Klotz, JEA 96 (2010), Dos Oráculos Pasados Por Alto

8/10/2019 Klotz, JEA 96 (2010), Dos Orculos Pasados Por Alto

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THE JOURNAL OF

EgyptianArchaeology

VOLUME 9

010

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THE EGYPT EXPLORATION SOCIETY

3 DOUGHTY MEWS, LONDON WC1N PG

ISSN 0307133


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The Journal of Egyptian ArchaeologyAll rights reserved

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The material discussed here once again demonstrates how vital it is to preserve and studythe records of our Egyptological predecessors. By his conscientious recording of key elementsof his collection, Anthony Harris has enabled the solution to one of the minor mysteries ofEgyptian history.

M C, A D, and G H

Two overlooked racles

New readings proposed for two Late Period stelae reveal additional evidence for divine oracles. In JE ,Nectanebo I relates how the goddess Nehmetaway proclaimed his future kingship through an oracle, not a publichieros-gamosritual as Roeder had suggested. JE (Bucheum Stela ), informs us that the new Buchis waschosen by the statue of Amenope during a ritual procession in Luxor, possibly from among a pool of qualifiedtaurian candidates.

JE Hermopolis Stela of Nectanebo IThe Thirtieth Dynasty began when Nectanebo I from Sebennytos rose to power and

succeeded the Mendesian Twenty-ninth Dynasty. However, the precise details of thedynastic shift have remained shrouded in mystery. Only two classical historians allude tothe actual transition. Theopompos of Chios briefly remarked that Nectanebo assumed thekingship of Egypt (kai;wJ~ Nektenivbio~pareilhfovto~th;nAijguvptoubasileivan).Cornelius Nepos,meanwhile, noted that for, having gone forth to help Nectanebo, he (the Athenian generalChabrias) established his kingship (nam Nectenebin adiutum profectus, regnum ei constituit).Most scholars have concluded that Nectanebo seized the throne from Nepherites II bymilitary force.As A. B. Lloyd recently summarized, Given such an ancestry [referring toNectanebo Is military family] and the extreme brevity of Nepherites reign, the advent ofthe new dynasty looks suspiciously like a military coup.

The only native Egyptian source to mention the succession is a stela Nectanebo I erectedat Hermopolis, now in the Egyptian Museum (JE ).Although the text contains several

philological difficulties, Roeder was able to reconstruct the basic course of events:() Nectanebo, general under Achoris or Nepherites II, leads an expedition to Hermopolisto quell a local rebellion.

() Successful in his campaign, Nectanebo earns the support of the Hermopolitan officials,and the favor of the goddess Nehmetaway.

() With this local support, Nectanebo seizes the crown from the young Nepherites II.

F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, II/B (Berlin, ), , F, ; cf. F. Kienitz, Diepolitische Geschichte gyptens vom . bis zum . Jahrhundert vor der Zeitwende(Berlin, ), , . Note thatthe phrase paralambanw basileivanhas neutral connotations, corresponding to Egyptian Ssp nsw.t(var. iAw.t wr.t),to receive kingship (var. the great office) in Ptolemaic trilingual decrees; LSJ, ; F. Daumas, Les moyens

dexpression du grec et de lgyptien compars dans les dcrets de Canope et de Memphis (SASAE ; Cairo, ),, .Cornelius Nepos, ChabriasII, ; noted by Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte, . This statement may simply

imply that Chabrias supported Nectanebo against the Persians. E. Drioton and J. Vandier, Lgypte (Paris, ), ; J. H. Johnson, The Demotic Chronicle as an

