Piya (744–714 BC)

Piye's pyramid at El-Kurru

Piya (744–714 BC), third  king  of  the  twenty-fifth or Kushite, dynasty. Late period. Piya, also known as Piankhy, was the  first ruler of the Kushite kingdom to attempt to control all of Egypt;  he is therefore to be viewed as the real founder of the twenty-fifth dynasty. His activities are known mainly from his monumental stela  erected at the site of Napata (Gebel Barkal). Piya's first attempts to  involve himself in affairs to the north of his southern kingdom of Kush (now  in  Sudan)  led  him  into  immediate conflict with  the  various  princes and dynasts of  a  divided  Egypt. In  particular,  he  claims to have moved north to the ancient center of Amun worship,  Thebes, in an effort to exert political and religious influence over that region.  He first installed his sister Amunirdis as "God's Wife of Amun" at  Kamak,  and  he  appears  to  have  received  the  tacit  submission  of  Middle  Egypt,  where  various  garrisons  held  by  local  potentates  blocked  his  way.  On  his  famous  stela  of  victory,  dated  to  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  reign,  Piya  is  described  as  focusing  particular  attention  on  the  city  Hermopolis,  led  by  Namlot,  who  subsequently betrayed him.

Egypt at this time was nominally held by a weak and ineffective  pharaoh, Takelot III (r. 750-720 BCE),  who effectively ruled only  his center in the eastern Nile Delta, Bubastis. Real control over the  land was held by numerous monarchs, among the most powerful of  whom was Tefnakhte, prince of Sais in the western Delta (r. 724- 717 BCE).  It was Tefnakhte who organized the resistance to Piya  after  the  Kushite  ruler  had  effectively  gained  control  of  Hermopolis and, hence, of all Upper Egypt. After recounting the  fall  of  Hermopolis  in  his  stela,  Piya  then  explains  in  detail  his  march to regain control of the old capital of Memphis and its final  capture through another siege. At this point, the war became more  complicated  for  the  Kushite  ruler.  Although  Piya  claimed  pharaonic  jurisdiction  over the entire Nile Valley—a  theological  claim as well as a political one—and although he had received ap- proval  from  the  priesthood  at  Heliopolis,  Piya  faced  organized  resistance from the western Delta.

For more than a century, the northwest portions of Egypt had  been  assimilated  by  a  series  of  Libyan  military  men,  who  eventually consolidated their power at the ancient commercial city  of  Sais.  At  the  time  of  Piya's  move  to  the  North  of  Egypt,  the  leader  of  this  center,  Tefnakhte,  was  pharaoh  in  name  and  deed,  and he effectively controlled all of the Delta northwest of El-Lisht. It was Tefnakhte  who  initiated  opposition  to  Piya's  control  over  Middle Egypt after Namlot, the ruler of Hermopolis, had switched  his allegiance from Piya to the Saite ruler, and after other major  cities  in  the  vicinity  also  opposed  the  Kushite  pharaoh.  This  political  move  was  the  effective  cause  of  Piya's  march  north,  eventually  to  capture  all  of  Egypt  and  subsequently  to  take  Memphis  itself.  Piya  returned  to  his  ancestral  kingdom  of  Kush  and  erected  his  stela  of  victory  in  his  twenty-first  regnal  year  (c.715  BCE).  Nonetheless,  Tefnakhte  was  not  deposed,  and  soon  thereafter Sais resumed its opposition to the Kushites.

Known mainly from the lengthy and detailed inscription on his  victory  stela  as  well  as  from  decorated  blocks  at  Thebes,  Piya  remains a shadowy figure, especially in contrast to his successors.  He  was  not  a  native  Egyptian  and,  as  such,  was  vehemently  opposed by the native rulers. They organized the resistance against  him  and  the  subsequent  Kushite  rulers.  Nevertheless,  Piya's  religious piety—or at least his conservatism—was one of his hall marks, and there is little doubt that his adherence to the long- standing Amun cult of Thebes, stressed in his stela of victory, was  a  primary  reason  why  Thebes  remained  firmly under  his  control  during his reign.

Recent Pages:


·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie
·        Petuabastis
·        Philae
·        Piety in Ancient Egypt
·        Piramesse
·        Tell el-Maskhuta (Pithom)
·        Second Intermediate Period

Second Intermediate Period

During the Second Intermediate Period (Middle  Bronze  IIB),  a  small—roughly  2  hectares—unfortified village with strong Near Eastern or Hyksos  characteristics  occupied  the  center  of  what  was  to  become  the  fortified  site.  It  was  essentially  a  self-subsistent  entity,  with  numerous  silos  and,  in  the  earlier  strata,  entombments  within  individual  ownership  plots  (much  as  at  Tell  ed-Dab'a  during  the  earlier  occupational  periods).  Judging  from  plant  remains  pre- served  in  cooking-fire  ashes,  the  village  was  seasonal,  with  no  occupation  during  the  summer  months.  Farming  (wheat  and  barley)  and  animal  husbandry  (cattle,  sheep  and  goats,  pigs,  donkeys, and at least one horse) formed a major part of the local  economy, although they were not, apparently, the major reason for  the site's existence.

Hunted  animals  included  a  small  hartebeest,  ostriches,  and  gazelle,  reflecting  a  semi-arid  savanna  setting;  and  a  variety  of  migratory  waterfowl,  indicating  the  regional  presence  of  small  lakes  or  swamps.  At  least  some  pottery—the  local  pottery  constituted a subset of the Tell ed-Dab'a repertory—was made on  site,  and  there  is  evidence  for  other  industrial  pursuits,  such  as  weaving on the (non-Egyptian)  warp-weighted  loom,  and  secondary  copper-smelting.  Flint blades (mostly segmented sickle blades) apparently arrived at  the site fully formed; they were locally hatted or rehafted.

