Petuabastis

Petuabastis, a  name  given  to  several  kings  of  the Third  Intermediate Period and Late period, meaning "gift of Bast."

Petuabastis I:

Petuabastis I (r. 813-C.773 BCE)  first king of the twenty-third  (Tanite or Libyan) dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period. The  third-century BCE Egyptian historian Manetho called the dynasty  Tanite, pinpointing the city of Tanis, in the eastern Nile Delta, as  the place of family origin (not its capital), implying that it was an  offshoot of the twenty-second  dynasty.  The  relationship  of  Petuabastis I  to Sheshonq III is unknown, although they may have been brothers. The  seat  of  the twenty-third  dynasty,  however,  is  not  certain.  Its  last ruler, luput II, was named after Petuabastis I's coregent luput I,  who reigned at Leontopolis (Tell Moqdam) as Piya's victory stela  indicates;  the  burial  of  a  Queen  Kama(ma),  mother  of  Osorkon  III(?), was found at Tell Moqdam. Petuabastis I and his entire line  probably reigned at Tell Moqdam, other monuments of theirs are  known  from  the Nile Delta  and  Memphis and  not  only  from  Thebes,  where  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  dynasty  may  have  reigned. In his fifteenth and sixteenth years of reign, Petuabastis I  had  a  short-lived  co-regent,  luput  I.  The  separate  regime  of  Petuabastis  I  enabled  the  rebellious  Thebans  to  withdraw  recognition of the twenty-second dynasty kings in favor of the new  line.

Petuabastis II:

This  local  king  in  Tanis  is  known  from  inscriptions at Tanis, an unfinished statue at Memphis, and blocks  at the museum in Copenhagen. Petuabastis II was encountered in Tanis by  Assurbanipal,  king  of  Assyria,  in  667-666  BCE,  and  dethroned  by  him  in  665  BCE.  He  recurred  in  later  Egyptian  tradition  in  four  of  six  Demotic  tales  in  the  Inaros-Petuabastis  Cycle. The known manuscripts are of Greco-Roman date; one of  them also names Esarhaddon of Assyria.

Petuabastis III:

A  minor  rebel  king  of  the First Persian Occupation,  or  twenty-seventh  dynasty,  Late  period,  Se-heribre  Petuabastis III had a reign of uncertain date. He may have been in  power as early as the end of the reign of either Cambyses, who  ruled from 525 to 522 BCE, or Darius I, who ruled from 521 to 486  BCE.

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·        Pan-Grave People and Culture
·        Pepinakht Heqaib
·        Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt
·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt
·        Petamenophis
·        Petosiris
·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie in 1903

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942),  archaeologist,  bom  at  Charlton,  Kent,  on  17  June  1853.  His  father,  William  Petrie,  was  a  civil  engineer  and  surveyor; his mother, Anne, was the daughter of Matthew Flinders,  the navigator and explorer. Petrie was a delicate child, educated by  his  parents  at  home.  His  mother  taught  him  music,  history,  and  French, and encouraged him in her own hobbies, geology and coin- collecting,  while  his  father  schooled  him  in  mathematics  and  science  and  taught  him  surveying.  Together  they  measured  Stonehenge,  and  Petrie  surveyed  ancient  earthworks  in  the  West  Country. In 1880 he went to Egypt to test  the  theory that the Great Pyramid of Khufu had been built by divine inspiration. He surveyed the whole pyramid field, and his careful  measurements refuted the theories of the "British Israelites," which  brought  him  to  the  attention  of  scholars.  Distressed  at  the  destruction of the monuments by careless excavators and treasure- hunters,  he  eagerly  accepted  the  suggestion  of  Amelia  Edwards,  secretary of the newly founded Egypt Exploration Society, that he  should  excavate  at  Tanis in the Nile Delta. In his first season  (1883-1884), he laid down new principles of scientific excavation  in Egypt: careful recording of all finds, even broken objects unfit  for  museum  display,  and  personal  supervision  of  his  workmen,  whom  he  rewarded  for  what  they  found.  Pottery  and  potsherds,  until then discarded as rubbish, became valuable For relative dating  purposes. In the following year, Petrie discovered two Greek cities  in  the  Delta,  Naukcratis  and  Daphne;  a  wealth  of  Greek  pottery  confirmed their identities.

