000): 52-59; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp.
238-239; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-172, fig. 20; Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal.,
eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, p. 208, fig. 19.2.
114
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the master-of-beasts on the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see
Section 5.2.1. For discussion of the use of hunting dogs in the pursuit of desert quadrupeds on the knife
11
For discussion of the militaristic imagery on the recto of Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see Section 6.1.1;
Section 6.1.2; Section 6.3; and Section 7.3.
549
that extends into the hunting scene on the verso of the knife handle. Thus, the two
seemingly separate scenes on the recto and the verso of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
actually form a single, integrated ritual scene that includes desert hunting imagery and a
nautical procession.
Desert hunting imagery and a depiction of a multi-boat nautical procession also
appear as part of a royal tableau of ritual performance in a Predynastic rock inscription in
the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a (Fig. 300).117 The left portion of the tableau contains two
images of a solitary hunting dog following closely in pursuit of a desert game animal—a
wild bull calf in one vignette (Fig. 300b), a gazelle in another vignette (fig. 300d);
completing the hunting scene in the left portion of the tableau, a group of four hunting
dogs in another vignette surrounds and attacks a Barbary sheep (Fig. 300c). The right
portion of the tableau is a complex ritual scene (Figs. 300e-g) depicting a royal falcon
standard, a jackal standard, a nautical procession of two crescent-shaped barques, the
ritual display of a defeated enemy combatant, and additional examples of desert hunting
imagery. In the rightmost section of the tableau (Fig. 300g), a large bow-and-arrow set—
apparently acting without human assistance or intervention—strikes down a fleeing
gazelle.118 Similar depictions of hunting dogs closely following in pursuit of desert
116
A knife handle from Tomb U-503 at Abydos contains a similar image of a hunter carrying a rope that
extends from one side of the knife handle to the other; for discussion of the desert hunting scenes depicted
on this Predynastic knife handle, see primarily Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien,
pp. 210-213, 225-226, fig. 12.
117
For discussion of this Predynastic royal tableau in the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil
19 (2009): 97-99, figs. 19-20; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power,
Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, pp. 221-223, figs. 28-29;
Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
118
Hunters equipped with bows and arrows pursue gazelles and other desert quadrupeds in several
Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi el-Barramiya; these inscriptions, which lack any clear
representation or symbol of the Egyptian ruler, also include elaborate depictions of a multi-boat nautical
procession. For discussion of the rock inscriptions from the Wadi el-Barramiya with representations of
550
quadrupeds appear in the same vicinity as a multi-boat nautical procession in a
Predynastic rock inscription in the Khor Abu Subeira (Fig. 263); a royal falcon standard
that appears on the deck of one of the boats in this inscription confirms the presence of
the Egyptian ruler in the scene.119
At least four additional Predynastic royal tableaux with depictions of multi-boat
nautical processions also include iconographic allusions to desert hunting; iconographic
details in each of these tableaux suggest that the nautical processions and hunting rituals
form part of the celebration of the Sed Festival. For example, a bound enemy, a rearing
antelope, and a harpoon appear in front of a ceremonial barque in a multi-boat nautical
procession on the Qustul incense burner (Fig. 54); the antelope and the harpoon most
likely allude to the hunting of desert game animals and—like the representation of the
defeated human enemy—represent the triumph of order over chaos.1 The second
barque in the nautical procession on the Qustul incense burner contains an image of the
enthroned Egyptian ruler wearing the white crown and the long Sed Festival robe.121 The
depiction of a multi-boat nautical procession in a Predynastic rock inscription from the
Nag el-Hamdulab near Aswan includes an image of the white-crowned Egyptian ruler
bow-hunting and boat processions, see Fuchs, African Archaeological Review 7 (1989): 145-146, 148, figs.
28-29; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 43-46, figs. 1-15.
119
For further discussion of this Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor Abu Subeira, see Gatto, eta/.,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 162-163, fig. 16. For further discussion of the falcon standard on one of the
ceremonial barques in this inscription, see Section 7.1.1.
120
For discussion of the rearing antelope and the harpoon in front of the third barque in the nautical
procession depicted on the Qustul incense burner, see DeVries, in Johnson and Wente, eds., Studies in
Honor of George R. Hughes, pp. 58, 69-70, figs. 17-18; Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980): 16-18;
Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 140-142, figs. 54-
55, pi. 34; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 252-253; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, eta/., eds., Proceedings
of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For detailed discussion of the bound human
prisoners on the Qustul incense burner, see Section 6.1.2; Section 7.3.
121
For detailed discussion of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on the Qustul incense burner, see Section 7.1.1.
551
walking in a procession on land behind two standard-bearers and a hunting dog; the
hunting dog that appears in front of the ruler in this royal tableau almost certainly alludes
to the performance of desert hunting on the ruler's behalf (Fig. 396).122 The proximity of
the Egyptian ruler to the hunting dog in this rock inscription indicates an iconographic
equivalency and suggests that the ruler held a special authority over desert hunting in
ritual contexts such as the celebration of the Sed Festival.
A Predynastic rock inscription at Site 18 M. 137a in the Wadi Gash also contains
a depiction of a multi-boat nautical procession and an iconographic allusion to desert
hunting (Fig. 56); in between the two ceremonial barques in the middle section of the
tableau, a group of four desert quadrupeds encircles an image of the red-crowned
Egyptian ruler smiting a subjugated enemy. Like the Qustul incense burner, one of the
ceremonial barques in the nautical procession in this inscription contains an image of the
1 9S
enthroned Egyptian ruler wearing the long Sed Festival. Thus, the ritual performances
depicted in this rock inscription from the Wadi Gash most likely form part of the
celebration of the Sed Festival. A second Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor
Abu Subeira depicts numerous examples of desert quadrupeds in between and around a
122
For discussion of this Predynastic royal tableau in the Nag el-Hamdulab, see primarily Hendrickx, etal.,
Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 169-178; Hendrickx and Gatto, Sahara 20 (2009): 147-150.
123
For a similar conclusion regarding the significance of the hunting dog in the Predynastic royal tableau in
the Nag el-Hamdulab, see Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 171-172.
124
For discussion of the nautical procession and the desert quadrupeds depicted in the Predynastic rock
inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash, see Winkler, Rock Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt,
Vol. 1, pp. 24-25, pi. 13.3; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 281; Berger, in Friedman and Adams,
eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, pp. 112-113, fig. 8.20; Hendrickx,
etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 173-174; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power,
endnote 42; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). For
detailed discussion of the depiction of the royal smiting ritual in this rock inscription, see Section 6.1.1;
Section 7.3.
125
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the enthroned Egyptian ruler who wears the long Sed Festival
robe in the Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash, see Section 7.1.1.
552
flotilla of ceremonial barques in a multi-boat nautical procession (Fig. 449); a robed
individual wearing a tall crown that strongly resembles the white crown stands on top of
a cabin in the rear of one of the barques in the procession.126 Iconographic allusions to
desert hunting in these Predynastic royal tableaux demonstrate the Egyptian ruler's
ability to supress zoomorphic forces of chaos in the cosmos. In the case of the Qustul
incense burner and the Predynastic rock inscription at Site 18 M. 137a in the Wadi Gash,
depictions of bound prisoners and the royal smiting ritual demontrate the Egyptian ruler's
ability to supresses anthropomorphic forces of chaos in the cosmos; this particular royal
prerogative, which often appears in connection with a depiction of a multi-boat nautical
procession, is also a common feature in Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival.
As the previous examples demonstrate, a link between ritual nautical processions
and hunting is unmistakable in Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival. Such a
firm and clear link between boats and hunting, however, is not present in representations
of the Sed Festival from the dynastic period. As the slaughter and butchering of
domesticated livestock became an increasingly common ritual component of the Sed
Festival during the dynastic period, e.g., in the Sed Festivals of Narmer, Djoser, Niuserre,
Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Osorkon II, actual hunting rituals involving the pursuit of
game animals became increasingly rare as part of the celebration of the Sed Festival.
126
For discussion of the nautical procession and desert animals depicted in this Predynastic rock inscription
from the Khor Abu Subeira, see Murray and Myers, JEA 19 (1933): 129-132, figs. 1-3, pi. 20.3; Winkler,
Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, pi. 33.5; Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 16, fig. 44;
Boehmer, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 7 (1974): 28-29, fig. 9a; Boehmer, MDAIK41 (1991):
51-52, fig. 2; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and Ships, pp. 14-15, fig. 6; Gatto, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 159,
163-164, fig. 17; Lippiello, Sacred Space and Central Place (forthcoming). For adetailed discussed of the
crowned man standing on top of a cabin in the rear of one of the barques in this rock inscription, see
Section 7.1.2.
127
For discussion of iconographic and archaeological evidence for the ritual slaughter of domesticated
livestock at the Sed Festivals of Narmer, Djoser, Niuserre, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Osorkon II, see
Section 5.3.
553
Perhaps, as a later evolution of the ritual connection between boats and hunting that is so
prevalent in Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival, ceremonial barques were
used for the transport of bulls, rams, fish, fowl, and other food offerings at the first and
third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III; depictions of boats being used for this purpose
appear in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef (Fig. 174) and
at the Temple of Soleb (Fig. 175).128
7.3. NAUTICAL PROCESSIONS & ROYAL MILITARY VICTORY RITUALS
A common motif that appears in numerous Predynastic royal tableaux is the
iconographic combination of a nautical procession and a military victory ritual. Several
Predynastic royal tableaux depict a military victory ritual that involves the display of
prisoners or defeated enemies on board a ceremonial barque; in other Predynastic royal
tableaux, related military victory rituals—such as the royal smiting ritual, the royal
inspection of defeated enemies, or bouts of ritual combat—take place on land in close
proximity to a nautical procession.129 The iconographic combination of a nautical
procession and a military victory ritual is especially common in Predynasic tableaux that
include an image of the Egyptian ruler wearing the Sed Festival robe or performing a
well-known ritual from the Sed Festival, such as the Konigslauf. In the context of these
tableaux, the procession of ceremonial barques seems to serve as a symbolic expression
128
For depictions of the transport of meat, fowl and other food offerings on ceremonial barques in the
reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of
Kheruef, pis. 58-59, 61. For further discussion of the preparation and transport of meat and food offerings
in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 2a. For
depictions of the transport of live cattle, fish and fowl on ceremonial barques in the reliefs of Amenhotep
Ill's first Sed Festival at the Temple of Soleb, see Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pis. 86-93,134-137.
129
For detailed discussion of military victory scenes depicting the display of prisoners and/or defeated
enemies on board the royal barque, see Section 6.1.2. For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scene,
see Section 6.1.1. For detailed discussion of scenes depicting the Egyptian ruler's inspection of defeated
enemies, see Section 6.1.3. For detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of ritual combat in royal
tableaux, see Section 6.3.
554
of the military authority and power of the Egyptian ruler. In some Predynastic depictions
of military victory rituals, the Egyptian ruler himself is absent and his ceremonial barque
appears to act independently on behalf of the ruler to punish his enemies. The use of
boats as symbols of the Egyptian ruler's military power in Predynastic military victory
scenes mirrors in many regards the use of boats as symbols of the Egyptian ruler's
hunting prowess in Predynastic Nilotic and desert hunting scenes. In fact, boats often
serve simultaneously as a symbol of the Egyptian ruler's control over animals and as a
symbol of the Egyptian ruler's control over humans in Predynastic royal tableau.
The earliest example of a royal tableau that includes a depiction of a multi-boat
nautical procession and a depiction of a military victory ritual is the painted tableau (Fig.
52) on the Gebelein Linen (c. Naqada IC-IIA).130 In the bottom center portion of the
tableau, a bound prisoner kneels on the deck of a crescent-shaped ceremonial barque; a
piriform mace attached to one of the boat's cabins hangs ominously above the prisoner's
head and suggests that his ultimate fate rests in the hands of the Egyptian ruler, who
appears as a seated occupant of another barque in the nautical procession depicted in the
tableau.131 The ruler's costume in this scene—which consists of a cap and a long Sed
Festival robe—indicates that the ritual events depicted on the Gebelein Linen are part of
For discussion of the nautical procession depicted on the Gebelein Linen, see references collected in
Section 7.1.1, footnote 17. For detailed discussion of the military victory ritual depicted on the Gebelein
Linen, see Section 6.1.2.
131
For discussion of the captive prisoner who appears on the deck of a ceremonial barque in the painted
tableau of the Gebelein Linen, see primarily Galassi, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia
dell'Arte, Nova Series 4 (1955): 15-17, fig. 12, pi. 1; Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of
Turin, pi. 5; Williams and Logan, JNESA6 (1987): 256, 271, 279, fig. 15; Adams and Cialowicz,
Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 36-37, fig. 23; Cialowicz, Folia Orientalia 33 (1997): 41-44, 47, fig. 1;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 155-157, fig. 17; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in
Early Egypt, pp. 86, 89, fig. 7.2; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A
Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3
(forthcoming).
555
the celebration of the Sed Festival.132 Thus, in this early depiction of the Sed Festival,
the nautical procession is clearly a symbol of the Egyptian ruler's military authority.
Two additional barques that appear on the Gebelein Linen are most likely linked to the
hippopotamus hunting ritual that is depicted in another portion of the tableau; thus, the
nautical procession on the Gebelein Linen probably also symbolizes the Egyptian ruler's
control over the hunting of dangerous Nilotic game animals.133
The Qustul incense burner (Fig. 54), which depicts a procession of three
ceremonial barques moving towards the facade of temple, contains many of the same
iconographic motifs as the Gebelein Linen.134 On the first barque in the procession, a
man carrying an oar stands guard over a bound prisoner who kneels on a raised platform
on the deck of the barque.135 Another bound prisoner, who is tied to the prow of the third
barque in the procession, dangles in the water among Nilotic flora and fauna; depictions
of a rearing antelope and a harpoon behind this prisoner most likely allude to desert
hunting rituals.136 A depiction of the enthroned Egyptian ruler wearing the long Sed
For detailed discussion of the depiction of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on one of the ceremonial
barques on the Gebelein Linen, see Section 7.1.1.
133
For discussion of the hippopotamus hunting scene in the painted tableau of the Gebelein Linen, see
Section 5.1; Section 7.2.
134
For discussion of the nautical procession depicted on the Qustul incense burner, see references collected
in Section 7.1.1, footnote 29.
135
For discussion of the bound prisoner on the deck of the first barque in the nautical procession on the
Qustul incense burner, see primarily Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980): 16-18; Williams, University of
Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 143-144, fig. 56, pi. 34; Williams and
Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 252; Williams, CCdE 1 (2000): 10-11; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp.
61-62, fig. 2.1; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 99; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175; Darnell,
Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Huyge and Darnell, GM 225 (2010): 72;
Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming); Hendrickx, in
Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For
further discussion of the bound prisoner on the deck of the first barque in the nautical procession on the
Qustul incense burner, see Section 6.1.2.
1
For discussion of the bound prisoner attached to the prow of the third barque in the nautical procession
on the Qustul incense burner, see primarily Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175; Darnell, Archeo-
556
Festival robe on the second barque in the procession confirms that the nautical procession
on the Qustul incense burner is part of the celebration of the Sed Festival.137 The fact that
two of the three barques in the nautical procession on the Qustul incense burner contain
images of defeated enemies of the Egyptian ruler suggests that the primary symbolic
function of the procession was to demonstrate royal military power. A nearly identical
scene, which depicts a multi-boat nautical procession, the enthronement of a robed
Egyptian ruler on a ceremonial barque, and the ritual display of defeated enemy
combatants on ceremonial barques, appears on the Archaic Horus incense burner (Fig.
55).138 Like the nautical procession on the Qustul incense burner, the nautical procession
on the Archaic Horus incense burner clearly symbolizes the military authority of the
Egyptian ruler at the Sed Festival.
Another depiction of a defeated enemy combatant being displayed on board a
ceremonial barque appears in a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus
Nil 19 (2009): 99; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, Darnell, in
Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming); Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal.,
eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For discussion of an
alternative—though less likely—suggestion that the man in front of the third barque is actually saluting the
barque and its zoomorphic occupant, see DeVries, in Johnson and Wente, eds., Studies in Honor of George
R. Hughes, pp. 58, 64-65, 69-70, figs. 17-18; Williams, Archaeology 33:5 (1980): 16-18; Williams,
University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 140-141, 144, fig. 54, pi. 34;
Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 252. For further discussion of the bound prisoner attached to the
prow of the third barque in the nautical procession on the Qustul incense burner, see Section 6.1.2. For
discussion of the antelope and harpoon behind this prisoner as allusions to desert hunting rituals, see
Section 7.2.
137
For detailed discussion of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on the second barque in the nautical procession
on the Qustul incense burner, see Section 7.1.1.
138
For detailed discussion of the nautical processions depicted on the Archaic Horus incense burner, see
references collected in Section 7.1.1, footnote 38. For discussion of the image of a bound prisoner on the
deck of the second barque in the procession, see primarily Williams, University of Chicago Oriental
Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 145-146, pi. 33; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 253;
Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 61-62, fig. 2.2; Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-
176; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology
(forthcoming). For further discussion of the military victory rituals on the Archaic Horus incense burner,
see Section 6.1.2.
557
9
Qa-a (Fig. 300).' In this example of the motif, a man who has been struck by an arrow
is tied to a tall pole in the front of a crescent-shaped ceremonial barque; a piriform mace
hanging above the prisoner's head signals his condemnation and future execution.
Unlike the previously discussed Sed Festival tableaux on the Gebelein Linen, the Qustul
incense burner and the Archaic Horus incense burner, the nautical procession depicted in
the rock inscription in the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a does not contain an image of an
enthroned Egyptian ruler wearing the Sed Festival robe; however, a royal falcon standard
appears just to the right of the nautical procession and confirms that the Wadi of the
Horus Qa-a inscription depicts the performance of a royal ritual. In the context of this
royal tableau, the nautical procession is clearly a symbol of the Egyptian ruler's forceful
subjugation of his enemies. The elaborate depictions of desert hunting that appear to the
left and right of the nautical procession indicate that the boats in the inscription may also
symbolize the Egyptian ruler's control over the hunting of desert game animals.141
A Predynastic rock inscription from the Nag el-Hamdulab alludes to a similar
ritual in which a defeated enemy was displayed on board a ceremonial barque at a royal
victory celebration (Fig. 396).142 In the middle of this Predynastic tableau, the white-
crowned Egyptian ruler walks in a procession on land alongside a hunting dog and
139
For discussion of the bound prisoner who appears at the prow of a ceremonial barque in a Predynastic
rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, see primarily Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 97-99, fig.
19; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power, Darnell, in Friedman and
McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). For further discussion of the military victory
ritual depicted in this inscription, see Section 6.1.2.
140
For detailed discussion of the significance of the falcon standard that appears to the right of the nautical
procession in the Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, see Section 7.1.1.
141
For detailed discussion of the desert hunting imagery in the Predynastic inscription in the Wadi of the
Horus Qa-a, see Section 5.2.4; Section 7.2.
142
For discussion of the Predynastic royal tableau from the Nag el-Hamdulab, see primarily Hendrickx,
etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 169-178, with references; Gatto and Hendrickx, Sahara 20 (2009): 147-150.
558
several members of the royal retinue. Encircling the royal procession in this
inscription is a flotilla of five high-ended ceremonial barques; several large ceremonial
maces adorn the deck and cabins of one the barques in this flotilla. The placement of
large maces on the barque symbolizes the military authority of the Egyptain ruler and,
undoubtedly, alludes to the ritual display of defeated enemy combatants on board
ceremonial barques at a royal victory celebration.144
The major Predynastic rock inscription in Gebel Sheikh Suleiman contains an
image of a kneeling enemy combatant who has been struck by an arrow and is attached to
the prow of a high-ended ceremonial barque (Fig. 383); the corpses of four other defeated
enemy combatants are strewn about the ground—or perhaps in the water—below the
barque.145 The tableau does not contain an image of the Egyptian ruler wearing the Sed
Festival robe and, thus, cannot be linked definitively to the celebration of the Sed
For discussion of the significance of the depiction of the hunting dog in the Predynastic royal tableau
from the Nag el-Hamdulab, see Section 7.2.
144
For a similar conclusion regarding the significance of the large maces that appear as adornments on the
deck and cabins of a ceremonial barque in the Predynastic royal tableau from the Nag el-Hamdulab, see
Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 172.
145
For discussion of the depiction of defeated enemy combatants who appear below and beside a
ceremonial barque in the major Predynastic rock inscription in Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, see primarily
Arke\\,JEA 36 (1950): 27-31, fig. 1, pi. 10; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 263-264; Murnane,
JNES 46 (1987): 282-285, fig. lb, with references; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 126-127, fig. 35;
Gundlach, Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswartiger Bevolkerung als Mittel dgyptischer Politik bis zum Ende
des Mittleren Reiches, pp. 54-57, fig. 6; Gautier and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 119, fig. 16;
Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, pp. 177-179, fig. 5.3.2; Wilkinson, MDAIK 56 (2000): 389-390; Midant-
Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 225-226, fig. 14; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 62-63,
fig. 3; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 88-89,
fig. 51; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 502, fig. 31.5; Schulz, in Bietak
and Schwarz, eds., Krieg undSieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altdgypten bis ins Mittelalter, pp. 19,
21-22, fig. 10; Jimenez-Serrano, in Krzyzaniak, etal., eds., Cultural Markers in the Later Prehistory of
Northeastern Africa, pp. 258-261, 263, fig. 3; Muhlestein, Violence in the Service of Order, pp. 59-63, 79,
fig. 2.3; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 93-94, fig. 8.13; Darnell, Archeo-Nil
19 (2009): 99; Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 175-176; Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A
Tableau of Royal Ritual Power; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3
(forthcoming); Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of
Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion of the military victory rituals depicted in this inscription,
see Section 6.1.2.
559
Festival. However, the falcon-topped royal serekh in the left portion of the tableau
clearly indicates that the rituals depicted in this inscription celebrate the military power of
the victorious Egyptian ruler. A similar depiction of corpses strewn about the ground—
or perhaps in water— appears below a pair of high-ended ceremonial barques in a
complex military victory scene on the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle (Fig.
58).146 A man standing next to these two ceremonial barques carries a rope that extends
into the desert hunting scene on the verso of the knife handle; the most striking
iconographic motif on the verso of the handle is an image of the Egyptian ruler wearing
the long Sed Festival robe and controlling a pair of fierce lions.147 The nautical
procession on the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle clearly symbolizes the military
authority of the Egyptain ruler; however, iconographic links between the two sides of the
handle suggest that the nautical procession may also serve as a symbol of the Egyptian
ruler's control over the hunting of desert game animals.
For discussion of the corpses that appear below a pair of high-ended ceremonial barques on the recto of
the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see primarily Benedite, MonPiot22 (1916): 8-12, 31-32, fig. 9; Petrie,
Ancient Egypt (1917): 26-28, 31, fig. 1; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp. 41-48, fig. 9; Kantor,
JNES3 (1944): 122, 124; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 537-539, fig. 359; Ridley, The Unification of Egypt,
pp. 18-19, pi. 5; Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 86 (1986): 230; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 263;
Sievertsen, Baghdader Mitteilungen 23 (1992): 16-18, 40-47; Vertesalji, in Charpin and Joannes, eds., La
circulation des biens, despersonnes et des idees dans le Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 31, 33-35, figs. 1-2;
Czichon and Sievertsen, Archeo-Nil 3 (1993): 51, 54; Pittman, in Cooper and Schwartz, eds., Study of the
Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century, p. 11, fig. la; Mark, From Egypt to Mesopotamia, pp. 69-
70, 112, fig. 34; Cialowicz, in Aksamit, ed., Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipinska, pp. 341, 343-
344, 350-351, fig. 2; Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 201; Midant-Reynes, The
Prehistory of Egypt, p. 239; Delange, Les dossiers d'archeologie 257 (2000): 55-56; Cialowicz, La
naissance d'un royaume, pp. 166-167, fig. 20; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the
Levant, p. 503; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 93, fig. 8.12; Gilbert, Ancient
Egyptian Sea Power, p. 12. For further discussion of the military victory rituals on the recto of the Gebel
el-Arak knife handle, see also Section 6.1.1; Section 6.1.2; Section 6.3.
147
For detailed discussion of the "master-of-beasts" motif on the verso of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
and the identification of the man controlling the lions as the Egyptian ruler, see Section 5.2.1. For detailed
discussion of the desert hunting imagery on the verso of the handle, see Section 5.2.4; Section 7.2.
560
Like the Predynastic depictions of the Sed Festival on the Gebelein Linen, the
Qustul incense burner, and the Archaic Horus incense burner, the royal tableau on the
recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife (Fig. 53) handle includes an image of a robed
Egyptian ruler as a seated occupant of a ceremonial barque in a multi-boat nautical
procession.148 The carved decorative scene to the left of the Egyptian ruler's barque is
badly damaged; however, the remaining traces of the scene, which include a depiction of
several bound prisoners, suggest that a military victory ritual was performed on land in
close proximity to the procession of the royal barque.149 The precise details of the
military victory ritual that appears on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle
are uncertain; however, the scene probably depicts the Egyptian ruler's inspection of
defeated enemy combatants on a battlefield at the conclusion of a successful military
campaign. A similar version of this military victory ritual appears in an undamaged
scene on the verso of the Narmer Palette (Fig. 39); in the scene from the Narmer Palette,
the Egyptian ruler and his retinue arrive at a battlefield in a location called the "Great
Door" to inspect the bound, decapitated, and mutilated corpses of ten defeated enemy
combatants.150 A large royal falcon, which clasps a harpoon in its talons, occupies a
For detailed discussion of the nautical procession and the depiction of the enthroned Egyptian ruler on
the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see Section 7.1.1; Section 7.4.3.
1
For discussion of the traces of a military victory ritual to the left of the Egyptian ruler's barque on the
recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see primarily Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 246-
248,251-252,273, 275, figs. 1, 3; Adams and Cialowicz, Protodynastic Egypt, pp. 44-45, fig. 30; Dreyer,
in Ziegler, ed., L'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 200; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume, pp. 172-
173, fig. 21; Hendrickx, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 176. For further discussion of the military victory
rituals on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see also Section 6.1.2; Section 6.1.3.
1
For discussion the Egyptian ruler's inspection of defeated enemies on the verso of the Narmer Palette,
see primarily Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 29; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp.
89-90, fig. 29; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 597-598, fig. 392; Sliwa, Forschungen undBerichte 16 (1974):
99, 107-108, fig. 2; Williams and Logan, JNES46 (1987): 263; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 59; Monnet-
Saleh, BIFAO 90 (1990): 259-263, fig. 1; Fairservis,./4/?C£28 (1991): 3, 12-16, fig. 2; Baines, in
O'Connor and Silverman, eds., Ancient Egyptian Kingship, pp. 116-118; Mark, From Egypt to
561
high-ended ceremonial barque above the two neatly arranged rows of corpses in this
scene.151 The scene from the Narmer Palette clearly depicts a grand military victory
ritual in which the Egyptian ruler arrives by barque at the "Great Door" to inspect his
defeated enemies at the conclusion of a victorious campaign. In the military victory
scenes on both the Metropolitan Museum knife handle and the Narmer Palette, the
Egyptian ruler's barque serves as a symbol of his grand triumph over his enemies.
An image of the Egyptian ruler smiting a group of three cowering prisoners
appears directly below an unmanned, crescent-shaped ceremonial barque in the bottom
left corner of the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131c); as the barque
at the front of a procession of six ceremonial barques, the barque above the Egyptian
ruler occupies a prominent position within the tableau.152 The depiction of the
Konigslaufm the middle portion of the tableau (Fig. 131d) confirms that the elaborate
ritual activities depicted on the painted wall of Tomb 100 are part of the celebration of
Mesopotamia, pp. 89, 96-97, fig. 49; Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Near
East, pp. 484-486, fig. 1, with references; Davies and Friedman, Nekhen News 10 (1998): 22; Gundlach,
Der Pharao und sein Staat, pp. 76-86, fig. 16; Logan, in Teeter and Larson, eds., Gold of Praise, pp. 267,
270; Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 245-247, fig. 22; Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royaume,
pp. 183-186, fig. 29; Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, pp. 499-500, 504-505,
507-511; Morenz, SAK 30 (2002): 282-283, fig. 4; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late
Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, pp. 82-86, figs. 46,48, with references; Davies and Friedman, in
Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian Museum Collections around the World, Vol. 1, pp. 243-246, figs. 1-2;
O'Connor, in Tait, ed., Never Had the Like Occurred, pp. 157-158, fig. 9.3; Muhlestein, Violence in the
Service of Order, pp. 56-58; Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, pp. 90, 95, figs. 8.3,
8.16; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 38, 346, fig. 14a; Dreyer, in Daoud, etal.,
eds., Studies in Honor ofAli Radwan, Vol. 1, pp. 253-254, fig. 1; Droux, BSEG 27 (2005-2007): 38-40,42,
figs. 2-3; Gilbert, Ancient Egyptian Sea Power, p. 13; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the
First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion of the Egyptian ruler's
inspection of defeated enemies on the verso of the Narmer Palette, see also Section 6.1.2; Section 6.1.3.
151
For discussion of the falcon that appears as an occupant of a ceremonial barque on the verso of the
Narmer Palette, see references collected in Section 7.1.1, footnote 59.
152
For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scene in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis,
see Section 6.1.1.
562
the Sed Festival.153 The proximity of the royal smiting scene to the boat at the head of
the nautical procession in the tableau suggests that the procession symbolizes—at least in
part—the military power of the Egyptian ruler. Depictions of two pairs of men engaging
in ritual bouts of hand-to-hand combat appear directly below another boat in the
procession; this ritual combat scene provides further evidence for the military symbolism
of the nautical procession in Tomb 100.154 The numerous depictions of desert hunting
activities around and in between the barques in the tableau suggest that the nautical
procession also symbolizes the Egyptian ruler's control over desert hunting.155 A similar
iconographic combination of hunting and royal smiting appears in the ritual scenes on the
outside of a pair of C-Ware vessels from Tomb U-415 at Abydos (Figs. 49, 322);
however, unlike the painted tableau of Tomb 100, neither of these vases contains a
depiction of a procession of ceremonial barques.156
The royal smiting scene also appears alongside images of desert hunting rituals
and a multi-boat nautical procession in at least three other Predynastic royal tableaux.
The top left corner of recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle contains an image of a man
(most likely the Egyptian ruler) smiting an enemy combatant with a piriform mace (Fig.
58); this smiting ritual—along with a series of desert hunting rituals on the verso of the
knife handle and a nautical victory procession at the bottom of the recto of the knife
153
For detailed discussion of the Konigslauf scene in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see
Section 4.1.1; Section 7.4.3.
154
For detailed discussion of the ritual combat scene in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis,
see Section 6.3.
155
For detailed discussion of the hunting symbolism of the nautical procession in the painted tableau of
Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, see Section 7.2.
156
For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scenes that appear on the outside of two C-Ware vessels
from Tomb U-415 at Abydos, see Section 6.1.1. For detailed discussion of the hunting scenes that appear
on these vessels, see Section 5.1; Section 5.2.3; Section 5.2.4; and Section 7.2.
563
handle—forms part of an elaborate depiction of the celebration of the Sed Festival.
Like the painted tableau of Tomb 100, the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle
contains depictions of several groups of men participating in ritual bouts of hand-to-hand
combat. The close proximity of the ritual combat scene to the nautical procession on the
recto of the knife handle confirms the military symbolism of the nautical procession.15
In a Predynastic rock inscription from Site 18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash (Fig.
56), a red-crowned Egyptian ruler smites a cowering prisoner in the area in between a
pair of ceremonial barques, one of which contains an image of the Egyptian ruler wearing
a long Sed Festival robe; a group of four desert quadrupeds iconographically encircles the
royal smiting scene and alludes to the performance of desert hunting rituals. Another
example of the royal smiting scene appears in an elaborate Predynastic rock inscription
from the Wadi el-Barramiya that contains numerous desert hunting scenes and a
depiction of a large, multi-boat nautical procession (Fig. 459b).160 In the top left corner
of the tableau, a man with raised arms stands next to a seated man on the deck of a
square-hulled ceremonial barque; the standing man carries a piriform mace in one of his
For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scene in the top left corner of the recto of the Gebel el-Arak
knife handle, see Section 6.1.1. For detailed discussion of the nautical procession at the bottom of the recto
of the knife handle, see supra, this section; Section 6.1.2. For detailed discussion of the desert hunting
scenes on the verso of the knife handle, see Section 5.2.1; Section 5.2.4; Section 7.2.
158
For detailed discussion of the ritual combat scene on the recto of the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, see
Section 6.3.
159
For discussion of the nautical procession depicted in the Predynastic rock inscription at Site 18. M 137a
in the Wadi Gash, see references collected in Section 7.1.1, footnote 42. For detailed discussion of the
royal smiting scene in this inscription, see Section 6.1.1. For detailed discussion of the image of the
enthroned ruler in this inscription, see Section 7.1.1. For detailed discussion of the desert quadrupeds
depicted in this inscription, see Section 7.2.
160
For discussion of this Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi el-Barramiya, see primarily Fuchs,
African Archaeological Review 1 (1989): 136-145, 148, 151, figs. 12-27; Fuchs, Sahara 4 (1991): 68-70,
figs. 14-16; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 37-41, figs. l-14;Zajac,
Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 12 (2008): 13-20, fig. 1.
564
hands and appears to be preparing to smite the man seated next to him on the boat.161
Although this Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi el-Barramiya lacks any other
definitive examples of royal symbolism, the depiction of the smiting scene in the top left
corner of the tableau confirms the royal nature of the tableau and the various ritual scenes
depicted therein.162
As the previous examples demonstrate, a link between nautical processions and
military victory rituals is unmistakable in Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival.
The iconography of royal military victory continued to be used in representations of the
Sed Festival throughout the dynastic period, e.g., in the decoration of the royal throne and
the base of the royal tnti.t-platform; however, such a firm and clear link between boats
and military victory rituals is not present in representations of the Sed Festival from the
dynastic period.163 In contexts outside of the Sed Festival, however, military victory
rituals involving the display of captured or dead enemy combatants on the prow of the
Egyptian ruler's barque continued to occur during the dynastic period, e.g., in the reigns
Tuthmosis I, Amenhotep II, and Tutankhamun (Fig. 397).] Additionally, the royal
smiting scene appears as a decorative element on the side of a kiosk on the deck the royal
161
For discussion of the two men in the barque in the top left corner of this Predynastic rock inscription in
the Wadi el-Barramiya, see primarily Fuchs, African Archaeological Review 7(1989): 136-137, 151,figs.
14-15; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 37, fig. 4; Zajac, Studies in
Ancient Art and Civilization 12 (2008): 14, 16-20, fig. 1.2.
162
For a similar conclusion regarding the royal symbolism of this Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi
el-Barramiya, see Zajac, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 12 (2008): 13-20. Zajac, op. cit., p. 20,
sensibly concludes that this inscription should "be considered as a reflection of some religious rituals
similar to sed ceremony."
163
For discussion of depictions of bound prisoners on the royal throne and the base of the royal tnti.t-
platform in the Sed Festival reliefs of Amenhotep III, see Section 6.1.3.
164
For discussion of depictions and accounts of the display of enemy combatants on prow of the Egyptian
ruler's barque during the reigns of Tuthmosis I, Amenhotep II, and Tutankhamun, see references collected
in Section 6.1.2, footnotes 119-120.
565
barque in numerous reliefs from the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period (Fig.
398).165
7.4. RITUAL NAVIGATION & ROYAL CONTROL OF NAUTICAL PROPULSION
7.4.0. INTRODUCTION
In a limited number of representations of the Sed Festival from the early New
Kingdom, a Sed Festival robe-clad Egyptian ruler appears as an occupant of a ceremonial
barque in a ritual linked to the solar god Re or the syncretized creator and solar god
Amun-Re. The means of propelling the Egyptian ruler's barque in these scenes is
variable; the primary methods that are used include self-propulsion, towing, rowing, and
carrying. No unambiguous parallels to these nautical scenes appear in representations of
the Sed Festival from the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, or Late Period; however,
iconographically and symbolically, the royal barque processions that appear in
representations of the Sed Festival from the early New Kingdom have much in common
with nautical processions from Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival.
Amenhotep Ill's claim that he utilized ancient documents while preparing for the
celebration of his first Sed Festival suggests strongly that Egyptian rulers of the New
Kingdom had access to Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival and incorporated
elements of Predynastic rituals into their own Sed Festival celebrations.
In several different Predynastic iconographic contexts, depictions of nautical
processions are linked to the journey of the solar deity through the cosmos. In
Predynastic rock inscriptions as early as Naqada I, boats—often in combination with
1
For discussion of the royal smiting scene as a decorative element on the side of kiosks on the deck of the
royal barque in reliefs from the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, see references collected in
566
depictions of heliophoric giraffes—commonly appear as self-propelled carriers of the
solar deity (Figs. 460-464); late Predynastic depictions of solar barques with towropes
and crews of human towers suggest that the navigation of the solar barque eventually
came to require human assistance.166 Men with raised arms sometimes appear as
occupants of solar boats in Predynastic rock inscriptions (Fig. 261); in this context, the
raising of the arms is most likely a celebratory gesture heralding the triumph of the solar
deity over his enemies and the successful navigation of the solar barque through the
cosmos.167 Similar images of women with raised arms appear to be "floating" above or
beside double-cabined, crescent-shaped ceremonial barques in painted scenes on the
For discussion of solar boats and heliophoric giraffes—and the interrelationship between the two—in
Predynastic Egyptian rock inscriptions, see primarily Westendorf, in Gorg and Pusch, eds., Festschrift
Elmar Edel, pp. 432-445; Huyge, Discovering Archaeology 1 (1999): 48-58; Huyge, in Friedman, ed.,
Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, pp. 192-206, especially pp. 197-201, Horizons I-II; Darnell,
Bibliotheca Orientalis 55 (2003): 111-112, with references; Darnell, in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian
World, pp. 32-33; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 89-92; Gatto, British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt
and Sudan 13 (2009): 131; Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
(forthcoming); Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming). For
discussion of the solar symbolism of giraffe images in other Predynastic contexts, e.g., on ceremonial
palettes and decorated pottery, see also Westendorf, Altdgyptische Darstellungen des Sonnenlaufes aufder
abschussigen Himmelsbahn, pp. 37, 84-85; Westendorf, in Festgabe fur Dr. Walter Will, pp. 204-208;
Westendorf, SAK6 (1978): 201-225; Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 4 (1992): 7-18;
Westendorf, in Moers, eta/., eds., jn.t dr.w: Festschrift fur Friedrich Junge, Vol. 2, pp. 713-727.
167
For discussion of the men with raised arms who sometimes appear as occupants of solar boats in
Predynastic rock inscriptions, see primarily Huyge, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert,
pp. 197-201, Horizons I-II; Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
(forthcoming); Hendrickx, in Raffaele, eta/., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of
Egyptology (forthcoming). For further discussion of the men with raised arms who appear as occupants of
solar boats in Predynastic rock inscriptions, see also Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt,
Vol. 1, p. 25; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, pp. 260-261, 263-265, fig. 11.24; Wengrow
and Baines, in Hendrickx, eta/., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 1090-1091, with references;
Lankester, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Third International
Colloquium on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 127; Zajac, Studies in Ancient Art and
Civilization 12 (2008): 15-16,19-20; Gatto, British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 13 (2009):
131; Gatto, eta/., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 163. Based on a perceived iconographic equivalence with the
women with raised arms who appear above boats on D-Ware pottery, the men with raised arms who appear
as occupants of solar boats in Predynastic rock inscriptions have often been mistakenly identified as women
or goddesses; for discussion of these figures as women and/or goddesses, see with caution Fuchs, African
Archaeological Review 7 (1989): 139, 141, 145-146, 151, figs. 19, 28; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern
Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 6, figs. 10-13; Wilkinson, in Rohl, ed., Followers ofHorus: Eastern
Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 160-161, 164-165; Wilkinson, Genesis of the Pharaohs, pp. 155-156.
For discussion of the raising of the arms as a gesture of triumph in Predynastic military and hunting scenes,
see Section 3.1.1; Section 5.2.4; and Section 6.1.1.
567
outside of numerous D-Ware vessels (Figs. 252-258). The specialized funerary
context in which D-Ware vessels most often appear suggests that the scenes on these
vessels represent funerary rites;169 the depictions of nautical processions and women with
raised arms on D-Ware vessels are most likely linked to the Egyptian religious concepts
of solar renewal and the regeneration of the deceased.170 Drawing on the solar
symbolism of nautical processions in other Predynastic iconographic contexts, the
Egyptian ruler's control over the steering and navigation of boats in Predynastic
depictions of the Sed Festival symbolizes his control over the solar cycle and—by
For a catalogue of D-Ware vessels that include depictions of boats, see Gilbert, BACE 10 (1999): 19-37.
For a catalogue of D-Ware vessels that include depictions of human figures, see Hendrickx, CCdE 31A
(2002): 29-50. The most complete catalogue of D-Ware vessels that is currently available appears in Graff,
Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I' - Nagada II, pp. 252-409, cat. nos. 177-646. For discussion of the
women with raised arms who appear at nautical processions in decorative scenes on the outside of D-Ware
vessels, see primarily Capart, Primitive Art in Egypt, p. 119; Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz im Alten Agypten,
pp. 11-12, fig. 2; Kantor, JNES 3 (1944): 117, figs. 6b-6e; Baumgartel, Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol.
2, pp. 145-146, pi. 13; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 349-356, figs. 237-240; Brunner-Traut, RdEll (1975):
53, Motiv 5; Aksamit, Pontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 162; Midant-Reynes, The
Prehistory of Egypt, pp. 190-191, fig. 9; Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, pp. 235, 239, 241,
243,249-263, figs. 11.7, 11.9, 11.11-11.23; Wengrow and Baines, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its
Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 1090-1093; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I- Nagada II, pp. 25-30, 53-58,
127, 132, 151, Designation Hf1 -11; Lankester, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Abstracts of Papers
Presented at the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 127;
(forthcoming).
169
For discussion of the predominantly—though not exclusively—funerary symbolism and context of D-
Ware vessels, see Aksamit, Pontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 161-164, with references;
Graff, CCdE 5 (2003): 35-57; Graff, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 765-777;
Wengrow and Baines, in Hendrickx, etal., eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 1, pp. 1081-1113, especially p.
1093; Graff, Bibliotheca Ohentalis 64 (2007): 259-288; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 84, with
references; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I- Nagada II, pp. 121-124; Hendrickx, in Raffaele,
etal., eds., Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming).
170
For discussion of nautical processions on D-Ware pottery as representations of funerary rituals, see
primarily de Morgan, Revue anthropologique 30 (1920): 272-282; Hornblower, JEA 16 (1930): 10-18;
Brunner-Traut, RdEll (1975): 41-55; Aksamit, Pontes Archaeologici Posnannienses 32 (1981): 161-164,
with references; Vinson, Egyptian Boats and Ships, pp. 12-13; Graff, Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I-
Nagada II, pp. 43-45, with references; Hendrickx, in Raffaele, etal., eds., Proceedings of the First
Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology (forthcoming). For discussion of the solar symbolism of the funerary
scene involving boats on D-Ware vessels, see primarily Huyge, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of
the Desert, pp. 200-201. Stressing that D-Ware vessels have not been found in exclusively funerary
contexts, Gilbert, BACE 10 (1999): 30-31, however, strongly disputes the commonly held view that
depictions of boats on D-Ware have "some sort of funerary significance."
568
extension—his ability to maintain the proper functioning of the cosmos. The means of
propulsion of the Egyptian ruler's barque in Predynastic representations of the Sed
Festival often parallels the means of propulsion of the solar barque in contemporaneous
Predynastic rock inscriptions; implicit in this shared means of nautical propulsion is most
likely a shared symbolic significance for the ritual procession of the solar barque and the
ritual procession of the Egyptian ruler's barque in the Predynastic Period.
7.4.1. SELF-PROPULSION OF CEREMONIAL BARQUES
In the Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival on the Qustul incense burner
(Fig. 54), on the Archaic Horus incense burner (Fig. 55), and in a rock inscription at Site
18. M 137a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 56), the enthroned Egyptian ruler appears as the only
occupant of a ceremonial barque that moves solely by means of self-propulsion.
Similarly, in a pair of Predynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi Abbad (Figs. 444,
448), the Egyptian ruler stands on top of a cabin on the deck of a self-propelled
ceremonial barque.172 The self-propulsion of the Egyptian ruler's barque in these ritual
tableaux parallels the self-propulsion of the solar barque in numerous Predynastic rock
inscriptions, particularly in inscriptions from the middle Predynastic Period (c. Naqada
II).173
In a depiction of a nautical procession in the reliefs of the so-called Chateau de
l'Or in the Temple of Amun at Karnak (Fig. 160), a statue of Tuthmosis III—clad in the
171
For detailed discussion of the Egyptian ruler's barque in the nautical processions depicted on the Qustul
incense burner, on the Archaic Horus incense burner, and in a Predynastic rock inscription at Site 18. M
137a in the Wadi Gash, see Section 7.1.1.
172
For detailed discussion of the Egyptian ruler's barque in the nautical processions depicted in a pair of
Predynastic royal tableaux in the Wadi Abbad, see Section 7.1.2.
173
For discussion of the self-propulsion of solar barques in Predynastic rock inscriptions, see primarily
Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 90-91; Darnell, in Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
(forthcoming); Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
569
short Sed Festival robe—appears as a seated occupant of a ceremonial barque that moves
solely by means of self-propulsion.174 The king's costume, as well as a textual allusion to
the Sed Festival in a fragmentary hieroglyphic caption to the scene, strongly suggests that
the nautical procession depicted in the Chateau de l'Or forms part of the celebration of
Tuthmosis Ill's Sed Festival.175 In his hands, the statue of the enthroned Egyptian ruler
grasps a rope and tows a ceremonial barque that trails behind the royal barque; the ram's
head adornment on the prow and stern of the towed barque indicates that it is the barque
of the primary god of the temple, i.e., Amun-Re. In a related scene directly to the left of
this nautical procession, Tuthmosis III himself stands on shore and performs the Opening
i nc
of the Mouth ritual for Amun-Re at the prow of the god's barque. By performing the
Opening of the Mouth ritual for Amun-Re, the supreme creator and solar deity of Egypt
in the New Kingdom, Tuthmosis III demonstrates his possession of a great creative and
rejuvenating power. Iconographically, the king's power is also reflected in his towing of
the barque of Amun-Re and in the royal barque's ability to move through the water
without the aid of a crew of rowers or towers.
For discussion of the nautical processional scene of Tuthmosis III in the so-called Chateau de l'Or in the
Temple of Amun at Karnak, see Traunecker, CRIPEL 11 (1989): 96-99, figs. 4-5; Karlshausen,
L 'iconographie de la barque processionnelle divine, pp. 23, 62. For further discussion of the Chateau
d'Or, see also Laskowski, in Cline and O'Connor, eds., Thutmose III: A New Biography, pp. 198-199.
175
The text directly in front of Tuthmosis Ill's barque in this scene reads: [...] hb-sd hr m nsw.t-bi.ty mi Rc
d.t, "[... of] the Sed Festival and appearing as the King of Upper and Lower Egypt like Re forever." For the
text in front of the royal barque, see Traunecker, CRIPEL 11 (1989): 96, 99, fig. 5,1. 3. For additional
documentation of the celebration of the Sed Festival by Tuthmosis III, see references collected in Hornung
and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 23-24.
176
The caption to the scene in which Tuthmosis III performs the Opening of the Mouth ritual at the prow of
the barque of Amun-Re reads: [di] ms(.t) wp.t-ri n 'Imn nb nsw.t [ti.wy] ... n.w 'Ip.t-s.wt, "[Causing] the
creation and the Opening of the Mouth for Amun, lord of the thrones [of the two lands],... of Karnak." For
the text in front of the barque of Amun-Re, see Traunecker, CRIPEL 11 (1989): 96, 99, fig. 5,11. 1-2.
570
A set of reliefs on the southern external wall of the Chapelle Rouge at Karnak
depicts a pair of seated statues of the coregents Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III as
occupants of a ceremonial barque during the riverine procession from Luxor to Karnak at
the celebration of the Opet Festival (Fig. 440);177 on the northern external wall of the
shrine is a nearly identical depiction of a pair of seated statues of Hatshepsut and
Tuthmosis III as occupants of a ceremonial barque during a riverine procession from Deir
el-Bahari to Karnak at the celebration of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. (Fig.
1 7R
441) Although neither set of reliefs actually depicts the celebration of the Sed Festival,
the seated statues of the coregents in both sets of reliefs are clad in the long Sed Festival
robe. In each of these nautical processional scenes, the boat containing the statues of the
two coregents is a self-propelled royal barque at the head of a flotilla of ships.179 In both
For the Chapelle Rouge's depiction of the riverine journey of the divine statue of Amun-Re from Luxor
to Karnak at the celebration of the Opet Festival, see primarily Lacau and Chevrier, Une chapelle
d'Hatshepsout a Karnak, Vol. 1, pp. 175-191, § 241-275; Lacau and Chevrier, op. cit, Vol. 2, pi. 9, nos.
104, 171; Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge: Le sanctuaire de barque d'Hatshepsout, Vol. 1, pp. 60-
61; Burgos and Larche, op. cit, Vol. 2, pp. 63-64. For further discussion of this scene, see also Gabolde,
Le 'GrandChateau d'Amon' de Sesostris f a Karnak, pp. 159-160, § 249-250; Karkowski, Etudes et
Travaux 19 (2001): 101; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du
Moyen Empire, p. 228; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, Thutmose III: A New Biography, pp. 140-141;
Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 402; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 51-53, fig. 52;
Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barqueprocessionelle divine en Egypte au NouveI Empire, pp. 23, 35-
36,62, 321, cat. no. 7b, with references.
178
For the Chapelle Rouge's depiction of the riverine journey of the divine statue of Amun-Re from Deir
el-Bahari to Karnak at the celebration of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, see primarily Lacau and
Chevrier, Une chapelle d'Hatshepsout a Karnak, Vol. 1, pp. 175-191, § 241-275; Lacau and Chevrier, op.
cit, Vol. 2, pi. 9, nos. 279, 291; Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge: Le sanctuaire de barque
d'Hatshepsout, Vol. 1, pp. 112-113; Burgos and Larche, op. cit, Vol. 2, pp. 63-64. For further discussion
of this scene, see also Gabolde, Le 'Grand Chateau d'Amon' de Sesostris f a Karnak, pp. 159-160, § 249-
250; Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 101; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme
monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, p. 228; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, Thutmose III: A New
Biography, pp. 141-142; Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 402; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest,
pp. 51-53; Karlshausen, L'iconographie de la barque processionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire,
pp. 23, 35-36, 62, 321, cat. no. 7d, with references.
179
In the upper terrace of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, there is a similar set of reliefs
depicting the riverine processions of the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley; however, in
the reliefs from Deir el-Bahari, the barques containing the seated statues of the two coregents are hauled by
a pair of large tugboats. For detailed discussion of the nautical processions in these reliefs from Deir el-
Bahari, see Section 7.4.2; Section 7.4.3.
571
scenes, a rope affixed to the hands of the seated statue of Tuthmosis III tows the second
boat in the flotilla—i. e., the barque of Amun-Re, the primary god of Karnak. The actual
coregents themselves appear as standing occupants of the latter barque in both scenes;
Tuthmosis III stands at the rear of the barque of Amun-Re and steers the barque by means
of a long oar.180 The placement of these statues of the Sed Festival robe clad coregents
Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III on the self-propelled royal barque at the head of the
nautical procession of the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley is
significant because both of these festivals emphasize the religious theme of rebirth.181
From their preeminent position in advance of the barque of Amun-Re at the head of these
festival rites, the statues of the two coregents appear to effect their own rejuvenation.
Two seemingly self-propelled ceremonial barques appear in a fragmentary scene
from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the Temple of Bubastis (Fig. 465).182 The
second of the two boats is a shallow crescent-shaped ceremonial barque with a large
kiosk on its deck; despite the lack of ram's head adornments on the prow and stern, the
barque in this fragmentary scene from Bubastis is very similar to the barques that contain
the divine statue of Amun-Re in the previously discussed ritual scenes from the Chateau
For detailed discussion of the significance of this depiction of Tuthmosis III as the helmsman of the
barque of Amun-Re, see Section 7.4.3.
181
Similar in some regards to the Sed Festival itself, the rites of the Opet Festival effect the rebirth of
Amun and the regeneration of the royal ki during the visit of Amun of Karnak to Luxor; for discussion of
this particular aspect of the Opet Festival, see primarily Murnane, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 574-579; Bell, JNES
44 (1985): 251-294; Bell, in Shafer, ed., Temples of Ancient Egypt, pp. 127-184. The Beautiful Festival of
the Valley, in which Amun of Karnak visits the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, effects
the rejuvenation of Amun and the rebirth of the deceased Egyptian rulers of the Theban royal necropolis by
means of the mysteries of the hieros gamos in the sanctuary of Hathor; for discussion of the significance of
the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, see primarily Schott, Das schone Fest vom Wustentale: Festbrauche
einer Totenstadt; Graefe, in LA, Vol. 6, cols. 187-189.
182
For the depiction of these two ceremonial barques in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the Temple
of Bubastis, seeNaville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 13.2-3.
572
de l'Or and the Chapelle Rouge at Karnak. The first of the two barques in the
fragmentary scene from Bubastis is largely destroyed; however, the parallel scenes from
the Chateau de l'Or and the Chapelle Rouge suggest that the barque may have originally
contained a statue of the reigning king clad in the Sed Festival robe.
7.4.2. TOWING OF CEREMONIAL BARQUES
Another means of propulsion that is employed in ritual processions of the solar
barque and the Egyptian ruler's barque during the Predynastic Period is the use of a
towrope and a crew of human towers. In a pair of nautical processional scenes depicted
in Predynastic rock inscriptions in the Khor Abu Subeira (Fig. 449) and at Site 18. M
141a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 262), the Egyptian ruler appears as a standing occupant of a
ceremonial barque that is towed by a crew of human towers; the crew consists of 32 men
in the former inscription and five men in the latter inscription, including one man with his
hands raised above his head in a celebratory gesture.183 A crew of five men also tows a
second ceremonial barque that appears below the ruler's barque in the rock inscription at
Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash; attached to the prows of both of the barques in this
tableau is a pair of streamers that might be an early precursor to the so-called "solar mat"
that traditionally appears on the prow of the ancient Egyptian solar barque.184 A late
Predynastic rock inscription in the Nag el-Hamdulab contains a similar depiction of a
ceremonial barque being towed by a crew of at least four men at a royal festival (Fig.
183
For detailed discussion of the Egyptian ruler's barque in the nautical processions depicted in Predynastic
royal tableaux in the Khor Abu Subeira and at Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash, see Section 7.1.
184
Huyge, in Friedman, ed., Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, p. 200, similarly identifies "the pendant
banner-like ornamentation of the stern or prow" that appears in numerous Predynastic representations of
ceremonial barques as a possible "prototype of the later solar 'mat.'" For discussion of the mat that
traditionally adorns the prow of the solar barque during the pharaonic period, see primarily Thomas, JEA
45 (1959): 38-51; Goebs, GM165 (1998): 57-71, with references. For discussion of the solar mat's
connection to the illuminative and regenerative aspects of the journey of the solar barque through the
cosmos, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6, with references.
573
396); the Egyptian ruler, however, does not appear as an occupant of this barque or of
any of the other barques in the inscription.185 This means of nautical propulsion—i.e.,
towing—is also used in Predynastic representations of the solar barque, particularly in
inscriptions from the late Predynastic Period (c. Naqada III).186 Notable among such
Predynastic representations of the solar barque is a rock inscription from the Dominion
Behind Thebes that depicts the towing of the solar barque into and out of a natural fissure
in the carved rock surface of the gebel (Fig. 466); the discoverer of this rock inscription
has convincingly argued that the inscription is "the earliest depiction of solar barks
meeting prow to prow."
Depictions of the towing of the solar barque in Predynastic rock inscriptions, such
as the previously discussed inscription at the Dominion Behind Thebes, indicate that this
long-lived religious concept originated in the Predynastic Period. Religious treatises
throughout the phraraonic period indicate that the hauling of the solar barque through the
netherworld effected the regeneration and rebirth of the solar deity and the deceased
Egyptian ruler. In the Pyramid Texts, rowing is by far the most common means of
propulsion for the barque of the solar deity; however, the Pyramid Texts do contain at
For detailed discussion of the royal symbolism of the nautical procession that appears in this late
Predynastic rock inscription from the Nag el-Hamdulab, see Section 7.2. For discussion of the ceremonial
barque that is towed by a crew of at least four men in the bottom corner of the inscription, see Hendrickx,
etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 172-173; Hendrickx and Gatto, Sahara 20 (2009): 149, fig. 5.
186
For discussion of depictions of the towing of the solar barque in Predynastic rock inscriptions, see
primarily Darnell, Bibliotheca Orientalis 55 (2003): 114; Darnell, in Wilkinson, ed., The Egyptian World,
p. 33; Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 91-92, fig. 13; Gatto, etal., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 163; Darnell, in
Shaw and Allen, eds., Oxford Handbook of Egyptology (forthcoming); Darnell, in Friedman and
McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
187
For discussion of the depiction of the towing of the solar barque in a Predynastic rock inscription at the
Dominion Behind Thebes (WHW cat. no. 55), see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 91-92, fig. 13; Darnell, in
Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
574
1 RS
least one unambiguous and clear reference to the towing of the solar barque.
Descriptions of the towing of the solar barque appear in several passages from the Coffin
Texts; these passages provide a clear link between the rejuvenation of the solar deity and
188
For discussion of the rowing of the solar barque, see infra, this section; Section 7.4.3. For discussion of
the solar barque and its means of propulsion in the Pyramid Texts, see primarily Hassan, Excavations at
Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, pp. 82-86, 88-118, etpassim; Anthes, ZAS 82 (1957): 77-89; Firchow, WZKM54
(1957): 34-42; Barta, SAK2 (1975): 39-48; Altenmuller, in Hommages a Frangois Daumas, Vol. 1, pp. 1-
15; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens etdogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 207-
209; Altenmuller, SAK 32 (2004): 11 -33; Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barque processionelle divine
en Egypte au Nouvel Empire, pp. 8-10. For discussion of the mythical environs through which the solar
barque travels in the Pyramid Texts, see also Allen, in Simpson, ed., Religion and Philosophy in Ancient
Egypt, pp. 1-28; Krauss, Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentexten. In
Pyramid Texts Spell 548, Isis grasps a towrope connected to the prow of the solar barque (Sethe, Die
altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p. 242, § 1345-1348):
hi=fm wii mi Rr hr idb.w mr nhi
i.hn.w Ppipn m hnbw
iti=fhp.t im ir sh.t nnw.ti
r hnt-tipw n sh.t-Brw
Sspp r=fin Rc
ts(y) tp=fin 'Itm
Sspp r hi.t{.i)-fin ]s.t
spiw phw.t=fin Nb.t-hw.t
d(d).n sw kbh.t tp sm3=s
pth=s sw m-m hnty.w-S
mniw.w bhs.w is
"He will descend into the barque like Re upon the banks of the Winding Waterway.
This Pepi will row in the barque-of-lightning;
(and) he will take up the /?p.r-implement therein toward the field of the two lower skies
at this southern land of the Field of Marsh Grass.
His arm will be received by Re;
(and) his head will be raised by Atum.
The length of his prow rope will be received by Isis;
(and) his stern rope will be abandoned by Nephthys.
The reason the kbh.t-serpent has placed him upon her side is
so that she may cast him down among those at the front of the lake,
(namely) the herdsmen of calves."
For discussion of this passage as evidence for the towing of the night barque of the solar deity in the
Pyramid Texts, see Hassan, op. cit., pp. 111-112, 114. For discussion of the nautical terms hi.t.t ("prow
rope") and phw.t ("stern rope"), see Jones, A Glossary of Ancient Egyptian Nautical Titles and Terms, pp.
164-165, 174, with references. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 548, see Allen, The Ancient
Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 172-173, Spell P495. In Pyramid Texts Spell 256, the deceased Egyptian
ruler—under the protection of the uraeus serpent on his brow—appears as an occupant of a ceremonial
barque that is rowed and towed through the netherworld (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 163, § 303c-d):
hn sw mw.t=f
ith sw dmi=f
hynwh=k
"Transport him by rowing, oh mother of his!
Transport him by towing, oh quay of his!
Secure your rope!"
For discussion of the idiomatic nautical expression hy (m) nwh ("secure the rope") and the nautical terms
hni ("to row") and ith ("to tow"), see Jones, op. cit., pp. 210-211,217,219-220, with references. For a full
translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 256, see Allen, op. cit., p. 45, Spell W167.
575
the rebirth of a deceased individual in the netherworld.189 The towing of the solar barque
features prominently in images and textual descriptions of the solar deity's nocturnal
189
For discussion of the journey of the solar barque through the netherworld in the Coffin Texts, see
primarily Bickel, in Brodbeck, ed., Ein agyptisches Glasperlenspiel, pp. 41-56, with references. The
"throwing out of the prow ropes" (mir hi t wt) is the first stage of the deceased individual's nocturnal
journey in the solar barque through the underworld in a set of several related spells that includes Coffin
Texts Spell 258 (de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 3, p. 371); Coffin Texts Spell 260 (de Buck, op
cit, Vol. 3, p. 378); Coffin Texts Spell 265 (de Buck, op cit, Vol. 3, pp 394); Coffin Texts Spell 267 (de
Buck, op cit, Vol. 3, p. 397); and Coffin Texts Spell 644 (de Buck, op cit, Vol. 6, p. 264). The relevant
passages in each of these intriguing spells describe a deceased individual's nautical journey as a
rejuvenating ritual in which he is reborn in the glowing light of the morning sun in the eastern horizon. The
solar symbolism of this journey is especially clear in Coffin Texts Spell 267 (de Buck, op cit, Vol. 3, pp.
396-400):
r
nh-wi hnhn( w) hr-ib nfnh t=f
mir hi twtdwi t
r
nh imy w ihtnihpn
shp n=fn=k it w psd wt=f
if rk r=k hi kb ttwwrt
msntw Nw t hft msw t Rr
pr shm w m 'Iwnw
wr w nrw w hnty wiht mn w
r
nh=i m Dhwty
idi n=i P
nnkDp
ir n=l dni t m 'Iwnw
biw P Dp sdm nn mic
sch n=i tw m Hr-wr m rnh
twt is hns wr imy wp t Rr
pr shm w tpiy) w m iib t
"Oh Great Living One, the one who has been detained in the midst of his nfnh r-staff!
Throw out the prow ropes of the netherworld!
May those who are in the horizon live for this ^-spirit!
It is to you that he has conducted the fathers of his Enneads.
Appear at this great cool place!
It is according to the birth of Re that Nut has borne you.
It is from Heliopolis that the powers come forth.
May the greatest of the snakes that are in front of the horizon be enduring'
It is as Thoth that I live.
Pe has been given to me;
Dep belongs to me;
(And) an offering has been made for me in Heliopolis;
Oh souls of Pe and Dep, hear this truly'
I have caused you to be noble as Haroeris in life.
You are the double-bull, the great one who is on the brow of Re.
The foremost powers go forth from the East."
Similarly, the deceased himself himself "takes up the prow rope" ($sp hi t tor di hi 11) of the solar barque
in Coffin Texts Spell 683 (de Buck, op cit, Vol. 6, p. 313) and Coffin Texts Spell 815 (de Buck, op cit,
Vol. 7, p. 14). In Coffin Texts Spell 234 (de Buck, op cit, Vol. 3, p. 301), the deceased individual is
presented with a mooring post (mni f), a prow rope (hi 11), and a stern rope (phw t) to aid him in his journey
through the netherworld. Paralleling Isis and Nephthys's participation in the towing of the solar barque in
Pyramid Texts Spell 548, Isis and Nephthys are identified respectively as a tow rope (sti t) and a kmi ?-rope
in Coffin Texts Spell 473 (de Buck, op cit, Vol 6, pp. 5-6)—a spell concerning escape from nets and fish
traps.
576
journey through the netherworld in New Kingdom religious treatises such as the Book of
Amduat, the Book of Gates, the Book of Caverns, and the Book of the Night.190 In the
fourth and fifth hours of the Book of Amduat, the towing of the solar barque brings the
solar deity deep within the dark, desertlike realm of Sokar, into a mysterious place known
as the chamber of Sokar where the regeneration of the solar deity takes place.191 In the
twelfth hour of the Book of Amduat, the barque of the solar deity is towed through the
body of a large serpent, toward the eastern horizon where the solar deity departs from the
netherworld and emerges into the sky as the newly reborn morning sun.192 The religious
For discussion of the images and textual descriptions of the nocturnal towing of the solar barque through
the netherworld in the New Kingdom Books of the Netherworld, see primarily Hornung, Die Nachtfahrt
der Sonne Eine altagyptische Beschreibung des Jenseits, with references; Hornung, Idea Into Image, pp
95-113. For further discussion of the process of solar regeneration in the New Kingdom Books of the
Netherworld, see also Wiebach-Koepke, Sonnenlauf und kosmische Regeneration Zur Systematik der
Lebensprozesse in den Unterweltsbuchern. A convenient collection of images from the New Kingdom
Books of the Netherworld and the Books of the Sky appears (with references to more specialized
publications) in Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, pp. 26-135, 169-179. For depictions
of the towing of the solar barque in the fourth, fifth, eighth, and twelfth hours of Amduat, see Hornung, op
cit, pp. 45-46,49, 52, figs. 17-18,21, 24. For depictions of the towing of the solar barque in all but the
first hour of the Book of Gates, see Hornung, op cit, pp. 67-77, figs. 31-41. For a depiction of the towing
of the solar barque in the concluding scene from the Book of Caverns, see Hornung, op cit, p. 95, fig. 52.
For depictions of the towing of the solar barque in all hours of the Book of the Night, see Hornung, op cit,
pp. 126-134, figs. 72-83.
191
For the hieroglyphic texts of the fourth and fifth hours of the Book of Amduat, see Hornung, Texte zum
Amduat, Vol. 1, pp. 31 -49; Hornung, op cit, Vol. 2, pp. 343-455; Hornung, Das Amduat Die Schrift des
Verborgenen Raumes, Vol. 1, pp. 62-96; Hornung, op cit, Vol. 3, pp. 7-10. For translation of these texts
with textual commentary, see Hornung, Das Amduat Die Schrift des Verborgenen Raumes, Vol. 2, pp. 80-
108; Hornung, op cit, Vol. 3, pp. 29-30, 41-44; Hornung, Die Unterweltsbucher der Agypter, pp. 93-115;
Hornung, Egyptian Amduat The Book of the Hidden Chamber, pp. 107-171, 392-397 For discussion of
the solar deity's journey into the cavern of Sokar in the Book of Amduat, see primarily Brunner, SAKS
(1980): 79-84, pi. 1; Graindorge-Hereil, Le Dieu Sokar a Thebes au Nouvel Empire, Vol. 1, pp. 37, 351-
362, with references; Binder, BACE 6 (1995): 15-18,28-29; Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the
Afterlife, pp. 36-37.
192
For the hieroglyphic texts of the twelfth hour of the Book of Amduat, see Hornung, Texte zum Amduat,
Vol. 1, pp. 91-94; Hornung, op cit, Vol. 3, pp. 793-849; Hornung, Das Amduat Die Schrift des
Verborgenen Raumes, Vol. 1, pp. 192-205; Hornung, op cit, Vol. 3, pp. 24-25. For translation of these
texts with textual commentary, see Hornung, Das Amduat Die Schrift des Verborgenen Raumes, Vol. 2,
pp. 184-195; Hornung, op cit, Vol. 3, pp. 35, 51-52; Hornung, Die Unterweltsbucher der Agypter, pp.
182-194, Hornung, Egyptian Amduat The Bookofthe Hidden Chamber, pp. 351-379, 420-424. For
discussion of the solar deity's journey through the body of Apophis out of the netherworld in the Book of
Amduat, see primarily Hornung, MDAIK37 (1981): 217-226, fig. 2, Binder, BACE 6 (1995): 25-26;
577
concept of the towing of the solar barque through the netherworld also appears in several
passages from the Book of the Dead.193
Thus, in ancient Egyptian religious literature from the Old Kingdom onwards, the
towing of the solar barque appears to play an important role in facilitating the
regeneration of the solar deity during his nocturnal journey through the netherworld; by
associating himself with the nocturnal journey of solar barque in these religious treatises,
the Egyptian ruler ensures his own rebirth and continued existence after death.194 To aid
themselves in their attempts to be reborn after death, several Early Dynastic, Old
Kingdom, and Middle Kingdom pharaohs buried large ceremonial solar barques in the
general vicinity of their mortuary complexes and/or solar temples. Some of these buried
solar barques are made of materials that are traditionally used for watercraft; for example,
a group of fourteen wooden barques near a 1st Dynasty royal mortuary enclosure at
Abydos (Fig. 301), a pair of disassembled wooden barques from the eastern side of the
pyramid of Khufu at Giza, and a group of five or six wooden barques from the pyramid
complex of Sesostris III at Dahshur may have at one point been capable of travel on the
Nile.195 In other cases, buried solar barques of the Old Kingdom are made from non-
Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, p. 41; Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of
the Solar-Osirian Unity, pp. 125, 215, 253, 322, 327, 345-346, 393-394, 409-410, etpassim.
1
The towing of the solar barque through the netherworld is mentioned, e.g., in Book of the Dead Spell
100 (Naville, Das aegyptische Todtenbuch der XVIII. bis XX. Dynastie, Vol. 1, pi. 113,1. 5; Vol. 2, p. 234,
no. 5); Book of the Dead Spell 129 (Naville, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 234, no. 5); and Book of the Dead Spell 180
(Naville, op. cit., Vol. 1, pi. 204,11. 26-27). For discussion of the nocturnal journey of the solar barque
through the underworld in the Book of the Dead, see Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife,
p. 19; Wiebach-Koepke, SAK25 (1998): 353-375, with references.
194
For discussion of the deceased Egyptian ruler's association with the nocturnal journey of the solar
barque in ancient Egyptian religious literature, see, e.g., Firchow, WZKM54 (1957): 34-42; Hornung, in
Der Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol. 1, pp. 409-414.
195
For discussion of the fourteen 1st Dynasty boat burials at Abydos, see references collected in Section
4.1.1, footnote 29. For discussion of the two disassembled wooden barques discovered in rectangular
burials near Khufu's pyramid in the 4th Dynasty royal necropolis at Giza, see primarily Cerny, JEA 41
578
perishable materials that are not traditionally used for watercraft; for example, rock-cut
boats from the pyramid complexes of Khufu and Khafre at Giza, a brick boat from the
solar temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob (Fig. 467), and a pair of rock-cut boats from the
causeway of the mortuary temple of Unas at Saqqara are made of long-lasting, but
nonfunctional, materials.196 The placement of these boat burials in the general vicinity of
the Egyptian ruler's mortuary temple suggests that the function of these boats was similar
to the function of solar barques in contemporary religious treatises, such as the Pyramid
Texts and the Coffin Texts; in these religious texts, the solar barque transported the
deceased Egyptian ruler through the netherworld and facilitated his regeneration and
rebirth.
The previously discussed mortuary literature and archaeological evidence
(1955): 75-79, Abubakr and Mustafa, in Aufsatze zum 70 Geburtstag von Herbert Ricke, pp. 1-16; Lipke,
The Royal Ship of Cheops; Ward, Sacred and Secular Ancient Egyptian Ships and Boats, pp. 45-68, with
references. For discussion of the wooden barques from the pyramid complex of Sesostris III at Dahshur,
see primarily Ward, Sacred and Secular Ancient Egyptian Ships and Boats, pp 83-102, with references.
For further discussion of the function and symbolic significance of the wooden boats of Khufu and the
other boat burials of the Old Kingdom, see Altenmuller, Archiv Orientalni 70 (2002): 269-290; Postel,
Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp 231-237; El-
Awady, in Hawass, etai, eds., Realm of the Pharaohs Essays in Honour ofTohfa Handousa, pp. 177-200,
with references; Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barque processionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel
Empire, pp. 10-12. The precise function of these buried wooden boats from Abydos, Giza, and Dahshur
has been the subject of considerable discussion and controversy; however, both sets of boats are most likely
examples of solar barques.
196
For discussion of the rock-cut boats from the pyramid complexes of Khufu and Khafre in the 4th
Dynasty royal necropolis at Giza, see primarily Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, pp. 40-47, 55,
56-68; Ward, Sacred and Secular Ancient Egyptian Ships and Boats, pp. 69-82, with references For
discussion of the brick boat from the solar temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, see primarily Borchardt, Das
Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 1, pp. 16, 52-54; Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1,
pp. 79-81; Vo(3, Untersuchungen zu den Sonnenheihgtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 114-115, with references.
For discussion of the rock-cut boats that were buried alongside the causeway of the mortuary temple of
Unas at Saqqara, see primarily Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, pp. 81-82; Goyon, B1FAO 69
(1971): 11-44, especially pp. 36-37. For further discussion of the function and symbolic significance of the
rock-cut boats of Khufu, Khafre, and Unas, see also Altenmuller, Archiv Orientalni 70 (2002): 269-290; El-
Awady, in Hawass, etal., eds., Realm of the Pharaohs Essays in Honour ofTohfa Handousa, pp. 177-200,
with references. The precise function of these buried wooden boats from Giza, Abu Gurob, and Saqqara
has been the subject of considerable discussion; however, all of these boats are most likely examples of
solar barques.
579
concerning the solar barque suggest that the Egyptian ruler's association with the solar
barque typically led to the rebirth of the king after his death. However, in an unusual
scene from the reliefs of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef
that depicts the towing of the king and his retinue on the night barque of the solar deity,
Amenhotep III appears to have acquired the ability to effect his own rebirth while still
alive (Fig. 159).197 Amenhotep Ill's costume in this scene consists of a robe adorned
with the tail feathers of the solar falcon; this costume indicates that the king has
transformed into the solar deity during the course of his journey on the solar barque.
The accompanying rituals that occur at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival include two
rituals that are also centered around the themes of rejuvenation and rebirth: the hieros
gamos and the Opening of the Mouth ritual.199 Undoubtedly, the towing of the night
barque and the day barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival mimicked the self-
renewing, ever-regenerating perpetuum mobile of the solar cycle; when Amenhotep III—
clad in his solar falcon costume—transferred from the night barque to the day barque at
For the depiction of the towing of the king and his retinue in the night barque of the solar deity in the
reliefs of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6. For
discussion of the unusual nature of the depiction of the livingkmg as an occupant of the night barque in this
scene from the Tomb of Kheruef, see Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23.
198
For discussion of the solar significance of the robe worn by Amenhotep III during the procession of the
solar barque at his first Sed Festival, see Section 1.1.2.
199
Allusions to the hieros gamos are pervasive in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the
tomb of Kheruef, e.g., in the royal enthronement scene, the Hathoric hymns, the boat processional scene,
and the musical performance of the royal daughters; for discussion of the allusions to the hieros gamos in
these scenes from Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scenes 1,4, 6, 7. The performance
of the Opening of the Mouth ritual for Amenhotep III—or perhaps for the divine standards at the front of
the barque—occurs simultaneously with the performance of the nautical procession at Amenhotep Ill's first
Sed Festival; for discussion of the Opening of the Mouth ritual's connection with rebirth and rejuvenation
in this context, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
580
daybreak, he underwent the same process of renewal that the solar deity experienced each
day at sunrise.2
Amenhotep Ill's claims to have performed his first Sed Festival "in accordance
with texts/images of ancient times" suggest that the ritual towing of the solar barque at
his Sed Festival was based on earlier precedents.201 A royal barque containing seated
statues of the coregents Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III is towed by a pair of large tugboats
in a depiction of the riverine procession of the Opet Festival in a set of reliefs on the
north side of the gateway of the eastern wall in the upper terrace of Hatshepsut's
mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari (Fig. 443) .202 Although the reliefs do not depict the
actual celebration of the Sed Festival, the statues of two coregents on this barque are clad
in the short Sed Festival robe and territorial crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. A nearly
identical depiction of the statues of these two coregents clad in the short Sed Festival
robe appears in the representation of the riverine procession of the Beautiful Festival of
the Valley on the opposite side of the gateway in the upper terrace of Hatshepsut's
In depictions of the the solar deity's transfer from the night barque to the day barque at sunrise, the two
barques face each other prow to prow; for discussion of scenes depicting the solar deity's transfer from one
barque to another, see Thomas, JEA 42 (1956): 65-79, with references. For a similar conclusion regarding
the significance of the towing of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Darnell and
Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23.
201
For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's claim to have performed his Sed Festival "in accordance with the
writings/images of ancient times," see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
2
For Deir el-Bahari's depiction of the riverine journey of the divine statue of Amun-Re from Luxor to
Karnak at the celebration of the Opet Festival, see primarily Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 5, pis.
124-126. For further discussion of this scene, see also Karkowski, in Reineke, ed., Acts of the First
International Congress of Egyptology, pp. 359-364; Pawlicki, The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-
Bahari, pp. 26, 29-31, fig. 19; Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 97-98, 100-101, fig. 7; Troy, in
Cline and O'Connor, Thutmose III: A New Biography, p. 141; Rummel, S ^ 3 4 (2006): 402-403, fig. 11.1;
Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 51-53; Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barque
processionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire, pp. 23, 36, 334, cat. no. 46d, with references.
581
mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari (Fig. 442). In both scenes from Deir el-Bahari, the
royal barque hauls a second ceremonial barque that contains the divine statue of Amun-
Re; the actual coregents themselves, who stand at the front and rear of the latter barque,
steer the barque of Amun-Re by means of long oars. The overall symbolism of this scene
is perhaps similar to the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival; however, unlike the nautical procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival,
the nautical processional scenes in the upper terrace of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple do
not actually depict the celebration of the Sed Festival. Thus, these scenes are probably
not the "ancient texts/images" that Amenhotep III utilized in the preparations for his first
Sed Festival.
Fragmentary scenes depicting the towing of a barque in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Snofru (Fig. 199) and Niuserre (Fig. 468) suggest that a barque-towing ritual was
performed at the Sed Festival at least sporadically during the Old Kingdom.204 The mat
and floral adornments hanging from the prow of the boat in the reliefs of Snofru suggest
that the boat in this scene is the barque of the solar deity. However, neither Snofru nor
For Deir el-Bahari's depiction of the riverine journey of the divine statue of Amun-Re from Deir el-
Bahari to Karnak at the celebration of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, see primarily Naville, Temple of
Deir el Bahari, Vol. 5, pi. 122. For further discussion of this scene, see also Lipinska, in Festschrift zum
ISOjdhrigen Bestehen des Berliner Agyptischen Museums, pp. 163-167, figs. 6-7, pis. 18b, 19a, 20a-b;
Karkowski, in Reineke, ed., Acts of the First International Congress of Egyptology, pp. 359-364;
Karkowski, in 50 years of polish excavations in Egypt and the Near East, pp. 155-166; Pawlicki, The
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, pp. 25-26, 32, fig. 20; Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19
(2001): 97, 99-101, figs. 8-9; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, Thutmose III: A New Biography, p. 142;
Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 402; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 51-53; Karlshausen,
L 'iconographie de la barque processionelle divine en Egypte au NouveI Empire, pp. 23, 36, 334, cat. no.
46c, with references.
204
The barque-towing scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent
Pyramid at Dahshur appears in Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 91-93, figs.
79-83; for further discussion of Snofru's barque-towing ritual, see Section 2.2.2, Panel 19. For discussion
of the barque-towing scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Niuserre in his solar temple at Abu Gurob, see
Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 201-204; Brovarski, The
Senedjemib Complex, Vol. 1, p. 98.
582
Nisuerre appears as an occupant of a ceremonial barque in any of the barque-towing
scenes from their Sed Festival reliefs. Predynastic depictions of the Egyptian ruler as an
occupant of a towed boat appear in rock inscriptions in the Khor Abu Subeira (Fig. 449)
and at Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash (Fig. 262); these scenes most likely served as
prototypes for the nautical procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. However,
because these Predynastic rock inscriptions lack texts describing the rituals depicted
therein, the extent to which Amenhotep III modified the original significance of this
Predynastic barque-towing ritual is unknown.205 As a later variant of the towing of the
solar barque at the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Ramesses III himself was
apparently responsible for the towing of the divine barque of Nekhbet at the celebration
of the king's first Sed Festival (Fig. 469); a hieroglyph labeling a fragmentary scene
depicting the towing of the barque of Nekhbet at the first Sed Festival of Ramesses III
describes the king's participation in this nautical ritual in the following way:206
s$p hj.t{.i) dp.t-ntr in nsw.t ds-f
"Reception of the prow rope of the divine barque by the king himself."
In this context, the towing of the barque of Nekhbet, the mistress of the sky and the right
eye of the solar deity, probably has the same symbolic significance as the towing of the
solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. The scene demonstrates the
For discussion of the depictions of the towing of the Egyptian ruler's barque in Predynastic rock
inscriptions from the Khor Abu Subeira and Site 18. M 141a in the Wadi Gash, see supra, this section.
206
A depiction of the towing of the barque of Nekhbet at the first Sed Festival of Ramesses III appears in a
fragmentary relief from the tomb of Setau, high priest of Nekhbet, in Elkab; for discussion of this relief, see
primarily Gardiner, ZAS4S (1910): 47-51; Vikentiev, ASAE 33 (1933): 219-224, pis. 1-3; Vandier, Manuel,
Vol. 1, p. 831, fig. 557; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 29-30.
207
For discussion of Nekhbet as the mistress of the sky and the right eye of the solar deity, see, e.g.,
Heerma van Voss, in LA, Vol. 4, cols. 366-367, with references; Darnell, SAK22 (1995): 92.
583
Egyptian ruler's control over the solar cycle during the rites of the Sed Festival; his
shared participation in the solar journey effects the rejuvenation of the Egyptian ruler.
7.4.3. ROWING OF CEREMONIAL BARQUES
Another means of propulsion that is employed in ritual processions of the solar
barque and the royal barque during the Predynastic Period is the use of a long oar—or
sweep—that simultaneously propels and steers the barque. In representations of the Sed
Festival on the Gebelein Linen (Fig. 52), in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at
Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131) and in a Predynastic rock inscription in the Wadi el-Faras (Fig.
450), a helmsman stationed at the rear of the Egyptian ruler's barque simultaneously
propels and steers the barque by means of a long oar.208 On the Gebelein Linen, the
Egyptian ruler presides over the rites of a nautical procession while seated upon a throne
within the royal barque; in the painted tableau of Tomb 100 and in the Predynastic rock
inscription in the Wadi el-Faras, the Egyptian ruler appears as a standing occupant of the
royal barque. The main function of the helmsmen in these scenes is to steer and propel
the Egyptian ruler's barque; however, in some Predynastic royal tableaux, helmsmen are
also involved in the performance of a military victory ritual that involves the display of a
bound prisoner on top of a platform on the deck of a ceremonial barque. In the depiction
of a multi-boat nautical procession at the Sed Festival on the Qustul incense burner (Fig.
54), a man carrying an oar appears to stand guard over a bound prisoner on the deck of a
high-ended ceremonial barque;209 a similar image of a helmsman guarding a bound
208
For detailed discussion of the depictions of the Egyptian ruler's barque in the painted tableau of the
Gebelein Linen, the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, and in a Predynastic rock inscription in
the Wadi el-Faras, see Section 7.1.
209
For detailed discussion of the bound prisoner and helmsman on the first barque in the nautical
procession depicted on the Qustul incense burner, see Section 6.1.1; Section 7.3.
584
prisoner on the deck of a high-ended ceremonial barque appears in an unpublished
Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor Abu Subeira near Aswan (Fig. 470).210
Several Predynastic rock inscriptions from Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia depict a
helmsman as the lone crewman of a high-ended ceremonial barque; iconographic details
in at least one of these scenes strongly suggest that the helmsman pilots the barque of the
solar deity.211
As depicted in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of
Kheruef (Fig. 159), the procession of the solar barque involves the towing of the night
barque by a crew of royal officials standing on shore; however, the hieroglyphic texts
labeling the scene suggest that Amenhotep Ill's nautical procession also included the
rowing of the solar barque by a group of royal officials—presumably the same group of
four officials that is stationed in the front of the night barque in the towing scene.212 In
For discussion of this Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor Abu Subeira, see Lippiello, Sacred
Space and Central Place (in preparation).
211
For representations of a lone helmsman steering a high-ended ceremonial barque in Predynastic rock
inscriptions from Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, see Engelmayer, Die Felsgravierungen im Distrikt
Sayala-Nubien, Vol. 1, pis. 12.4 (=45.2), 35.Id (=55.2), 37.1c; Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert
Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 56, fig. 2. Because the helmsmen in these Predynastic rock inscriptions do not
wear any distinctive clothing or carry any distinctive ritual implements, a definitive interpretation of their
identiy is not possible. Particularly illusrative of the solar nature of these nautical processions is the group
of three ostriches that appears in front of the helmsman's barque in a Predynastic rock inscription from the
Khor Takar (Engelmayer, op. cit, p. 26, pis. 12.4, 45.2); for discussion of the symbolism of ostriches in
Predynastic iconography, see references collected in Section 3.1.1.2, footnote 22. For discussion of the
solar symbolism of ostriches during the pharaonic period, see references collected in Section 3.1.1.2,
footnote 21. The streamer and floral decoration that appear on the prow of the helmsman's barque in the
Predynastic rock inscription from the Khor Takar perhaps form an early version of the solar mat—an
adornment that typically appears on the prow of the solar barque during the pharaonic period.
212
In Section 2.1.1, Text 1, a group of royal officials that is gathered "at the lake of his majesty" (rmrn
hm=f) is given an order "to row in the barque of the king" (r hn.t m wii n nsw.i) at Amenhotep Ill's first
Sed Festival. In a text from Section 2.1.1, Scene 6, the rowing of the solar night barque and day barque
occurs as part of the celebration of the first Sed Festival of Amenhotep HI:
Ssp tp-wl.t in [hm-fr tr] n hrpy cl
r hn.t ntr.w hb-sd
... mry linn
hn Py.w... [m m]skt.t rrfnd.t...
"Making of the journey by [his majesty at the time] of high Nile,
to transport the gods of the Sed Festival by rowing,
585
numerous passages from religious treatises of the pharaonic period, the deceased
Egyptian ruler appears as an occupant of a solar barque that is being rowed through the
netherworld toward the eastern horizon of the sky; at the eastern horizon, the deceased
Egyptian ruler experiences a ceremonial rebirth and achieves a state of perpetually
renewed existence. Pyramid Texts Spell 407 describes a nautical ritual that is
strikingly similar to the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival:214
wcb sw NN
$sp=fn=fs.t=fwcb.t imy.t p.t
l.mn NN
i.mn s.wt=fnfr.(w)t
Ssp n=fNN s.t-fwcb.t imy.t hit wii Rr
in hmy.w hnny.w Rc
ntsn hn-sn NN
in hmy.w phry.w Rr hi ih.t
ntsn phr=sn NN hi ih.t
wp n NN ri=f
wbi n NN $r.t=f
sis n NN msdr.wy=f
wdrNN mdw
wp=f sn.wy
wd=fmdw n wr ir-f
w~cbRcNN
... beloved of Amun.

