THE JOURNAL OF

Egyptian
Archaeology
VOLUME 96
2010

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THE EgYPT ExPLORATION SOcIETY

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ISSN 03075133

The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology

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Editorial Team
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Violaine chauvet, Editor
Roland Enmarch, Editor
chris Eyre, Editor
cary Martin, Editor
Ian Shaw, Editor
glenn godenho, Editorial Assistant
editorial email address: jea@ees.ac.uk

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the material discussed here once again demonstrates how vital it is to preserve and study
the records of our egyptological predecessors. by his conscientious recording of key elements
of his collection, anthony Harris has enabled the solution to one of the minor mysteries of
egyptian history.
mark collier, aidan Dodson, and Gottfried Hamernik
Two overlooked 0racles
new readings proposed for two Late Period stelae reveal additional evidence for divine oracles. in Je 72130,
nectanebo i relates how the goddess nehmetaway proclaimed his future kingship through an oracle, not a public
hieros-gamos ritual as roeder had suggested. Je 53147 (bucheum stela 9), informs us that the new buchis was
chosen by the statue of amenope during a ritual procession in Luxor, possibly from among a pool of qualiied
taurian candidates.

JE 72130 Hermopolis Stela of Nectanebo I

the thirtieth Dynasty began when nectanebo i from sebennytos rose to power and
succeeded the mendesian twenty-ninth Dynasty. However, the precise details of the
dynastic shift have remained shrouded in mystery. only two classical historians allude to
the actual transition. theopompos of chios briely remarked that nectanebo assumed the
kingship of egypt (kai; wJ~ Nektenivbio~ pareilhfovto~ th;n Aijguvptou basileivan).1 cornelius nepos,
meanwhile, noted that for, having gone forth to help nectanebo, he (the athenian general
chabrias) established his kingship (nam Nectenebin adiutum profectus, regnum ei constituit).2
most scholars have concluded that nectanebo seized the throne from nepherites ii by
military force.3 as a. b. Lloyd recently summarized, Given such an ancestry [referring to
nectanebo is military family] and the extreme brevity of nepherites reign, the advent of
the new dynasty looks suspiciously like a military coup.4
the only native egyptian source to mention the succession is a stela nectanebo i erected
at Hermopolis, now in the egyptian museum (Je 72130).5 although the text contains several
philological diiculties, roeder was able to reconstruct the basic course of events:
(1) nectanebo, general under achoris or nepherites ii, leads an expedition to Hermopolis
to quell a local rebellion.
(2) successful in his campaign, nectanebo earns the support of the Hermopolitan oicials,
and the favor of the goddess nehmetaway.
(3) With this local support, nectanebo seizes the crown from the young nepherites ii.
1
f. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, ii/b (berlin, 1929), 558, f103, 10; cf. f. Kienitz, Die
politische Geschichte gyptens vom 7. bis zum 4. Jahrhundert vor der Zeitwende (berlin, 1953), 89, 173. note that
the phrase paralambanw basileivan has neutral connotations, corresponding to egyptian Ssp nsw.t (var. iAw.t wr.t),
to receive kingship (var. the great oice) in Ptolemaic trilingual decrees; LsJ, 1315; f. Daumas, Les moyens
dexpression du grec et de lgyptien compars dans les dcrets de Canope et de Memphis (sasae 16; cairo, 1952),
2056, 236.
2
cornelius nepos, Chabrias ii, 1; noted by Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte, 89. this statement may simply
imply that chabrias supported nectanebo against the Persians.
3
e. Drioton and J. Vandier, Lgypte (Paris, 1962), 60809; J. H. Johnson, the Demotic chronicle as an
Historical source, Enchoria 4 (1974), 11; H. de meulenaere, nektanebos i, L iV, 450; c. traunecker, essai
sur lhistoire de la XXiXe Dynastie, BIFAO 79 (1979), 436; J. D. ray, egypt: Dependence and independence
(425343 b.c.), in H. sancisi-Weerenburg (ed.), Achaemenid History, i: Sources, Structures, and Syntheses (Leiden,
1987), 823; n.-c. Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (oxford, 1992), 375; J. a. Josephson, nektanebo, in D.
b. redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, ii (oxford, 2001), 512; J. Kahl, Zu den namen
sptzeitlicher usurpatoren, fremdherrscher, Gegen- und Lokalknige, ZS 129 (2002), 33; a. i. blbaum,
Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt: Herrscherlegitimation im sptzeitlichen gypten. Eine vergleichende
Untersuchung der Phraseologie in den oiziellen Knigsinschriften vom Beginn der 25. Dynastie bis zum Ende der
makedonischen Herrschaft (aegmonast 4; aachen, 2006), 18.
4
a. b. Lloyd, egypt, 404337 bc, CAH2 Vi, 3401.
5
G. roeder, Zwei hieroglyphische inschriften aus Hermopolis, ASAE 52 (1953), 375442; sections of this
stela have been discussed recently by K. myliwiec, The Twilight of Ancient Egypt (ithaca, 2000), 166, 168;