The distinctive black-topped
Egyptian pottery of the PreDynastic period associated with Flinders
Petrie's Sequence Dating System

When he left the Egypt Exploration Society in 1886, Edwards  helped him find private sponsorship. In the Faiyum Depression, to  the  west  of  the Nile,  he  opened  two  brick  pyramids,  found  a  number of mummies of the Roman period with painted portraits,  and excavated a Middle Kingdom town. In 1890, he was persuaded  to dig in Palestine; at Tell el-Hesy he cut a section through the mound, dating the levels there using recovered pottery from Egypt,  with which he was familiar; for this he has been called "the father  of  Palestinian  archaeology."  At  Tell  el-Amama,  one  winter,  he  found  the  palace  of  Akhenaten,  with  its  painted  pavement,  and  Aegean  pottery,  which  established  a  chronological  link  with  the  Mycenaean world. In 1892, Edwards died; she left money to found  a  chair  of Egyptology at  University  College,  London  and  wanted  the  new  professor  to  excavate  in  Egypt  and  train  students.  She  made it clear that Petrie was her choice. In 1905, he left the Egypt  Exploration  Society  for  good  and  founded  the British School of Archaeology in Egypt;  his  wife  Hilda  (Uriin),  whom  he  had  married in 1896, acted as its secretary and main fundraiser for the  rest of their lives, besides helping him in the field.

One  of  Petrie's  most  important  contributions  to  archaeological  science  was  his  system  called  Sequence  Dating.  Another  was  his  discovery of the royal tombs of the first dynasty at Abydos (1899- 1903). Methods and Aims in Archaeology (London, 1904) was to  become  a  textbook  for  his  students,  many  of  whom,  having  survived  the  spartan  regime  of  a  Petrie  camp,  became  archaeologists  of  the  next  generation.  Petrie  set  an  example  with  the prompt publication of his excavation reports; a number of popular books; the journal Ancient Egypt (which he edited);  and lectures that fostered public interest in Egyptology. Elected a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  in  1902  and  a  Fellow  of  the  British  Academy in 1904, he was knighted in 1923. In 1935, he moved to  Palestine;  his  last  fieldwork  was  on  large  tells  near  the  Egyptian  frontier. He died on 29 July 1942, and he is buried in Jerusalem, his  last home.

Petrie's  "Journals"  and  letters  from  the  field  (from  1880  to  1926) are in the Griffith Institute, Oxford; copies of these, and his  notebooks  and  diaries,  are  in  the  Petrie  Museum  at  University  College, London.

Recent Pages:


·        Ancient Egypt videos
·        Pan-Grave People and Culture
·        Pepinakht Heqaib
·        Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt
·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt
·        Petamenophis
·        Petosiris

Petosiris

Tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel

"he whom Osiris has given"; also  called Kliapakhonsu) was high  priest of Thoth and lesonis-priest  (oikonomos, head of finance) of the temple of Thoth at Hermopolis  during  the  second  half  of  the  fourth  century  BCE.  He  is  famous  today for the well-preserved family chapel that he erected at Tuna el-Gebel.

The family of Petosiris had been proteges and appointees of the  thirtieth dynasty. His father Es-shu had administered the temple at  royal behest, probably under Nektanebo II, and it was one of Es- shu's younger sons, Petosiris, who eventually took over his father's  estate as "Master of All His Property," and "Greatest of the Five,  Controller  of  the  Cult-seats,"  priestly  titles  of  the  fifteenth  (Hermopolitan) nome of Upper Egypt. With priesthoods at Horwer  and  Nefrusi,  as  well  as  the  sacerdotal  functions  for  Thoth  and  Amun-Re, Petosiris received his inheritance just when Egypt was  about  to  endure  the  second  Persian  occupation,  by  the  army  of  Artaxerxes III  in  342  BCE.  His  vivid  account  of  the  devastation  caused  by  this  invasion—  it  cannot  be  dated  later—is  now  graphically supported by the excavations at Mendes, which show  the fury and methodical demolition of the site by the Persians:

Painting from the tomb of
Petosiris depicting an ancient
Libyan or Syrian figure
struck by an arrow.

I have been faithful to the lord of HermopoUs since I was born, and his  every  counsel  was  in  my  heart.  [He]  selected  me  to  administer  his  temple  ...  and  I  passed  seven  years  as  le-sonis-priest  of  this  god,  adminstering  his  income  .  ..  when  all  the  while  a  foreign  ruler  was doniinus over Egypt, and nothing was in its former place. For war had  broken out in Egypt: the South raged and the North was in uproar, and  people went about bewildered. No temple had its staff, and the priests  were  dispersed(?);  there  was  no  telling  what  might  happen  therein  in  the future.

Petosiris shepherded his nome through this period of crisis and was  later revered as a leading man of his city, "with many dwellings  and fields and cattle without number."