That the inhabitants were not simple peasant farmers seems most  evident  from  the  burials,  which  were  rich  and  mostly  in  tombs.  These followed Near Eastern patterns, including ass burials outside  of early "warrior" tombs, and were characterized by strong age and  sex  patterns  in  the  distribution  of  grave  goods. Bronze daggers,  a  battle-axe,  knives,  toggle-pins,  and  other  items  characterized  most  adult burials, with. amulets being reserved for juveniles. Gold and silver headbands and armbands, earrings, rings, and scarab mounts  were  not  uncommon.  Amethyst  beads  and  an  amethyst  scaraboid  probably were looted from twelfth dynasty tombs.

It appears that Pithom, and other Near Eastern sites in the Wadi Tumilat, existed as adjuncts—with Tell el-Maskhuta perhaps being  a major reception point—for long-distance overland trade in high- value  commodities  with  southern  Arabia  and  the  Horn  of  Africa.  Presumably the need for such a difficult overland route arose during  a period in which the Nile no longer was accessible to traffic bound  for Avaris/Tell ed-Dab'a (Holladay 1997b).

Recent Pages:


·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie
·        Petuabastis
·        Philae
·        Piety in Ancient Egypt
·        Piramesse

Tell el-Maskhuta (Pithom)

Nubian prisoners of the tomb
of Horemheb in Saqqara

Modern Tell el-Maskhuta was known anciently as Per  Atum  (hence  biblical  Pithom),  Tukw  ("The Estate of Atum in  Tkw" [biblical Sukkoth]), Greek Heron-polis (Eroopolis, Heroon),  and  Roman  Ero  (Hero).  This  multicomponent  stratified  site  (30°33'N, 32°60'E) in the Wadi Tumilat region of the eastern Nile  Delta  was  occupied  during  the last  two-thirds  of  the  seventeenth  centmy BCE,  and again from around 610 BCE  to perhaps the early  fourth  century  CE.  It  experienced  brief  periods  of  decline  in  the  fifth century BCE and again in the first century BCE through the first  century CE. Probably founded in connection with overland trade to  southern Arabia during the Hyksos period, it was a control point  and entrepot on the sea-level canal of Necho II (610-595 BC), which ran from the Nile to the head of the Red Sea via the Wadi Tumilat and the Bitter  Lakes region.

Tell el-Maskhuta  was  the  first  site  excavated  by  the  Egypt  Exploration Society (Edouard Naville, 1.883). Prior to World War  I,  Jean  Cledat  conducted  excavations,  apparently  largely  in  the  temple precincts, which yielded numerous museum specimens but  little  of  scholarly  substance.  More  recently,  the  Egyptian  Antiquities Organization, now the Supreme Council of Antiquities,  has  conducted  numerous  excavations  in  the  northern  cemetery,  along the Ismailia Canal, and in a number of areas in and on the  margins of the modern village. Most current knowledge of the site  derives from a major series of surveys and excavations conducted  by a multidisciplinary University of Toronto team directed by John  S. Holla-day, Jr.

Recent Pages:

·        Petosiris
·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie
·        Petuabastis
·        Philae
·        Piety in Ancient Egypt
·        Piramesse

Piramesse

From  the  early  days  of  Egyptology,  continuing  attempts were made to locate the position of the Ramessid capital  called  "The  House  of  Ramesses  Beloved  of  Amun Great  of  Victories."  It  was  believed  to  be  identical  with  the  biblical  city  called  "Ramesses,"  from  which  the  Israelites  departed  Egypt  on  their Exodus. In the Nile Delta, the vast ruins of Tanis, the region  around  Pelusium,  and  the  frontier  forts  of  Sile,  Tell  el-Maskhuta  and  Tell  el-Rotaba,  all  situated  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Nile  Delta, were in turn identified and then dismissed as Piramesse. The  French  archeologist  Pierre  Montet  insisted  that  Tanis  was  indeed  the  only  Ramessid  city  that  could  be  considered  a  candidate,  because  of  the  enormous  numbers  of  Ramessid  architectural  fragments that he had uncovered there. Excavations in the vicinity  of the modem village of Qantjr, led by the Egyptian Egyptologists Mahmoud Hamza (1928) and Labib Habachi (1940-1943), uncov- ered  parts  of  palaces  as  well  as  dwellings  of  high  Ramessid  officials and brought the region of Qantir into focus. This work was  continued,  with  a  detailed  evaluation  of  archeological  remains  within  the  region's  topography,  by  the  Austrian  Egyptologist  Manfred  Bietak  (since  1966).  With  further  progress  of  the  excavations at Tanis and Qantir, all data led to the final localization  of  the  Ramessid  capital  in  the  region  between  Qanti  and  el- Khata'na, which  has  come  to  be  generally  accepted.  Qantir/Pi-ramesse,  the  central  area  of  which  covers  more  than  10  square  kilometers,  is  about 100 kilometers (65 miles) northeast of Cairo and about 80  kilometers  (50  miles)  west  of  Ismailia,  not  far  from  Faqus,  in  Sharkijeh province.