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While this outline is generally correct, one of the signs confused roeder, and thus he
overlooked an important detail of nectanebos rise to power. the relevant section appears in
lines 911, after the description of the rebellion:6

e e
e

e


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 (?), was
in ihm geschehen war. aber nachdem sein Vater thot, der [zweimal Grosse], der Herr von
chmunu, und seine mutter Wosret nehmet-awaj [ihn] hatten erscheinen lassen [als Knig
(nswt)] der ewigkeit und Knig (bjtj) der unendlichkeit.

the primary diiculty comes from the irst sign, a rearing animal,7 which roeder
consistently read as ib, to desire.8 the same hieroglyph appears three other times on the
stela, always in the same phrase: (line 20 twice, and line 27). the irst two examples
occur in a fragmentary section describing a festival in Hermopolis:9

roeder translated the irst phrase as drsteten nach... and the second as nach der schnheit
drstetet... (sexuell?). explaining his interpretation, he further noted:10
Die zweimalige Verbindung von jb mit nfr.w verstehe ich nicht (). sicher ist der Jubel der
bevlkerung 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 30.
Dynastie (aDaiK 18; berlin, 2001), 50304, 672; . engsheden, La reconstitution du verbe en gyptien de tradition
40030 avant J.-C. (use 3; uppsala, 2003), 4245 (s.v. Hermopolis); blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die
Maat liebt, passim.
6
text after roeder, ASAE 52, 3901; with corrections based on the published photograph (ibid., pl. x).
7
although roeder copied a rearing calf, the photographs show this sign has a thinner body and longer ears.
8
a similar sign actually writes ib in the same inscription, in line 7: wnn Hm=f m ibw HA km.t, His majesty is
a shelter () around egypt. roeder, ASAE 52, 386 and 421, translated this phrase as seine majestt war in
sorge (?) um Kemet, and elsewhere referred to this sign as das unverstndliche Gazelle. nonetheless, the royal
epithet ibw HA Km.t is quite common; see H. W. fairman, an introduction to the study of Ptolemaic signs and
their Values, BIFAO 43 (1945), 723 n. 1; H. de meulenaere, un sens particulier des prpositions m-rw.tj et
m-itr.tj , BIFAO 53 (1953), 923.
9
roeder, ASAE 52, 400.
10
ibid., 401.

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the third example of this phrase appears in a clearer section relating how nehmetaway
entered her newly renovated temple during a large festival (line 27):11

roeder translated, ihre majestt war in sehnsucht nach der schnheit des Knigs, ihr Herz
jubelte ber das, was seine majestt ihr tat, 12 and once again suggested that the expression
in question hier sexuell gedeutet werden kann. nonetheless, he also questioned whether
this phrase sollte nur danken bedeuten?. roeders conviction that the rearing animal
must read ib led him to postulate a literal hieros gamos between nectanebo and nehmetaway
during a festival in Hermopolis, possibly accompanied by similar couplings among the
celebrants. While such an event is theoretically possible, a diferent interpretation of the
sign leads to a far simpler reconstruction of events.
the rearing mammal may in fact be a simple variant of the girafe, writing sr to proclaim;
announce; predict. a similar example of such confusion occurs in the tomb of ramesses iV
(KV 2), where the scribe replaced the girafe with a rearing goat.13 the same confusion
probably explains why the jackal can also have the phonetic value sr.14
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).15
therefore, one can translate the aforementioned passages with no sexual overtones, for
example:
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,16
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 historical
section:
11