Historical Source, Enchoria (), ; H. de Meulenaere, Nektanebos I, LIV, ; C. Traunecker, Essaisur lhistoire de la XXIXe Dynastie, BIFAO (), ; J. D. Ray, Egypt: Dependence and Independence( B.C.), in H. Sancisi-Weerenburg (ed.),Achaemenid History, I: Sources, Structures, and Syntheses(Leiden,), ; N.-C. Grimal,A History of Ancient Egypt(Oxford, ), ; J. A. Josephson, Nektanebo, in D.B. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, II (Oxford, ), ; J. Kahl, Zu den Namensptzeitlicher Usurpatoren, Fremdherrscher, Gegen- und Lokalknige, ZS (), ; A. I. Blbaum,Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt: Herrscherlegitimation im sptzeitlichen gypten. Eine vergleichendeUntersuchung der Phraseologie in den offiziellen Knigsinschriften vom Beginn der . Dynastie bis zum Ende dermakedonischen Herrschaft(AegMonast ; Aachen, ), .

A. B. Lloyd, Egypt, ,CAH

VI, . G. Roeder, Zwei hieroglyphische Inschriften aus Hermopolis,ASAE (), ; sections of this

stela have been discussed recently by K. Myliwiec, The Twilight of Ancient Egypt (Ithaca, ), , ;


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While this outline is generally correct, one of the signs confused Roeder, and thus heoverlooked an important detail of Nectanebos rise to power. The relevant section appears inlines , after the description of the rebellion:

7

eee

7

e

s

7

Roeder translated:Er verlangte nach (? dachte an ?) seiner Mutter Wosret Nehmet-awaj, Auge des R, in der Stadt (nicht Koptos!). Als er Knig von Ober- und Unter-gypten werden sollte (?)mit vielen Jahren als guter (nfr) Herrscher dieses Landes, da zog er nun nach der Residenz.Der (bisherige Knig), der in dem Palaste war, verkndete einen Erlass (?) ber das (?), wasin ihm geschehen war. Aber nachdem sein Vater Thot, der [zweimal Grosse], der Herr vonChmunu, und seine Mutter Wosret Nehmet-awaj [ihn] hatten erscheinen lassen [als Knig(nswt)] der Ewigkeit und Knig (bjtj) der Unendlichkeit.

The primary difficulty comes from the first sign, a rearing animal, which Roederconsistently read as ib, to desire.The same hieroglyph appears three other times on thestela, always in the same phrase: (line twice, and line ). The first two examplesoccur in a fragmentary section describing a festival in Hermopolis:

e

7

Roeder translated the first phrase as drsteten nach... and the second as nach der Schnheitdrstetet... (sexuell?). Explaining his interpretation, he further noted:

Die zweimalige Verbindung vonjbmit nfr.wverstehe ich nicht (). Sicher ist der Jubel derBevlkerung von Hermopolis ber die Ehrung der Gttin durch den Knig. Man knnte

an die sexuelle Vermischung der Geschlechter in der Festesfreude denken.

S. Grallert, Bauen Stiften Weihen: gyptische Bau- und Restaurierungsinschriften von den Anfngen bis zur .Dynastie(ADAIK ; Berlin, ), , ; . Engsheden, La reconstitution du verbe en gyptien de tradition avant J.-C.(USE ; Uppsala, ), (s.v. Hermopolis); Blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der dieMaat liebt, passim.

Text after Roeder,ASAE, ; with corrections based on the published photograph (ibid., pl. x). Although Roeder copied a rearing calf, the photographs show this sign has a thinner body and longer ears.A similar sign actually writes ibin the same inscription, in line : wnn Hm=f m ibw HA km.t, His majesty is

a shelter () around Egypt. Roeder, ASAE, and , translated this phrase as Seine Majestt war inSorge (?) um Kemet, and elsewhere referred to this sign as das unverstndliche Gazelle. Nonetheless, the royalepithet ibw HA Km.tis quite common; see H. W. Fairman, An Introduction to the Study of Ptolemaic Signs andtheir Values, BIFAO (), n. ; H. de Meulenaere, Un sens particulier des prpositions m-rw.tj etm-itr.tj , BIFAO (), .

Roeder,ASAE, . Ibid., .