The feet of a Ramses II statue at Piramesse

In cooperation with the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and  in collaboration with the Austrian mission, the Pelizaeus Museum  initiated  intensive  work  in  the  endangered  archeological  zone.  Francis  L.  I.  Griffith,  the  British  scholar,  could  still  note  on  an  inspection of the area in 1886 that one finds at Qantir a low tell  (settlement  mound),  which  continues  without  interruption  as  far  south  as  el-Khata'na,  more  than  2  kilometers  (1.5  miles)  to  the  south of Qantir. Today the area is almost completely leveled and  prepared  for  agricultural  exploitation,  except  for  very  limited  remains at Tell ed-Dab'a. Already in antiquity, specifically during  the  twenty-first  dynasty,  most  of  the  stone  masonry,  statues,  obelisks, and the like had been removed from Piramesse to build  new residences in such sites as Tanis and Bubastis.

During  the  course  of  nineteen  field  seasons  since  1980,  five  excavation sites have been opened; two of these were labeled Q I  and  Q  IV,  respectively.  Both  major  sites  contain,  from  top  to  bottom, badly damaged remains of cemeteries, followed by a more  or less preserved habitation level; beneath this is a chariot garrison  with  attached  multifunctional  workshops  and  extensive  horse  stables;

and  below  that  is  a  foundry  with  installations  for  the  industrial  production and casting of bronze (Q I) and glass (Q IV). The latest  excavations  have  revealed  the  remains  of  a  palace-like  structure  below  the  royal  stud  (Q  IV),  comprising  further  stables,  pillared  halls, and a room with a polychrome stucco floor, including gold- plating.  These  latter  elements  can.  be  dated  to  the  reign  of  Ramesses II by inscriptions and are most likely connected to the  systematic building activities of the new residence. They may also  reflect a technological transfer in regard to metal processing.

Evidence  for  this  is  provided  by  vast  installations  that  demonstrate the melting of bronze by heating open crucibles from  above, and the use of specialized furnaces for heating large-scale  casting molds. Those installations cover an area well over 30,000  square  meters  and  are  unique  in  antiquity  for  their  high- temperature technology and size.  Altogether,  the  strata  represent  a  period  of  a  more  than  three  hundred years of settlement history, from about 1300 BCE  to the  beginning  of  the  first  millennium,  from  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth dynasty to the early twentieth. Earlier occupation levels  (Middle Kingdom  and Second Intermediate Period)  are  to  be  found at Tell ed-Dab'a.

Traces of connections to foreign cultures and countries of the  eastern Mediterranean are well documented at Piramesse.  Particularly  interesting  in  this  regard  is  the  occupation  level  labeled  the  Chariot  Garrison.  Three  large  contemporary  functional units may be distinguished. The north of site Q I contains  a  peristyle  court  lined  with  octagonal  pillars  which  protected  polychrome  wall  paintings  from  the  frequent,  sometimes  violent  rainstorms. The pillars show on their four principal sides the royal  protocol of Ramesses II in a version that dates its erection to his first  sect-festival in regnal Year 30. The clearest indication of the use of  this  court  for  chariotry,  in  addition  to  the  numerous  objects  recovered, is the prints of horses' hooves in parts of the courtyard  floor.

The  second  functional  unit—multifunctional  workshops  with  intra-craft  and  cross-craft  specialization—is  situated  within  the  south  part  of  Q  I.  These  include  fireplaces  of  various  types,  crucibles  of  various  types,  tyeres,  layers  of  ashes  and  burnt  clay,  slag,  charcoal,  casting  molds,  scrap  metal,  and  recycled  bronze  objects, all of which indicate the presence of foundries in which not  just bronze but also gold, silver, and glass were being produced or  worked.  Regional  concentrations  of  humus  layers,  dunghills,  and  latrines,  in  combination  with  stone  and  bronze  knives,  hatchets,  scrapers,  and  sickle  blades,  point  to  the  processing  of  organic  materials  such  as  wood,  leather,  or  reeds.  Stone  detritus  such  as  flakes  and  nodules  of  flint,  blue  chalcedony,  different  varieties  of  camelian and agate, fragments of alabaster still bearing saw marks,  smashed  pieces  of  desert  boulders,  drill  cores  from  rock  crystal,  pressure stones of bow-drills and their crescents, ball-hammers, and  anvils  suggest  a  wide  spectrum  of  raw  materials,  techniques,  and  occupations.  A  specialized  area  served  for  the  working  of  animal  bones,  receiving  some  of  its  raw  material  from  a  nearby  zoo  in  which elephants, lions, gazelles, and other wild animals were kept.  Taken as a whole, this cross-craft workshop reveals an interrelated  web of dependent processes, linked together like a modern assembly  line to repair and produce chariots and their equipment as well as  bronze and glass.

The third functional unit at site Q IV comprises within an area of  more  than  fifteen  thousand  square  meters  six  rows  of  twelve  rectangular rooms each, a column hall being situated at the western  end of each row. The function of this architectural complex, which  has no known parallel, can be inferred from the whitewashed floors,  tethering stones, and "toilets" built of limestone inside these rooms:  all  of  them—column  halls  as  well  as  the  slender  rectangular  rooms—are to be designated as "stable rooms," the whole being a  royal  stud  housing  a  minimum  of  almost  460  horses  and  their  grooms. Finds of chariot finials include yoke saddle knobs and yoke  knobs, mainly carved of alabaster, limestone, or marble. Similarly  numerous  planoconvex  discs,  made  of  the  same  materials,  once  decorated the terminal ends of the wooden frame of the chariot's floor  frame.  Gold-plated  bronze  buttons,  nailheads  covered  with  gold  leaf,  punched  gold  bands,  and  rivets,  together  with  a  once- gilded  linchpin,  reveal  that  in  addition  to  standard  chariot  types,  lavishly  decorated  parade  chariots  were  also  manufactured  and  used here.