For  the  art  historian,  the  tomb  and  family  chapel  loom  large  because  they  reflect  the  first  impact  of  Greek  art  and  culture  on  Egypt.  Petosiris  survived  the  arrival  of  Alexander  in  Egypt  and  witnessed  the  early  influx  of  Greek  settlers  and  their  influence.  Together  with  his  son  and  successor,  Tachos,  he  erected  the  bipartite tomb chapel, with an inner chamber over the sarcophagus  dedicated to his ancestors, and an outer transverse hall provided an  inter-columnar  screen  celebrating  himself.  While  the  inner  chamber is decorated in the traditional Egyptian canon, the outer  chamber features scenes from the traditional Egyptian repertoire of  agriculture, animal husbandry, and viticulture, rendered under the  strong influence of the classical Greek canon. Some aspects, such  as the use of profile, echelon, and stance, hark back to a Nilotic  past, but the musculature, individual likeness, irregular spacing, and costume point to the advent of a classical Greek style. The  reliefs  are  important  in  demonstrating  how,  at  the  beginning  of  Ptolemaic period,  in  contrast  to  what  was  to  come  later,  even  a  provincial city such as Hermopolis, far from the Nile Delta, was  open to external influence.

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·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt
·        Petamenophis

Petamenophis

Four ushabti of Pediamenopet, now in Munich

The most extensive private tomb constructed  at any Egyptian site during the pharaonic era belonged to a little-known chief lector-priest, Petamenophis (or Pediamenopet), who lived from the late  twenty-fifth  into  the  early  twenty-sixth  dynasties.  Although  that  title was the highest rank recorded on his tomb, the tomb's massive  size indicated that he was one of the most influential individuals in Upper Egypt at  that  time.  Probably  constructed  during  the  earliest decades of the twenty-sixth dynasty, his tomb was located  within a series of monuments built for local officials in the Asassif  region  of  the  Theban  plain,  dating  from  about  700-540  BCE.  Sometimes considered an expression of an "Archaic revival," the  tombs actually follow a four hundred year hiatus of tomb building;  yet they incorporate features from nearby private tombs and mortuary temples of the preceding periods, rather than recalling elements  of  much  earlier dynasties. These  tombs  are  conspicuous  for  their  size and complexity, as well as for their shared features, such as the  massive  mud-brick  superstructures,  the  dramatic  subterranean  courtyards,  the  innovative  use  of  architectural  sculpture,  and  the  multilevel burial chambers.

The  inscriptions  from  one  of  the  seven  known  statues  of Petamenophis indicate  that  he  was  consecrated  as  lector-priest  in  662-661 BCE.  Most probably, he achieved the rank of chief lector  priest  in  following  years.  He  lived  during  the  era  that  coincided  with Mentuemhet's term of office as governor of Upper Egypt, yet  the mention of any king or "Divine Adoratress" (a female relative  of  a  Nubian  king,  installed  as  religious  leader  at  Thebes)  is  noticeably absent from Petamenophis' tomb. Anthes (1937) speculated that such an omission would be more likely during a period of  foreign  rule  (during  the  rule  of  the Nubians of  the  twenty-fifth  dynasty,  rather  than  that  of  the  twenty-sixth  dynasty).  Petamenophis' name does not appear on the Saite Oracle Papyrus,  dated  to  651  BCE,  with  Mentuemhet  and  other  Theban  high  officials of the early twenty-sixth dynasty. Nor is there any other  evidence that Petamenophis lived far into the twenty-sixth dynasty.  Mentuemhet clearly did, and perhaps he was a  younger, regional  contemporary of Petamenophis.
 
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·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt

Persian Empire

Persian Empire in the Achaemenid era, 6th century BC

In 529 BCE, the Greek general of mercenaries, Phanes of  Halicarnassus, betrayed the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis (r. 570-526  BCE). Thus the Persian king Cambyses II was able to threaten the  Egyptian  frontier.  After  Amasis  died,  his  successor,  Psamtik III,  was conquered and captured bv Cambvses in the battle of Pelusium  (525 BCE). Egypt then became, with Cyprus and Phoenicia, the sixth satrapy of  the  Achaemenid  Empire.  With  Cambyses II,  the  First  Persian  Occupation began Egypt's twenty-seventh dynasty, and it includes  Darius I (r. 521^486 BCE), Xerxes (r. 486-465 BCE), Artaxerxes I (r.  465-424 BCE), Darius II (r. 423-405 BCE), and Artaxerxes II (405- 359 BCE).  The Greek historian Herodotus traveled in Egypt about  450 BCE, so the Egypt he described was a Persian satrapy.