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The third example of this phrase appears in a clearer section relating how Nehmetawayentered her newly renovated temple during a large festival (line ):

s

Roeder translated, Ihre Majestt war in Sehnsucht nach der Schnheit des Knigs, ihr Herzjubelte ber das, was Seine Majestt ihr tat, and once again suggested that the expressionin question hier sexuell gedeutet werden kann. Nonetheless, he also questioned whetherthis phrase sollte nur danken bedeuten?. Roeders conviction that the rearing animalmust read ibled him to postulate a literal hieros gamosbetween Nectanebo and Nehmetawayduring a festival in Hermopolis, possibly accompanied by similar couplings among thecelebrants. While such an event is theoretically possible, a different interpretation of thesign leads to a far simpler reconstruction of events. The rearing mammal may in fact be a simple variant of the giraffe, writing srto proclaim;announce; predict. A similar example of such confusion occurs in the tomb of Ramesses IV(KV ), where the scribe replaced the giraffe with a rearing goat. The same confusion

probably explains why the jackal can also have the phonetic value sr.

With this new interpretation, the enigmatic phrase becomes the standard expression:sr nfrw(n), to proclaim the goodness (of someone); to predict good things (for someone).Therefore, one can translate the aforementioned passages with no sexual overtones, forexample:

xrw nhm n niw.t tn pH.n=f [H]r.t

Hr sr nfrw nty []nfr pr m Ra

Hr nb []sr nfrw []

The sound of jubilation from this city reached up to [hea]ven,extolling the goodness of [] the good [] who came forth from Re,everybody [] proclaiming the goodness of []

Similarly:wnn Hm(.t)=s Hr sr nfrw nty nsw.t

ib=s m Haa m ir(.t)n=s Hm=f

Her Majesty praised the goodness of the king,her heart rejoicing because of what His Majesty did for her.

More importantly, this new reading of the rearing animal clears up the interesting historicalsection:

Ibid., . Ibid., . G. Roulin, Le Livre de la Nuit: Une composition gyptienne de lau-del(OBO ; Fribourg, ), I, n. o,

and II, ; an even stranger version of this sign appears in the parallel text from the tomb of Ramesses VI.

. Chassinat, Le mystre dOsiris au mois de Khoiak(Cairo, ), II, n. ; C. Traunecker, Coptos: Dieuxet hommes sur le parvis de Geb(OLA ; Leuven, ), n. q; S. Cauville, Dendara: Le fonds hiroglyphique autemps de Cloptre(Paris, ), ; see also J. Assmann, Eine Traumoffenbarung der Gttin Hathor, RdE(), col. , n. d; W. Westendorf, Horus und Seth (?) auf der Palastfassade des Semerchet oder nocheinmal: Die Giraffe und das Seth-Tier, GM (), . LGGVI, b, signals an example of srwrittenwith a donkey, but the photograph shows the sign is actually a giraffe: see H. Gauthier, Le temple de Kalabchah(Cairo, ), and pl. lviii.a.

Wb. IV, .; cf. A. Gutbub, Textes fondamentaux de la thologie de Kom Ombo (BdE ; Cairo, ),I, n. f, n. k; N.-C. Grimal, Les termes de la propagande royal gyptienne, de la XXIXe dynastie la conqutedAlexandre(MAIBL ; Paris, ), ; J.-M. Kruchten, Le grande texte oraculaire de Djhutymose, intendantdu domaine dAmon sous le pontificat de Pinedjem II(MRE ; Brussels, ), n. (prdire du bonheur);M. Smith, The Mortuary Texts of Papyrus BM (CDPBM ; London, ), n. a referring to line VI, ;P. Wilson,A Ptolemaic Lexikon: A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu(OLA ;Leuven, ), ; E. Chassinat, Le temple de Dendara, II (Cairo, ), .; E. Chassinat and F. Daumas, Letemple de Dendara, VIII (Cairo, ), ..

One can probably restore the good [god] who came forth from Re, as an epithet of the king; cf. Grimal, Lestermes de la propagande, n. .