The rowing of those of Pe .... fin the nijght barque and the day barque ..."
The royal daughters similarly describe the rowing of a ceremonial barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival in a text from Section 2.1.1, Scene 7
213
Descriptions of the deceased Egyptian ruler as an occupant of a ceremonial barque that is rowed through
the netherworld appear, e g , in Pyramid Texts Spell 252 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol.
1, p. 147, § 274b); Pyramid Texts Spell 256 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 1, p. 163, § 303c-d); Pyramid Texts Spell
268 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 1, p. 195, § 374b-c); Pyramid Texts Spell 407 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 1, pp. 387-391,
§ 710-713); Pyramid Texts Spell 409 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 1, p. 393, § 717c-d); Pyramid Texts Spell 461
(Sethe, op cit, Vol. 1, pp. 486-488, § 871-874); Pyramid Texts Spell 510 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 2, p. 133, §
1131a-b); Pyramid Texts Spell 528 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 2, pp. 205-206, § 1250-1251); Pyramid Texts Spell
697 (Sethe, op cit, Vol. 2, pp. 527-528, § 2172c-2173d). Descriptions of a deceased individual as an
occupant of a ceremonial barque that is rowed through the netherworld appear, e g, in Coffin Texts Spell
344 (de Buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 4, p. 367), Coffin Texts Spell 407 (de Buck, op cit, Vol 5,
p. 213); Coffin Texts Spell 408 (de Buck, op cit, Vol. 5, p. 225); Coffin Texts Spell 839 (de Buck, op cit,
Vol. 7, pp. 44-45).
214
For Pyramid Texts Spell 407, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, pp. 387-391, § 710-
713). For a full translation of this spell, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 93, Spell T284.
586
hw RCNN m-c iry.t ir=fdw
"AW will purify himself,