Memphis continued  as  the  capital  (as  it  had  been  under  the  previous Saite dynasty) and was soon the residence of the Persian  satrap, who headed Egypt's entire administration. Various officials  and  numerous  scribes  were  employed,  and  among  these  were  Egyptian  scribes  for  reports  in  their  native  language,  while  the  official language became Aramaic. The garrison posts continued to  be situated in Mareotis, Daphnis, and Elephantine, yet everywhere in the Nile Valley, between  the  Delta  and  Nubia,  there  was  a  presence  of  Near  Eastern  foreigners,  merchants,  and  soldiers— Phoenicians,  lonians,  and  Car-ians—from  all  of  the  satrapies  throughout the Achaemend Empire.

The  First  Persian  Occupation  began  with  Cambyses,  who  undertook an "Africa" policy, with three unsuccessful expeditions  against  Carthage  on  the  Mediterranean,  against  the  oasis  of  the  Libyan Desert, and against Nubia. Cambyses assumed a pharaonic  guise, as indicated by autobiographical texts of Wedjahorresenet, a  high  official  and  court  doctor.  The  texts  are  engraved  on  his  naophorus  statue  (now  in  the  Vatican  Museum),  a  basalt  statute  brought  from  Egypt  and  discovered  at  Tivoli  in  the  ruins  of  Hadrian's villa. Wedjahorresenet served under Amasis, Cambyses,  and Darius I. For Cambyses Wedjahorresenet created the epithet  mswty-R"  ("Born  of  Re"),  Cambyses  was  interested  in  removing  the  "foreigners"  (evidently  members  of  the  army  of  occupation)  from the temple of Neith at Sais, to purify the temple, to return to  the goddess her annuity, and to reestablish the priests, ceremonies,  and processions as they had been before.

Ruin and oppression certainly could have occurred throughout  Egypt during the violence of the conquest; but the evidence for the  ferocity  and  impiety  of  Cambyses  in  Egypt,  referred  to  by  the  Greek  historians,  is  not  supported  by  contemporary  Egyptian  documents.  A  stela  from the Serapeum (the  underground  catacombs  where  the Apis bulls  were  buried  at  Saqqara)  dated  from the sixth year of the Cambyses rule, testifies that Cambyses  did not kill Apis, but that instead, the sacred bull, born in Year 27  of  Amasis,  received  solemn  obsequies  and  was  buried  in  a  sarcophagus  donated  by  the  same  Cambyses,  and  that  the  succeeding  Apis,  born  during  the  reign  of  Cambyses,  died  of  natural causes in Year 4 of Darius I (as is shown by another stela  from  the  Serapeum).  To  understand  the  foundation  of  the  anti- Cambyses tradition, it is worth considering the resentment on the  part of the Egyptian priesthood, which had been stung by Cambyses' decree that  drastically  limited  royal  subsidies  to  the  Egyptian  temples  previously in effect.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder
of the Achaemenid Empire (the
first Persian Empire) in the
6th century BC

The posthumous persecutions of Amasis by Persian conquerors  is  suggested  by  the  Cambyses  legend  related  by  the  Greek  and  Roman  historians.  In  it,  Cambyses,  a  grandson  of  Apries,  took  revenge against the usurper Amasis and reclaimed the throne of his  grandfather.  In  522  BCE,  on  the  return  trip  home  to  Persia,  Cambyses died from a leg infection incurred while in Syria. There,  in the court circle of Susa, the rebellion broke out of the sorcerer  Gaumata,  claimant  to  the  legitimate  succession  of  Cyrus.  The  circumstances  of  the  death  (a  dagger  wound  to  the  thigh  that  became gangrenous) are related by Herodotus as proof of divine  punishment—since  the  wound  was  in  the  same  spot  that  would  have  resulted  from  an  attack  on  the  Apis  bull  by  Cambyses.  According  to  Dio-dorus  Siculus,  Cambyses'  death  is  punishment  for  his  impiety.  He  is  contrasted  with  the  piety  of  his  successor  Darius  I,  who  was  generous  toward  the  temples  of  the  Egyptian  gods and revoked Cambyses' decree.

Darius  I  (522-486  BCE)  was  the  son  of  Istaspe,  satrap  of  Hyrcania;  Darius  was  a  tolerant  and  strong  ruler  who  restored  order  in  the  empire  and  conquered  a  new  province,  India.  According to Diodorus, Darius I was the sixth and last law-giver  of Egypt, as confirmed by the Demotic papyrus mentioned above.  In  his  third  year  of  rule,  Darius  ordered  his  satrap  in  Egypt  to  convene the learned among the soldiers, the priests, and the scribes  so as to codify the laws in use to Year 44 of the reign of Amasis.  His  committee  of  wise  men  sat  for  sixteen  years,  until  Darius's  nineteenth year. Between his nineteenth and twenty-seventh year,  the committee was reunited at Susa and the laws were transcribed  on  papyrus  in  Aramaic  and  Demotic.  Such  a  juridical  guide  for  Egypt was needed by the administration of that satrapy, since they  were generally Persian or Babylonian and their official language  was Aramaic.