This  conclusion  can  be  further  verified  by  the  recovery  of  a  functioning pair of horse bits along with a nave cap made of bronze.  Numerous  weapons—short  swords,  arrows,  javelins,  and  lance  heads—as well as pieces of scaled body armor belonging to helmets  and  cuirasses,  complete  the  picture  of  the  charioteers'  armory.  Correlating  the  information  gained  by  excavations  to  ancient  Egyptian texts, we can recognize the architecture and its contents as  the  "armory"  and  at  the  same  time  the  "headquarters  of  thy  (the  king's) chariotry," described in the hymns of Piramesse.

Within  the  workshop  we  note  limestone  molds  for  embossing  metal  sheets,  which  are  unparalleled  in  the  cultural  record  of  the  ancient Near East. The identification of the designs engraved into  these  slabs  is  possible  through  Egyptian  reliefs  depicting  Hittite soldiers  carrying  a  shield  whose  outline  exactly  resembles  the  design and proportion of tine motif found on the limestone slabs; it  is comparable also to the orthostats found at Zencirii, on which the  Hittite  weather  god  wears  the  homed  crown  and  is  armed  with  a  lance, a short sword, and the same Hittite figure-eight shield. The  Amama  Letters  contain  lists  of  gifts  sent  by  Tusratta,  king  of  Mitanni,  to  Amenhotpe III,  naming  alongside  other  costly  items,  "nine  leather  shields,  the  urukmanmi  of  which  are  of  bronze."  Therefore I identify the Human word urukmannu with those metal  parts  that  were  produced  by  embossing  bronze  sheets  using  the  above  described  molds,  hammers,  and  punches,  also  found  at  Piramesse. Their  presence  within  this  metropolis  can  only  be  understood as proof that Egyptians and Hittites worked peacefully,  side by side. This holds true also for the motif on the back side of  the molds, depicting a highly stylized head of a bull, symbol of the  Hittite weather god.

The most likely explanation for the peaceful presence of Hittites  in  Egypt's  Ramessid  capital  is  the  occasion  of  the  diplomatic  marriage between Ramesses II and the eldest daughter of the Hittite  king  Hattusili  III,  Maat-hor-nofru-re,  which  took  place  in  regnal  Year  34  of  Ramesses II.  In  several  texts,  particular  emphasis  is  placed on the friendly encounter of the formerly hostile troops, enabling the ancient historians to state that "both lands had become  one (and the same) land." The shield molds with the Hittite motifs  must  have  been  used  to  maintain  the  shields  of  the  Hittites  who  served  as  a  palace  or  body  guard  for  the  queen  in  the  Ramessid  residence, an outward expression of the friendly union between the  two superpowers of the day.

Finds  from  the  Mycenaean  world  are  also  present  in  abundance,  most  of  them  in  the  form  of  potter) 7 ;  there  is  also  a  scale of a Mycenaean boar's-tusk helmet. We also have evidence  for the cults of several foreign deities, such as a relief depicting a  statue of Astarte, the ancient Near Eastern goddess of war and love  and protectress of the royal horse team, mounted on horseback; in  addition,  the  name  of  the  ancient  Near  Eastern  god  of  war,  Resheph, was found on a limestone door post. The former object is  the archeological manifestation of a passage in one of the hymns of  Piramesse,  telling  us  that  "Astarte  [is  situated]  in  her  (the  city's)  east." Since the hieroglyphic name of Astarte is also preserved on  one of the palmiform columns of the stable, it may be assumed that  the  stable  at  least  was  protected  by  this  goddess.  Altogether,  we  have more than circumstantial proof that the hymns on Piramesse  are accurate in describing its splendor, contents, layout, and size,  comparing  Piramesse  to  other  Egyptian  cities  such  as  Thebes,  Memphis, and Heliopolis.

Since 1996, the size and layout of the Ramessid metropolis has  been  further  investigated  in  cooperation  with  the  Bayerisches  Landesamt  fur  Denkmalpflege,  Munich,  using  a  caesium  magnetometer (SMART SM4G). With this device, sun-dried mud- brick walls, foundation pits filled with sand, and similar features of  lower  magnetism  are  clearly  to  be  differentiated  from  cultural  layers with higher magnetism. This enables us not only to measure  but also to draw the outlines of individual buildings as well as the  ground  plans  of  city  districts.  Covering  an  area  of  almost  100  hectares, the investigated fields contain a palace area, vast living  quarters consisting of villas and houses of the Amama type, with  courtyards, gardens, streets, avenues, channels, and perhaps parts  of  a  harbor.  Several  official  buildings  of  still  unknown  function,  one of them resembling in part the North Palace of Tell el-Amarna,  and  another  one  comparable  to  the  so-called  Foreign  Office  depicted in the tomb of Tjai at Thebes, are situated to the south of  Q  I  and  Q  IV.  It  is  hoped  that  the  continuation  of  the  magnetic  investigation  will  lead  to  a  map  covering  at  least  the  city  center  with its area of more than 10 square kilometers.

Recent Pages:


·        Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt
·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt
·        Petamenophis
·        Petosiris
·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie
·        Petuabastis
·        Philae
·        Piety in Ancient Egypt

Piety in Ancient Egypt

The concept of piety in ancient Egypt could be defined as  a personal, individual expression of faith in and devotion to a deity,  as  opposed  to  institutionalized  religious  practice,  which  was  traditionally the preserve of the king. The monarch was responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  maat—the  order  of  the  universe,  both  cosmic and social, as established by the creator at creation—which  included the maintenance of the relationship between the gods and  humankind. This was achieved via the temple rituals conducted, in  theory, by the king, but in practice by priests who acted for him.  The ordinary person had no role in this activity.