so that he may receive his pure seat that is in the sky.
AW will be enduring;
(And) his beautiful places will be enduring,
so that he may receive his pure seat that is in the front of the barque of Re.
As for the nautical crewmen who transport Re by rowing,
it is they who will transport NN by rowing.
As for the nautical crewmen who conduct Re around the horizon,
it is they who will conduct NN around the horizon.
His mouth has been opened for NN;
His nose has been opened for NN;
(And) his ears have been opened for NN.
NN will determine the matter;
He will judge between the two contestants (i.e., Horus and Seth);
(And) he will entrust the matter to the one who is greater than he.
Re will purify NN.
Re will protect NN from that which has been performed evilly against him."
Like the rites of the solar barque procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, the
nautical procession in Pyramid Texts Spell 407 notably includes the performance of the
Opening of the Mouth ceremony; a key difference between these two ritual
performances, however, is that the Opening of the Mouth ceremony rejuvenates the living
king (or perhaps the gods of the Sed Festival) at Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival and the
deceased king in the passage from the Pyramid Texts.215 The Predynastic representations
of the Egyptian ruler as an occupant of the solar barque on the Gebelein Linen (Fig. 52),
on the painted tableau of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis (Fig. 131), and in the Wadi el-Faras
(Fig. 450) inscription probably also form part of the same religious tradition as Pyramid
Texts Spell 407; however, like the solar barque procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed
Festival, these Predynastic nautical rituals are concerned with the rejuvenation of the
living king, not the deceased king.
For discussion of the performance of the Opening of the Mouth ritual during the rites of the solar barque
procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6.
587
In the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef and in
the Predynastic Sed Festival tableaux that have been discussed so far in this section, the
Egyptian ruler does not actively participate in the propulsion or steering of the barque in
which he rides during the celebration of the Sed Festival. The Egyptian ruler's lack of
direct involvement in the navigation of the solar barque in these scenes, however, does
not indicate that he plays a purely passive role in the nautical rites of the Sed Festival.
The Egyptian ruler undoubtedly benefits from his association with the solar deity during
the procession of the solar barque at the Sed Festival; however, his involvement in this
nautical rite also has important implications for the maintenance of order in the Egyptian
state and in the cosmos as a whole. Evidence from both the Predynastic Period and
dynastic period suggests that the Egyptian ruler grasped a long oar and propelled the
barque of the solar deity along the course of a ritual waterway at a crucial moment during
the celebration of the Sed Festival. The earliest depiction of the Egyptian ruler steering a
ceremonial barque appears on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle in a
ritual scene that clearly forms part of the celebration of Sed Festival (Fig. 53); the ruler's
costume in the scene consists of the long Sed Festival robe and the white crown.216 In the
top row of the nautical scene on the recto of this knife handle, the Egyptian ruler is the
sole occupant of a crescent-shaped barque; while seated upon a throne at the rear of this
barque, he simultaneously clutches his royal flail and grasps a long oar to steer the barque
in which he rides.
The nautical processional scene on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife
handle includes the only known Predynastic depiction of the Egyptian ruler steering a
216
For detailed discussion of the image of the enthroned Egyptian ruler in the crescent-shaped barque in the
top row of the nautical procession on recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle, see Section 7.1.1.
588
ceremonial barque at the celebration of the Sed Festival; however, in several other
Predynastic and Early Dynastic scenes that lack a clear connection to the Sed Festival,
the Egyptian ruler steers a ceremonial barque as part of a ritual nautical procession. For
example, in a Predynastic rock inscription from the Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, a
helmsman who stands at the rear of a square-hulled ceremonial barque with a raised prow
simultaneously steers and propels the barque by means of a long oar that he grasps with
both his hands (Fig. 471).217 Because of the schematic rendering of the human form in
this rock inscription, important details of the helmsman's costume are not entirely clear;
however, he appears to wear a belt and an elaborate penis sheath—a costume that is a
typical form of royal dress in ritual scenes of the Predynasic Period.218 The large scale of
the helmsman in comparison to the barque's second occupant—a man who stands in the
front of the barque and faces the general direction of the helmsman—strongly suggests
that the helmsman in this rock inscription is the Egyptian ruler.
Identification of the ceremonial barque in this Predynastic rock inscription from
the Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes is uncertain; however, the nautical procession depicted in
the Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes inscription is similar in several regards to a nautical
procession that appears in a 1st Dynasty rock inscription from the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a
in the Western Thebai'd. The 1st Dynasty rock inscription from Wadi of the Horus Qa-a
(Fig. 472) depicts a procession of two large boats, each of which transports a small,
217
For this rock inscription from the Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, see Rohl, Followers of Horus: Eastern
Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 107, fig. 1.
218
Cf, for example, the costume worn by the Egyptian ruler in the royal smiting scene in the painted
tableau of Tomb 100 in Hierakonpolis. For discussion of this particular costume as a typical form of royal
dress during the Predynastic Period, see primarily Whitehouse, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand,
pp. 681-689, with references. For detailed discussion of the royal smiting scene in the painted tableau of
Tomb 100, see Section 6.1.1.
589
unmanned, high-ended ceremonial barque.219 Each of the two larger boats is propelled
by a tall helmsman who stands at the rear of the boat; the large size of the helmsman in
comparison with the five rowers who appear on one of the boats in the scene strongly
suggests that the helmsman is the Egyptian ruler.220 According to the hieroglyphic texts
labeling the scene, the two small barques in the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a inscription are
m:>r.(y-barques—a type of boat that is most often associated with the solar deity and
Sokar during the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom.221 Most likely, the m3c.ty-
barques in this rock inscription belong to the solar deity Re; a similar description of the
piloting of a pair of m?r.fy-barques by the deceased Egyptian ruler in Pyramid Texts Spell
999
627 clearly indicates that the barques belong to Re:

sSm NN Rc m m?c.t(y).t(y)-f hrw hts rnp.t
"AW will guide Re in his two m?r.fy-barques on the day of ending the year."
The deceased Egyptian ruler's guidance of the solar barque at the very end of the
calendar year in this passage from the Pyramid Texts parallels the performance of a solar
219
For discussion of the nautical procession that is depicted in this 1st Dynasty rock inscription from the
Wadi of the Horus Qa-a in the Western Thebaid, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 102-103, fig. 25;
Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
20
For a similar discussion of the helmsman as the Egyptian ruler in this inscription from the Wadi of the
Horus Qa-a, see Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
221
For discussion of the w^r.fy-barque's association with the solar deity and Sokar in the Pyramid Texts and
the royal annals of the Palermo Stone, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 102-103; Darnell, in Friedman
and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming), textnote b, with references; Postel,
Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 232-233.
222
For this passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 627, see Sethe, Die altdgyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 2, p.
435, § 1785b-c. For full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 627, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid
Texts, pp. 244-245, Spells N31-N32. For a similar discussion of this Pyramid Texts passage in connection
with the Early Dynastic rock inscription in the Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, see Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009):
103; Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming).
590
barque procession "[at the time] of high Nile" ([r tr] n Ifpy "7) during the celebration of
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival.223
Like the images of the Egyptian ruler steering the solar barque in Predynastic and
Early Dynastic rock inscriptions from the Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes and the Wadi of the
Horus Qa-a, the image of the Egyptian ruler steering a ceremonial barque at the
celebration of the Sed Festival on the recto of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle
(Fig. 53) most likely relates to the religious concept of the Egyptian ruler as helmsman of
the solar barque. By grasping the oar himself and assuming full responsibility for the
navigation of the barque, the Egyptian ruler in these Predynastic and Early Dynastic
scenes takes on the solar deity's responsibilities to maintain order and suppress chaos in
the cosmos. By joining the solar deity in his journey through the cosmos, the Egyptian
ruler also benefits from the rejuvenating properties of the solar cycle. Strong allusions to
the religious concept of the Egyptian ruler as helmsman of the solar barque also appear in
a hymn that is sung at the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony during the performance of
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival:224
hrPth
dwS(=i) tw ir-k
skS(=i) tw hmw m imw
dmd=k t?
iry-k phr=f
hs tw Rr hr nfrw=k
In the context of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, the performance of the nautical procession during
the inundation of the Nile is most likely related to the hieros gatnos and the myth of the wandering goddess
of the eye of the sun. For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's performance of a solar barque procession "at the
time of high Nile" {[r tr] n hrpy <V) during the celebration of his first Sed Festival, see Section 2.1.1, Scene
6. For further discussion of the connection between the rites of the solar barque procession and the goddess
Hathor, see infra, this section.
224
For the hymn describing the king as the helmsman of the solar barque in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's
third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pi. 59, p. 52; Gaballa
and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 72-73; Mikhail, GMS3 (1984): 56-57. For detailed discussion of the
allusion to the king as the helmsman of the solar barque in this hymn, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4b.
591
mi mrr-k B.t c3.tNb-M3c.t-Rr
mi n=n
sk?=n sw
"May Ptah appear,

so that (I) might praise you extensively,
so that (I) might exalt you, oh steering oar in the ship.
May you unite the land,
so that you might achieve the encircling of it.
May Re favor you on account of your perfection,
as you love the great office, oh Nebmaatre.
Let us come,
so that we might exalt him."
The symbolism of renewal that is implicit in the description of Amenhotep III as a
"steering oar" in this hymn from the tomb of Kheruef affirms the theme of regeneration
that appears in many of the rites of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony at the
Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival.225
Similar descriptions of the deceased Egyptian ruler and other deceased individuals
as a "steering oar" (hmw or mrwh) appear often in major works of ancient Egyptian
mortuary literature, such as the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, and the Book of the
Dead. In these mortuary contexts, references to a deceased individual as a "steering
oar" are almost always clearly linked to the nocturnal journey of the solar barque and to
For discussion of regeneration as the major theme of the rites of the Raising of the Djed Pillar ceremony
in the reliefs of the third Sed Festival of Amenhotep III in the tomb of Kheruef, see Section 2.1.2, Scenes 2,
3,4,5,6.
226
Descriptions of a deceased king or another deceased individual as the steering oar of a ceremonial
barque appear, e.g., in Pyramid Texts Spell 470 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 6-7, § 914c-917c); Pyramid
Texts Spell 505 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 104-106, § 1091a-1093e); Coffin Texts Spell 358 (de Buck, The
Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 5, p. 10); Coffin Texts Spell 359 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 5, p. 12); Coffin Texts
Spll 360 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 5, p. 14); Coffin Texts Spell 361 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 5, pp. 15-16);
Coffin Texts Spell 362 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 5, p. 20); Book of the Dead Chapter 63A (Naville, Das
aegyptische Todtenbuch der XVIII. bis XX. Dynastie, Vol. 1, pi. 73,11. 2-3; Vol. 2, p. 129, nos. 2-3); Book
of the Dead Chapter 63B (Naville, op. cit., Vol. 1, pi. 74,11. 1-2; Vol. 2, p. 131, nos. 1-2); Book of the Dead
Chapter 64 (Naville, op. cit, Vol. 1, pi. 75,11. 3-4; Vol. 2, p. 132, nos. 3-4). For additional references to the
use of hmw ("das Steuerrudder," Wb., 3, 80.16-81.10) and mrwh ("das Ruder," Wb., 2,46.14) in ancient
Egyptian texts, see Jones, Glossary ofAncient Egyptian Nautical Terms, pp. 197-198, 200, cat. nos. IV .3,
IV.10. For further discussion of the identification of the deceased king as a "steering oar" in ancient
Egyptian mortuary literature, see Section 2.1.2, Scene 4.
592
the religious concept of solar renewal; for example, in Pyramid Texts Spell 470, the
deceased king is identified as a steering oar and as a solar falcon traveling through the
sky:227
$m=k tn
SmNN irp.t
mHNNlt=f
m3lNNRr
in ir B.wt k3i.(w)t ir B.wt St$.(w)t
rdi sw B.wt k3i.(w)t
n B.wt St$.(w)t
n nh.t tfki.t Bb.t.tp.t
krkr.ti
hms.t ntr.w tp=s
n NN is pw cnh bik wbS kbh.w
n NN is pw hmw cl
hni M-B.wy p.t
n NN is pw wr tbw wsh nmt.t
'"Where will you travel?'

AW will travel to the sky,
so that AW might see his father,
(and) so that NN might see Re.
'To the High Mounds (and) to the Sethian Mounds?'
The High Mounds will give him
to the Sethian Mounds
and to that high sycamore (in) the eastern part of the sky,
which trembles,
(and) upon which the gods sit,
because WW is the living one, the falcon that explores the firmament,
because NN is the great steering oar
that navigates the two hi-B lands of the sky,
(and) because WW is one great of foot and wide of stride."
A related literary motive that appears quite commonly in major works of ancient
Egyptian mortuary literature is the piloting of a ceremonial barque by a deceased king or
another deceased individual; in almost all cases, the ceremonial barque that this deceased
227
pp. 6-7, § 914c-917c. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 470, see Allen, The Ancient Egyptian
Pyramid Texts, pp. 125-126, Spell P321.
593
individual pilots is the barque of the solar deity. In Pyramid Texts Spell 267, for
example, the piloting of the solar barque by the deceased king is equated with the flight
of a (solar) bird:229
skr.t(w) n=fti-rd r p.t

pr-fim r p.t
prr-fhr hty n Id.t wr.t
ipNN pn m Spd
hnn=fm hpr
ip=fpn m ipd
hnn-fm hpr m ns.t Sw.t imy.t wi3=k Rc
r c
h idr tw ihm i.w
hms NN pn m s.t=k
hny=fm p.t m wB=k Rr
iwd NN pn t? m wB=k Rr
(i)st tw pr=k m ih.t
(i)st sw shm-fm r-f
m skd wB=k Rc
c
i (r)=k n p.t hr=k r tS
hr.ti r hm.t Sndw.t
Descriptions of a deceased Egyptian ruler or another deceased individual as the helmsman of a

ceremonial barque appear, e.g., in Pyramid Texts Spell 254 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte,
Vol. 1, pp. 152-153, § 284b-286a); Pyramid Texts Spell 267 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 1, pp. 190-192, § 364-
369); Pyramid Texts Spell 466 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 492-493, § 882-885); Pyramid Texts Spell 467
(Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 495-496, § 888a-889e); Pyramid Texts Spell 469 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 1, §
906); Pyramid Texts Spell 512 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 150-153, § 1162-1167); Pyramid Texts Spell 548
(Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 242, § 1345c-1348); Pyramid Texts Spell 619 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, pp. 420-
422, § 1749a-1752c); Pyramid Texts Spell 691 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, pp. 516-518, § 2120-2125); Pyramid
Texts Spell 697 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, pp. 527-528, § 2172c-2175); Coffin Texts Spell 26 (de Buck, The
Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. 1, p. 78); Coffin Texts Spell 30 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 1, p. 94); Coffin Texts
Spell 151 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 258); Coffin Texts Spell 182 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 77); Coffin
Texts Spell 464 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 5, pp. 338-339, 342); Coffin Texts Spell 468 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol.
5, p. 382); Coffin Texts Spell 619 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 6, p. 232); Coffin Texts Spell 622 (de Buck, op.
cit, Vol. 6, p. 237); Coffin Texts Spell 623 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 6, p. 239); Coffin Texts Spell 647 (de
Buck, op. cit, Vol. 6, p. 269); Coffin Texts Spell 660 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 6, p. 285); Coffin Texts Spell
684 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 6, p. 313); Coffin Texts Spell 753 (de Buck, op. cit, Vol. 6, p. 382); Coffin
Texts Spell 866 (de Buck, op. cit., Vol. 7, pp. 71-72); Book of the Dead Spell 109 (Naville, Das
aegyptische Todtenbuch der XVIII. bis XX. Dynastie, Vol. 1, pi. 120, 11. 4-5; Vol. 2, p. 247, nos. 4-5); Book
of the Dead Spell 149 (Naville, op. cit, Vol. 1, pi. 168,1. 12; Vol. 2, p. 385, no. 12). Typically, the
deceased king or other deceased individual in these texts pilots the ceremonial barque by "grasping the
steering oar" (/// hp.t); "taking up the steering oar" (ssp dpw, ssp mrwh, or dsr hp.i); "plying the steering
oar" (shl dpw); or "rowing" (hni). For detailed discussion of the phrase /// hp.t in the Pyramid Texts, see
Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 381-384. For further discussion of these examples of nautical terminology, see
Jones, Glossary of Ancient Egyptian Nautical Terms, pp. 210, 219-220, 223, 227, 230, cat. nos. VI.12,
VI.63,VI.86, VI.109, VI.126.
229
For the passage from Pyramid Texts Spell 267, see Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1,
pp. 190-192, §365a-369. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 267, see Allen, The Ancient
Egyptian Pyramid Texts, pp. 48-49, Spell W174.
594
"The reason a stairway to the sky is being established for him is
so that he may travel thereupon up to the sky.
The reason he goes up on the smoke of a great incense offering is
so that this AW may fly as a bird.
The reason he alights as a beetle is
so that he may fly as a bird.
It is on the empty throne that is upon your barque, Re, that he alights as a beetle.
Stand up (and) remove yourself, oh one who is ignorant of the reeds,
so that this AW may sit in your seat.
He will row in the sky in your barque, Re.
This NN will push off from the land in your barque, Re.
Meanwhile, as for you, you will go forth from the horizon.
Meanwhile, as for him, his scepter in his hand
will be the one who rows your barque, Re,
so that you might ascend to the sky and be far from the land,
having been placed far away from a wife and a kilt."
Descriptions of the deceased king piloting the solar barque in the Pyramid Texts are
purely literary expressions of an important religious concept in which the deceased king
is able to achieve a perpetually renewed state of existence by mimicking the journey of
the solar barque through the cosmos in the day barque and the night barque. The
description of Amenhotep III as a "steering oar" in the reliefs of his third Sed Festival in
the tomb of Kheruef, however, suggests that the religious concept of the king as pilot of
the solar barque was not limited to the purview of deceased kings during the dynastic
period.
During the dynastic period, living Egyptian rulers are frequently depicted in
temple reliefs as active participants in rituals that demonstrate the religious concept of the
ruler as pilot of the solar barque; in several cases, these royal rituals are linked in some
way to the celebration of the Sed Festival. For example, in a ritual known as the
Ruderlauf (Figs. 14-15, 302), which appears for the first time during the reign of
Montuhotep II, the Egyptian ruler receives the steering oar for the barque of Re from the
595
goddess Hathor at the celebration of the Sed Festival. In addition to the Ruderlauf,
Montuhotep II is also known to have introduced another important set of nautical rituals
pertaining to kingship: the procession of the barque of Amun-Re as part of the celebration
of the grand festival cycle at Thebes. An important textual allusion to Montuhotep IPs
implementation of a new set of nautical rites in Thebes appears in a fragmentary 11th
Dynasty relief from Deir el-Ballas; in line x+11 of the inscription, the unnamed Egyptian
ruler, who has convincingly been identified as Montuhotep II, claims:
ir.n(=i) nn
sk w(i) m nsw.t
in.n(=i) hp.t n W3s.t
di.n(=i) iwt n=s tl.wy m ...
"That (I) performed these deeds

was when I was king (of Upper Egypt).
That (I) carried the /^-implement for Thebes
was after I had caused the two lands to come to her (i.e., Thebes) in ..."
A depiction of Montuhotep II grasping a long oar and piloting a ceremonial barque "for
Amun, lord of the thrones of the two lands," appears in a fragmentary relief from the
mortuary temple of Montuhotep II at Deir el-Bahari (Fig. 473); the nautical procession in
this relief from Deir el-Bahari most likely serves as a visual representation of the nautical
ritual that is described in the 11th Dynasty royal inscription from Deir el-Ballas.232 In the
For detailed discussion of the symbolic significance of the Ruderlauf, see Section 4.1.2.
231
For discussion of the religious significance of Montuhotep H's claim that he "carried the hp ^-implement
for Thebes" in line x+11 of the 11' Dynasty royal inscription from Deir el-Ballas (Berkeley PAHMA 6-
19868), see primarily Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 390-394; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et
dogtne monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 211-219; Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 81, 92-93, 104-105.
The transliteration and translation of the text presented here relies primarily on the interpretation of
Darnell, op. cit, pp. 92-93, pi. 9,1. x+11.
232
For discussion of the religious significance of depiction of Montuhotep II piloting a ceremonial barque
in a fragmentary inscription from the king's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari, see Arnold, Der Tempel des
Konigs Mentuhotep von Deir el-Bahari, Vol. 2, pp. 26-27, 33, pis. 22-24; Gundlach, in Gundlach and
Rochholz, eds., 4. agyptologische Tempeltagung, Koln, 10.-12. Oktober 1996: Feste im Tempel, p. 58;
Gabolde, Le 'Grand Chateau d'Amon' de Sesostris fr a Karnak, pp. 159, 161, § 246,254; Karkowski,
Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 101; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au
596
"rowing" ritual from the relief at Deir el-Bahari, Monuthotep II is described as "the
foremost of the ^-spirits of all the [living]" and as "one who appears on the throne of
Horus"; these textual descriptions of the king strongly suggest that the major religious
theme of the nautical ritual in the relief from Deir el-Bahari is the regeneration of the
royal ki. In this regard, Montuhotep II's piloting of a ceremonial barque for Amun shares
the same symbolic significance as the nautical rites of the Beautiful Festival of the
Valley.233
In a relief from the Grand Chateau d'Anion at Karnak (Fig. 474), Sesostris I
performs a similar nautical ritual in which he pilots a ceremonial barque—identified as
blk ("falcon")—in front of a divine statue of the ithyphallic god of Amun-Kamutef.234
The hieroglyphic text that labels the scene describes the renewal of the royal ki as an
important aspect of the king's ritual peformance: ki nsw.t di cnh Hr rnh-ms.wt hnty dbi.t
hnty dwi.t, "the royal ki, given life, Horus, Living-of-Births, the foremost of the robing
room, the foremost of the netherworld." Thus, the nautical procession of Sesostris I in
debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 226-227, 229, 241, 418, fig. 21; Ullmann, in Dorman and Bryan, eds., Sacred
Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, pp. 7-8, 16, fig. 2.4; Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 105;
Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barqueprocessionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire, pp. 22-24,
pi. 1.
233
For discussion of the depiction of Monuthotep II piloting a ceremonial barque in his mortuary temple at
Deir el-Bahari as a possible prototype for the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, see primarily Arnold, Der
Tempel des Konigs Mentuhotep von Deir el-Bahari, Vol. 2, p. 33; Gabolde, Le 'Grand Chateau d'Amon'
de Sesostris fr a Karnak, pp. 159, 161, § 246, 254; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme
monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, p. 229; Ullmann, in Dorman and Bryan, eds., Sacred Space and
Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, pp. 7-8; Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 105; Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de
la barque processionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire, pp. 22-24.
234
For discussion of the depiction of Sesostris I piloting a ceremonial barque in the Grand Chateau d'Amon
at Karnak, see Gabolde, Le 'Grand Chateau d'Amon' de Sesostris fr a Karnak, pp. 49-51, 159-162, § 64-
68,246-255, pis. 9-10; Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 101; Postel, Protocole des souverains
egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 227, 229; Ullmann, in Dorman and
Bryan, eds., Sacred Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, pp. 8-9, 16, fig. 2.5; Darnell, RdE 59
(2008): 105; Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barque processionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire,
p. 23.
597
the reliefs of the Grand Chateau d'Amon at Karnak appears to be another early example
of a nautical ceremony involving the transport of the cult image of Amun-Re and the
renewal of the royal ki; the relief most likely depicts an early prototype of the Beautiful
Festival of the Valley or the Opet Festival.235
Montuhotep IPs prenomen Nb-hp.t-Rr, "Lord of the /?/?.Mmplement//2p.r-oar of
Re," almost certainly alludes to the king's development and implementation of riverine
processions as part of the celebration of the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of
the Valley at Thebes.236 The close association of the hp.t and Re in the king's prenomen
suggests that the nautical rites that Monuhotep II performed at Thebes on behalf of
Amun-Re primarily emphasized the solar aspect of the syncretized Theban god Amun-
Re. In implementing a series of nautical processions at Thebes that celebrated the solar
aspect of Amun-Re and effected the regneration of the royal ki, Montuhotep II very likely
was continuing a Heliopolitan religious tradition in which the deceased king facilitated
his own rebirth after death by piloting the barque of Re through the netherworld.237
Literary expressions of this Heliopolitan religious concept appear in numerous passages
from the Pyramid Texts wherein the deceased Egyptian ruler is described as the steering
For discussion of the depiction of Sesostris I piloting a ceremonial barque in the Grand Chateau d'Amon
at Karnak as a possible prototype for the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, see Gabolde, Le 'Grand Chateau
d'Amon' de Sesostris fra Karnak, pp. 159-162, § 246-255; Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et
dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, p. 229; Ullmann, in Dorman and Bryan, eds., Sacred
Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, pp. 8-9; Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 105; Karlshausen,
L 'iconographie de la barqueprocessionelle divine en Egypte au Nouvel Empire, p. 23.
236
For a similar conclusion regarding the religious significance of Montuhotep IPs prenomen Nb-hp.t-Rc,
"Lord of the hp.t-oar/hp ^-implement of Re," see primarily Postel, BIFAO 103 (2003): 386-388; Postel,
Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 202-244;
Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 104-105.
2
Darnell, RdE 59 (2008): 105, similarly concludes: "In his prenomen, and in his religious program at
Thebes, Monthuhotep II transferred a Heliopolitan navigation to Thebes, and continued the creation of a
Heliopolitan cult-scape centered at Thebes." Postel, Protocole des souverains egyptiens et dogme
monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 237-243, also arrives at the conclusion that the rulers of the
11' Dynasty brought Heliopolitan religious traditions to Thebes.
598
oar or helmsman of the solar barque. Royal rituals involving the procession of the
solar barque are known to have been performed on several occasions at the 5th Dynasty
solar temples at Abu Gurob; furthermore, the burial of ceremonial barques at several
royal mortuary enclosures of the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom suggests that
solar barque processions were performed in connection with the royal mortuary cult
during these periods.
The piloting of the solar barque by the Egyptian ruler in representations of the Sed
Festival from the Predynastic Period, e.g., in the depiction of the Sed Festival on the recto
of the Metropolitan Museum knife handle (Fig. 53), probably also served as an important
prototype for the riverine processions that Montuhotep II instituted in Thebes at the
beginning of the Middle Kingdom. During the early 18th Dynasty, a link between the
nautical procession of the Sed Festival and the riverine procession of the grand Theban
festival cycle is readily apparent in an intriguing set of reliefs from the Chapelle Rouge at
Karnak (Figs. 440-441) and in another intriguing set of reliefs from the mortuary temple
of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari (Figs. 442-443). Both sets of reliefs depict elaborate
riverine processions of the Opet Festival and the Beatiful Festival of the Valley; in each
of these riverine processions, Hatshepsut's coregent Tuthmosis III pilots a ceremonial
barque containing a divine statue of the syncretized Theban god Amun-Re.240 The
238
For passages from the Pyramid Texts in which the deceased Egyptian ruler is described as a steering oar
of helmsman of the solar barque, see references collected supra, this section, footnote 226.
2
For records of the performance of a ritual known as the "transporting of Re by rowing" in the dedicatory
inscription of the solar temple of Niuserre at Abu Gurob, see references collected in Section 7.0, footnote 6.
For discussion of the burial of ceremonial barques in royal mortuary enclosures of the Early Dynastic
Period and Old Kingdom, see references collected in Section 7.4.2. For further evidence of the ritual
performance of solar barque processions during the Old Kingdom, see Postel, Protocole des souverains
egyptiens et dogme monarchique au debut du Moyen Empire, pp. 231 -236, with references.
240
In the depictions of the riverine processions of the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley
in the reliefs of the Chapelle Rouge at Karnak, Tuthmosis III stands at the rear of the barque of Amun-Re
599
barque of Amun-Re is, in turn, towed by a second ceremonial barque that contains a pair
of seated statues of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III; the statues of the two coregents in
these scenes are clad in the ceremonial garb of the Sed Festival.241 The prominent
display of these Sed Festival statues at the riverine processions of the Opet Festival and
the Beautiful Festival of the Valley is otherwise unattested in ancient Egypt; however,
since the Opet Festival, the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, and the Sed Festival all
involve nautical rituals and all relate to the rejuvenation of kingship, the display of Sed
Festival statues in these reliefs most likely serves to reinforce the the major religious
theme of the other two festivals—namely, the renewal of kingship by the supreme creator
and solar god Amun-Re.242
7.4.4. CARRYING OF PORTABLE BARQUES
A series of reliefs on the east and west interior walls of the temple of Tuthmosis
III at Semna includes two scenes in which a seated statue of the deceased 12th Dynasty
Egyptian ruler Sesostris III rests inside of a shrine on the deck of a portable barque (Fig.
and steers the barque by means of a long oar; for the images of Tuthmosis III steering the barque of Amun-
Re in these reliefs, see Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge: Le sanctuaire de barque d'Hatshepsout,
Vol. 1, pp. 60, 113. In the depictions of the riverine processions of the Opet Festival and the Beautiful
Festival of the Valley in the reliefs of the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Tuthmosis HI
stands at the front of the barque of Amun-Re and steers the barque by means of a long oar during the
celebration of the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley; for the images of Tuthmosis III
steering the barque of Amun-Re in these reliefs, see Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 5, pis. 122,
126.
241
For the barques containing seated statues of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III in the reliefs of the Chapelle
Rouge at Karnak, see Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge: Le sanctuaire de barque d'Hatshepsout, Vol.
1, pp. 61, 112; for further discussion of the barques containing statues of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III in
the reliefs of the Chapelle Rouge, see Section 7.4.1, with references. For the barques containing seated
statues of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III in the reliefs of the Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-
Bahari, see Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 5, pis. 122, 125-126; for further discussion of the
barques containing statues of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III in the reliefs of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple,
see Section 7.4.2, with references.
For discussion of the ritual significance of the display of Sed Festival statues at the riverine processions
of the Opet Festival and the Beatiful Festival of the Valley in the reliefs of the Chapelle Rouge and the
mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, see primarily Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 97-101,109-112;
Rummel, SAK 34 (2006): 402; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 51-53.
600
439). In both of these scenes, the statue of Sesostris III is clad in a short Sed Festival
robe and a white crown; thus, the ritual procession of the royal barque in the reliefs from
Semna appears to depict the celebration of the Sed Festival by the deceased king
Sesostris III. According to the texts labeling these scenes, the rites of the royal barque
procession effect the regeneration of the ki of the deceased king:244
wn-fhnty kS.w cnh.w nb(.w)