The  protection  accorded  to  Egyptian  temples  and  priests  by  Darius  I  was  extended  to  the  construction  of  a  grand  temple  to  Amun-Re, in the Kharga Oasis (an archive of Persian-era Demotic  ostraca  was  recently  found at Deir  Manawir). Darius  Is  building  activities  in  Egypt  are  also  known  from  the  hieroglyphic  inscriptions in the quarries of Wadi Hammamat, from blocks with  Darius' cartouche found at Elkab, and from those at Busiris in the  Delta. A large number of the Saqqara Serapeum stelae have dates  between  the  third  and  fourteenth  year  of  Darius I.  A  small  stela  from  the  Faiyum (now  in  the  Berlin  Museum)  is  dedicated  to  Darius I  in  the  form  of  the  falcon-god  HOI-US.  The  Vatican  naophorus  statue  of  Wed-jahon'esnet  reveals  that  Darius  ordered  restoration work at the "House of Life" at Sais.

Yet rebellion against the Persians was constant. Aryandes,  the  first  satrap  of  Egypt,  was  deposed  by  Darius  I  after  rebelling. Pherendates succeeded him in 492 BCE and was the satrap  to whom Peteese of Teudjoi referred his petition in Year 9 of Darius  I,  to  obtain  justice  (Demotic  Papyrus  Rylands  IX).  To  intensify  contact  with  the  Egyptian  satrapy,  Darius  I  accomplished  an  objective imagined but never carried out by Necho II—the opening  of  a  navigable  route  from  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea.  This  was  accomplished  by  means  of  a  canal  45  meters  wide  and  5  meters  deep (130 by 15 feet) that could be traveled for some 84 kilometers  (52  miles),  enabling  navigation  from  Bubastis  at  Lake  Timsah  by  the Bitter Lakes (Gulf of Heroonpolita) to the Red Sea in four days.  Along the route of the canal were erected commemorative stelae of  large dimensions—over 3 meters (10 feet) in height and 2 meters (6  feet)  in  width—in  the  three  languages  of  the  empire:  Elamite,  Akkadian, and Old Persian; they were located at Suez, at Chaluf or  Kebret,  at  the  Serapeum,  and  at  Pithom  (Tell  el-Maskhuta).  The  waterway, which tended to silt up in the southern part, was put back  into  use  under  Ptolemy  II  (according  to  the  stela  discovered  at  Pithom) and also under the Roman emperor Hadrian. From as early  as Cambyses, the Persian kings resorted to Egyptian sculptors and  stonemasons,  who  are  often  mentioned  on  the  Elamite  foundation  tablets  of  Persepolis.  Many  learned  Egyptians,  especially  doctors,  resided at the Court of Susa.

Trade  with  Persia  was  important  to  Egypt.  An  Aramaic  text,  recovered  by  B.  Porten  and  A.  Yardeni,  contains  the  accounts  of  many  colonies  and  of  maritime  traffic  for  a  port  (probably  Memphis) during Year 11 of Xerxes I (475 BCE). The captains of the  ships—which  brought  gold,  silver,  wine,  oil,  and  lumber—are  indicated  as  lonians  and  have  Greek  names  (e.g.,  Simonides,  Moskhos, Tymok-ledes, Mikkos, lokles, Phanes', etc.); other ships'  captains  are  perhaps  Phoenician.  The  boats  returned  loaded  with  Egyptian natron (sodium carbonate), highly valued in antiquity for  the manufacture of glass.

From  404  to  343  BCE,  the  recovered  independence  of  Egypt  included  the  twenty-eighth,  twenty-ninth,  and  thirtieth  dynasties.  The  rulers  of  the  thirtieth  dynasty  defended  Egypt  from  Persia's  attempts at reconquest, even resorting to alliances with the Greeks.  Nektanebo I secured the support of the priesthood by a maneuver  that  consisted  of  a  customs  tax  on  merchandise  that  arrived  at  Naukratis in the Nile Delta (the Greek emporium from the time of  the  Saite  kings),  allotting  10  percent  of  the  tax  to  the  temple  of  Neith  at  Sais.  Nektanebo's  son  Tachos  (or  Teos;  r.  362-360  BCE)  intervened militarily in an anti-Persian role in Syria, but his uncle,  the  general  Tjaha-pimu,  who  was  kept  in  Egypt  as  regent,  took  advantage  by  placing  his  own  son,  Nektanebo,  by  the  Queen  Udjashu,  on  the  throne.  This  change  was  favored  because  of  the  discord incurred by the financial measures that Tachos took.  He  limited  the  priests'  revenues  and  a  tax  was  imposed  on  housing and on the grain to be offered to Atria, in addition to the  tenth  due  on  ships  and  crafts.  Tachos,  betrayed  by  the  Spartan  general Agesilaos, fled Egypt, took refuge at Sidon, and then at the  Persian court at Susa.