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sr n=f mw.t=f wsr.t [NH]m.t-[a]wAy ir.t-Ra [... Hr.t-ib?]oA(y.t)-oA wnn=f m nsw.t-biti m rnp.wt wr.w m HoA nfr n tA pn

iw=f (i)r=f Sms pw ir.n=f r Xnw

iwr smin nt(y)m aHcm xpr im=f ir m-xt sxa.n sw it=f +Hwti [aA aA]nb #mnw mw.t=f wsr.t [NH]m[.t]-awA[ym nsw.t]n nHH biti n D.t

His mother, the Mighty, Nehmetaway, the Eye of Re [within?] the High Mound,announced tohim

that he would be King of Upper and Lower Egypt for many years as a good rulerof this land.

He then hurried back to the Residence,to report to the One in the Palace about what had happened to him.

Later on, his father, Thoth [the twice great], Lord of Hermopolis,and his mother, [Neh]me[t]awa[] caused him to appear in glory [as nsw.t-king]of cyclical eternity and biti-king of linear eternity.

a) Roeder tentatively copied , but the published photograph confirms reading

, the High Mound, just as the toponym appears later in line . For Nehmetawayin the High Mound of Hermopolis, see also D. Mallet, Le Kasr el-Agoz (MIFAO ;Cairo, ), ; discussed by J. Parlebas, Die Gttin Nehmet-awaj(PhD Thesis, UniversittTbingen; Kehl, ), and .

b) Engsheden suggested that this faulty spelling of smiwas influenced by Demotic, wherethe s-sign is identical to the seated man (A).However, confusion between the former signand the reed leaf is more likely.The preposition ris written iwfrequently on this stela; seeRoeder,ASAE, (who did not note this example).

c) For as nty, see Roeder,ASAE, , and cf. also the Naukratis Stela, col. , and

MMA ., col. (both from the reign of Nectanebo I). For this designation of theking, see Wb. I, .; I. Guermeur, Glanures (), BIFAO (), n. e.

Compare also G. Lefebvre, Le tombeau de Petosiris(Cairo, ), inscr. no. ., wherePetosiris claims to have paid his workman properly just as one had done in the past while aking was still in the palace (mi ir.tw Dr m-bAH r/iw nsw.t wn(.w) m aH).

d) For the phrase xpr im=f, what happened to him, see Wb. III, .; G. Vittmann,Der demotische Papyrus Rylands (AT ; Wiesbaden, ), II, ; F. R. Herbin,Trois papyrus hiroglyphiques dpoque romaine, RdE (), n. .

According to this section, Nehmetaway made an oracular or ominous prediction toNectanebo when he visited Hermopolis as a general. Nectanebo then returned to thepalace, and dutifully reported the miraculous event to the reigning monarch. Only later(ir m-xt) did Thoth and Nehmetaway make Nectanebo the new king. Derchain recentlyrecognized a similar oracular appearance of Nehmetaway in the autobiographical texts of

Petosiris (.; .), when the priest carried the processional bark of the goddessaround Hermopolis so she might signal the optimal location for her new temple.

Engsheden, La reconstitution du verbe, n. . J. C. Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity(OBO ; Fribourg, ), ;

Cauville, Dendara: Le fonds hiroglyphique, . For the nuances of the verb sr, see primarily E. Graefe, Knig und Gott als Garanten der Zukunft

(notwendiger Ritualvollzug neben gttlicher Selbstbindung) nach Inschriften der griechisch-rmischen Tempel,in W. Westendorf (ed.),Aspekte der sptgyptischen Religion(GOF ; Wiesbaden, ), ; Graefe arguedthat many examples of this verb refer more to omina or proclamations rather than actual oracles. Nonetheless,the fact that Nehmetaway announces (sr) to a general that he will one day become king strongly suggests anoracle setting; cf. the remarks of L. Coulon, Quand Amon parle Platon (La statue Caire JE ), RdE(), , n. . For the topos of divinities announcing or promising kingship, see Graefe, in Westendorf (ed.),

Aspekte der sptgyptischen Religion, ; Grimal, Les termes de la propagande, , . P. Derchain, Possession, transe et exorcisme: les oublies de lgyptologie, GM (), .