Historical Developments:

Evidence for personal religion prior  to the New Kingdom is limited. Some personal names, which in  ancient  Egyptian  are  often  theophoric,  hint  at  a  personal  relationship between the deity and the bearer of the name. These  names  are  particularly  common  in  the  Late  period:  for  example,  Padiese,  "he,  whom  Isis  gave"  (Greek,  Isidore).  Yet  some  are  attested from earliest times: for example, Shed-netjer, "whom the  god rescues" (from the first dynasty); from the Old Kingdom there  were the names Khui-wi-Ptah (or -Re, -Horus, -Khnum, or -Sobek),  "may  Ptah (or  Re,  Horus,  etc.)  protect  me."  A  few  texts  of  the  Middle Kingdom also make brief references to personal worship.

The paucity of evidence for personal religion prior to the New Kingdom can be explained by the limits set by what John Baines  (1985) defined as "decorum," a set of rules regarding what could  and could not be expressed in image and/or text in certain contexts.  These guidelines can be illustrated in the way deities appeared on  nonroyal  monuments.  Until  the  Middle Kingdom,  decorum  ex- cluded the possibility for nonroyal persons to depict deities on their  monuments;  they appeared  only  in  texts,  almost  exclusively  of a  funerary nature, or in the form of their emblems. Not until the end  of the Middle Kingdom were the first representations of nonroyal  persons  worshiping  a  deity  inscribed  on  nonroyal  stelae.  Even  there, a barrier usually in the form of a column of inscription and/or  an  offering  table  separated  the  worshiper  from  the  deity.  Not until the early New Kingdom and onward did images of deities  regularly appear on nonroyal monuments.

Personal  religion  was  encouraged  by  New  Kingdom  developments that contributed to a gradual breaking down of the  barriers that separated individual and deity, such as the evolution  and growth of festival processions of the deities. During the New  Kingdom, evidence survives for a burgeoning of such processions,  when the divine images were brought out of the seclusion of their  temples and carried in a portable boat-shrine along a processional  way. Although the images were hidden from view in the cabins of  the boats (or barks, as they are often called), the ordinary person  could approach them and seek the advice of the deity on all manner  of personal issues, through an oracle.

Among the earliest literary evidence for personal piety in the  New  Kingdom  are  limestone  ostraca,  dated  paleo-graphically  to  the pre-Amama period, which carry short prayers addressed to the  god  Amun.  These  ostraca  may  have  been  placed  along  the  processional  way  taken  by  the  god,  and  they  bear  some  of  the  earliest sentiments of love and devotion to a deity: "Amun-Re, you  are the beloved one, you are the only one!"

The  growth  of  personal  piety  was  accompanied  by  a  diminution of the exclusive role of the king and official religion.  As Jan Assmann (1984) has pointed out, one of the aims of King Akhenaten was to reverse that trend and restore to the monarch the  central role in religion, as the mediator between the one god Aten  and the people. His reform failed, indeed it succeeded in achieving  the exact opposite—people were not prepared to abandon their old  deities, and, since the official cults of the old gods were proscribed  by  the  king,  people  were  forced  to  turn  to  them  directly.  This  situation probably explains the explosion of evidence for personal  piety in both post-Amarna and Ramessid times, the latter dubbed  by James H. Breasted in 1912 "the age of personal piety."

The trauma of the Amarna period and its aftermath doubtless  also contributed to the atmosphere of uncertainty that is evident in  the following historical period. That uncertainty was illustrated by  theophoric  names,  which  contain  the  verb  sd  ("rescue,"  "save"),  names such as Shed-su-Amun ("may Amun save him"). Although  sporadically  met  in  earlier  periods,  such  names  were  most  frequently used in the New Kingdom (Ranke 1935. p. 330 f.). The  letter of the scribe Butehamun to the captain of the bowmen Shed- su-Hor  ("may  Horus  save  him")  also  reflected  this  phenomenon  (Wente 1990, p. 196), as did the emergence of the god Shed, the  personification  of  the  concept  of  the  rescuing  activity  of  a  deity  demonstrated in the study of Hellmut Brunner (1958, pp. 17-19).  The inscriptions  of  Si-mut  Kiki  (Wilson  1970)  provide  a  particularly  good example of some of the perceived dangers and illustrate the  concept  of  a  chosen  personal  deity,  to  whom  the  devotee  was  particularly attached and from whom protection was sought, a well- attested phenomenon of piety that made its first appearance at that  time.

As  Assmann  pointed  out  (1989,  p.  75  ff.),  a  further  religious  development in the New Kingdom generated a change in the role of  maat. Whereas it was previously held that one's fate depended on  one's behavior (if one lived a life in accordance with the principles  of  maat  then  one  would  perforce  flourish;  if  one  transgressed  against  it  one  would  be  punished—the  king  being  the  one  who  upheld  maat  and  meted  out  punishment),  instead  one  came  to  be  seen as directly responsible to the deity, who personally intervened  in the individual's life and punished wrongdoing. The misfortunes  from which people then needed to be saved were not only those of  an  impersonal  kind  but  also  included  divine  wrath,  meted  out  as  punishment for perceived wrongdoing.