hF.wm ntr pn nfr mi Pth hr s.t wr(.t)
"May he be the foremost of the H-spirits of all the living
who appear as this junior god like Ptah upon the great throne!"
However, the main ritual performer at this celebration is the living king Tuthmosis III,
who provides a vast array of food-offerings for the statue of the divinized king Sesostris
III and for the divine statue of the god Amun-Re. Two divine cult statues—presumably
of Amun-Re—are hidden from view within shrines on the decks of two additional
portable barques that rest at way stations in the reliefs depicting the procession of the
royal barque of the divinized king Sesostris III.245 In return for his offerings to Amun-
243
For the depictions of the barque procession of the divinized king Sesostris III in the temple of Tuthmosis
III at Semna, see Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 3, pis. 48-51; Dunham and Janssen, Second Cataract Forts,
Vol. 1, pis. 16-25; Caminos, Semna-Kumma, Vol. 1, pp. 93-118, pis. 49-60. For discussion of the barque
procession in these reliefs, see Karkowski, Etudes et Travaux 19 (2001): 101; Hornung and Staehelin, Neue
Studien zum Sedfest, pp. 20, 80-81; Troy, in Cline and O'Connor, eds., Thutmose HI: A New Biography, p.
137; Karlshausen, L 'iconographie de la barqueprocessionelle divine en Egypte au NouvelEmpire, pp. 61-
62, 322-323, cat. no. 13. For further discussion of the depiction of the barque procession of Sesostris III in
the temple of Tuthmosis III at Semna, see also Section 7.0.
244
This text appears above a portable barque containing a statue of the divinized king Sesostris III in a
scene on the west internal wall of the temple of Tuthmosis III at Semna; see Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 3,
pi. 49a; Dunham and Janssen, Second Cataract Forts, Vol. 1, pi. 17; Caminos, Semna-Kumma, Vol. 1, pi.
57.
For the portable barques containing these cult statues, see Lepsius, Denkmdler, Vol. 3, pis. 49b, 50b;
Dunham and Janssen, Second Cataract Forts, Vol. 1, pis. 19, 24; Caminos, Semna-Kumma, Vol. 1, pis. 51-
52, 55-56.
601
Re, Tuthmosis III receives life, health, and—perhaps most importantly—millions of Sed
Festivals from the god.246
The depiction of the barque procession of the divinized Sesostris III in the temple
of Tuthmosis III at Semna differs in two important ways from all other documented
examples of barque processions at the Sed Festival. First, Sesostris III is dead, rather
than living, when the Sed Festival robe clad statue of this divinized king appears as an
occupant of a ceremonial barque. Second, the statue of Sesostris III appears as an
occupant of a portable barque on land, rather than an occupant of a river-going vessel on
water. The carrying of the divine cult statue of the god Amun-Re on a portable barque,
however, is also depicted in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the Temple of
Bubastis (Fig. 232) .247 In his beneficence, Amun-Re, in turn, bestows millions of Sed
Festivals upon Osorkon II during the celebration of his Sed Festival.
7.5. CREATION OF RITUAL WATERSCAPE FOR ROYAL NAUTICAL PROCESSIONS
The setting for most of the ritual performances of Amenhotep Ill's three Sed
Festivals was a large complex of sacred precincts and royal palaces at Malqata—a site on
the west bank of the Nile just to the southwest of the Amenhotep Ill's mortuary temple in
The text describing the granting of Sed Festivals to Tuthmosis III appears in an offering scene on the
north interior wall of the temple of Tuthmosis III at Semna; see Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 50a;
Caminos, Semna-Kumma, Vol. 1, pi. 54.
247
For the depiction of the carrying of the portable barque of Amun-Re in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Osorkon II in the Temple of Bubastis, see Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 5.2, 5.4-7, 6.10-11,
13.5; Lange, in Broekman, etal., eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt, pp. 209, 215, fig. 13. For further
discussion of the procession of the barque of Amun-Re in the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II in the
Temple of Bubastis, see Section 2.2.6, Scene 13. Another depiction of the carrying of a portable barque
appears in a fragmentary scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Osorkon II at Bubastis; see Naville, op. cit.,
pi. 25.5.
248
For the granting of millions of Sed Festivals to Osorkon II by Amun-Re during the carrying of the
divine cult statue at the king's Sed Festival, see Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 5.5, 6.10.
602
Thebes (Figs. 133-135). In order to create the proper ritual waterscape for the
procession of the solar barque at his first Sed Festival, Amenhotep III constructed a vast
network of canals and artificial harbors spanning both sides of the Nile at Thebes. The
Birket Habu, a large artificial harbor abutting the eastern (/. e., valley) side of Amenhotep
Ill's Sed Festival complex at Malqata, was the largest and perhaps most impressive
construction within Amenhotep Ill's ritual waterway at Thebes.250 The construction of
the Birket Habu, which took place in at least two distinct phases leading up to
Amenhotep Ill's first and third Sed Festival, required the excavation of tremendous
amounts of sand, earth, and gravel; in its final form, the main rectangular portion of the
Birket Habu was approximately 5.9 meters deep and covered an area approximately 2.4
km by 1 km.25 Many of the large mounds of excavated earth that were originally piled
up around the periphery of Amenhotep Ill's ceremonial harbor at Birket Habu are still
For discussion of Amenhotep Ill's ritual constructions at Malqata and the history of archaeological work
at the site, see primarily Kemp and O'Connor, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and
Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 101-136; O'Connor, in LA, Vol. 3, cols. 1173-1177; Kemp, Ancient
Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., pp. 213-217; Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993): 131-146; Lacovara,
Amarna Letters 3 (1994): 6-21, with references; Lacovara, The New Kingdom Royal City, pp. 24-28; Smith,
Art and Architecture ofAncient Egypt, pp. 159-169; Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III:
Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 75-76; Cabrol, Amenhotep III: Le magnifique, pp. 193-195; Koltsida,
JARCE 43 (2007): 43-57, with references; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 20-23, 38-40.
A wealth of inscribed material from Maqata, particularly jar labels, relates to Amenhotep Ill's three Sed
Festivals; for discussion of this inscribed material, see Hayes, JNES 10 (1951): 35-56, 82-112, 156-183,
231-242; Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 248-250; Leahy, Excavations at Malkata and the Birket
Habu, Vol. 4; Berman, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 16-17.
2
For discussion of the Birket Habu, see primarily Kemp and O'Connor, InternationalJournal of Nautical
Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 101-136; Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993): 131-146, pis.
27-29; Darnell and Manassa, Tutanhhamun 's Armies, pp. 22-23, with references.
251
The measurements of the area and depth of the Birket Habu in its final form appear in Kemp and
O'Connor, InternationalJournal ofNautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 108, 126.
According to Kemp and O'Connor, op. cit, pp. 128-130, the Birket Habu was only "half-completed" at the
time of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in regnal year 30; the harbor continued to be expanded after
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival and was likely used as a harbor for boats delivering food-offerings to
Malqata at the celebration of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival. For depictions of the harbor in the reliefs
of Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb ofKheruef, pis.
58-59, 61. For further discussion of these scenes from Amenhotep Ill's third Sed Festival, see Section
2.1.2, Scene 2a.
603
present at the modern archaeological site on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (Fig.
475).252
Southeast of Luxor Temple on the east bank of the Nile at Thebes, Amenhotep III
constructed a second artificial harbor, the Eastern Birket, which likely served as a ritual
counterpart to the Birket Habu on the west bank.253 The Eastern Birket, now partially
buried under the modern village of el-Habeel, has not been properly excavated in modern
times, nor is it likely to be excavated at any point in the near future. At the present time,
whether or not the Eastern Birket originally abutted a ritual complex comparable to the
Sed Festival complex of Amenhotep III at Malqata remains an unanswered, though
intriguing, question. Like the Birket Habu, the Eastern Birket was very likely connected
to the Nile by means of a long canal; thus, the Birket Habu and Eastern Birket did not
function as separate entities, but rather as eastern and western termini of a large
ceremonial waterway spanning both sides of the Nile at Thebes.254
252
The study of these mounds has played an important role in determining the area and depth of the Birket
Habu, as well as the different phases of its construction; for discussion of the mounds on the perimeter of
the Birket Habu, see Kemp and O'Connor, International Journal ofNautical Archaeology and Underwater
Exploration 3 (1974): 101-136. Remarkable color aerial photographs of the mounds on the perimeter of the
Birket Habu appear in Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993): pis. 27a-b, 28a.
253
For discussion of the Eastern Birket, a large rectangular harbor that Amenhotep III constructed on the
east bank of the Nile at Thebes, see primarily Johnson, in O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III:
Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 76-77; Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, p. 22; p. 220, note 53;
and p. 226, note 138. According to Darnell and Manassa, op. cit., p. 22, the Eastern Birket of Amenhotep
III was approximately the same size as the Birket Habu at the time of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival.
The architectural remains of the Eastern Birket of Amenhotep III are identified as a "hippodrone" in the
bottom right corner of the map of Thebes in Description de I'Egypte, 2nd ed., Antiquites, Vol. 2, pi. 1.
Daressy, ASAE 19 (1920): 242-246, has incorrectly suggested that the Eastern Birket of Amenhotep III at
Thebes is an encampment dating to the Roman Period.
For discussion of the long canal that probably originally extended from the Birket Habu all the way to
the Nile at Thebes, see Kemp and O'Connor, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and
Underwater Exploration 3 (1974): 108-109, 127-128. For discussion of the Eastern Birket and the Birket
Habu as interconnected components of a vast ritual waterway at Thebes, see primarily Johnson, in
O'Connor and Cline, eds., Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, pp. 75-77; Darnell and Manassa,
Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 22-23.
604
The reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival in the tomb of Kheruef depict a
nautical procession in which the king, the queen, and a small group of royal officials
travel as occupants of the solar barque in a ritual waterway at Thebes (Fig. 159).255 Two
references to this ritual waterway appear in the texts describing the procession of the
solar barque:
di.w m-hr r mm hm-f

r hn.tm wBn nsw.t
$sp=sn shi.w mskt.t
hi.t.tnfnd.t
st?=sn wB.xv hr s.t wr.t
"The order was given at the waterway of his majesty

to row in the barque of the king.
They took up the towropes of the night barque
and the prow rope of the day barque;
(And) they towed the barques upon the great place."
Thus, according to this text from the tomb of Kheruef, the ancient designations for
Amenhotep Ill's ritual waterway at Thebes were "waterway of his majesty" (mr n hm-f)
and "great place" (s.t wr.t). Furthermore, according to this text, the nautical procession at
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival involved the towing of the solar day barque {rrfnd.t)
and the solar night barque (mskt.t) upon the waters of a ritual waterway at Thebes.
During the course of the nautical ritual at his first Sed Festival, Amenhotep III very likely
transferred from the night barque to the day barque in the waters of the Eastern Birket at
255
For the depiction of the procession of the solar barque in the reliefs of Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival
in the tomb of Kheruef, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pis. 45-46. For detailed discussion of this
scene, see Section 2.1.1, Scene 6; Section 7.4.2.
256
For the hieroglyphic text that contains two references to the ritual waterway used for the solar barque
procession at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 28. For
transliteration and translation of the full text with commentary, see Section 2.1.1, Text 1.
605
sunrise, traveled across the Nile to the Birket Habu, and emerged resplendently from the
day barque at Malqata as a divine manifestation of the rejuvenated solar deity.257
In providing the proper setting for the ritual enactment of the nautical journey of
the solar deity at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, the ritual waterway that the king
constructed at Thebes was most likely intended to mirror the mythical waterscape
through which the solar deity himself traveled in his daily peregrinations. Aspects of the
ritual landscape and waterscape of the sky through which the barque of the solar deity
travels can be discerned in many religious treatises of the dynastic period in Egypt; the
Pyramid Texts, for example, often describe the body of water through which the solar
barque travels as a mr ("waterway" or "canal")—i.e., the same term that is used to
describe the large ritual waterway of Amenhotep III at Thebes.258 The most commonly
mentioned body of water through which the deceased king travels in the barque of the
solar deity in the Pyramid Texts is the "Winding Waterway" (mr nM). The precise
For a similar interpretation of the ritual waterscape and solar symbolism of the nautical procession at
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival, see primarily Darnell and Manassa, Tutankhamun's Armies, pp. 22-23.
258
For general discussion of the waterways of the sky through which the solar barque travels in the
Pyramid Texts, see primarily Allen, in Simpson, ed., Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt, pp. 1-28,
with references.
259
The "Winding Waterway" is mentioned in contexts clearly related to the nautical journey of the
deceased ruler in the barque of Re in Pyramid Texts Spell 263 (Sethe, Die altagyptischen Pyramidentexte,
Vol. 1, p. 182, § 340d); Pyramid Texts Spell 264 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 1, p. 183, § 343a); Pyramid Texts
Spell 265 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 186, § 352a); Pyramid Texts Spell 266 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 1, p. 188, §
359b); Pyramid Texts Spell 304 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 241, § 469a); Pyramid Texts Spell 334 (Sethe,
op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 277, § 543b); Pyramid Texts Spell 359 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 1, pp. 317-319, § 594b,
594d-f, 595b, 596b, 597b); Pyramid Texts Spell 504 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 97, § 1084b); Pyramid Texts
Spell 507 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 115, § 1102d); Pyramid Texts Spell 510 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 136,
§ 1138d); Pyramid Texts Spell 512 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 150, § 1162c); Pyramid Texts Spell 522
(Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 193, § 1228c); Pyramid Texts Spell 548 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 242, § 1345c);
Pyramid Texts Spell 569 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 284, § 1441a); Pyramid Texts Spell 579 (Sethe, op. cit,
Vol. 2, p. 328, § 1541a); Pyramid Texts Spell 584 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 341, § 1574c); Pyramid Texts
Spell 609 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 399, § 1704a); Pyramid Texts Spell 613 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 416,
§ 1737a); Pyramid Texts Spell 624 (Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts: Supplement of
Hieroglyphic Texts, p. 14, § 1759b); Pyramid Texts Spell 684 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 501, § 2061c);
Pyramid Texts Spell 697 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 527, § 2172c); and Pyramid Texts Spell 719 (Faulkner,
op. cit, p. 68, § 2235b). Additional references to the "Winding Waterway" appear in Pyramid Texts Spell
606
location where the solar barque enters the Winding Waterway is unclear; however, the
ultimate destination of the deceased king's journey upon the solar barque in the Winding
Waterway is typically the "eastern side of the sky" (gs Bb.ty n p.t) or the "eastern side of
the horizon" (gs Bb.ty n 3h.t)—i.e., the place where the newly reborn solar deity emerges
from the sky each morning. In Pyramid Texts Spell 265, the deceased king himself is
reborn after traveling through the Winding Waterway to the eastern horizon of the sky:
(w)di(.w) shn.wy p.t n Rr

Si=fim ir 3h.t hr Hr-ih.ty
(w)di(.w) shn.wy p.t n Hr-ih.ty
fci=fim ir ih.t hrRc
(w)di(.w) shn.wy p.t n NN pn ds=f
Si=fim r ih.t hr Rr hr Hr-ih.ty
wbi(.w) mncy
Bh(.w) mr nh3
mhy(.w) sh.wt dirw
diiNN
Si.tw(=i) ir gs Bb.ty n p.t
ir bw pw mss.w ntr.w im
mss{i) NN im msw.t=fhnc-sn
Hr is
ih.ty is
"The two reed floats of the sky have been set in place for Re,
so that he might cross thereupon to the horizon near Horakhty.
The two reed floats of the sky have been set in place for Horakhty,
so that he might cross thereupon to the horizon near Re.
The two reed floats of the sky have been set in place for this AW himself,
so that he might cross thereupon to the horizon near Re and Horakhty.
The Nourishing Waterway has been opened;
The Winding Waterway has been inundated;
437 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 441, § 802a); Pyramid Texts Spell 555 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 251-252, §
1376c, 1377c); and Pyramid Texts Spell 556 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 254, § 1382a). For discussion of the
"Winding Waterway" in the Pyramid Texts, see primarily Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, pp.
6-10; Bayoumi, Autour du champ des souchets et du champ des offrandes, pp. 5-6, 16-21,45-51, 107-110;
Altenmiiller, ZAS 92 (1966): 86-95; Zandee, in Bleeker, etal., eds., Ex orbe religionum: Studia Geo
Widengren, Vol. 1, pp. 32-38; Davis, Archaeoastronomy 9 (1985): S102-S104; Wells, SAK 19 (1992): 308,
footnote 5; Willems, Coffin ofHeqata, pp. 169-171, et passim; Krauss, Astronomische Konzepte und
Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentexten, pp. 14-85, with references; Allen, JNES 61 (2002): 63, 65.
260
pp. 185-186, § 351a-353c. For a full translation of Pyramid Texts Spell 265, see Allen, The Ancient
Egyptian Pyramid Texts, p. 325, Spell P320.
607
(And) the Fields of Reeds have been filled,
so that AW might cross (them),
(and) so that (I) might be ferried to the eastern side of the sky,
to that place where the gods were born.
AW will be born there in his birth with them
as Horus
(and) as the horizon-dweller."
Other "waterways" upon which the deceased king travels in the solar barque in the
Pyramid Texts include the "Nourishing Waterway" (mr mnr, variant mncy);261 the
"Waterway of the /frm-Bird" (mr n htm)'262 and the "Waterway of Kns.ty" (mr kns.ty). 63
The Winding Waterway, which serves as the mythological setting for the the
deceased king's west-to-east journey to the eastern horizon of the sky in the barque of the
solar deity in the Pyramid Texts, very likely served as a model for the large ritual
waterway that was specially constructed for the procession of the solar barque at
Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Festival. As the eastern and western termini of Amenhotep
Ill's ritual waterway at Thebes, the ceremonial harbors of the Eastern Birket and the
Birket Habu corresponded to the eastern and western boundaries of the water-filled
mythological sky. The festival structures surrounding each of these harbors undoubtedly
represented the mythologically important eastern and western horizons of the sky; in
particular, the royal palace at Malqata, which was known as the "House of Rejoicing" (pr
The "Nourishing Waterway" is mentioned in contexts clearly related to the nautical journey of the
Vol. 1, p. 183, § 343a); Pyramid Texts Spell 265 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 186, § 352a); Pyramid Texts
Spell 266 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 188, § 359a); Pyramid Texts Spell 473 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 21, §
937e); and Pyramid Texts Spell 609 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 399, § 1704b). For discussion of the
"Nourishing Waterway" in the Pyramid Texts, see Hassan, Excavations at Giza, Vol. 6, Part 1, p. 11.
262
The "Waterway of the ///m-Bird" is mentioned in a context clearly related to the nautical journey of the
Vol. 2, p. 193, § 1228c).
263
The "Waterway of Kns ty" is mentioned in contexts clearly related to the nautical journey of the
Vol. 2, p. 137, § 1141c); Pyramid Texts Spell 525 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 200, § 1245a); and Pyramid
Texts Spell 579 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 328, § 1541a).
608
hcy), served as an important ritual location for the solar deity's sexual union with the
western horizon of the sky.264 The large mounds of excavated earth piled up around the
perimeter of the Birket Habu were probably also an important part of the ritual landscape
for the procession of the solar barque at Amenhotep Ill's first Sed Fesitval (Fig. 475);
these mounds of earth correspond in all likelihood to the various "mounds" (ii.wt)
between, around, or to which the deceased king travels in the barque of the solar deity in
the Pyramid Texts.265
The remains of the ceremonial harbors of Amenhotep III on the east and west
bank of the Nile at Thebes are the only definitive archaeologial evidence of the large-
scale construction of ritual waterscape for the Sed Festival. The large moat surrounding
the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara may have also been used for the
performance of a nautical procession at the celebration of the Sed Festival (Fig. 317);
however, no such ceremony is depicted in the Sed Festival reliefs of Djoser at this
complex.266 The representation of the Protodynastic Egyptian ruler Scorpion performing
For discussion of the solar symbolism of the "House of Rejoicing" at Malqata, see primarily Darnell and
Manassa, Tutankhamun 's Armies, pp. 21 -22, with references. For further discussion of the Amenhotep
Ill's "House of Rejoicing" at Malqata and Akhenaten's "House of Rejoicing" at Amarna, see Section 2.1.0.
265
The deceased king journeys around, between, or to the "High Mounds" (ii.wt kii.wt), the "Northern
Mounds" (iiw.t mh.ty.wt), the "Southern Mounds" (ii.wt rsy.wt), the "Horian Mounds" (ii.wt Hry.wt), or
the "Sethian Mounds" (iiw.t StSy.wt) in Pyramid Texts Spell 359 (Sethe, Die altdgyptischen
Pyramidentexte, Vol. 1, pp. 319-320, § 597b-598c); Pyramid Texts Spell 424 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp.
422-423, § 770a-770d); Pyramid Texts Spell 470 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, pp. 6-7, § 915b-917c); Pyramid
Texts Spell 475 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 28-29, § 948a-948c); Pyramid Texts Spell 536 (Sethe, op. cit.,
Vol. 2, p. 224, § 1295b); Pyramid Texts Spell 553 (Sethe, op. cit, Vol. 2, p. 246, § 1364a-b); Pyramid
Texts Spell 612 (Sethe, op. cit., p. 415, § 1735c); Pyramid Texts Spell 665 (Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian
Pyramid Texts: Supplement of Hieroglyphic Texts, p. 26, § 1904a-c); Pyramid Texts Spell 666A (Faulkner,
op. cit., p. 36, § 1928b-d); Pyramid Texts Spell 676 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 486, § 201 la-b); Pyramid
Texts Spell 590 (Sethe, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 511, § 2099a); Pyramid Texts Spell 718 (Faulkner, op. cit, p. 68,
§ 2233b-c). For discussion of the "Mounds of Horus" and the "Mounds of Seth" in the Pyramid Texts, see
Krauss, Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentexten, pp. 239-253.
266
For discussion of the moat surrounding the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara, see primarily
Swelim, in Baines, ed., Pyramid Studies and Other Essays Presented to I.E.S. Edwards, pp. 12-22; Baud,
609
a foundation ritual in the depiction of the Sed Festival on the Scorpion Macehead (Fig.
21) strongly suggests that large-scale ritual waterways were constructed for the
celebration of the Sed Festival during the Predynastic Period.267 The royal scene in the
middle register of the Scorpion Macehead almost certainly depicts the performance of
two related foundation rituals commemorating the opening of a sacred precinct and a
ritual waterway at Scorpion's Sed Festival—namely, the hoeing of the earth by the
Egyptian ruler and the pouring of sand onto the ground by a pair of royal officials.268 The
depiction of the ritual waterway and sacred precincts in the bottom register of the
Scorpion Macehead is fragmentary but clearly shows the prow of a high-ended
ceremonial barque passing by a palm tree and the facade of a temple that closely
resembles the Lower Egyptian pr-nw shrine; a group of three officials standing within the
Djeser et la Ilf dynastie, pp. 116-117, 119; Swelim, in Czerny, etal., eds., Timelines: Studies in Honour of
ManfredBietak, Vol. 1, pp. 363-376.
267
For the suggestion that the Scorpion Macehead depicts a temple foundation rite or the opening of a
sacred canal, see primarily Baumgartel, Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, Vol. 2, pp. 116-118; Baumgartel,
ZAS92 (1966): 9-13;Nibbi, GM29 (1978): 89-94, fig. 1; Ogdon, GMA9 (1981): 61-64; Barta, GM54
(1982): 11-16; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des periodes predynastique et archaique dans la vallee du
Nil, pp. 32-38, fig. 3, pi. 7; Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 8 (1997): 11-27; Cialowicz,
La naissance d' un royaume, pp. 197-202, fig. 35; Nibbi, in Eldamaty and Trad, eds., Egyptian Museum
Collections from Around the World, pp. 855-861, figs. 5-6; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben und symbolische
Zeichen, pp. 151-154, 361, fig. 64. Such an interpretation is preferable to the view that Scorpion is
constructing an irrigation canal; for the suggestion that the Scorpion Macehead depicts an agricultural ritual
connected to the opening of an irrigation canal, see Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pp. 9-10, pis.
25, 26c; Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, p. 41, pis. 25, 26c; Vikentiev, BIE32 (1951): 209-215;
Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt, pp. 20-21, fig. 2; Davis, Canonical Tradition in Ancient
Egyptian Art, pp. 162-164, fig. 6.15; Davis, Masking the Blow, pp. 224-228, fig. 52; Gautier and Midant-
Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 87-127; Gundlach, Der Pharao undsein Staat, pp. 62-64, 68, fig. 13;
Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt, p. 232. For further discussion of the scene from the Scorpion
Macehead in which the king wields a mr-hoe, see also Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 600-602, fig. 393;
Schott, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 84 (1952): 19-21; Ridley, The
Unification of Egypt, pp. 60-62, fig. 5, pi. 20; Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 265; Monnet-Saleh,
BIFAO 90 (1990): 263-265, fig. 2; Millet, JARCE 27 (1990): 58-59; Williams, in Phillips, ed., Ancient
Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, p. 488; Baines, in O'Connor and Silverman, Ancient Egyptian
Kingship, p. 119; Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 213.
268
For the ritual hoeing of the earth by the king at the ceremonial foundation of a temple, see Finnestad,
Image of the World and Symbol of the Creator, p. 57; Montet, Kemi 17 (1964): 85-87, Scene 4, fig. 2. For
the ritual pouring of sand onto the ground at the cermonial foundation of a temple, see Finnestad, op. cit, p.
57; Montet, op. cit., pp. 89-91, Scene 6, fig. 4.
610
sacred precinct finalizes the construction of the ritual waterway upon which this
ceremonial barque travels. Scorpion himself—clad in the long Sed Festival robe—
probably originally appeared as a seated occupant of the high-ended ceremonial barque in
the bottom register of the Scorpion Macehead; similar depictions of the robed Egyptian
ruler as a seated occupant of a ceremonial barque that passes by the facade of a temple
appear in the Predynastic representations of the Sed Festival on the Metropolitan
Museum knife handle (Fig. 53), the Qustul incense burner (Fig. 54), and the Archaic
970
Horus incense burner (Fig. 55).
Foundation rites involving either the hoeing of the ground or the driving of a stake
into the ground appear in representations of the Sed Festival in an Early Dynastic relief
fragment from Gebelein (Fig. 283), in a relief on a pillar from the valley temple of the
Bent Pyramid of Snofru at Dahshur (Fig. 22), and in a relief from the solar temple of
Niuserre at Abu Gurob (Figs. 23-24).271 The stake-driving scene from the Sed Festival
For discussion of the image of the boat passing by a palm tree and the facade of a temple in the bottom
register of the Scorpion Macehead, see primarily Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pp. 9-10, pis.
25, 26c; Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, p. 41, pis. 25, 26c; Nibbi, GM29 (1978): 90; Williams
and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 265; Cialowicz, Les tetes de massues des periodes predynastique et archaique
dans la vallee du Nil, pp. 33-34, 37; Gautier and Midant-Reynes, Archeo-Nil 5 (1995): 106-108, 113-122,
fig. 12, with references; Cialowicz, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 8 (1997): 16, 18,24-25;
Cialowicz, La naissance d' un royaume, pp. 199-202; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen,
pp. 151-154.
270
For detailed discussion of the nautical processional scenes on the Metropolitan Museum knife handle,
the Qustul incense burner, and the Archaic Horus incense burner, see Section 7.1.
271
the World and Symbol of the Creator, p. 57; Montet, Kemi 17 (1964): 85-87, Scene 4, fig. 2. For the
driving of a stake into the ground at the ceremonial foundation of a temple, see Montet, op. cit., pp. 78-85,
Scene 3, fig. 1. For the depiction of an unknown Egyptian ruler driving stakes into the ground in an Early
Dynastic relief fragment from Gebelein, see primarily Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische
Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und Programm, pp. 228-230, 238, figs. 3-4. For further discussion of the
depiction of a royal woman carrying a libation jar in this relief fragment from Gebelein, see Section 3.1.2.
For the depiction of Snofru and the goddess Seshat driving stakes into the ground in a relief from valley
temple of the king's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, see primarily Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur,
Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 91, 94-98, figs. 84-95. For further discussion of this scene from Dahshur, see also
Section 2.2.2, Panels 13-14. For discussion of the depiction of Niuserre hoeing the earth and driving a
stake into the ground with the assistance of Seshat in the Sed Festival reliefs of the king's solar temple at
611
reliefs of Snofru appears on the same pillar as a scene depicting the towing of a
ceremonial barque; if these two scenes are related, as their close proxmity to one another
suggests, the depiction of these foundation rites may pertain to the construction of a ritual
waterway for the performance of a nautical procession at the celebration of Snofru's Sed
Festival.272 The sacred precincts that are being constructed in the Sed Festival reliefs of
Niuserre at Abu Gurob and in the Early Dynastic relief fragment from Gebelein may have
also contained ritual waterways that were used for nautical processional rites.
Evidence of the construction of elaborate waterways for use in ritual
performances also appears in several texts that are recorded on ceremonial objects from
the Early Dynastic Period; a link to the celebration of the Sed Festival in these texts and
their accompanying scenes is possible, though not certain. For example, the third register
of a label of Aha depicts a procession of three ceremonial barques that passes by two
circular fortified enclosures (Fig. 45); two nearly identical groups of hieroglyphic signs
that appear above this nautical procession—a mr-hoe and an empty w«.f-enclosure—
probably refer to a ground-breaking ritual (bi-tT) associated with the foundation of a
sacred precinct and a ritual waterway.273 The first register of another label of Aha depicts
Abu Gurob, see primarily Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos.
lb, 2-6, 8, 56a-b; Von Bissing and Kees, op. cit, Vol. 3, nos. 111-112,291-298,425; Von Bissing and
Kees, Untersuchungen zu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heihgtum des Rathures, pp. 3-21; VoB, Untersuchungen
zu den Sonnenheiligtumern der 5 Dynastie, pp. 82-83, 96-97. For further discussion of this scene from
Abu Gurob, see also Section 2.2.3, Scene 1.
For the barque-towing scene from the Sed Festival reliefs of Snofru in the valley temple of the Bent
Pyramid at Dahshur, see Fakhry, Monuments of Sneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 91-93, figs. 79-83.
For further discussion of this scene from Dahshur, see Section 7.4.2.
For discussion of the nautical procession and the hieroglyphic text in the third register of this wooden
label of Aha from Abydos, see primarily Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, p. 21, pis. 3a.5-
6, 10.2, 11.2; Legge, PSBA 29 (1907): 22-23, cat. nos. 2-3; Boreux, Etudes de nautique egyptienne, pp. 69-
79, fig. 24; Vikentiev,^&4£41 (1941): 285-286, fig. 44; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 837-840, fig. 560;
Monnet-Saleh, BIFAO 67 (1969): 176,178; Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 25, fig. 80; Ogdon, GM
49 (1981): 61-62, fig. 1; Barta, GM54 (1982): 15-16; Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 148;
O'Connor, Expedition 29 (1987): 33-34, fig. 11; Logan, JARCE 27 (1990): 64, fig. 2; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11
612
a pair of ceremonial barques, including a large image of the barque of Sokar and small
image of a ceremonial barque containing a Horus falcon (Fig. 308).274 The text to the left
of these two ceremonial barques in the first register of the label records the construction
of a sacred precinct that includes a ritual canal: Hr rh3 b3-{t?) (n) wn.tr mr, "Horus Aha
breaks (ground) (for) the fortified enclosure at the waterway."275 An inscription on an
Early Dynastic stone dish in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA
68.15) also records the ceremonial opening of a ritual waterway: wp S nmt.wt ntr.w inb-
hd, "Opening the lake 'Journeys of the Gods' (at) Memphis."276 An entry on the recto of
the Palermo Stone for the reign of Den similarly describes the opening of a waterway that
was apparently used for a ritual involving the harpooning of a hippopotamus: wp.t $ s.wt
(2001): 172-173, fig. 6; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 57-60, figs.
23-24, with references; Morenz, Bild-Buchstaben undsymbolische Zeichen, pp. 189-191, 364, fig. 75. For
further discussion of the text in the third register of this label and the unlikely suggestion that it records the
ceremonial razing of enemy fortifications, see Section 6.1.5.
274
For discussion of the two ceremonial barques that appear in the top register of this ivory label of Aha
from the tomb of Neithhotep atNaqada, see Section 7.1.
275
For discussion of the hieroglyphic text to the left of the two ceremonial barques in the first register of
this ivory label of Aha from the tomb of Neithhotep atNaqada, see primarily Vikentiev, ASAE 33 (1933):
224-234, pis. 1-3; Vikentiev, ASAE 34 (1934): 7-8; Vikentiev, ASAE 41 (1941): 281, 284-285, figs. 35,42-
43; Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, pp. 828-832, fig. 556; Gaballa and Kitchen, Orientalia 38 (1969): 17-19;
Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, p. 25, fig. 76; Barta, GM 54 (1982): 16; Helck, Untersuchungen zur
Thinitenzeit, pp. 146-147; Menu, Archeo-Nil 11 (2001): 164, 171-172, figs. 5, 5a; Jimenez-Serrano, Royal
Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period, pp. 94-96, fig. 55, with references; Kinnaer, GM 196 (2003): 25.
For further discussion of the text to the left of the ceremonial barques in the first register of this label and
the unlikely suggestion that it records the ceremonial razing of enemy fortifications, see Section 6.1.5.
Vikentiev, ASAE 33 (1933): 233, suggests that the ritual described in this text may be related to the king's
visit to the Winding Waterway in the Sed Festival reliefs from the Palace of Apries at Memphis; for
discussion of the Apries's visit to a grotto with a ritual canal or stream at the celebration of the Sed
Festival, see primarily Kaiser, MDAIK 43 (1986): 131,140-141, 152, fig. 9, pi. 46, with references; Bietak,
in Bietak, etal., eds., Zwischen den beiden Ewigkeiten, pp. 2-3, 6, 11, fig. 3.
276
For discussion of the inscription on this Early Dynastic stone vessel (MMA 68.15), see Hoffman, Egypt
Before the Pharaohs, p. 313; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 216.
613
ntr.w sti.t hib, "The opening of the lake 'Thrones of the Gods' and the harpooning of the
hippopotamus."277
277
For discussion of the ceremonial opening of a ritual waterway in Palermo Stone r.III.x+8, see Millet,
JARCE21 (1990): 58; Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, p. 216; Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt,
pp. 112-113, fig. 1. For further discussion of the ceremonial hunting of hippopotami during the reign of
Den, see Section 7.2. Based largely on this entry from the Palermo Stone, Millet, loc. cit, suggests that the
Scorpion Macehead probably originally included a depiction of a hippopotamus hunt that would have taken
place at Scorpion's ceremonial opening of a sacred canal.
614
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736
FIGURES:
Fig. 1: Wadi Hammamat, Double-Enthronement of Pepi I
r • f
£££==> [] *t \
]
(From: Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 2, pi. 115a)
Fig. 2: El-Lischt, Double-Enthronement of Amenemhat I
(From: Simpson, JARCE 2 (1963): pi. 8)
737
Fig. 3: Medamud, Double-Enthronement of Sesostris I
(From: Gardiner, JEA 30 (1944) pi. 4)
Fig. 4: Qurna, Double Enthronement of Amenhotep I
(From: Winlock, JEA 4 (1917): pi. 4)
738
Fig. 5: Carnelian Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 26.7.1340)
(From: Gardiner, JEA 3 (1916): pi. 11, top)
Fig. 6: Qurna, Double-Enthronement of Ramesses I
(From: Hornung and Staehelin, Neue Studien zum Sedfest, p. 69, fig. 14)
Fig. 7: Abydos, Double-Enthronement of Seti I
i>&A*Wi i \
p n t f f * WHIN i l l ' ir '