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While this narrative is undoubtedly a work of royal propaganda, the Hermopolis steladoes not necessarily refer to a military coup dtat, as some have suggested. Rather, theinscription follows a long tradition of royal stelae recording the divine selection by a god orgoddess. A similar example is the historical inscription from the Chapelle Rouge in which

the processional image of Amun indicates his desire for Hatshepsut to assume the throne.

Even closer is the Sphinx Stela, where the Sphinx speaks to a young Thutmosis IV asprince, and promises to make him king if he clears away the encroaching sand.The lattertext suggests that royal succession was not always based on seniority, and that Thutmosis IVensured his status as Crown Prince in part through the benefactions he performed in Giza.Likewise, the general Nectanebo may have exploited the oracle of Nehmetaway to establishhimself as a legitimate successor to the Mendesian kings of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty. The Hermopolis stela avoids mentioning the previous king, using periphrastic expressionssuch as the one who was in the palace (nt(y) m aH), and the king who was before him (nswtwn(.w) Xr HA.t=f) in lines and . Scholars generally assume this king was Achoris,and theallusion to times of troubles when a certain rebel became ruler (xpr=f m HoA) over part of thecountry (line ) aptly describes the dynastic struggles between Achoris and the Gegenknig

Psammuthis.The fact that Nectanebo reported (smi) the oracle to the reigning monarch, suggests he hada reasonable claim to the royal succession, perhaps because he was actually related to Achoris.Blbaum recently denied any connection between Nectanebo I and the Twenty-NinthDynasty because diese oftmals nachgesagte Verwandtschaft mit Nephorites I. grndet sichauf Mideutung einer Textpassage der Demotischen Chronik und mu revidiert werden.However, the relationship between the Mendesian and Sebennytic lines is still supported bya hieroglyphic inscription which refers to Nectanebos father, the great generalissimo Teos,as kings son (zA nsw.t).Thus, even if one excludes the Demotic Chronicle, Nectanebo Imust have been the grandson of a certain king who, for chronological reasons, was mostlikely Nepherites I. In that case, Nectanebo I could have been a viable candidate for kingafter Nepherites II after all.

The new reading does not clear Nectanebo I of usurping the throne, and one can easilyimagine him storming to the capital with the military support of Hermopolis, expressedin the form of an oracular decision. However, this stela now demonstrates the continuedpolitical importance of oracles in Late Period Egypt, presaging to some extent Alexandersvoyage to Siwa only fifty years later.

JE Bucheum Stela Although most of the Bucheum stelae from Armant follow a standardized formula, theinscription on JE provides many unparalleled details about the selection process

E.g. Ray, in Sancisi-Weerenburg (ed.),Achaemenid HistoryI, ; Lloyd, CAH VI, . P. Lacau and H. Chevrier, Une chapelle dHatshepsout Karnak(Cairo, ), I, .

See recently A. Klug, Knigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis III(MonAeg ; Brussels, ),, ; P. Beylage, Aufbau der kniglichen Stelentexte vom Beginn der . Dynastie bis zur Amarnazeit(AT ; Wiesbaden, ), , .

See the discussion of B. M. Bryan, The Reign of Thutmose IV(Baltimore, ), . H. de Meulenaere, La famille royale des Nectanbo, ZS (), ; P.-M. Chevereau, Prosopographie

des cadres militaires gyptiens de la Basse poque(EME ; Paris, ), and . J. Ray, Psammuthis and Hakoris, JEA (), ; connection noted by Blbaum, Denn ich bin

ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, ; for the complicated history of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty, see recently J.-Y.Carrez-Maratray, Psammtique le tyran: Pouvoir, usurpation et alliances en Mditerrane orientale au IVe sicleav. J.-C., Transeuphratne (), .

Blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, . Note also that Blbaum, ibid., mistranslated the titulary of Teos (Urk. II, .), reading Vorsteher der

groen Kornspeicher? (jm(j)-r Ssr.w? wr.w) instead of imy-rA mSa wr; for this common spelling of the title, seeWb. II, , and Chevereau, Prosopographie, .

See already de Meulenaere, ZS, ; Blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, , did notmention this important inscription. For the genealogy of the Thirtieth Dynasty, see most recently . Engsheden,La parent des Nectanbo, CdE (), .


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for a new Buchis bull.When a candidate for the Buchis is born somewhere near Asfun,local priests recognize his special colouring and take him to Esna,and a group of priestsfrom Armant sail south to inspect him there. From Esna, the bull travels in a procession toVictorious Thebes for his enthronement (sxn), while the king and his entourage come from

Alexandria to participate in the event.After this lengthy introduction, the coronation rites consist of two lines written inabbreviated day-book style. Previous translators have all passed over a small yet significantdetail (line ):

G (

G

(s 2

Fairman,Goldbrunner,and Greniertranslated respectively:

Amenopet, the god of the city, appeared in procession. His Majesty went before him,Amenopet stood opposite this good (sic) god, and the king likewise.

Amenope, der Gott des Ortes, erschein. Sein Majestt ging vor ihm. Amenope standdiesem Gott gegenber, ebenso dem Knig.

Amon dIpet, dieu de Djm, apparut alors en procession linitiative du roi, marchant(Amon dIpet) devant lui (le roi) alors que se tenaient dans (son) alignement le Boukhis etle roi.

In earlier translations, it is unclear why the stela would mention Amenopes position vis--vis (m-aoA) the Buchis candidate, and this appears to be a superfluous detail. However, ifone translates aHanot as, to stand, but to stand still or stop moving ( Wb. I, .- and.), then one arrives at a different reconstruction:

Amenope of Djeme appeared in procession; his Majesty went in front of him; Amenopecame to a stop directly across from this particular god (in Imn-Ip.t aHa m-aoA nTr pn); like-wise the king (and the entourage, prophets, priests of the staff of the House of Life, andall troops of the entire land which had come with him to Thebes. Then this good god was

enthroned). With this modified translation, the reason for the phrase m-aoA becomes clear. Thebanpriests carried the portable bark of Amenope of Djeme in procession (sxa), and the processionstopped only when he was in front of the bull in question. In other words, Amenope indicatedhis choice of Buchis bull by suddenly rendering the bark immovable.This may imply thatthere were actually multiple candidates vying to become the new Buchis. Although the wab-priests of Sakhmet were specially trained to spot the distinctive markings on sacred animals,apparently only a god could determine which one was the true earthly manifestation. An inscription from Edfu outlines a similar ritual for choosing sacred falcons in much greaterdetail.The statue of Horus Behedety is carried in procession to the falcon house (pr n bik).

For this stela, see L. Goldbrunner, Buchis: Eine Untersuchung zur Theologie des heiligen Stieres in Theben

zur griechisch-rmischen Zeit (MRE ; Brepols, ), , pl. ; and most recently J.-C. Grenier, Lesprgrinations dun Boukhis en Haute Thbade, in C. Thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives(CENiM ; Montpellier, ), .

The proper reading of this toponym follows Grenier, in Thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbainestardives, ; it had been already suggested briefly by S. Sauneron, Quatres campagnes Esna(Esna I; Cairo, ), n. . For connections between the clergy of Thebes, Armant, and Esna, see Coulon, RdE, .

Following the improved text of Grenier, in Thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives, . H. W. Fairman, The Bucheum, II: The Inscriptions(EES EM ; London, ), . Goldbrunner, Buchis, . Grenier, in Thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives, . See J. ern, Egyptian Oracles, in R.A. Parker,A Saite Oracle Papyrus from Thebes in the Brooklyn Museum

(Providence, ), , for the different movements of processional barks during oracles. For the duties of these priests, see recently J. Osing and G. Rosati, Papiri geroglifici e ieratici da Tebtynis

(Florence, ), ; J. F. Quack, Tabuisierte und ausgegrenzte Kranke nach dem Buch vom Tempel ,in H.-W. Fischer-Elfert (ed.), Papyrus Ebers und die antike Heilkunde(Philippika ; Wiesbaden, ), .