ibid., 407.
ibid., 408.
13
G. roulin, Le Livre de la Nuit: Une composition gyptienne de lau-del (obo 147; fribourg, 1996), i, 56 n. o,
and ii, 7; an even stranger version of this sign appears in the parallel text from the tomb of ramesses Vi.
14
. chassinat, Le mystre dOsiris au mois de Khoiak (cairo, 1968), ii, 676 n. 9; c. traunecker, Coptos: Dieux
et hommes sur le parvis de Geb (oLa 43; Leuven, 1992), 64 n. q; s. cauville, Dendara: Le fonds hiroglyphique au
temps de Cloptre (Paris, 2001), 253; see also J. assmann, eine traumofenbarung der Gttin Hathor, RdE 30
(1978), 26 col. 10, 29 n. d; W. Westendorf, Horus und seth (?) auf der Palastfassade des semerchet oder noch
einmal: Die Girafe und das seth-tier, GM 223 (2009), 107. LGG Vi, 426b, signals an example of sr written
with a donkey, but the photograph shows the sign is actually a girafe: see H. Gauthier, Le temple de Kalabchah
(cairo, 1911), 169 and pl. lviii.a.
15
Wb. iV, 190.1314; cf. a. Gutbub, Textes fondamentaux de la thologie de Kom Ombo (bde 47; cairo, 1973),
i, 397 n. f, 416 n. k; n.-c. Grimal, Les termes de la propagande royal gyptienne, de la XXIXe dynastie la conqute
dAlexandre (maibL 6; Paris, 1986), 119; J.-m. Kruchten, Le grande texte oraculaire de Djhutymose, intendant
du domaine dAmon sous le pontiicat de Pinedjem II (mre 5; brussels, 1986), 47 n. 4 (prdire du bonheur);
m. smith, The Mortuary Texts of Papyrus BM 10507 (cDPbm 3; London, 1987), 90 n. a referring to line Vi, 1;
P. Wilson, A Ptolemaic Lexikon: A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu (oLa 78;
Leuven, 1997), 881; e. chassinat, Le temple de Dendara, ii (cairo, 1934), 199.8; e. chassinat and f. Daumas, Le
temple de Dendara, Viii (cairo, 1978), 40.2.
16
one can probably restore the good [god] who came forth from re, as an epithet of the king; cf. Grimal, Les
termes de la propagande, 102 n. 255.
12

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JEA 96

sr n=f mw.t=f wsr.t [NH]m.t-[a]wAy ir.t-Ra [... Hr.t-ib?] oA(y.t)-oAa

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 smib n nt(y) m aHc m xpr im=f d
ir m-xt sxa.n sw it=f +Hwti [aA aA] nb #mnw
mw.t=f wsr.t [NH]m[.t]-awA[y m nsw.t] n nHH biti n D.t
His mother, the mighty, nehmetaway, the eye of re [within?] the High mound,
announced to him
that he would be King of upper and Lower egypt for many years as a good ruler
of 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 conirms reading

, the High mound, just as the toponym appears later in line 24. for nehmetaway
in the High mound of Hermopolis, see also D. mallet, Le Kasr el-Agoz (mifao 11;
cairo, 1909), 88; discussed by J. Parlebas, Die Gttin Nehmet-awaj (PhD thesis, universitt
tbingen; Kehl, 1984), 42 and 119.
b) engsheden suggested that this faulty spelling of smi was inluenced by Demotic, where
the s-sign is identical to the seated man (a2).17 However, confusion between the former sign
and the reed leaf is more likely.18 the preposition r is written iw frequently on this stela; see
roeder, ASAE 52, 421 (who did not note this example).

c) for as nty, see roeder, ASAE 52, 421, and cf. also the naukratis stela, col. 13, and
mma 1996.91, col. 2 (both from the reign of nectanebo i). for this designation of the
king, see Wb. i, 214.1217; i. Guermeur, Glanures (34), BIFAO 106 (2006), 124 n. e.
compare also G. Lefebvre, Le tombeau de Petosiris (cairo, 1924), inscr. no. 106.1516, where
Petosiris claims to have paid his workman properly just as one had done in the past while a
king 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, 262.1821; G. Vittmann,
Der demotische Papyrus Rylands 9 (at 38; Wiesbaden, 1998), ii, 31415; f. r. Herbin,
trois papyrus hiroglyphiques dpoque romaine, RdE 59 (2008), 129 n. 36.
according to this section, nehmetaway made an oracular or ominous prediction to
nectanebo when he visited Hermopolis as a general.19 nectanebo then returned to the
palace, 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 recently
recognized a similar oracular appearance of nehmetaway in the autobiographical texts of
Petosiris (61.338; 81.708), when the priest carried the processional bark of the goddess
around Hermopolis so she might signal the optimal location for her new temple.20
17

engsheden, La reconstitution du verbe, 303 n. 1156.