:.r T; ::z~:.:sK,Tffi:.ai.- .a: jra: -
•W"«^Sjn •<•—(*;• !H|*""T I
739
Fig. 8: Wadi Maghara, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual & KonigslaufofPepi I
Af ^ <*§f
r-4 "TV hj
X S "Si' r, * t ,\
-^/l
IL J
1
.J \—-^^
t
u i K7v
•xt?* ^ -
f j
iff,
I*.-TT
]
fv
i'-=
»
,>/ *L $ if to
!
* in- *f Pi fft 2r
1 Zf
•A
*<•
m
.-•
\J
(From: Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol 2, pi. 116a)
Fig. 9: Deir el-Bahari, Konigslauf of Montuhotep II
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat no. A31, pi. 7)
Fig. 10: Karnak, Konigslauf of Amenhotep I
(From- Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. A46, pi. 11)
740
Fig. 11: Kamak, Konigslauf of Ramesses II
& • • : ' / " '
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. A171, pi. 28)
Fig. 12: Deir el-Bahari, Vogellauf of Hatshepsut
« * •Mî.^C ^
•7^ • JkJX> w*- ^fF".tT17'"'

/* I- f m f !|l
"I.7H * /%
r ^-# IB!!*':*
iOivv^W 4H^^^«
(From: Naville, 7e/w/7/e o/Z)e/> e/ flafovv, Vol. 4, pi. 97)
741
Fig. 13: Karnak, Vasenlauf of Amenhotep I
Fig. 14: Deir el-Bahari, Ruderlauf of Montuhotep II
(From: Naville, Xlth Dynasty Temple at Deir el-Bahari, Vol. 1, pi. 12e)
Fig. 15: Covtos, Ruderlauf of Sesostris I (UCL 14786)
742
Fig. 16: Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Den, Sed Festival
(From: Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 46 (1990): pi. 26d)
Fig. 17: Saqqara, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Adjib, Sed Festival
(From: Lacau and Lauer, Lapyramide a degres, Vol. 4, Fasc. 1, pi. III.7)
Fig. 18: Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Semerkhet, Sed Festival
(From: Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 1, pi. 7.6)
Fig. 19: Saqqara, Inscribed Stone Vessels of Qa-a, Sed Festival
(From: Lacau and Lauer, Lapyramide a degres, Vol. 4, Fasc. 1, pi. III.5; pi. 8, cat. no. 41)
T-"****^ IJ
(From: Kaplony, Steingefdsse mit Inschriften der Fruhzeit unddes Alten Reichs, pp. 26, 35, cat. nos. 12,
16)
743
Fig. 20: Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Qa-a, Sed Festival
Fig. 21: Scorpion Macehead
< % & > ' •
'*^$EP°£$ ,S1C*""
*<,
m'M
(From: Millet, JARCE 28 (1991): 225, fig. 2)
Fig. 22: Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 13-14
H .<
/an
^m Yy .>
(From: Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 97, fig. 91; p. 95, fig. 84)
744
Fig. 23: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Hoeing the Ground
M
r: ,~e /
<"*%% t
•W'< '
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. lb, 3)
Fig. 24: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Driving Stakes
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 2,4)
Fig. 25: Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Subterranean Relief Panels
&4
(From: Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 19,23, 28, figs. 12, 14, 16)
.2
(From: Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 30, 38, 39, figs. 17,23, 24)
745
!(?
y
f ^1
/
# 5]
\W J r *•
M ' ^
( -*v
4T
tf*
I
(From- Fakhry, 77ze Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol 2, Part 1, pp. 66, 76, 78, 86, figs 43, 55, 58,
68)
Fig. 27: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Konigslauf Sequence

v?"5TO"» •»••>- ~-»»"*
-r£yrt,^J„ v » •*, *r «^ \ >'

.^'..'..TTT,,;..
. ''W .•' ; :\
'
" V*. 4,-lti ^ 7 , r" f
•'.Vu
' :f-f/' 1..-, ^- /--' ;, ,^1
*1~ \ /
i <4*
J 5 -I • /- .n /
[-.•- \
(From von Bissing and Kees, .Dos Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, no 33b)
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 34)
746
Fig. 28: Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Konigslauf Scenes
JL.J3i
1% ^ JfW oi V
1 a riii; " i / w
I .
P fxt, O
'hS *"\-JT\
o1 LZ<-
!! -
* ^{4ilmJJ'
(From: Kaiser, MDAIK43 (1986): 148,150, figs. 5, 7)
(From: Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 60, 71 figs. 35, 48)
747
Fig. 30: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Visit to "Hall of Eating"
(From Naville, Festvval-Hall of Osorkon II, pi 4, nos 2, 4)
Fig. 31: Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Royal Visit to Sacred Shrines
"A. Sis ^TPV- ^ \
"y } &
t 1 5 f-
,L •OSM,'U r
~~i - JTI-<"U
/ •
HT / f
_
T -u
i
V i
r 'T'l.Tjî
/
'lift
(From Kaiser, MDAIK43 (1986) 149, 151 figs 6, 8)
748
Fig. 32: Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Royal Visit to Sacred Grotto
'°<£.<;JL!\
i^w
(From: Kaiser, MDAIK A3 (1986): 152, fig. 9)
Fig. 33: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Presenting Offerings to Min
(From- Giorgini, Soleb, Vol 5, pi. 122)
749
Fig. 34: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Offering of Sb.t to Wadjet
8 9
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 16, nos. 8-10)
Fig. 35: Fragmentary Labels of Den, Hippo Hunt
(From: Godron, Etudes sur I'Horus Den, pi. 10, no. 19; Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 54 (1998): pi. 12d)
Fig. 36: Wooden Label of Den, Fowling Run
(From: Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 54 (1998): pi. 12f)
750
Fig. 37: Seal Impression of Djer, Konigslauf
% \N\Mllj//
Fig. 38: Abydos, Label of Den, Konigslauf & Wepwawet Standard
(From: Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 59 (2003): pi. 18g)
(From: Dreyer, MDAIK46 (1990): pi. 26c)
Fig. 39: Narmer Palette
•US
(From: Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 42, fig. 12)
751
Fig. 40: Abydos, Label of Den, Smiting Ritual
(From: Kohler, in van den Brink and Levy, eds., Egypt and the Levant, p. 505, fig. 31.8)
Fig. 41: Wadi el-Humur, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual of Den, Examples 1-2
(From: Resk Ibrahim and Tallet, RdE 59 (2008): 162, fig. 6)
Fig. 42: Wadi el-Humur, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual of Semerkhet
XN
N
Fig. 43: Gebelein, Early Dynastic Relief Fragment, Arrow-Shooting Ritual
(From: Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel: Struktur, Funktion und Programm,
p. 236, fig. 1)
752
Fig. 44: Bull Palette
(From: Davis, Masking the Blow, p. 144, fig. 37)
Fig. 45: Ebony Label of Aha (University of Pennsylvania U.M. E9396)
753
Fig. 46: Hunters Palette
Fig. 47: C-Ware Bowl (MMA 12.185.15)
(From: Myers, JEA 19 (1933): pi. 11, nos. 2-3)
754
Fig. 48: Abydos, Tomb U-239, C-Ware Vessel
(From: Midant-Reynes, Prehistory of Egypt, p. 173, fig. 5f)
Fig. 49: Abydos, Tomb U-415, C-Ware Vase #1

/VX^V'X
fef U
11c 1W
ifitn
L.—i/
(From: Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 59 (2003): 81, fig. 5)
755
Fig. 50: Two Dogs Palette (A.M. E.3924)
(From: Fischer, Artibus Asiae 21 (1958): 67, figs. 1-2)
Fig. 51: Bearers Macehead (UCL 14898A)
(From: Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999): 37, fig. 2)
756
Fig. 52a: Gebelein Linen, Reconstruction of Complete Tableau
t o ? o A (J*^ f§j|f
(J
, i r r? i
^ JU J L
0 o ?
(From: Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 279, fig. 15)
Fig. 52b: Gebelein Linen, Section 1
(From: Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, pi. 1)
Fig. 52c: Gebelein Linen, Section 2
757
Fig. 52d: Gebelein Linen, Section 3
(From: Scamuzzi, Egyptian Art in the Egyptian Museum ,>/ /win, pi. 3)
Fig. 52e: Gebelein Linen, Section 4
Fig. 52f: Gebelein Linen, Section 5
-illfe ' i f c ,
758
Fig. 52g: Gebelein Linen, Section 6
V- V^ #'
ft
an
MB*
(From. Galassi, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, Nova Series 4 (1955): 12,
fig. 7)
Fig. 52h: Gebelein Linen, Section 7
A
* &
(From- Galassi, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, Nova Series 4 (1955). 14,
fig. 10)
Fig. 53: Metropolitan Museum Knife Handle
-<< Y?HW
_\ i-l.ii
* f
^lj
I I \x y
\ U
J)
(From: Williams and Logan, JNES 46 (1987): 273-274, figs. 1-2)
759
Fig. 54: Qustul Incense Burner
(From: Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pi. 34)
Fig. 55: Archaic Horus Incense Burner
<0
>M
(From: Williams, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition, Vol. 3, Part 1, pi. 33)
760
Fig. 56: Wadi Gash, Site 18. M 137a, Predynastic Rock Inscription
(From: Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, Vol. 1, pi. 13.3)
Fig. 57: Battlefield Palette
761
Fig. 58: Gebel el-Arak Knife Handle
(From: Seidlmayer, in Schulz and Seidel, eds., Egypt The World of the Pharaohs, p. 26, fig. 31)
Fig. 59: Royal Macehead
(From Cialowicz, Etudes et Travaux 18 (1999). 37, fig. 1)
Fig. 60: Narmer Macehead
Hi? Xj -i
(From: Millet, JARCE 28 (1991). 224, fig. 1)
762
Fig. 61: Abydos, Ebony Label of Den, Sed Festival (British Museum 32.650)
(From: Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit, p. 158)
Fig. 62: Abydos, Labels of Den, Enthronement Beside Shrines & Grotto
(From: Dreyer, eta/., MDAIK 54 (1998): pi. 12g-h)
Fig. 63: Seal Impression of Djer, Upper & Lower Egyptian Enthronement Scenes
(From: Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol. 2, pi. 15, no. 108)
fzs
(From: Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 108, figs. 111-112)
763
Fig. 65: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Enthronement, Examples 1-2
K.r
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 1 la-b)
Fig. 66: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Enthronement, Example 3
4f-4s 4.- It & ft \

J**
:k-
Jk
If—I I rT! s
^
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, no 13)
Fig. 67: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Enthronement, Examples 4-5
if" i W ^ — i
'•rat
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Z)<M Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 23-24)
764
Fig. 68: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Double-Throne, Example 6
'¥^^
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 27)
Fig. 69: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Royal Enthronement, Example 1
>V-
* f *-.
IMN t * M / '5-P TO r
r
/"ffi 3SS^F'W***»^s*1
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi 1, nos. 1-2)
tj
>w "
kMJim
3
^^ - -
1 V ' - - 1/ V Li *
If # \ ^
ten l W I f -I
!—i ~~~i >*^J »ij -3 _ i j , - — —IJL i^\J
(From. Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 19, nos. 3-4)
765
IF' 2,F
Sca/e
Fig. 73: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Royal Enthronement, Examples 5-6
_. -T-rrmr^ î^rHTrrm>^
III I Ata€xA.f
far,
u r 1 5 IT
Pf ilA ii
766
Fig. 75: Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panel 3
(From Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol 2, Part 1, p 88, fig 72)
Fig. 76: Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Visit to Shrine of the Ennead
(From Giorgini, Soleb, Vol 5, pi 117)
767
(From: Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, p. 92, fig. 78)
Fig. 78: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Foot-Washing Ritual, Example 1
wmMmsmmsm
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 20c)
Fig. 79: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Foot-Washing Ritual, Example 2
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 45b)
768
Fig. 80: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Robing Ritual, Section 1
i I
$1%, \ ,%JJ ;•
%
* \
UtJnlV
r
i *
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 39-41)
Fig. 81: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Robing Ritual, Section 2
.A
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 42-43)
769
Fig. 82: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Palanquin Procession, Section 1
* ^ j » * . * \
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 44a-d)
m(% „,„ . ^ $ 5 ^ #Jis^ f f l t f ^ f s ^ i T

*«' ^ft f»rt
T- " -«^v*^**-i
A . v "9 mail
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 45a-b)
(3
{ l
4 /;
(From von Bissing and Kees, £ t o Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 46-49)
770
9UB
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 50a-b)
•» i
f
• % * '
T
T
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 51-55)
771
Fig. 87: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Palanquin Procession
(From: Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 97)
772
Fig. 88: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Palanquin Procession 1
(From Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festtval at Kamak, pi 1)
(From Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Kamak, pi 1)
773
Fig. 89: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Palanquin Procession 2
(From Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festrval at Karnak, pi 2)
tf
-XJi * fk TH
t 4 ~K *— / ^—<
'^P2b
. 3
(From Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festrval at Karnak, pi 2)
774
Fig. 90: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Palanquin Procession
Fig. 91: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Lion-Furniture Sequence
*^2&M?
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 56-59)
775
Fig. 92: Limestone Sed Festival Statue of Khasekhemwy (A.M. 620.11)
^vi;
1%~ \
ft*
r«l"
> * ~y^ • ' 1 t ' ' f
.•1, * : , ; x % " .
r
\z *%IP
(From: Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., KumtdesAlten Reiches, pi. 51c-d)
LIMESTONE STATUE
SACK <!(< » A S £ îJ!3M P»<if*T Ct? 8A.SS
IV
V 1 1^ frj
&*»& Ojs & & 8 E
#%«fes
4lS§
stei Of* »AS«
(From: Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 40)
776
Fig. 93: Slate Sed Festival Statue of Khasekheimvy (Cairo Ji/E 32161)
(From: Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des

Alten Reiches, pi. 51a-b)
SLATE STATUE
^#^HS>
y Y/> " ^1&tflf
11»«> '/P -"^**~
< ;> "V
S « « s» U M 1|1 r~r"
«K»T Of Mu
^ <yf^ *«>e on m i
^ ^ s
^ $^M^P
777
Fig. 94: Sed Festival Statue of Unknown 1 st Dynasty King (British Museum 37996)
(From: Sourouzian, in Stadelmann and Sourouzian, eds., Kunst des Alten Reiches, pi. 50a-d)
Fig. 95: Sed Festival Statue of Amenhotep III (Cairo JdE 33900 & 33901)
(From: Daressy, BIFAO 11 (1914): pi. 3)
778
Fig. 96: Dahshur, Sed Festival of Sesostris III, Royal Enthronement
(From: Oppenheim, in Arnold, ed., The Pyramid Complex of Senwosret III at Dahshur, pi. 163a)
Fig. 97: Tomb of Surer, 1*| SedFestivalI of Amenhotep III. Royal Enthronement #1
: » / •
ft ."::
m
V •»»«
tl '"H Skills'^J^S^
33 r
(From: Save-Soderbergh, Pn'vate Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pi. 31)
779
Fig. 98: Pectoral from the Tomb of Tutankhamun
(From: Patch, BES 11 (1991-1992): 75, pi. 5)
Fig. 99: Karnak, Temple of Osiris Hkl-D.t, Sed Festival of Osorkon III
~~1
\V
1 !
, \ \
v
Fig. 100: "Feathered" Corselet from the Tomb of Tutankhamun
(From: Patch, BESU (1991-1992): 76, pi. 6)
780
Fig. 101: Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Sed Festival Robe
(From: Fakhry, Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Fasc. 1, p. 134, figs. 157-158)
Fig. 102: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Sed Festival Robe
(From: Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 173)
Fig. 103: Luxor, Standing Statue of Amenhotep III
(From: Aldred, JEA 55 (1969): 74, figs. 1-2)
781
Fig. 104: Abydos, Label of Semerkhet
Fig. 105: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, H3.ty-r in Ceremonial Robe
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 13)
Fig. 106: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Iry-Ntr in Ceremonial Robe
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 45a; Grdseloff, ASAE
44 (1944): 286, fig. 29d)
Fig. 107: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Royal Official in Ceremonial Robe
w^.*.
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 14, 53)
782
Fig. 108: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Iry-Ntr in Ceremonial Robe
r *=*r\ *=* r
(From Naville, Festrval-Hall of Osorkon II, pis 16,312)
Fig. 109: Predynastic Palette Fragment, Palanquins (San Antonio 86.138.62)
(From Scott, in Hawass and Richards, eds , The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt, Vol 2, p 345 figs
1-2)
Fig. 110: Tomb of Hemaka, Label of Djer (Cairo JdE 70114)
itfiti
(From Helck, Untersuchungenzur Thmitenzeit,p 153)
783
Fig. I l l : Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Women in Palanquins, Group 1
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Hedigtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, no. 7b)
Fig. 112: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Women in Palanquins, Group 2
(From: von Bissing and Kees, .Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 44d)
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, no. 50a)
784
Fig. 115: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Daughters in Palanquins, Group 1
' 1
<m.,. •»
'•^Vr!Ji
(From: Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi 41)
(From: Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 44.5)
785
'«•-- —JOt
Fig. 118: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Daughters in Palanquin, Group 4
786
Fig. 120: Gempaaten, SedFestival of Akhenaten, Daughters in Palanquins, Group 6

US' '?vl».*|
(From: Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 58)
Fig. 122: Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman (Louvre E.11888)
h-r.
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 139, fig. 33)
Fig. 123: Abydos, Protodynastic Faience Statue of Royal Woman
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de VAncien Empire egyptien, p. 139, fig. 34)
787
Fig. 124: Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman (A.M. E.326)
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 140, figs. 35-37)
Fig. 125: Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman (Philadelphia U.M. E.4895)
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 140, figs. 38-39)
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 141, figs. 40-41)
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 141, fig. 42)
788
Fig. 128: Protodynastic Limestone Statue of Royal Woman (Lucerne, Kofler K.415)
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 142, figs. 44-46)
Fig. 129: Protodynastic Limestone Statue of Royal Woman (Cairo JdE 71586)
(From: Fay, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 145, figs. 54-56)
Fig. 130: Abydos, Tomb U-182, Protodynastic Ivory Statue of Royal Woman
' -'s^:
(From: Hartmann, in Hofmann and Sturm, eds., Menschenbilder-Bildermenschen: Kunst undKultur im

alien Agypten, p. 41, fig. 1)
789
Fig. 131a: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall
(From: Seidlmayer, in Schulz and Seidel, eds., Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, p. 21, fig. 26)
790
Fig. 131b: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall, Section 1
"^$
Fig. 131c: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall, Section 2
Fig. 131d: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall, Section 3
*#v\yy|
#••>
Fig. 131e: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall, Section 4
tf'w ', /*
«t"l
Pl\ I ^ \i
^ ^ ^K
791
Fig. 131f: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall, Section 5
Fig. 131g: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Main Wall, Section 6
Fig. 131h: Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Painted Tableau, Side Wall
(From: Quibell and Green, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 2, pi. 79)
792
Fig. 132a: Reinscribed Predynastic Palette from Reign of Amenhotep III, Obverse
(From: Hartwig, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 196, fig. 1)
(From: Hartwig, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 198, fig. 4)
(From: Hartwig, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 204, fig 10)
793
Fig. 132b: Reinscribed Predynastic Palette from Reign of Amenhotep III, Reverse
P^l #?fr,V
* ft
*~ V
«*~ i for
J
i '
JO
(From Hartwig, in Engel, etal, eds , Zeichen aus dem Sand, p 202, fig 8)
(From Hartwig, in Engel, etal, eds , Zeichen aus dem Sand, p 203, fig 9)
A)
(From Hartwig, in Engel, eta/, eds , Zeichen aus dem Sand, p 204, fig 10)
794
Fig. 133: Plan of Amenhotep Ill's Sed Festival Constructions at Malqata
MALKATA
I I
795
Fig. 134: Plan of the Birket Habu and its Environs
THEBES
MAl**TA
€ -£#'•' ' v/?/•/ ••.j*-* •••/ •.•;•••• •»

•wrv * . ' • / -v w a* "•..- •»•.••
• OFF ™ * *?*.•_# ^••.iiR i J" »
I a ^ " / . - . - ' * - - - ^ ^ ?•?:.•'• •• :\.W. ••;

\ ^ S f t * •• .^*> ••*•".•/•;•.. • • :•'... • •••'•*
4 »* 4. .»Jî- _ . .- -. . ^ . • * * * . ..... .•,: •., . •.• I t . i . i
*4 -«* ' „f..' S "JA ^ i : . •j •-•••
\ -,- -. *.-»«# ••••• i-d
(From: Description de I'Egypte: Antiquites, Vol. 2, 2n ed., pi. 1)
796
Fig. 136: Plan of Akhetaten
. Steto ¥
2 km
1 mite
(From Freed, etal, eds , Pharaohs of the Sun, p 15)
797
Fig. 137: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Complete Tableau
:&>
•«?
4^^-f, d i l l
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 24)
798
Fig. 138: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 1
(From Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi 26)
Fig. 139: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Text 1
799
Fig. 140: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Fish and Fowl Scene
(From Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi 18, nos 7-9)
f*Sr3§T^cr> I H c S 1 > { S - •> as^TiS^fsgggp 5 ^

800
Tw HI a 1m US
(From: Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 110, figs. 117-118)

^mr
# M n Sir!; ilîiSttfM r . r:
(From: Epigraphic Survey, 7o/«6 of Kheruef pi. 30)
801
Fig. 143: Tomb of Khaemhat, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Enhronement #1
(From: Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pi. 76b)
* ^ > j * - >j»ift=sJTW&£?fez? '/*>%» M<

*!sH
802
Fig. 145: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Hathoric Rites
/L
>-
1 i
1 FY
y t i _ C t3
\\
is, J1
M. »i
1 #
^#4#v î[û
i-
(From Traunecker, 5SF£ 107 (1986) 23-28, figs 3-4)
Fig. 146: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Libation Bearers
(From Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol l,pl 85 5)
803
Fig. 147a: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Hathoric Rites, Part 1
mm
\TtS Ts^Wl
Fig. 147b: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Hathoric Rites, Part 2
TWO*
to l i f t <*"*.
n ^ 5 S n /-, ft yo R £ H ^ ^°/K'r/
V7 i*y
,f/i mm Kfth
804
Fig. 147c: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Hathoric Rites, Part 3
(From: Kuraszkiewicz, GM153 (1996): 75, fig. 2)
Fig. 148a: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4, Part 1
805
Fig. 148b: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4, Part 2
.J
Fig. 148c: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4, Part 3
• •..-A.,^>jb&. ^^^.'.JL^JC;^)^'^^
me
806
Fig. 148d: Tomb of Kheruef, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4, Part 4
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 40)
Fig. 149: Tomb of Tutankhamun, Performance of Nyny-Gesture by Nut
" J < * . -.
(From: Gilbert, etal., eds., Treasures of Tutankhamun, p. 31)
807
Fig. 150: 2 nd Golden Shrine of Tutankhamun, Performance of Ny/ry-Gesture
(From: Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity, pi. 13B)
Fig. 151: 3 r d & 4th Hours of the Book of the Night, Longhaired Women
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * »• *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *J*t,
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* J*.* J .********
* * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * ** ** * ** ** ** .** .** . ,** ,** *
. 0 ^ QÎ*«
(From: Hornung, Tfte Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, pp. 126-127, figs. 73-74)
808
Fig. 152: 6th & 7th Hours of the Book of the Night, Longhaired Women
* , * * * im
******* ***v*v*v*.. **** ** *** ****•* »** *• **. ** *
* * ** * a * * * * ***>*** ** ***? n** s* * , * * * * , ,*
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* *>>£*!
* * * * * * * * * * * * -A * *• *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -k *
(From: Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, pp. 129-130, figs. 76-77)
Fig. 153: Tomb of Hemaka, Seal Impression of Den, Konigslauf & Apislauf
Fig. 154: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Lion-Masked Figure
(From: Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pi. 22)
809
Fig. 155: Medamud, Sed Festival of Ptolemy II, Bearers of Crocodile Statues
i
v i Jit
(From: Sambin and Carlotti, BIFAO 95 (1995): 451, fig. 23)
Fig. 156: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Priest of the Crocodile
-U3JIX
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. lib, 12a, 12c; Kees,
Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, no. 252)
810
(From Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi 42)
^SfcS?^ --LÎSfe
811
Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Royal Procession to the Palace
if
<ai L nn "I? ass- i i L <i-'
n\
/ / /'' ' r"; ' i .„
X" __J/ 1
i 1/ ' ' Iss-#
.£•< i A* \ ii i ii r
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=31 "-1 r- J ll .'
[£.1 us
C\l ' <yi
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• II f* i\
I Jl!
(From: Giorgini, Sb/eZ), Vol. 5, pi. 94)
812
(From Epigraphic Survey, 7bw6 of Kheruef pi 45)
t • •• i i
813
Fig. 160: Karnak, Chateau de l'Or of Tuthmosis III, Nautical Procession
f-
L» W
ii
1 2 3 4 5 6
(From: Traunecker, CRIPEL 11 (1989): 96-97, figs. 4-5)
***
4f"-. ",VV t>'#^
(From: Epigraphic Survey, 7bm6 of Kheruef pi. 45)
(From: Epigraphic Survey, To/wfi of Kheruef pi. 44)
814
Fig. 162: Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, Royal Daughters at Sed Festival
(From: Haeny, Untersuchungen im Totentempel Amenophis' HI, pi. 41)
Fig. 163: Sed Festival Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 44.2.1)
(From: Hayes, BMUi 6 (1948): 272)
Fig. 164: Sed Festival Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 26.7.1340
(From: Hayes, BMMA 6 (1948): 273)
815
Fig. 165: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Standing Royal Daughters
(From: Smith and Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 44, nos. 1,4,6)
Fig. 166a: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten. Rnval Daughters' Hvmn
\
\
* / - • •
\4*u.<Ml. At
/
(From: Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 77)
816
Fig. 166b: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Royal Daughters' Hymn, Detail
(From: Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol 2, fig 16)
Fig. 167: Medinet Habu, Eastern High Gate, Royal Daughters of Ramesses III
VSf,
1 - ™f « /ft
f \ ,
*-/ J Si1< * - •
r &*# \
1*'"
. us, .;>...
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol 8, pi. 648)
817
Fig. 168: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Complete Tableau
i*r* i * ^ in \v- , . „ , , ~ • t -£u V - ' - F t •
Ar«.jj
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*- "It ^*';» I '. ^