E. Chassinat, Le temple dEdfou, VI (Cairo, ), .; see recently D. Kurth, Treffpunkt der Gtter:Inschriften aus dem Tempel des Horus von Edfu(Dsseldorf, ), (no. ).


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The names of multiple priests are called until the statue assents (hn) to one of them. Thisparticular priest, called the servant of the falcon (Hm gmHsw), then stands in the forecourt infront of (m-aoA) the portable bark of Horus while the following procedure takes place:

sTA Drty.w twt(.w)r Ra m inm=sn r xft-Hr n nTr pn wa-wa

spr=f m Htp Hr bik=f

Bringing falcons resembling Re in their plumage before this god, one by one, (until) he(Horus) decides upon his particular falcon in peace.

Just like in the Bucheum stela, the priests of Edfu selected multiple falcons whose plumagequalified them to become sacred falcons. However, the statue of Horus Behedety had thefinal word, picking his favorite choice in traditional oracular procedure. Although the verb aHa, to stop, does not occur in most oracular texts, a parallel does existin a mysterious Ptolemaic stela from Diospolis Parva dating to the reign of Ptolemy III(lines x+):

spr Hm=f r wA.t n Dw-StA m-aoA sTA.t nt Knm.t

aHa pw ir.n=f

hn.n Hm=f wr zp-snw

His Majesty came to the desert road, facing the necropolis-region of the West,he cameto a stop (aHa), and His Majesty assented very greatly.

Given the fragmentary preservation of the inscription, Collombert noted Si lhypothsede loracle parat donc pleinement assure, le sujet mme de la manifestation divine sembledevoir nous chapper totalement.Nonetheless, he suggested that the proceedings relatedto the divinization of a local priestess named Udjarenes, attested in several other sources.

Elaborating on his hypothesis, one notes that the stela ends abruptly on the followingline with the mention of a certain edifice (line x+):

(a

the [temple/tomb] of the

Osiris (of) the gods wife, Udjaren.Perhaps priests from Diospolis Parva carried theprocessional bark of a deity, here denoted His Majesty,to the western gebel to find an

auspicious spot for a tomb or desert shrine for the deified Udjarenes.

During the procession,the statue came to a stop (aHa) and assented (hn) at an appropriate location, thus indicatinghis choice by means of an oracle. Petosiris conducted a similar procession for the goddessNehmetaway, leading her statue through the flooded ruins of Hermopolis until it halted (aHa)at the location of her future temple.

Chassinat, EdfouVI, .. P. Collombert, Hout-sekhem et le septime nome de Haute-Egypte, I: La divine Oudjarenes, RdE (),

, , pls viiviii (esp. n. v, for this meaning of aHa); cf. also the discussion of J. C. Darnell, Theban DesertRoad Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, I: Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscriptions and Wadi el-Hl Inscriptions(OIP ; Chicago, ), .

Literally the road of the Mysterious Mountain (i.e. Western gebel; desert) facing the necropolis region of

Kenmet (i.e. Khargeh and Dakhleh Oases; the Western Desert). For this use of Knm.t, see Collombert, RdE, n. u, and note that this refers specifically to the necropolis of Diospolis Parva in E. Chassinat, Dendara, II(Cairo, ), ., and S. Cauville, Dendara, X (Cairo, ), .; for the term Dw-StA, see recently D. Meeks,Mythes et lgendes du Delta daprs le papyrus Brooklyn ..(MIFAO ; Cairo, ), n. .