Nektanebo  II  (r.  361/60-343  BCE)  repelled  two  Persian  invasions: one in 358 BCE, by the army of Prince Arta-xerxes; the  second  in  351  BCE,  led  by  the  same  man,  now  Ar-taxerxes  III  Ochus. When he retook Cyprus and Sidon, he was able to land at  Pelusium in the Nile Delta. From Pelu-sium, the Persians then took  the  other  cities  of  the  Delta  and  as  far  south  as  Memphis.  Nektanebo II escaped to Nubia with his treasure. Classical sources  accuse Artaxerxes III of violence and brutality even more subtle  than  that  ascribed  to  Cambyses.  Then  in  338  BCE,  the  eunuch  Bagoas murdered Artaxerxes; in 336 BCE, he also killed the king's  son  and  successor  Xerxes.  Under  Darius  III,  the  satrap  Sabace  fought  and  died  at  Issus.  The  last  Persian  satrap,  Mazaces,  lost  Egypt  to  Alexander  the  Great  of  Macedon  in  332  BCE.  The  Achaemenid Empire had ended, and Egypt had become a province  once more. After Alexander, the Ptolemies and then the Romans  became  the  masters  of  the  Nile  Valley,  which  was  governed  by  foreign rulers until after World War II.

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Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt

In  modern  parlance,  a  "perfume"  is  made of essential oils in an alcohol base. Distillation of pure alcohol  was unknown in pharaonic times;

"perfume"  or  "cologne"  as  such  did  not  exist  in ancient Egypt.  Instead, oils and fats were impregnated with the essences of various  plants.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  tell  from  what  substances  these  extracts  were  made,  since  the  essential  oils  have  not  survived  in  extant  samples  of  unguents.  Scholars  can  only  reconstruct  the  ingredients from images in tombs, recipes for scent from the Greco-Roman period,  and  knowledge  of  the  raw  materials  available  to  pharaonic perfumers.
The  plants  used  to  scent  pharaonic  perfumed  oils  most  likely  included the water lily (lotus) and the flowers of the henna plant. Two varieties of water lily, (Nymphaea caeru-lea and  N.  lotus),  are  denoted  (inaccurately)  by  Egyptologists with  the  single term "lotus." Nymphaea was a supremely important plant for  the  ancient  Egyptians,  used  as  decorative  element,  food,  and  medicine,  and  replete  with  religious  symbolism.  Its  scent  was  supposedly that of the sweat of the gods; its opening and closing  mimicked the pattern of life and rebirth. It has been suggested that  plant's essence, dissolved in wine, was used as an intoxicant.

Egyptian scene depicting the
preparation of lily perfume,
4th century BC

The flowers of the henna plant (Lawsonia inennis) also have a  strong scent, which would have been used in perfumes, as might  other fragrant flowers such as the Madonna lily (Lilium candidum).  Representations  of  perfume-making  from  the  Late  period  show  a  plant  resembling  the  Madonna  lily  being  picked  and  pressed  to  extract its essence.

Other scented substances—cedar wood, cinnamon bark, resins,  herbs (such as thyme), and spices (such as coriander)—would have  been used in the creation of unguents and perfumes. The resins in  use no doubt included myrrh and frankincense, as well as ladanum  or galbanum. Ladanum is derived from the leaves and branches of shrubs of the genus Cistus, which grow in many locations around  the Mediterranean. Galbanum, derived from Ferula (a large herb),  would have been imported from Persia, possibly by the time of the  New Kingdom.

Both the leaves and the bark of the various types of cinnamon  tree  (Cinnamomum  zeylanicum,  C.  camphora,  or  C.  cassia)  may  have  been  utilized  in  the  preparation  of  unguents  and  perfumes,  certainly by the Roman period, as the use of the term kinamomon in  Coptic attests. During the Roman Empire, an extremely expensive  scent called malabathron, made with cinnamon, was highly prized.  The type of cinnamon bark used was probably C. wylanicum, which  is not native to Egypt but to Ceylon.