Sources:

Archaeological  sources  for  the  practice  of  piety  have  survived  in  the  form  of  shrines  and  votive  offerings,  but  for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  phenomenon  we  are  dependent  on  literary  sources.  These  are  varied,  including  biographical  inscriptions,  hymns,  inscriptions  on  scarabs.  Wisdom  Literature  and, in particular, the prayers (often penitential) of individuals. A  very good example in a hymn may be found in those to Amun in  the  Leiden  Papyrus  (Prichard  1969,  p.  369).  The  most  important  Wisdom teaching is that of Amenemope (Lichtheim 1976, pp. 146- 163).  The  prayers  of  individuals,  inscribed  on  stelae  dedicated  to  the  deity  as  votive  offerings,  are  very  similar  to  the  biblical  penitential  psalms  expressing  sorrow  for  wrongdoing  and  thanks  for forgiveness. The bulk of our evidence comes from the Deir el-Medina, in Western Thebes, from the village of the workmen who  built the tombs of the kings. This bias is due primarily to the chance  of good preservation of the site, rather than to any unique religious  development that may have taken place there, although the fact that  Thebes probably suffered from the excesses of the Amama period  more than other places may also have been a factor. Ashraf Sadek  (1987) presented the evidence from other locations, among which  the Wepwawet sanctuary at Assyut (where more than six hundred  small stelae were discovered) was particularly significant.

The  Elements  of  the  Prayers:

terminology are regularly encountered in the prayers, hymns, and votive offerings:

1. The introductory words of praise and appeal to the deity often  include a description of the deity who is said to be "one who hears petitions (nhwt)," "who comes at  the voice of the poor (nmhw) in need," "who comes at the  voice of him who calls to him."

2. In the description of the transgressor, the writer claims to be  a "silent one," that is, a devout person (gr); a poor, humble  person (nmhw). By way of apology, the claim is made to be  ignorant and senseless (iwty hyty), to be one who does not  know good (nfr) from evil (bin).

3.  The  writer  confesses  to  having  committed  an  act  of  transgression (sp n thi), to having done what is abhorrent or  "taboo" (bty or bwt), to having sworn falsely ('rk m 'dy) by  the deity.

4.  The  deity  punishes  the  transgression,  often  with  sickness;  very frequent is the expression "seeing darkness by day," an  image for separation from the deity.

5. A promise is made to proclaim the might of the deity to all  the  world,  to  "son  and  daughter,  the  great  and  small,  generations not yet born," to "the fish in the water and the  birds in the air," to "the foolish and the wise."

6. An account is given of answer to prayer—the deity is said to  respond  to  the  pleas  of  the  petitioner  and  "to  come  as  a  sweet  breeze"  to  be  "merciful"  (htp)  to  "turn"  ('n)  to  the  petitioner "in peace" (htp).

The Deities:

There was a range of deities, from the major gods  and  goddesses  worshiped  throughout  Egypt  (such  as  Amun-Re,  Ptah, Hathor, Thoth, Osiris, Wepwawet, Horakhty and Haoeris) to  local  deities  (such  as  Mer-etseger,  the  personification  of  the  western mountain, "the Peak," at Thebes). Also worshipped were  deified  kings,  such  as  King Amenhotep I (1514-1493)  and less  commonly,  mortals,  such  as  Amenophis,  Son  of  Hapu,  an  official  of  King Amenhotep III (1382-1344).  Amun  was  popularly  worshiped  in  his  forms  py  rhn  nfr  ("the  goodly ram") and smn nfr n 'Imn ("the goodly goose of Amun").  The prevalence of the former was based on his animal symbol, the  ram, being the most public form of the god. It decorated the prow  and  stern  of  his  portable  bark,  and  the  avenues  leading  to  his  temples in Thebes were lined with statues of rams. The god Thoth,  patron  of  scribes,  was  favored  by  this  profession,  and  prayers  to  him appear in the Ramessid schooling literature.

The  Petitioners:

One  of  the  terms  by  which  petitioners  regularly  referred  to  themselves  in  the  penitential  prayers  was  nmhw, "a poor, humble person." This does not mean that piety was  a religion of the poor, since they would not have had the means to  commission  the  monuments  that  provide  us  with  our  data.  The  people  from  Deir  el-Medina  who  called  themselves  nmhw  were  relatively well-situated artisans, and most of the dedications found  in the shrines around the Great Sphinx at Giza are by people of middle, lower-middle, or low rank, but even the viceroy  of Nubia Huy, addressed a prayer of personal piety to his master,  the  king  Tutankhamun.  The  king  was  also  involved  in  this  movement: Ramesses II's record of the Battle of Kadesh, inscribed  on temple walls and pylons, did on a massive scale what the small  votive  stelae  of  the  ordinary  person  did  more  modestly.  In  the  prayer  of  Ramesses III  to  Amun  at  Karnak,  sentiments  and  ex- pressions are found that parallel those of the nonroyal prayers.

Other  terms  used  to  designate  the  ideal  god-fearing  pious  person were mfty, " a just one," comparable to the sadiq, "just," of  the biblical tradition; 1fbhw, "the cool, quiet one"; and gr or gr my',  "the silent one" or "the one who is justly silent." Their antithesis is  sm or sm 1-3, "the hot or hot-mouthed one." The term "the silent  one" is found in prayers of personal piety but is even better known  from  the  wisdom  teachings;  it  refers  to  those  who  do  not  assert  themselves  but  who  place  their  trust  in  the  divine,  recognize  the  supreme free will of a deity, and are totally submissive to that will.  That  attitude  is  succinctly  summarized  in  chapter  25  of  the  Instructions of Amene-mope: "For man is clay and straw, God is  his  builder;  he  pulls  down,  he  builds  in  a  moment.  He  makes  a  thousand insignificant as he wishes, he makes a thousand people  overseers when he is in his hour of life. Happy is he who reaches  the  West  [i.e.,  the  grave]  being  safe  in  the  hand  of  god."  There,  worldly success—once seen as the result of correct behavior, of a  life lived in accordance with maat— is held to be totally in the gift  of  a  god;  not  success,  then,  but  rather  an  unbroken  relationship  with  a  god,  was  the  true  mark  of  a  successful  life.  The  model  frequently used for the relationship between the individual and a  deity is that of servant (byk) and master (nb); as does a servant his  master, so the devout person "follows" (sm.s) and is "loyal" to (sms  hr mw/mtn) a deity.