Collombert, RdE, . Collombert, RdE, and n. y, translated [...temp]le dOsiris (?), lpouse-du-dieu Oudjarene,

but this could simply refer to the mortuary cult of Udjarenes, just as on BM , line (ibid., , n. d, );see in general M. Smith, Osiris NN or Osiris of NN, in B. Backes (ed.), Totenbuch-Forschungen: GesammelteBeitrge des . Internationalen Totenbuch-Symposiums. Bonn, . bis September (SAT ; Wiesbaden,), .

Both Collombert and Darnell assumed Hm=freferred to Ptolemy III, but this phrase could just as easilydenote the god, especially since the term Hmcan specifically designate the processional cult-statue of a divinityperforming oracles; cf. Kruchten, Le grand texte oraculaire, . The divinity could be either Neferhotep or theAugust Sistrum of Diospolis Parva, mentioned previously on line x+.

Or perhaps the priests were searching for the lost tomb of Udjarenes? Lefebvre, Le tombeau de Petosiris, inscr. nos ., .; following the new interpretation of Derchain, GM

, .


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Returning to the Bucheum stela, it is interesting to note that Amenope of Djeme wasspecifically used for this ritual. Amenope was of course the main god of Luxor Temple,thelocation of the Buchis enthronement ritual,but until recently he was not known to performoracles. However, a fascinating inscription on the statue of a Ptolemaic strategosnamed Plato

relates how the following occurred when Amenope of Djeme appeared in processions:

di=f Hr=f r=i

di=f rS(=i) Sfy.t=f m Haw=i

Dd=f n=i sxr.w

wHa=i m bAH=f

He would turn his face to me,causing me to rejoice (because) his majesty was throughoutmy body, he would pronounce oracles to me, and I would interpret in his presence.

The statue of Plato and the Bucheum stela both indicate that the processional image ofAmenope performed oracles.It appears Amenope inherited the role of chief oracular godof Thebes from the deified Amenhotep I,a god with whom he shared much in common.

D K

For Amenope, see primarily M. Doresse, Le dieu voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [I], RdE(), ; id., Le dieu voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [II], RdE (), ; id., Le dieuvoil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [III], RdE (), ; D. Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of RomanThebes(PhD Thesis, Yale University; New Haven, ), .

In lines , the ceremonies are set in Victorious Thebes, the traditional place of his enthronement

(WAs.t-nxt.t, s.t sxn=f Dr-bAH) and more specifically in the Opet (Ip.t) = Luxor Temple; Grenier, in Thiers (ed.),Documents de thlogies thbaines tardives, , claimed that while the Buchis ceremony may have taken place ineither Luxor or Karnak, the latter option is peut-tre plus probable, without noting an example where Ip.talonecan refer to Karnak, which is properly Ip.t-s.wt. J. Quaegebeur, Amnophis, nom royal et nom divin: Questionsmthodologiques, RdE (), , argued that Ip.tcould refer to many locations in Thebes; however, thetoponym Opet exclusively designates Luxor Temple in the Graeco-Roman Period: cf. Klotz, Kneph, . Theallusion to enthronements in the past (Dr-bAH) calls to mind royal inscriptions of the Eighteenth Dynasty whichexplicitly locate coronation rituals within Luxor Temple; cf. Lacau and Chevrier, Une chapelle dHatchepsout, and n. j; A. H. Gardiner, The Coronation of King @aremHab,JEA (), (especially line );L. Bell, Luxor Temple and the Cult of the Royal Ka,JNES (), .

Coulon, RdE, col. , , , . For the oracular phrase rdi-Hrin relation to the processional image of Amenope, see K. Jansen-Winkeln, Ein

Priester als Restaurator: Zu einer ptolemischen Inschrift am Luxortempel, ZS (), , pl. xvi, line . For representations of the portable bark of Amenope of Djeme, see Doresse, RdE , . Cf. J. ern, Le culte d'Amenophis I chez les ouvriers de la ncropole thbaine, BIFAO (), . For similarities between the processional barks of Amenhotep I and Amenope, see already Doresse, RdE,

; for confusion between the names Amenhotep and Amenope, see Quaegebeur, RdE, .