Perfume  could  be  created  by  crushing  the  aromatic  elements  (seeds, bark, flowers, leaves, and so on) and infusing oil or fat with  them.  Three  techniques  seem  to  have  been  in  use:  enfleurage,  in  which layers of fat are saturated with perfume from flowers, which  would be replaced from time to time; maceration, in which flowers  or  other  plant  materials  are  dipped  into  fats  or  oils  heated  to  a  temperature of about 65°C, and the mixture then sieved and allowed  to cool; and expressing the perfume directly from flowers or fruit.  Many types of oils derived from nuts and  seeds  were  available  for  use  as  the  base  of  perfumes  and  unguents, including baianos oil, linseed oil, olive oil, sesame oil,  almond oil, and ben oil. Ben oil was derived from the horseradish  tree (Moringa oleifera). Castor oil would also have been available,  but as it has a strong smell, is unlikely to have been used. Olive oil  and almond oil would have been among the most expensive since,  although they can grow in Egypt, these trees were not native to the Nile Valley and would have required special cultivation. Almond  oil  has  a  particularly  sweet  smell  which  would  have  made  it  desirable as a base for scent or makeup.

With all of these varying types of vegetable oils available, it is  interesting to note that of the thirty-five vases of perfumes found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, the only one that had not been emptied was  found to contain an unguent based on animal grease. The animal  from which the fat came has not been determined. In medical texts  from  ancient  Egypt,  however,  the  fat  of  geese  and  the  tallow  of  oxen  are  most  often  specified  as  a  base  for  remedies  applied  externally. The fat of ducks, sheep, and goats, less expensive and  thus  more  widely  available,  might  also  have  been  used.  In  one  analyzed  specimen  of  unguent,  the  fatty  matter  was  mixed  with  another substance, which was tentatively identified as a balsam or  resin  (such  as  myrrh).  This  might  have  been  included  to  add  fragrance  or  to  fix  the  scent  already  mixed.  A  few  containers  of  perfumes from the tomb contained only resin, a Middle Kingdom  sample  also  contained  tiny  splinters  of  wood.  The  latter  were  almost certainly from a fragrant tree such as cedar.

The sophistication of pharaonic perfumers in creating fragrances  should not be underestimated. Both Pliny the Elder and Athenaeus,  in  fact,  claim  that  Egyptian  fragrance  was  the  best  in  the  world,  because its scents were the longest lasting and it was the country  best suited to the production of perfume (presumably owing to the  great number of ingredients available there). A number of ancient  authors,  such  as  Pliny,  Dioscorides,  and  Theophrastus,  give  recipes  for  perfumes  which  include  several  ingredients.  For  example,  a  famous  perfume  from  Mendes,  one  of  several  mentioned  by  classical  authors,  contained  ba-lanos  oil,  cassia,  myrrh,  and  aromatic  resins.  In  his  book  Concerning  Odours,  Theophrastus  mentions  a  scent  made  from  cinnamon  and  myrrh  mixed with other, unnamed substances.

One  item  of  pharaonic  perfumery  that  has  created  discussion  among  scholars  is  the  cones  which  appear  on  the  heads  of  banqueters  and  others  in  festive  garb  during  the  New Kingdom.  These cones are usually believed to have been made of scented fat,  probably  ox  tallow  impregnated  with  myrrh,  although  there  has  been  a  recent  suggestion  that  they  were  made  of  beeswax.  Egyptologists have noted that a similar custom survived among certain Bedouin tribes until  the present century, and fat was worn as a hairdressing by Nubian  tribes.  Egyptologist  Rita  Freed  has  suggested  that  the  custom  originated as a means of counteracting the drying effect of the sun  on hair.  Many  unguents  and  oils  were  made  from  expensive  or  rare  substances.  Thus,  in  ancient  Egypt  most  unguents  and  perfumes  would have been easily available only to the rich. The importance  of  scent  to  personal  hygiene  and  wellbeing,  however,  was  universal. Unguents and scented oils were an essential part of the  daily  toilette  for  all  classes  throughout  Egyptian  histoi-y  because  oils and unguents were essential to protect and condition the skin in  the  dry  climate.  In  fact,  the  striking  workmen of Deir el-Medina listed body oil as one of their demands. Both sexes were advised to  rub  pellets  of  ground  carob  (or  juniper)  into  the  skin  to  act  as  a  deodorant.