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i ;K i fern*
i«K ~. H
OhjSt
J
t '
%
iHf.-i /'1\ f
-,..'*,)l. " •" .ft, «
i -Sti
(From Epigraphic Survey, TowA of Kheruef pi 47)
818
Fig. 169a: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 1, Part 1
819
Fig. 169b: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 1, Part 2
820
Fig. 170: Plaque Depicting Tiye as Sphinx (MMA 26.7.1342)
(From Hayes, BMMA 6 (1948) 273)
Fig. 171: Tomb of Khaemhat, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep HI, Enhronement #2

"_zn_tr*"Tr JUL i_L.IT ^~""""mx.
"4 -,-i i , i J ^ < * i * i ^ i S f « , a - J a ' J J J J - J J U J^»>533^> j Z ) 5 t r S T l

d<i i */t-
trfl 1\
& , i
(From Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol 3, pi 77c)
821
Fig. 172: Tomb of Surer, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhoep III, Royal Enthronement #2
(From: Davies, BMMA 10 (1915): 233, fig. 4)
822
Fig. 173: Tomb of Surer, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Tntl.t-Platform Scenes
cri
£ cS
Oi
11
OB
(From: Save-S6derbergh, Private Tombs at Thebes, Vol. 1, pi. 33)
823
Fig. 174: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 2a
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 58B)
«*,
_Jf,
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 58D)
«
3K _ê SB £
W,l
f *a
V if fj ^
--^ v-
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi 59, bottom register)
^*
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi 61, bottom register)
> ss !*s**3
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef: pi. 61, top register)
3» ' ^ v>ii' u ' C l '
\<(
(From: Epigraphic Survey, 7owA of Kheruef pi. 63, top register)
824
Fig. 175a: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Unloading of Boats, Group 1
(From. Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 86)
(From- Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 87)
i
(From Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 88)
825
I.N
|V-
\\
826
!
1
V
X
Law
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fi &\
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Fig. 175b: Soleb, 1st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Unloading of Boats, Group 2
i 4'f
(From: Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi 134)
827
(From Giorgmi, Soleb, Vol 5, pi 135)
(From Giorgmi, Soleb, Vol 5, pi 136)
(From Giorgini, Soleb, Vol 5, pi 137)
828
Fig. 176: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Slaughter of Bulls
M-f
(From: Kees, Zto Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 361-373)
Fig. 177a: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Slaughter of Bulls, Group 1
L
(From: Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 73.1, left)
l ;
^ - 'i iirii
(From: Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 73.1, right)
829
Fig. 177b: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Slaughter of Bulls, Group 2
r
$ ipi;,,.... "i P^l
fa, J
(From: Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 74.1)
Fig. 177c: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Slaughter of Bulls, Group 3
Fig. 178: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Meat Offerings for the Ennead
rrr
f#
I ''/
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 7, nos. 4, 16-17)
830
Fig. 179: Tomb of Dbh-n=i, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House
WW WW *^$
(From: Edel, Das Akazienhaus undseine Rolle in den Begrabnisriten, fig. 1)
Fig. 180: Tomb of Mrrw-k3=i, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House

«4
(From: Edel, Das Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in den Begrabnisriten, fig. 3)
Fig. 181: Tomb of Pth-htp, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House
„ ; *te#m, / \ ) j * * * * . f \ \ <***>
n// \)C3/Jv n
(From: Edel, Z t e Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in den Begrabnisriten, fig. 4)
Fig. 182: Tomb of K3r, Dance Troupe of the Acacia House
(From: Edel, Das Akazienhaus und seine Rolle in den Begrabnisriten, fig. 2)
831
Fig. 183: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 2b
(From Edel, in Der Manuelian, ed , Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol 1, p 207, fig 4)
832
Fig. 185: Karnak, Talatat Block of Akhenaten, Inspection of Cattle & Oryx Stalls
J3L
#£_ E | - S » fa
1 -SffiSa s-
fW4
-~\L*-4>V
(From Anus, BIFAO 69 (1971) 75, fig 3, block 3)
Fig. 186: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 3
833
Fig. 187: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4a
Fig. 188a: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4b, Group 1
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef pi. 59, top register)
834
Fig. 188b: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4b, Group 2
T"
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 63, top register)
Fig. 188c: Tomb of Kheruef, 3 r d Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Scene 4b, Group 3
QAfi**]N- *"- ** / V \ '1&\ %P\ /f&}
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi 59, middle register)
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 61, bottom register)

del.
out131 *ff ^•*n-* - n1 U„ <^SSE> j | f rarlWf$'
r-.-*.-
*/*
ft-.
j/ \\ Af%7/^
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi 63, bottom register)
835
Fig. 190: Edfu, Ptolemy IV, Driving of the Calves Ritual
if.17,—*£r?
.^- T ? i
T^-j J •: 1 -'il
«• -- A _ »••«••
S3;Wfc,^= i£ ^M
(From Egberts, In Quest of Meaning, Vol 2, cat no B a-Ptol 4-Ed 1, pi 110)
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Komgs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos 13-16)
836
Fig. 192: Libyan Palette
UL<W'L,
i&fi! t.€-4.
;*A-
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi 59, middle register)
.z-j
l J
M ifl*> • "%f• K ' ^ 4 x £ -
^ \
a4i
*~~J& .
r\ T\ f\ f\ /%H „ j, i < i
(From Epigraphic Survey, 7b/wZ> of Kheruef, pi 61, middle register)

., AA-^^gg^. w ^ JE^
i^>
/ M / | '
•_-^«—jj«: LA- > i—A^L^. i-wJj*_-|«i_JB_j==r* ~—'
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iii„
**>8
y/ 2/
(From. Epigraphic Survey, Tomb of Kheruef, pi. 63, middle register)
837
Fig. 194: Elephantine, Archaic Baboon Figurine
(From: Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, pi. 24, cat. no. 119)
Fig. 195: Elephantine, Archaic Figurine of Baboon Taking Doum Nut from Jar
(From: Dreyer, Elephantine, Vol. 8, pi. 28, cat. no. 151)
2 \ \ \
<*** /
*v7 * (flf \\ ^
•J \! "--.X
(From: Schott, GM3 (1972): 32)
838
'i) sit- ^f\ "*-&

"*W
(From Edel, inDer Manuehan, ed , Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Vol l,p 201, fig l , p
207, fig 4, p 205, fig 3)
Fig. 198: Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 15,18
(From Fakhry, The Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol 2, Parti, p 104, fig 105, p 109, fig 113)
839
•-4J BESSES^ <'/
\
I
(From: Fakhry, 77ze Monuments ofSneferu at Dahshur, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 92-93, figs. 79, 82-83)
Fig. 200: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Inspection of Construction Work
It
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. la)
Fig. 201: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Cattle-Count
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 7a, 7c, 9, lOa-b)
840
Fig. 202: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Opening Procession
(From: Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 102a-b)
Fig. 203: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Min Sequence & Royal Procession
\fJ1fV^£k
Ti " LI * -^*% - < ;; T is
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos 33a-b)
Fig. 204: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Transfer of Bow & Arrow #1
S/,,'^
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 44c-d)
841
Fig. 205: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Transfer of Bow & Arrow #2
(From: Von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, no. 45b)
Fig. 206: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep HI, Royal Offerings to Khnum
842
Fig. 207: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Visit to Shrine of Horus
A i^JPMlfF " 7/
-\A %\ //
/..~WA *
\\ ' A \
\\ [\\
I II " t
I V ,'
•Pyl /
n
05 _
J
(From: Giorgini, Sb/e6, Vol. 5, pi. 109)
Fig. 208: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Group Run, Dance, & Hymn
/" I 11 £=i OF
S v
•-CI
r\ XT
f5^ (A {si
:ri ^ r
I>J—=. •
1/
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fb M* fl hj?>.
V •
f 4_
CJ £P W C I Z ^ I
J C fifl D
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iidLkî- ±^ ft 4 M
843
Fig. 209: Soleb, 1 st Sed Fesitval of Amenhotep III, Dancers of Punt
1)4
/ ^ if /
/ i "
ii „ / / y •
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(From: Giorgini, So/eZ>, Vol. 5, pi. 120)
, •A W»
,'lfJ] V B ^ =» ') '''
i
\
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Fig. 210: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Driving of Stakes
n r //'
844
Fig. 211: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Driving of Cattle
u *IJ
(From Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi 55, top left)
(From Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol 1, pi 55, top right)
(From. Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol 1, pi. 55, bottom left)
(From Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi 55, bottom right)
845
Fig. 212: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Preparation of Offerings
Fig. 213: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Presentation of Offerings to Aten
Fig. 214: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Royal Banquet
846
Fig. 215: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Departure from Palace
"ISISfflf
(From: Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festwal at Karnak, pi. 1)
Fig. 216: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Lion-Shaped Palanquins
*b'
(From. Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol 1, pi 24)
Fig. 217: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Lion-Furniture Sequence
(From Smith and Redford, Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. 1, pi. 85.1)
847
Fig. 218: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Scene of Homage to the King
(From: Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pi. 48, Scene 118, left)
PJ2F\
(From Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festtval at Karnak, pi. 48, Scene 118, right)
Fig. 219: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Group Run
<T " \ \ i ^ *
(From: Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festtval at Karnak, pi. 88)
848
Fig. 220: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, King at Steps of Kiosk
•mm r -~mr • " * C J ,
t < 1
- 'it t « 3 •
i 'J
: 1-1/ l » " * ^ m?-t '
/ * « -ft- -1 1 r i:
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I*! " 1'

v
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r:
.»}•
1 r~ •, | f c ••; • '.
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Fig. 221: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Stick Fighting & Boxing
. i ," •
•ft. - V ^ ^ j J 7 i - •*'£*
(From: Gohary, Akhenaten's Sed-Festival at Karnak, pi. 106)
Fig. 222: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Royal Feet-Washing Ritual
\-» V
849
Fig. 223: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Granting of Years & Sed Festivals
Fig. 224: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Sb.t-Offering to Nekhbet

•\% , 13
850
Fig. 225: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, 1st Procession to
•**••. Vh~.L-».'Z£&ztz£ZX*,
Tntl.t-Platform
m fKfcfeTC;« Wj % mA">
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1 tr '~\ hV
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Mm4 ftl fl\l ii Q
13
12
U i - ^ j to,.
Fig. 226: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, 2 nd Procession to Tntl.t-Platform

1 . F.I F2
k« — v mhii
V1 \
Stale
"AT
Hi
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6
/3a£?/E3QiM ^r/
^ ?/^--f c.x <h L«CV#C«>$'
C T C 3 Z I L - E X 3 3ZC
%
w wr&; ^TJ^ <^^ /vrn
W\y» \ f# \ f\r\ i ^( >
Fig. 227: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, 3 r d Procession to Tntl.t-Platform
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 13, no. 4)
851
Fig. 228: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, King at Steps of Kiosk
1 „ 2
IB d^>
Qt
WW
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9, nos 1-4)
(From- Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9, nos. 4-6)
Fig. 229: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Anointing of Wepwawet Standard
E51
852
Fig. 230: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Censing of Pillars and Standards
"21
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9, nos. 7-9, 11-12)
A*\
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 9, nos. 9-10, 13)
853
Fig. 231: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Sb. t-Offering & Purification Rite
(From Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi 11, no 6)
Fig. 232: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Procession of Barque of Amun-Re
(From Lange, in Broekman, etal, eds , The Libyan Period in Egypt, p 209, fig 13)
Fig. 233: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Music Rites & Ritual Prostration
854
Fig. 234: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Northern Barque Procession
(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 25, no. 4)
Fig. 235: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Lower Egyptian Royal Procession
H /& m JM.
£tt»«iM
•/J w
n
¥
r \r
855
Fig. 236: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Libyans Wearing Leather Straps
-L„&1-,.,L 1.3.1'
(From: Borchardt, £>a.s Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pi. 1)
Fig. 237: Causeway of Sahure's Mortuary Temple, Dancing Women
(From: Hawass and Verner, MDAIK 52 (1996): pi. 55a)

F
»g- 238: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Dancing Women
\"-Jt= .•J
• b
-+
^rom: tJorchardt, / t o Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-re, Vol. 2, pi. 54)
856
Fig. 239: Tomb of Hnmw-nfr, Dancing Women
(From Decker and Herb, Bildatlaszum Sport imaltenAgypten, cat no S 3 9, pi 415)
Fig. 240: Tomb of Nn~bfty-k3=i, Dancing Women
(From Decker and Herb, Bildatlaszum Sport imaltenAgypten, cat no S 3 17, pi 417)
Fig. 241: Tomb ofTnty, Dancing Women
^ < h . W~f O / C ^ '-,

\
=H
!M"
(From Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alien Agypten, cat no S 3 61, pi 423)
857
Fig. 242: Tomb of Nfr-ir.t-n=f, Dancing Women
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. S 3.31, pi. 419)
Fig. 243: Tomb of Sfrm-k3=i, Dancing Women
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. S 3.39, pi. 420)
Fig. 244: Gerzeh Palette
(From: Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 444, fig. 297)
858
Fig. 245: Abydos, Tomb U-210, Seal Impression (Abydos K 2160a)
wvw; v^M ÂAA-f w w ° VMM
(From: Hartung, MZW£ 54 (1998): 201, fig. 8, cat. no. 22)
Fig. 246: Hierakonpolis, Early Dynastic Stone Vessel, Bovine Celestial Goddess
(From: Burgess and Arkell, JEA 44 (1958): pi. 9.3)
Fig. 247: Manchester Palette (Manchester Museum 5476)
(From: Cialowicz, La naissance d'un royawne, p. 192, fig. 31)
859
Fig. 249: Gebelein, Predynastic Golden Knife Handle
(From- Aksamit, in Krzyzaniak and Kobusiewicz, eds., Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara,
P 326, fig. 2)
Fig. 250: Predynastic Bird-Shaped Vessel
(From: Hendrickx, CCdE 3/4 (2002): 39, no. 34)
860
Fig. 251: D-Ware Vessel (A.M. 1895.345)
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 256,fig.11.17)
Fig. 252: Naqada, D-Ware Vessel (A.M. 1895.584)
4AAAi4AA44il^
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 243,fig.11.9d)
Fig. 253: Abydos, D-Ware Vessel
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 251,fig.11.12c)
Fig. 254: El-Adaima, D-Ware Vessel (Brooklyn 09.889.400)
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 251,fig.11.12a)
861
Fig. 255: El-Amrah, D-Ware Vessel (British Museum 35502)
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 251, fig. 11.12b)
Fig. 256: D-Ware Vessel (MMA 20.2.10)
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 258, fig. 11.18c)
Fig. 257: D-Ware Vessel in Munich
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 259, fig. 11.19e)
862
Fig. 258: D-Ware Vessel in the Berlin Museum
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 258, fig. 11.18a)
Fig. 259: D-Ware Vessel (Stockholm MM10310)
*&**&**
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 261, fig. 11.21a-b)
Fig. 260: D-Ware Vessel (MMA 12.182.41)
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 262, fig. 11.22b)
863
Fig. 261: Men with Raised Arms & Solar Boats in Predynastic Rock Inscriptions
b i
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 264, fig. 11.24c-i))
864
Fig. 263: Wadi Abu Subeira, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Falcon Standard & Boat
(From: Gatto, eta/., Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 162, fig. 16.)
Fig. 264: Khor Takar, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Boat & Row of Ostriches
(From: Engelmayer, Die Felsgravierungen im Distrikt Sayala-Nubien, Vol. 1, pi. 45.2)
Fig. 265: Abydos, Tomb U-503, Fragmentary Knife Handle (Abydos K 3325)
1 2cm
(From: Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt, p. 183, fig. 9.5 bottom)
865
Fig. 266: C-Ware Bowl in Moscow Museum
(From: Scharff, JEA 14 (1928): pi. 27.4)
Fig. 267: Dominion Behind Thebes, Predynastic Rock Inscription (WHW 353)
5 ew
(From: Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 89, fig. 8)
Fig. 268: Wadi Mineh, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Ostrich Hunt
0
(From: Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 91, fig. 2)
866
Fig. 269: Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Ostrich Hunt
..iiiit r ©
(From: Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 105, fig. 12; p. 106, fig. 12)
Fig. 270: "Gazelle-Goose" Palette (British Museum 32074)
Fig. 271: Four Dogs Palette (Louvre E.11052)
,- ' "-* "
,i i- X,
\ III !
(From: Fischer, Artibus Asiae 21 (1958): 68, figs. 7-8)
867
Fig. 272: Predynastic Beak-Nosed Female Figurine with Raised Arms
(From: Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, p. 338, pi 63, no. 268)
Fig. 273: Predynastic Tattooed Female Figurine with Raised Arms (A.M. 1895.127)
p>®<%
IJ
\M «f
*
' J as W
I In
ri • W [^ \
fc/ f
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(From: Petrie and Quibell, Naqada andBallas, pi. 59.6)
868
Fig. 274: Predynastic Female Figurine with "Arm Stumps'
(From: Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, p. 342, pi. 66, cat. no. 273)
Fig. 275: Predynastic Beak-Nosed Male Figurine with (Brooklyn Museum 35.1269)
it W-t;
(From: Needier, Predynastic and Archaic Egypt in the Brooklyn Museum, p. 342, pi. 66, cat. no. 274))
Fig. 276: Predynastic Tattooed Female Figurine (British Museum 50.680)
J!
m *tS=»
|^3 ff*Q
ililHi ^ Sf^
tlllllHlHUHtllllllllllii I
(From: Hornblower, JEA 15 (1929): 32, figs. 1, 3; pi. 7.4)
W
869
Fig. 277: Predynastic Tattooed Female Figurine (British Museum 58.064)
(From: Hornblower, JEA 15 (1929): 32, figs. 2, 4; pi. 7.3)
Fig. 278: Dominion Behind Thebes, Predynastic Rock Inscriptions (WHW 90 & 84)
(From: Hendrickx, etal., in Riemer, etal., eds., Desert Animals in the Eastern Sahara, p. 217, fig. 23)
870
Fig. 279: Mahasna, C-Ware Bowl (A.M. E2785)
1
(From: Vandier, Manuel, Vol. 1, p. 282, fig. 189; Garstang and Sethe, Mahasna and Bet Khallaf, pi. 3)
Fig. 281: C-Ware Vessel in Petrie Museum (UCL 15339)
(From: Scharff, JEA 14 (1928): 267, fig. 4)
871
Fig. 282: C-Ware Vessel in the Royal Museum (Brussels E.3002)
Is
(From: Hendrickx, CdE 73 (1998): 206-207, figs. 5-6)
Fig. 283: Gebelein, Early Dynastic Relief Fragment, Foundation Ritual
(From: Morenz, in Gundlach and Rochholz, eds., Agyptische Tempel Struktur, Funktion und Programm
p. 238, fig. 3)
Fig. 284: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Prostrate Men
>,
p
(From von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol 2, nos. 20c, 27, 38)
(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 51, 57, 61)
872
Fig. 285: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Prostrate Men
(From. Giorgini, Soleb, Vol. 5, pi. 142, no. 245)
Fig. 286: Gebel Uweinat, Sed Festival Relief of Montuhotep II, Prostrate Man
(From. Degreef, Sahara 20 (2009): 121, fig. 1)
Fig. 287: Gebel Tjauti Inscription #1: The Scorpion Tableau
>
(From: Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol 1, p. 10)
873
Fig. 288: Early Dynastic Votive Offering (Lucerne, Kofler-Truniger K9643R)
A31
(From: Kemp, Ancient Egypt Anatomy of a Civilization, 1st ed., p. 93, fig. 33.4, no. A31)
Fig. 289: Heliopolis, Sed Festival Relief of Djoser
"V
bar"
u mm
(From: Roth, JARCE 30 (1993): 54, fig. 11)
Fig. 290: Ebony Label of Djer (Berlin Museum 18026)
(From: Helck, Untersuchungen zur Thimtenzeit, p. 152)
874
Fig. 291: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Women in Palanquins
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(From: Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Konigs Sahu-Re, Vol. 2, pi. 65)
Fig. 292: Mortuary Temple of Teti, Women in Palanquins
(From: Lauer and Leclant, Le temple haul du complexe funeraire du roi Teti, pi. 24d, block 9)
Fig. 293: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep HI, Incense Offering for Min
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Fig. 294: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep ffl, Divine Mother #1
Fig. 295: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep HI, Divine Mother #2
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876
Fig. 296: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep HI, Divine Mother #3
\j i '' ' « o r
Fig. 297: Soleb, 1 st Sed Festival of Amenhotep III, Divine Mother #4
877
Fig. 298: Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Boundary Markers in Southern Court
Fig. 299: Plan of Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara
m m i«$ «
(From: Friedman, JARCE 32 (1995): 2, fig. 1)
878
Fig. 300a: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau
*£%'
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(From: Darnell, fFaof/' o/7/ze Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power in the Theban Western Desert,
fig. 4)
Fig. 300b: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau, Group 1
y \
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) -> i v\\
cA
f
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y ^
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Wi
(From: Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power in the Theban Western Desert,
fig. 5a)
Fig. 300c: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau, Group 2
fig. 6)
879
Fig. 300d: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau, Group 3
(From: Darnell, Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power in the Theban Western Desert
fig-7)
Fig. 300e: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau, Group 4
J%
fig. 8)
Fig. 300f: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau, Group 5
fig. 10)
880
Fig. 300g: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, Predynastic Royal Tableau, Group 6
V
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fig. 12)
Fig. 301: Abydos, 1 st Dynasty Royal Boat Burials
• • to ' • * • ; # • > . • " *•
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(From: O'Connor, Expedition 33 (1991): 12, fig. 12)
881
Fig. 302: Deir el-Bahari, Ruderlauf of Hatshepsut
^,,^-W-&-' ""'
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• *-—*£_*._* « Q J
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p _: U i. .. __. J^
(From: Naville, Temple of Deir el Bahari, Vol. 4, pi. 93)
Fig. 303: Bubastis, Reception of Oar by Pepi I
(From: Fischer, AJA 62 (1958): 332)
882
Fig. 304: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Reception of Oar by Tuthmosis III
':£_.
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r it i
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(From: Naville, Temple ofDeir el Bahari, Vol. 4, pi. 92)
Fig. 305: Saqqara, 1 st Dynasty Limestone Relief
(From: Jimenez-Serrano, Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty, p. 72, fig.
38)
883
Fig. 306: Ostraca Depicting a Baboon Retrieving a Doum-Nut from a Sack
(From: Keimer, MDAIKl (1938): pi. 18b-c)
,/
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(From: Keimer, MDAIKS (1938): pi. 18d-e)
Fig. 307: Tomb of Iry-nfr (TT 290), Man KneeUng Beside Doum-Palm & Lake
(From: Moftah, GM127 (1992): pi. 2)
884
Fig. 308: Reconstruction of the Naqade-Tafelchen of Aha
HOOQPftJ
Ifc&r* t ± /£
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Fig. 309: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Group Run #1
VI
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(From: von Bissing and Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 2, nos. 12a-c)
885
M»
(From: Kees, Das Re-He iligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 258-260)
Fig. 312: Record of Apislauf of Aha on a Diorite Bowl
o ml #3*
(From: Simpson, Onentaha 26 (1957): 140, fig. 2)
Fig. 313: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Apis Shrine
Fig. 314: Chapelle Rouge, Hatshepsut Performing Apislauf, White Crown
1
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A i t P * ** I > *£
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(From: Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge Le sanctuaire de barque d'Hatshepsout, Vol. 1, p. 63)
886
Fig. 315: Chapelle Rouge, Hatshepsut Performing Apislauf, Red Crown
• » V j
"(, L U :
0 <<
."masss* '&8i'>';tf*~ (
!
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(From: Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge: Le sanctuaire de barque d'Hatshepsout, Vol. 1, p. 110)
Fig. 316: Deir el-Bahari, 19th Dynasty Sarcophagus, Sed Festival Rites
MLM^
887
Fig. 317: Plan of Moat Around Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex
- ' •• » - . . . X J
(From: Swelim, in Baines, ed., Pyramid Studies and Other Essays Presented to I.E.S. Edwards, p. 18, fig
3)
Fig. 318: Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, 7>i/3.f-Platform
(From: Kuraszkiewicz, GM172 (1999): 71, pi. 2, fig. 4)
Fig. 319: Kom as-Samak, Tntl.t-Platform of Amenhotep III
<r 20m
(From: Kuraszkiewicz, GM 172 (1999): 71, pi. 2, fig. 5)
888
Fig. 320: Enthronement Scene of Khaskhemwy
(From: Alexanian, in Grimal, ed., Les criteres de datation stylistiques a I'Ancien Empire, p. 23, pi. 2, fig. 8)
Fig. 321: C-Ware Bowl (Cairo CG 2076)
(From: Hartmann, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 169, fig. 5)
889
Fig. 322: Abydos, Tomb U-415, C-Ware Vase #2
(From: Dreyer, etal, MDAIK 59 (2003): 83, fig. 6a)
Fig. 323: Seal Impressions of Den Depicting Hippo Hunt & Decapitated Enemies
(From: Miiller, in Engel, etal., eds., Zeichen aus dem Sand, p. 478-480, figs. 1-3)
890
Fig. 324: Seal Impression of Den Depicting Two Hippo Hunt Scenes
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. K1.15, pi. 189)
Fig. 325: Mortuary Temple of Userkaf, Hippo Hunt
VERS L6 HARPON «
\ v E H i LES CROCHETS DANS LA
6UEUUE OE L'HtPFOMJTAME
(Labrousse and Lauer, Les complexes funeraires d'Ouserkaf etde Neferhetepes, Vol. 2, p. 75, fig. 224, cat.
no. 152)
Fig. 326: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Hippo Hunt
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. K1.20, pi. 190)
891
Fig. 327: Mortuary Temple of Pepi II, Hippo Hunt
3._
ih Mih ' ^ ^ r*ih V
1
Is, JLXJLJ/J
(From: Jequier, Le monument funeraire de Pepi II, Vol. 3, pi. 32)
Fig. 328: Stockholm Palette
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. K 1.8, pi. 188)
Fig. 329: Hierakonpolis, Ivory Handle Depicting Master of Beasts
PMOTOBff A**H Pi.. XXViif. 3
st P H O T O S * * ™ PL. xxvm. *
(From: Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 16.1-2)
892
Fig. 330: Medinet Habu, Lion Hunt of Ramesses III
(From: Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 1, pi 35)
Fig. 331: Early Dynastic Lion Statues
(From- Grimm and Schoske, Am Beginn der Zeit, pp. 44, 54, cat nos. 60, 97)
Fig. 332: Soleb, Lion Statue of Amenhotep III
(From Kozloff, etal, eds , Egypt's Dazzling Sun, p 219, cat no 30)
893
Fig. 333: Wadi Umm Salam, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Row of Ibexes & Dog
Fig. 334: Eastern Desert, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Rows of Ibexes & Dogs
(From: Winkler, Volker und Volkerbewegungen im vorgeschichtlichen Oberd im Lichte neuer