The  confessions  of  fault  in  the  penitential  prayers  refer  to  "actual sin"; the reference is always to some concrete, individual  act or an inner thought or personal attitude. A concept of "general  sin"  is  not  found  (i.e.,  the  concept  of  the  existence  of  a  barrier  between  humankind  and  the  divine  that  is  not  the  result  of  an  individual  deed  or  thought  but  of  the  general  condition  of  humankind—the Christian concept of "original sin"). The closest  to the latter would be the statement on the stela of Nebra, that "the  servant is disposed to do evil" (Lichtheim 1976, p. 106).

Locations  of  Cults:

 Ashraf  Sadek  (1987)  has  collected  the  evidence for the locations of cults of personal piety. They include  nonofficial shrines (such as the small chapels erected by groups of  individuals at Deir el-Medina or the tiny shrines set up along the  path from Deir el-Medina to the Valley of the Kings), as well as  places provided at official cult centers (such as the eastern temple  at Karnak, dedicated  to  Amun  and  "Ramesses  who  hears  petitions,"  or  the  monumental eastern gateway at Deir el-Medina, with its relief of  "Ptah  who  hears  petitions").  At  the  Tenth  Pylon  at  Karnak,  two  individuals—Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapu,  and  Piramesse—set  up  statues  of  themselves  to  act  as  mediators  between  the  great  god  Amun  and  petitioners.  The  regular  festival  processions  of  the  deities were also important occasions for the practice of personal  religion; the promise in many of the penitential prayers—to make a  public proclamation of the experienced greatness and mercy of the  deity—was most probably fulfilled at such processions. The stela  of  Pataweret  (Brunner  1958,  pp.  6-12)  from  the  Wepwawet  sanctuary at Asyut provides valuable data on this aspect of personal  religion.  Divided  into  three  registers,  the  bottom  one  depicts  Pataweret's  experience  of  the  saving  intervention  of  Wepwawet,  called "the savior," who rescued him from being taken by a crocodile. The other two registers show where he expressed his thanks  to the god. In the middle one he is shown alone, praying before an  image  of  the  god  at  a  shrine.  In  the  top  register  he  is  shown  publicly praising the god during a procession.

Although compositions comparable to those of personal piety in  the Ramessid era are not known from later periods, many of the  sentiments  found  in  them  appear  in  later  biographical  texts,  and  their formulas of piety live on in some of the Greco-Roman temple  inscriptions.

Recent Pages:


·        Pepinakht Heqaib
·        Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt
·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt
·        Petamenophis
·        Petosiris
·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie
·        Petuabastis
·        Philae

Philae

Philae, an island at the First Cataract of the Nile (24°02'N,  32°59'E), on the southern frontier of Ancient Egypt, It is the site of  the most beautiful of all ancient Egyptian temples. In the 1970s,  the  architectural  structures  of  the  original  island  were  moved  to  their present religious  complex  devoted  to  the  cult  of Osiris. The  ritual  focus  was  Biga, the site of the abaton, one of the alleged tombs of Osiris; Philae  was  dedicated  preeminently  to  Isis,  his  sister-wife,  who  became  the  epitome of the divine wife and mother and thus the most popular of all  Egyptian  goddesses  in  the  Late  and  Greco-Roman periods.  Although  Isis was the major deity of the Philae, the site's location on the frontier  between Egypt and Nubia meant that the cults of Nubia also featured on  the island, where they were represented by significant cult buildings.

Access to the temple of Isis at Philae

The  monuments  are  dominated  by  the  great  temple of Isis  and  its  associated structures, which are concentrated in the west and center of  the island on, or  adjacent to, a granite outcrop which  must have been  chosen originally as an embodiment of the primeval hill on which the  holy-of-holies  of  all  Egyptian  temples  was  claimed  to  rest.  There  is  some evidence at Philae of cult activity in honor of Amun in the time of  the  Nubian pharaoh  Taharqa  who  ruled  Egypt  between  689  and  664  BCE. These meager traces might well mean that the rise of this frontier  religious center owed something to the kings of the Nubian twenty-fifth  dynasty, to which Taharqa belonged; however, the earliest known cult  building in honor of Isis was a small shrine erected in the Saite period  by  Psamtik II.  This  was  followed  by  a  further  small  temple  on  the  granite  outcrop,  erected  by  Amasis.  Therefore,  it  now  seems  that  the  Saite  kings  introduced  the  cult  of  Isis  into  this  area  and  laid  the  foundations for her subsequent glorification on the island.

The next evidence of building dates to the thirtieth dynasty and takes  the  form  of  a  kiosk  of  Nektanebo  I,  which  is  now  situated  at  the  southwestern  end  of  the  main  temple,  and  a  gate  of  the  same  king  embedded  in  the  first  pylon  of  the  main  temple.  The  gateway  clearly  formed part of a thirtieth dynasty enclosure wall, but all these features  should  be  regarded  as  embellishments  to  the  preexisting  Saite  temple  enclosure, because there seems to be no trace of a substantial temple of  thirtieth dynasty date.