Recent Pages:


·        Lake Moeris (Lake Karun)
·        Wadi Natrun in Ancient Egypt
·        The Western Desert in Ancient Egypt
·        Lake Mariotis in Ancient Egypt
·        Egyptian hieroglyph and Society
·        Ancient Egypt videos
·        Pan-Grave People and Culture
·        Pepinakht Heqaib
·        Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt

Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt

The most important element of personal hygiene was always cleanliness, achieved by frequent washing or  bathing. Priests had to wash daily, or more often, to remain ritually  pure. Upper-class houses of the New Kingdom were equipped with  bathrooms, usually consisting of a room or alcove equipped with a  stone slab on which people might kneel or stand while water was  poured over them from above.

Soap, as it is known today, did not exist. Modern soap is made of  fat and lye obtained by pouring water over hardwood ash. Given the  lack of hardwood trees in Egypt and surrounding countries, ancient  inhabitants  of the Nile Valley had to  find  other  cleansers.  Thus,  instead  of  soap,  ancient  Egyptians  compounded  "body  scrubs"  of  salt,  natron,  and  honey  to  cleanse  the  body.  Recipes  for  these  cleansers are found in medical papyri. One such cleanser, from the  back  of  the  Edwin  Smith  Medical  Papyrus,  also  includes  calcite  (Egyptian alabaster)  granules.  In  the  burial  effects  of  the  minor  wives  of King Tuthmosis III (1504-1450),  pots  of  "cleansing  cream,"  consisting  of  vegetable  oils  or  animal  fat  and  lime  (CaO),  were  found.  Natron could also be used alone as a cleanser. (Although natron was used in  mummification,  its  use  as  a  skin  cleanser  is  not  as  unlikely  as  it  might seem: some modern bath cubes consist of talc, scent, calcium  carbonate,  and  calcium  bicarbonate,  the  latter  two  being  the  chief  components of natron.) After cleansing, the skin would need to be  moisturized with unguents and scented oils to keep it from drying  out in Egypt's arid climate.

Recent Pages:


·        The Western Desert in Ancient Egypt
·        Lake Mariotis in Ancient Egypt
·        Egyptian hieroglyph and Society
·        Ancient Egypt videos
·        Pan-Grave People and Culture
·        Pepinakht Heqaib

Pepinakht Heqaib

Entrance of the tomb of Heqaib at Qubbet el-Hawa

Pepinakht Heqaib, whose  "good  (or  familiar)  name"  was  Heqaib ("ruler of my heart"), was a major official at Elephantine island , an  island in the Nile River near Aswan, during the reign of King Pepy II (2278-2184). His  principal  title  was  "Overseer  of  Foreigners"  (i.e.,  mercenaries).  A  rather bellicose "autobiographical" inscription in his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa  (Aswan)  indicates  that  he  was  primarily  responsible  for  controlling the military situation in Nubia and the Eastern Desert at  a  time  when  the  attacks—presumably  by  the  new  C-Group  population—on  Egyptian  expeditions  to  the  south  and  east  were  increasing.  The  king  dispatched  him  to  devastate  ("hack  up")  the  Lower Nubian districts of Wawat and Irtjet, and Pepinakht reports  killing  numbers  of  Nubians  and  bringing  back  some  unspecified  number  of  captives,  along  with  their  cattle  as  booty.  On  another  campaign,  he  claims  to  have  brought  back  the  chiefs  of  these  districts,  their  children,  and  members  of  their  entourages.  Subsequently, Pepinakht was sent to the Red Sea coast to recover  the bodies of an expedition leader named Ankhty and his men, who,  while  building  a  boat  there  for  a  trip  to  the  land  of  Punt  (on  the  Somali coast), had been murdered by the locals. Pepinakht drove off  the tribesmen, trumpeting that he had "set the fear of Horus [i.e., the  king] in the foreign countries," thereby pacifying them. In addition  to  his  military  activities,  Pepinakht Heqaib  performed  administrative  functions  in  the  pyramid  complexes  of  both  King Merenre and King Pepy II.

Pepinakht Heqaib  appears  to  have  enjoyed  a  considerable  reputation in the Aswan region, for at some time after his death, he  was deified and became the object of a cult among the officials at  Elephantine  that  lasted  until  the  Middle Kingdom.  Excavations  carried  out  principally  by  Labib  Habachi  and  inscriptions  in  the  tombs  of  later  officials  indicate  that  a  series  of  shrines,  complete  with  altars  and  statues,  had  been  built  on  Elephantine  Island  in  Heqaib's honor.

Recent Pages:


·        Lake Moeris (Lake Karun)
·        Wadi Natrun in Ancient Egypt
·        The Western Desert in Ancient Egypt
·        Lake Mariotis in Ancient Egypt
·        Egyptian hieroglyph and Society
·        Ancient Egypt videos
·        Pan-Grave People and Culture