Felsbilderfunde, fig. 16)
894
Fig. 335: Gebel Tarif Knife Handle
(From: de Morgan, Recherches sur les origines de I'Egypte, Vol. 1, p. 115, fig. 136)
Fig. 336: Carnarvon Knife Handle
(From: Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers of Horus Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, pp. 250, 255, figs. 5, 8)
895
Fig. 337: Abu Zeidan Knife Handle
(From: Cialowicz, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, p. 248, figs. 1-2)
Fig. 338: Pitt-Rivers Knife Handle
896
Fig. 339: Petrie Museum Knife Handle
(From: Smith, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, p. 243, fig. 37)
Fig. 340: Berlin Museum Knife Handle
* •".' ' '" J^st
Fig. 341: Ashmolean Museum Knife Handle (A.M. E.4975)
(From: Whitehouse, MDAIK5& (2002): 429, fig. 1)
897
Fig. 342: Tomb U-127, Abydos, Knife Handle Fragments (Abydos K1103cl-4)
A1 4<.
{^f^^&^m
(From: Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien,p. 221, fig. 10c)
Fig. 343: Cemetery U, Abydos, Knife Handle Fragment (Abydos K 1262b)
(From: Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed., L 'art de I 'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 219, fig. 7)
Fig. 344: Davis Comb
lj:
WWiciiP803^^ Xs^css^gpjQ^y^^
898
Fig. 345: Sayala Mace Handle
f,
&s&&.
(From: Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus: Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen
Hoffman, p. 80, fig. 3)
r;
./
v
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^
m
©lis /
(From: Petrie, etal., Tarkhan 1 and Memphis V, pi. 13.1-6)
899
Fig. 347: Protodynastic Decorated Calcite Vase (Munich 7162)
(From: Grimm and Schoske, Am Beginn der Zeit, p. 40, cat. no. 53)
Fig. 348: Tomb U-134, Abydos, Seal Impression (Abydos K 2087a)
(From: Hartung, MDAIK 54 (1998): 196, fig. 5, cat. no. 11)
Fig. 349: Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Stone Panels Depicting Snakes
(From: Hawass, JEA 80 (1994): 46-47, figs. 1-2)
900
Fig. 350: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Schlangensteine
i *r Kt *#
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/L U-A, I ©
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^frgiSlogcFSgg g H /ll,
(From Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi 4bis, nos 4, 12)
Fig. 351: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Incense Offering & Pillars
(From Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon,
901
J/ /A\
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i
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(Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 95, fig. 17)
Fig. 353: Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing #1
(From: Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, pp. 105, figs. 17-18- p 106 figs
17-20)
Fig. 354: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing
902
Fig. 355: Wadi el-Atwani, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoine
. .. r "V~
Fig. 356: Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Lassoing #2
Fig. 357: Fragmentary Label of Den, Bull Hunt
(From: Dreyer, eta/., MDA1K 54 (1998): pi. 12e)
903
Fig. 358: Abydos, Temple of Seti I, Corridor of the Bull, Bull Lassoing
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. J 126, pi. 181)
Fig. 359: Medinet Habu, Bull Hunt of Ramesses III
W % , • U • *•>" ^ S * M t ™ W I : • ''311 1
—-^ -- -••v. * ' - w?!"^p":>''-- • l <

i -Mis ~&v \
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(From: Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol. 2, pi. 117)
904
Fig. 360: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Desert Hunting
Fig. 361: Incised Black-Topped Vessel (Brussels E.2631)

rr~
\\ /
(From: Hendrickx, in Kroeper, etal., eds., Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa, p. 724, fig. 1)
Fig. 362: D-Ware Vessel from Abydos (A.M. E.2832)
(From: Garfinkel, Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, p. 263, fig. 11.23c)
905
Fig. 363: Plan of Ritual Structure at Locality HK29a in Hierakonpolis
HK29A
excavated area
(From: Friedman, JARCE 45 (2009): 80, fig. 1)
Fig. 364: Mortuary Temple of Userkaf, Desert Hunt
(From: Labrousse and Leclant, Les complexes funeraires d'Ouserkafet de Neferhetepes, Vol. 2, p. 54, figs.
116-119, docs. 47-50)
906
Fig. 365: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Desert Hunt
5 ^
(From Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat no J 20, Faltafel B)
907
Fig. 366: Mortuary Temple of Unis, Desert Hunt
*• '±**&»m
(From: Labrousse and Moussa, La chaussee du roi Ounas, pi. 7a-c, docs. 42-44)
Fig. 367: Mortuary Temple of Unknown King of Late Old Kingdom, Desert Hunt
**:%& .-..
(From: Goedicke, Re-used Blocks, p. 136, cat. no. 83)
908
Fig. 368: Bow Case of Tutankhamun, Desert Hunting Scene
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. J 120, pi. 173)
Fig. 369: Chest of Tutankhamun, Desert Hunt
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. J 121a, pi. 174)
909
Fig. 370: Chest of Tutankhamun, Lion Hunt
îi*4
•"'
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. J 121 b, pi. 176)
Fig. 371: Ostrich Feather Fan of Tutankhamun, Ostrich Hunt
§m -., j j f l i t f >
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. J 122a, pi. 178)
910
Fig. 372: Stela of Seti I from Giza, Desert Hunt
<*iS ¥=AJ>rM* \VE&£X\ "IMMW

s^jUT/lTJSâggTfAl^Bg)^^
y£*m^(rnw£mzi^ affiiis
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r<zZt*2A".liu: >.» asir/.!
asbM^.°:!^tM?d^^.^/ J t ?Ai,t»T
(From Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat no J 125, pi 180)
Fig. 373: Medinet Habu, Desert Hunt of Ramesses III
(From Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol 2, pi 116)
911
Fig. 374: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Desert Animals, Example 1
(From: Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments thebains d'Amenhotep IV, Vol. 2, pi. 53, Assemblage
A0048)
Fig. 375: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, Desert Animals, Example 2
(From: Vergnieux, Recherches sur les monuments thebains d'Amenhotep IV, Vol. 2, pi. 53, Assemblage
A0080)
912
Fig. 376: Karnak, Talatat Block on Akhenaten, Desert Hunt
(From Anus, BIFAO 69 (1971) 71, fig 1, block 1)
Fig. 377: Mortuary Temple of Pepi II, Sacrifice of Oryx

A-
(From Jequier, Le monument funeraire de Pepi II, Vol 2, pi 41)
Fig. 378: Luxor Temple, Amenhotep III Slaughtering Antelope
(From Gayet, Le temple de Louxor, Fasc 1, pi 68, fig 214)
913
Fig. 379: Saqqara, Tomb 3504, Burcrania
(From Wengrov/, Archaeology ofEarly Egypt, p 241, fig 10 10)
Fig. 380: Wadi Nag el-Birka, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Pr-wr Shrine
i i i i i i.
(From Darnell, in Friedman, e&, Egypt and Nubia Gifts of the Desert, p 145, fig 16)
Fig. 381: Abu Gurob, Solar Temple of Niuserre, Large Stone Offering Table
/ I
1
. IN* .. '
(From Borchardt, Z t e Re-Heihgtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol l,p 43, fig 33)
914
Fig. 382: Abu Gurob, Solar Temple of Niuserre, Butchery Facilities
(From: Borchardt, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 1, p. 47, fig. 38)
915
Fig. 383: Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, Major Tableau
'.4 / /C>
-v~1J ) /f
(From: Murnane, JNES46 (1987): 285, figs, la-lb)
Fig. 384: Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, Minor Tableau
(From: Needier, JARCE 6 (1967): pi. 1, fig. 3)
916
Fig. 385: Hierakonpolis, Mace Handle of Narmer, Royal Smiting Ritual
(From: Morenz, GM189 (2002): 83, fig. 3)
M^p „ -v ff
l
AW W '•
(From: Darnell, in Friedman, ed, Egypt and Nubia: Gifts of the Desert, p. 146, fig. 17)
917
Fig. 387: Label of Narmer from Abydos, Royal Smiting Ritual
(From: Morenz, GM189 (2002): 81, fig. 1)
Fig. 388: Label of Aha from Abydos, Royal Smiting Ritual
(From: Petrie, Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, Vol. 2, pi. 11.1)
Fig. 389: Label of Djet from Abydos, Royal Smiting Ritual & Ritual Combat
(From: Dreyer, etal., MDAIK 59 (2003): pi. 18f)
918
Fig. 390: Wadi el-Humur, Southern Sinai, Smiting Ritual of Den, Example 3
x
J- i 1
1
\ ,(jV- ,?L _>^ y T\. Ri
£."5.
\ • — '
\ < \'
I, «7
S..,'1 A J' \
\\_J, 4 v ;i i- ./ y
Fig. 391: Ceremonial Palette, Smiting Scene, Unknown 1 st Dynasty King
(From: Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt, p. 91, fig. 8.7)
Fig. 392: Hierakonpolis, Proto-/Early Dynastic Mace Handle, Smiting Ritual
^yp§
nii) f n j s f \ i i « i
wmmk
(From: Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 15, nos. 1-2,4)
919
Fig. 393: Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Mace Handle, Animals & Large Maces
XZZ& ' ^ M \
(From: Whitehouse, in Friedman and Adams, eds., Followers ofHorus, p. 79, fig. 2)
Fig. 394: Wadi Magar, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Crocodiles & Large Maces
O.-.^fa.^JL^JL,
920
Fig. 395: Kom el-Qal'a, Smiting Ritual & Enthronement of Merenptah
(From Petrie, Palace ofApnes, pi 21)
Fi
%dp: Nag
^ - ^ " g ^ ^ P j j g g g ^ a s t i c Rock Inscription, Royal Tableau
(From Hendrickx, etal, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009) 170, fig 1, Hendnckx and Gatto, Sahara 20 (2009) 150,
fig 6)
921
Fig# 3 9 7 :
Karnak, Relief of Tutankhamun, Display of Enemv on Roval Barque
(From: Grimm, J £ ^ 73 (1987): pi. 14.1)
(From: Grimm, JEA 7;, M 987): 202-206, fig. 2, pi. 14.2)
Fig. 398: Hermopolis, Talatat of Akhenaten, Roval Baraue (MMA 1985.328.15)
(From: Werner, JARCE 23 (1986): 121, fig. 19)
922
Fi
8 - 399^Medinet Habu, Ramesses Ill's Victory over Sea Peoples
7m
(7
^.^ - l i b r i fut ir^fci.-?#r ->•
l
\ C< w
f Jfc*. \ '
^%St* #
It
// V-- r >r
k %
1/ H
if 11
,^S / i'*
J
\* 1* >ft. -s if ^ i-x *.<-
a
*\
«, v J * -
(From Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol 1 pi 42)
Fig. 400: Medinet Habu, Ramesses Ill's Victory over Libyans
mi^MSiSsn
- ^ % -> y ^ iC! - "f =5, - \
./ it \
4* ¥«
(From Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Vol 1, pi 22)
923
Fig. 401: Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Object, Decapitated Enemies
(From: Droux, BSEG 27 (2005-2007): 34, fig. 1)
Fig. 402: Tomb U-127, Abydos, Knife Handle Fragments (Abydos K1103M-2)
"^
\
(From: Dreyer, in Ziegler, ed.,L'artde I'Ancien Empire egyptien, p. 220, fig. lOa-b)
Fig. 403: Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Plaque
i
(From: Whitehouse, MDAIK5S (2002): 434, fig. 5)
Fig. 404: Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Macehead

*
W..&AJ.
(From: Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 12.4)
924
Fig. 405: Abydos, Early Dynastic Plaques Depicting Bound Prisoners
(From: Petrie, Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, Vol. 2, pi. 4, nos. 12, 20)
Fig. 406: Coptos, Protodynastic Statue of Min, Side Panel (Cairo JdE 30770)
(From: Breyer, JEA 88 (2002): 61, fig. 11)
925
Fig. 407: Gebel Tjauti Inscription #2: Elephant on Mountains
M
Mk
i&
nwr."î5r\ N^
5sm
(From: Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey, Vol. 1, p. 19)
Fig. 408: Cemetery U, Abydos, Labels Depicting Elephants on Mountains
-^m
xis.,
(From: Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1, pp. 119, 135, figs. 76, 82, cat. nos. 52-60, XI84)
926
Fig. 409: Hierakonpolis, Protodynastic Ivory Object, Elephants on Mountains
(From: Quibell and Petrie, Hierakonpolis, Vol. 1, pi. 16.4)
Fig. 410: Wadi Magar, Protodynastic Rock Inscription, Elephant Standard on Boat
(From: Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 96, fig 18)
Fig. 411: Reconstructed Label of Aha, Ssp Smrw mhw Ritual
927
Fig. 412: Stone Vessel of Adjib, Unification of the Two Lands
(From: Lacau and Lauer, Lapyramide a degres, Vol. 4, Fasc. 1, pi. 7.33)
Fig. 413: Stone Vessels of Khasekhemwy, Unification of the Two Lands
n^%
«îtx
AX.ASAST** V * « «
Fig. 414: Dendera Chapel of Montuhotep II, Unification of the Two Lands
(From: Schoske, Das Erschlagen der Feinde, p. 175, cat. no. A46)
928
Fig. 415: 18th Dynasty Reliefs, Prisoners Bound to Sm*-Sign
(From: Schafer, MDAIK 12 (1943): 89, figs. 28-30)
(From: Schafer, MDAIK 12 (1943): 90-91, figs. 31-32, 34)
Fig. 416: El-Lischt, Base of Statue of Sesostris I, Unification of the Two Lands
(From: Dohrmann, SAK 34 (2006): 110,fig.5)
Fig. 417: Karnak, Akhmenu, Military Instruction Scenes of Tuthmosis III
yy ..A
l
v/ z:
\L ^
' 1|' " '
/ '•»' 1-'!*,^"Ffi'flU'
/ ..^•'^•~„
f 'I*4 J \
* J i
\J r^
!• y I / ', i ' '"" ^
—'
tf ; / i -, •
• r y - - .-
I • \\
:-V >?felX ;
929
Fig. 418: Karnak, Edifice of Taharqa, Ball-Throwing and Arrow-Shooting
y~
j
1 v-!,,1,v ,' il
sis CS ^ I * ~ »i
. .,» Ij
rc^
J
V l-:
• w^™"
^
3* ~4J?- . yVwv>.
y-*/«
<**
te
I >« 1 1 . 1 '(
,• I {
,^fr
il, J
Ill ' v is *. jl
(From: Cooney, JARCE 37 (2000): 31, fig. 12)
Fig. 419: Karnak, Sed Festival Relief of God's Wife Shepenwepet II
f
/feju_!
— • .
B=> - ^ i (J *
^ 4 .T^jL^^
^
(From: Ayad, Gou?'* Wife, God's Servant, p. 111, fig. 2.28)
930
Fig. 420: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Ball-Striking Ritual of Tuthmosis III
•« * »
y
^ i
< ''it -k; aV'-'-il

/a-
I l-r
I*
W y •
|t*,f ' " ^ f ' j : ) fllf't eifl

7it
l
;f
I -~*v I'; \ ;
//
*
H !
.- ..tk.
(From: Naville, Te/Mp/e o/Deir el-Bahari, Vol. 4, pi. 100)
Fig. 421: Gempaaten, Sed Festival of Akhenaten, r n£-Sign Carrying Large Bow
931
Fig. 422: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Dd-Pillars Carrying Large Bows
6
$<' %J) ^JkJk

(From: Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pis. 1.5, 9.6)
Fig. 423: Bubastis, Sed Fesival of Osorkon II, Carrying of Large Bow
(From- Naville, Festival-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 2, no. 11)
Fig. 424: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Transfer of Bow to Hry-P
(From: Naville, Festtval-Hall of Osorkon II, pi. 19, no. 5)
Fig. 425: New Year's Flask from Late Period, Stick-Fighters (Brooklyn 16.144)
(From: Fazzini, JSSEA 28 (2001): pi. 1)
932
Fig. 426: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Causeway, Wrestling
\V\\
'W
ki
_\
v=*
M~
(From: Hawass and Verner, MDAIK52 (1996): 185, fig. 2b)
Fig. 427: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Causeway, Stick Fighting
(From: Decker, in Decker and Thuillier, Le sport dans I'Antiquite, p. 38, fig. 20)
Fig. 428: Mortuary Temple of Sahure, Causeway, Archery
(From: Hawass and Verner, MDAIK 52 (1996): pi. 56a)
933
Fig. 429: Beni Hasan, Tomb of Amenemhat, Ritual Combat Scenes
^hl
;MWp^
M&:
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alien Agypten, cat. no. L 21, Faltafel F)
934
Fig. 430: Beni Hasan, Tomb of Khety, Ritual Combat Scene
(From- Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat no. L 19, Faltafel E)
935
Fig. 431: Beni Hasan, Tomb of Baqti III, Ritual Combat Scenes
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. L 18, Faltafel D)
936
F'g. 432: Tomb of Khonsu (TT 31), Stick-Fighting on Ceremonial Barques
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. M6a, pi. 317)
•it*. •
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. M6b, pi. 318)
937
Fig. 433: Amarna, Tomb of Meryre II, Ritual Combat at Durbar of Akhenaten
(From Davies, Rock Tombs ofEl Amarna,Vol 2, pi 38)
1
n/ imMi
(From Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat nos L28, M3,N2, pi 309)
938
Fig. 434a: Medinet Habu, Window-of-Appearance of Ramesses III, Full Scene
fc ^ . ' fit". », •: 's' - ^ - ^ *te ^ jjl I
1 . ' . • * >
B ^ - 4 - 'I'"-
f _ /« V 7r ira.r.
'4^1 *«r
.•
.1.1 • '""ia"''-^
t j.
i 'I " ^ - ' - >.

I •- - . - i
• •* W ^ "1
• •
.S. * \$ f •
* -v
• r«
I.*? V f M^l ** .«.
i ei. I *
• 7 *•»•»-*• - z •
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alien Agypten, cat. no. L34, pi. 311)
939
Fig. 434b: Medinet Habu, Window-of-Appearance of Ramesses III, Detail
aw* <*
TÛ
/4|§ f ' ^Jf*5^1,'-;,?•*;
^'V*w."
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. nos. L34, M9, Faltafel G)
940
Fig. 435: Tomb of Amenmese (TT 19), Ritual Combat Scenes
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. nos. L30, M5, pi. 310)
Fig. 436: Cemetery U, Abydos, Labels Depicting Dueling Wrestlers
(From: Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab, Vol. 1, pp. 119, 135,figs.76, 82, cat. nos. 44, X183)
Fig. 437: Cemetery B, Abydos, Label Depicting Dueling Wrestlers
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. L2, pi. 301)
941
Fig. 438: Tomb of Tjanuni (TT74), Crew of Marines & Military Standard
/ A
/ / / / A A
v
/ / / / / / \ / /
/
v>r" -4' / / _
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. nos. L27, Ml, pi. 308)
942
Fig. 439a: Semna, Reliefs of Tuthmosis III, Portable Barque Procession, Scene 1
4T-*
(From: Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pis. 48b-49a)
Fig. 439b: Semna, Reliefs of Tuthmosis III, Portable Barque Procession, Scene 2
Fig. 439c: Semna, Reliefs of Tuthmosis III, Portable Barque Procession, Scene 3
• - t - .-
943
Fig. 439d: Semna, Reliefs of Tuthmosis III, Portable Barque Procession, Scene 4
1
-'* V ' » " ™ " --.'- - ' • '*'- X :' UL,
- r '
MI . .1
'~~r~.-/, '•' f ¥ V * \ " " " ' '• '''' 4 '" •

, \\"
(From: Lepsius, Denkmaler, Vol. 3, pis. 48b-49a)
Fig. 440a: Chapelle Rouge, Boat Procession of Opet Festival, Royal Barque
'.' r-
* J .' ,'
>~)
#;
• i >r
(From: Burgos and Larche, La chapelle rouge d'Hatshepsout, Vol. 1, p. 61)
Fig. 440b: Chapelle Rouge, Boat Procession of Opet Festival, Barque of Amun-Re
• --'!.
8 £ * i .<• »
i 1 ». —
V
kr fcj
\, K s
944
Fig. 441a: Chapelle Rouge, Boat Procession of Valley Festival, Royal Barque
Fig. 441b: Chapelle Rouge, Boat Procession of Valley Festival, Barque of Amun-Re
945
Fig. 442: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Boat Procession of Valley Festival
946
Fig. 443a: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Boat Procession of Opet Festival, Part 1
1 i-
Iff
i
<>i
'ft,
i' 4.
"'•%, £« ^*j
•sr*: 1 0 | I!
v. . - . « { > ! *
! .;l^t.^«';y ••' ". *"• "a* 9 ^ * S

- * • —«—llijyv
(From: Naville, 7e/wp/e o/£>e/> el Bahari, Vol. 5, pi. 124)
947
Fig. 443b: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Boat Procession of Opet Festival, Part 2
• • •}»-« !« -v. "J* i
'• v :. H i iff'' •> 3ty J«.
4$; '•- il. £ * £ *

.2.
I
I Z'?'- H;
•it' f.M"W"
•f, j j i #•. '
| f • - ^ jiff'' r f f §r/ .
'. <# ^ • , '
I I I" ' ' . > - ^ V . •*' • • im, >*
--., ^^% * # U ;. . •> '1;

r
« " T|
*: f l i f l . 1 ' -'X
>i'- '" - I •' ' • . ill' %#^^ ^ '
"*-'.f'\
; ; • » *
'"'•rl - " ^ i r ^ - l w "V
948
Fig. 443c: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Boat Procession of Opet Festival, Part 3
\ i Il1'
*r t "
. •[•• >
K"' •»
•i *"
.i>
i r Fi-
*-!•-* V'.
i I. !<
i 1
n
ILL
949
Fig. 444: Wadi Abbad, Predynastic & 18th Dynasty Rock Inscriptions
(From: Basch, Musee imaginaire de la marine antique, p. 59, fig. 100a)
(From: Rohl, Followers ofHorus: Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 20, figs. 14-15)
950
Fig. 445: Tomb U-127, Abydos, Seal Impression (Abydos K830c-d)
(From: Hartung, MDAIK 54 (1998): 190-191, fig. 2, cat. nos. 3a-3b)
Fig. 446: Beda, Predynastic Ceramic Vessel, Incised Potmark

trrrt . \I
(From: Cltual, ASAE 13 (,1914;: i20, fig. 5)
Fig. 447: Wadi Magar, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Nautical Procession
951
Fig. 448: Wadi Abbad, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Ruler on Barque
(From: Basch, Musee imaginaire de la marine antique, p. 60, fig. 102)
Fig. 449: Khor Abu Subeira, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Nautical Procession
(From: Murray and Myers, JEA 19 (1933): 129, fig. 1)
i>**a
i^mSffi
V*
. •;; , »v5^" s >.!ii
W:? .:* : M # ^ ^ : " ?•*-.•:
. ".* ***. *
(From: Galio t'/t//. Arulico-Ml 19 '2009' 1 "> l '"•' l7
»
952
Fig. 450: Wadi el-Faras, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Nautical Procession
lr
P449 ~sPfW
• f ft EB,S9B2
^8.1
0.5 1m
. H pan
(From: Storemyr, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009): 126-127, figs. 8, 11)
Fig. 451: C-Ware Bowl (MMA 35.10)
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. Kl. 11, pi. 189)
Fig. 452: C-Ware Bowl (Cairo CG 207l=JdE 31069)
(From: de Morgan, Recherches sur les ongines de I'Egypte, Vol. 1, pi. 2.1)
953
Fig. 453: C-Ware Bowl (Berlin Museum 23222)
(From: Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 22a)
Fig. 454: Tomb 1805, Mostagedda, C-Ware Bowl (Cairo JdE 52 835)
(From: Behrmann, Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der Alten Agypter, Vol. 1, doc. 26a)
Fig. 455: Wadi Gash, Site 18. M 140, Predynastic Rock Inscription
Fig. 456: Tomb B5, Abydos, C-Ware Bowl (A.M. 1909.1026)
>XW*\*:»»VX*«RV:I»
954
Fig. 457: Wadi Mineh, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Abbreviated Hippo Hunt
(From: Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Agypten, cat. no. K l . l , pi. 187)
Fig. 458: Wadi Mineh, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Bull Tethered to Boat
Fig. 459a: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Full Tableau
®^%%
(From: Zajac, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 12 (2008): 17, fig. 1)
955
Fig. 459b: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Group 1
(Fuchs, African Archaeological Review 1 (1989): 138, fig. 15)
Fig. 459c: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Group 2
Fig. 459d: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Group 3
956
Fig. 459e: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Group 4
Fig. 459f: Wadi el-Barramiya, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Group 5
Fig. 460: Wadi Umm Salam Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat #1
(From: Morrow and Morrow, Desert RATS, p. 52, fig. P)
957
Fig. 461: Wadi Umm Salam Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat #2
(From: Morrow and Morrow, Desert RATS, p. 79, fig. A)
Fig. 462: Naga Abidis, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat
1Scms
(From: Vahala and Cervicek, Katalog der Felsbilder aus der tschechoslowakischen Konzession in Nubien,
Vol. 2, pi. 84, cat. no. 334)
1 *f%
f
%
V* \\ •n
f\
f»
'i
/ i
(From: Darnell, Archeo-Nil 19 (2009). 89, fig. 10)
958
Fig. 464: Predynastic Rock Inscription, Giraffe & Boat
(From: Westendorf, in Gorg and Pusch, eds., Festschrift Elmar Edel, p. 444, fig. 3)
Fig. 465: Bubastis, Sed Festival of Osorkon II, Unmanned Barques
959
y^JVSwr
"2&
/ '
\1
* .
I*
960
Fig. 467: Abu Gurob, Solar Temple of Niuserre, Brick Boat
(From: Borchardt, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 1, pi. 5)
Fig. 468: Abu Gurob, Sed Festival of Niuserre, Towing of Barque(s)
(From: Kees, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. 3, nos. 201-204)
Fig. 469: Elkab, Tomb of Setau, Sed Festival of Ramesses III, Barque of Nekhbet
(From: Gardiner, ZAS 48 (1910): 48)
961
Fig. 470: Khor Abu Subeira, Unpublished Predynastic Rock Inscription
(Photo courtesy of Lauren Lippiello)
Fig. 471: Wadi Abu Markab el-Nes, Predynastic Rock Inscription, Boat with Pilot
(From: Rohl, Followers ofHorus Eastern Desert Survey Report, Vol. 1, p. 107, fig. 1.)
962
Fig. 472a: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, 1 st Dynasty Inscription, MV.ty-Barque #1
Fig. 472b: Wadi of the Horus Qa-a, 1 st Dynasty Inscription, MV. ry-Barque #2
^ ."""""^•s.
• t...l.l...it»Mi
(From: Darnell, in Friedman and McNamara, eds., Egypt at its Origins, Vol. 3 (forthcoming), fig. 17)
Fig. 473: Mortuary Temple of Montuhotep II, King Piloting Ceremonial Barque
(From: Ullmann, in Dorman and Bryan, eds., Sacred Space and Sacred Function in Ancient Thebes, p. 16,
fig. 2.4)
963
Fig. 474: Karnak, Grand Chateau d'Amon, Sesostris I Piloting Ceremonial Barque
(From: Gabolde, Le 'Grand Chateau d'Amon' de Sesostris f a Karnak, pi 9)
Fig. 475: Mounds on Periphery of Birket Habu
*k*-
(From: Babied, Memnonia 4-5 (1993): pi. 28a)
964

LeBlanc. "In Accordance With The Documents of Ancient Times" The Origins, Development, and Significance of The Ancient Egyptian Sed Festival (Jubilee Festival) PDF

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LeBlanc. "In Accordance With The Documents of Ancient Times" The Origins, Development, and Significance of The Ancient Egyptian Sed Festival (Jubilee Festival) PDF

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Abstract

"In Accordance with the Documents of Ancient Times":

frequently depicted royal iconographic motifs in the decorative relief programs of

Predynastic and Protodynastic iconography suggests that Upper Egyptian rulers

celebrated a version of the Sed Festival as early as Naqada I. Furthermore, an in-depth

effectively. Second, by symbolically demonstrating his control over cyclical phenomena

Dissertation Director: Prof. John Coleman Darnell

All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERS

Chapter 1: The Ancient Egyptian Sed Festival: An Introduction 1

Chapter 2: Major Sed Festival Relief Programs 44

Chapter 3: Music and Dance: Hathoric Rituals of Renewal 263

3.0. Introduction 263

Chapter 4: The Ritual Run of the King {Konigslauf) 321

4.0. Introduction 321

4.3.4. Double-Enthronement as the Culmination of the Konigslauf. 365

Chapter 5: Hunting & Butchery Rituals 372

5.0. Introduction 372

6.0. Introduction 423

Chapter 7: Nautical Processions 510

7.0. Introduction 510

iconography. Inspired by Prof. Darnell's deep knowledge of all periods of ancient

Festival proved to be a considerably larger undertaking than I had originally envisioned.

insightful comments on my dissertation drafts and for their continued support of my

During my time as a graduate student at Yale University, I have also learned a

supportive of me during my dissertation work; he has generously hosted me at his home

including Lauren Lippiello, Alicia Cunningham-Bryant, Dr. Caitlin Barrett, Tasha

Dobbin, Marina Wilding Brown, Julia Hsieh, and Katie Cobb.

I would not be an Egyptologist today were it not for the encouragement of my

possessions to the floodwaters that resulted from Hurricane Katrina's landfall in

Louisiana. My parents' resilience and consistently upbeat attitude—despite their

tremendous loss—has truly placed life in a new perspective for me.

1. Wadi Hammamat, Double-Enthronement of Pepi 1 737

2. El-Lischt, Double-Enthronement of Amenemhat 1 737

3. Medamud, Double-Enthronement of Sesostris 1 738

4. Qurna, Double Enthronement of Amenhotep 1 738

5. Carnelian Plaque of Amenhotep III (MMA 26.7.1340) 739

6. Qurna, Double-Enthronement of Ramesses 1 739

7. Abydos, Double-Enthronement of Seti 1 739

9. Deir el-Bahari, Konigslauf of Montuhotep II 740

10. Karnak, Konigslauf of Amenhotep 1 740

11. Karnak, Konigslauf of Ramesses II 741

12. Deir el-Bahari, Vogellauf of Hatshepsut 741

13. Karnak, Vasenlauf of Amenhotep 1 742

14. Deir el-Bahari, Ruderlauf of Montuhotep II 742

15. Coptos, Ruderlauf of Sesostris I (UCL 14786) 742

16. Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Den, Sed Festival 743

17. Saqqara, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Adjib, Sed Festival 743

18. Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Semerkhet, Sed Festival 743

19. Saqqara, Inscribed Stone Vessels of Qa-a, Sed Festival 743

20. Abydos, Inscribed Stone Vessel of Qa-a, Sed Festival 744

21. Scorpion Macehead 744

22. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 13-14 744

24. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival ofNiuserre, Driving Stakes 745

25. Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser, Subterranean Relief Panels 745

26. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 5-8 746

27. Abu Gurob, Sed Festival ofNiuserre, ^ora'gs/aw/'Sequence 746

28. Memphis, Palace of Apries, Gateway, Konigslauf Scenes 747

29. Dahshur, Sed Festival of Snofru, Panels 1-2 747

35. Fragmentary Labels of Den, Hippo Hunt 750

36. Wooden Label of Den, Fowling Run 750

37. Seal Impression of Djer, Konigslauf. 751

38. Abydos, Label of Den, Konigslauf '& Wepwawet Standard 751