The building work in the main Isis temple area is overwhelmingly  Ptolemaic and forms part of the well-documented Ptolemaic policy of  promoting the Isis cult throughout the kingdom and beyond, although a  substantial  amount  of  the  decoration  was  added  in  the  Roman  period.  The  core  of  the  Isis  temple—everything  north  of  the  vestibule—was  built by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246) just behind the ancient shrine of Amasis, which was  then  demolished.  Its  decoration,  as  is  normal  at  this  and  similar  sites,  was added sporadically for a long time. This temple was surrounded by  a brick girdle wall which almost certainly followed the line of that of the  thirtieth dynasty and showed the undulating pattern in laving the brick  courses,  which  was  typical  of  such  late  structures.  This  feature  may  have been used for entirely practical reasons, but it has also been  claimed  that  it  imitates  the  waves  of  the  primeval  ocean  surrounding the primeval hill on which all temples were claimed to rest.

The temple shows an intriguing ground plan in that the main building  has two axes: the main cult area accessed by the second pylon is skewed  northeastward in relation to the court to the south. This feature probably  arose  from  the  interaction  of  several  factors:  the  preexistence  of  the  temple of Amasis; a determination to maintain the granite outcrop as the  center of cult activity; and the configuration of the island itself—that is,  any expansion of the central shrine to the south would have to be skewed  to fit the available space. The temple in its final form is a much expanded  structure that is entered by the first pylon (Ptolemy V-VI), which gives  access to a court flanked on the left by a mammisi, probably begun by  Ptolemy III but expanded and completed by Ptolemy VIII Euergetes (170-163, 145-116). This structure,  typical of late temples, was, for ritual purposes, the site of the birth of  Harpocrates, the son of Isis and Osiris. On the eastern side there stands a  colonnade  probably  built  by  Ptolemy VIII.  The  much  smaller  second  pylon, probably completed by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-164, 163-145), leads via a court and vestibule  to the sanctuary dedicated to Isis and her son Harpocrates. Throughout  the main temple area there are many examples of work added during the  Roman period: for example, the birth-house contains reliefs dating to the  reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, who feature alongside Antoninus in the  inner part of the temple; the temple is accessed from the west via a gate  associated  with  the  emperors  Hadrian,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  Lucius  Verus; and the enclosure also contained, to the north, a Claudian temple  dedicated to Harendotes, the son of Osiris as champion and protector of  his  father.  In  the  mid-sixth  century  CE  the  island  of  Isis  was  Christianized, and a number of churches were dedicated there, including  one to the Virgin Mary and one to Saint Stephen, the former being the  standard Christian substitute for Isis and the second a highly appropriate  replacement for Harendotes. This cultic change brought with it the usual  rash of mutilations to the pagan monuments.

The  buildings  of  the  Isis  enclosure  are  supplemented  by  numerous  subsidiary structures. To the south lies the long Outer Court, which now  forms the main point of access to the temple enclosure. At its southern  entrance stands the kiosk of Nektanebo I, removed there no later than the  reign of Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysius (80-58, 55-51) and flanked by colonnades of Roman date on the  western  and  eastern  sides.  In  addition,  the  eastern  colonnade  embodies  the remains of a temple of the Nubian god Arensnuphis (Ptolemaic with  some Roman decoration), a well-preserved shrine of Im-hotep (Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205-180)), and a further cult-place often ascribed on quite inadequate evidence  to the Nubian deity Man-dulis.

Pavillon of Trajan in Philae

There  are  numerous  other  buildings  to  the  north,  east,  and  south  which  are  more  loosely  connected  with  the  enclosure.  At  the  water's  edge  on  the  northeastern  section  of  the  island  stands  a  spectacular  Roman-period  gate,  which  was  probably  a  triumphal  arch  of  Emperor  Diocletian. There are also a temple dedicated to the cult of Rome and  Augustus and two Coptic churches, as well as the remains of a Coptic  monastery.  To  the  east  of  the  great  enclosure  wall  lies a temple of Hathor (Ptolemy VI/VIII and early Roman), a deity with close affinities  with Isis who was associated, in particular, with the neighboring island  of  Biga.  Finally,  to  the  south  of  Hathor's  temple  and  overlooking  the  Nile stands a beautiful but unfinished kiosk often ascribed to Trajan; it  certainly received such decoration as it has in his reign, but the building  itself may well be earlier.  In addition to these major structures, the original island of Philae also  contained  mud-brick  settlement  remains  on  the  northern  part  of  the  island and to the east and southeast. These areas would originally have  housed the staff that served the temple, but the remains that were extant  until  the  floodwaters  destroyed  them  are  described  in  the  literature  as  Roman and Christian.

It is difficult to overrate the importance of the religious complex at  Philae. It provides us with a major late cult center which is exceptionally  well-preserved.  Beginning  in  the  Saite  period  and  continuing  into  the  thirtieth  dynasty,  it  underwent  a  spectacular  flowering  in  the  Greco-Roman period,  and,  because  of  the  circumstances  of  its  dismantling  and  removal,  there  is  possible  a  unique  insight  into  its  architectural  evolution  until  and  including  its  conversion  to  a  Christian  center.  In  addition, the voluminous texts and iconography yield much information  on the last centuries of pharaonic religious thought and practice. In fact,  Philae  was  the  last  bastion  of  ancient  Egyptian  culture,  and  it  is  no  coincidence that the latest datable hieroglyphic inscription (24 August  394 CE) comes from Philae.

Recent Pages:


·        Personal Hygiene in Ancient Egypt
·        Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt
·        Petamenophis
·        Petosiris
·        Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie
·        Petuabastis