J. c. Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity (obo 198; fribourg, 2004), 140;
cauville, Dendara: Le fonds hiroglyphique, 255.
19
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 9; Wiesbaden, 1979), 5370; Graefe argued
that 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 an
oracle setting; cf. the remarks of L. coulon, Quand amon parle Platon (La statue caire Je 38033), RdE 52
(2001), 105, n. 73. for the topos of divinities announcing or promising kingship, see Graefe, in Westendorf (ed.),
Aspekte der sptgyptischen Religion, 613; Grimal, Les termes de la propagande, 11820, 123.
20
P. Derchain, Possession, transe et exorcisme: les oublies de lgyptologie, GM 219 (2008), 1617.
18

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251

While this narrative is undoubtedly a work of royal propaganda, the Hermopolis stela
does not necessarily refer to a military coup dtat, as some have suggested.21 rather, the
inscription follows a long tradition of royal stelae recording the divine selection by a god or
goddess. 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.22
even closer is the sphinx stela, where the sphinx speaks to a young thutmosis iV as
prince, and promises to make him king if he clears away the encroaching sand.23 the latter
text suggests that royal succession was not always based on seniority, and that thutmosis iV
ensured his status as crown Prince in part through the benefactions he performed in Giza.24
Likewise, the general nectanebo may have exploited the oracle of nehmetaway to establish
himself as a legitimate successor to the mendesian kings of the twenty-ninth Dynasty.
the Hermopolis stela avoids mentioning the previous king, using periphrastic expressions
such as the one who was in the palace (nt(y) m aH), and the king who was before him (nswt
wn(.w) Xr HA.t=f) in lines 7 and 9. scholars generally assume this king was achoris,25 and the
allusion to times of troubles when a certain rebel became ruler (xpr=f m HoA) over part of the
country (line 8) aptly describes the dynastic struggles between achoris and the Gegenknig
Psammuthis.26
the fact that nectanebo reported (smi) the oracle to the reigning monarch, suggests he had
a 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-ninth
Dynasty because diese oftmals nachgesagte Verwandtschaft mit nephorites i. grndet sich
auf mideutung einer textpassage der Demotischen chronik und mu revidiert werden.27
However, the relationship between the mendesian and sebennytic lines is still supported by
a hieroglyphic inscription which refers to nectanebos father, the great generalissimo teos,28
as kings son (zA nsw.t).29 thus, even if one excludes the Demotic chronicle, nectanebo i
must have been the grandson of a certain king who, for chronological reasons, was most
likely nepherites i. in that case, nectanebo i could have been a viable candidate for king
after nepherites ii after all.
the new reading does not clear nectanebo i of usurping the throne, and one can easily
imagine him storming to the capital with the military support of Hermopolis, expressed
in the form of an oracular decision. However, this stela now demonstrates the continued
political importance of oracles in Late Period egypt, presaging to some extent alexanders
voyage to siwa only ifty years later.
JE 53147 Bucheum Stela 9
although most of the bucheum stelae from armant follow a standardized formula, the
inscription on Je 53147 provides many unparalleled details about the selection process
21

e.g. ray, in sancisi-Weerenburg (ed.), Achaemenid History i, 823; Lloyd, CAH 2 Vi, 3401.
P. Lacau and H. chevrier, Une chapelle dHatshepsout Karnak (cairo, 1977), i, 97142.
23
see recently a. Klug, Knigliche Stelen in der Zeit von Ahmose bis Amenophis III (monaeg 8; brussels, 2002),
296304, 5245; P. beylage, Aufbau der kniglichen Stelentexte vom Beginn der 18. Dynastie bis zur Amarnazeit
(at 54; Wiesbaden, 2002), 6575, 6013.
24
see the discussion of b. m. bryan, The Reign of Thutmose IV (baltimore, 1991), 3892.
25
H. de meulenaere, La famille royale des nectanbo, ZS 90 (1963), 90; P.-m. chevereau, Prosopographie
des cadres militaires gyptiens de la Basse poque (eme 2; Paris, 1985), 154 and 353.
26
J. ray, Psammuthis and Hakoris, JEA 72 (1986), 14958; connection noted by blbaum, Denn ich bin
ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, 18; 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 sicle
av. J.-c., Transeuphratne 30 (2005), 3762.
27
blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, 18.
28
note also that blbaum, ibid., mistranslated the titulary of teos (Urk. ii, 26.10), 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, see
Wb. ii, 155, and chevereau, Prosopographie, 2602.
29
see already de meulenaere, ZS 90, 902; blbaum, Denn ich bin ein Knig, der die Maat liebt, 18, did not
mention this important inscription. for the genealogy of the thirtieth Dynasty, see most recently . engsheden,
La parent des nectanbo, CdE 81 (2006), 6270.
22

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for a new Buchis bull.30 When a candidate for the buchis is born somewhere near asfun,
local priests recognize his special colouring and take him to esna,31 and a group of priests
from armant sail south to inspect him there. from esna, the bull travels in a procession to
Victorious 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 in
abbreviated day-book style. Previous translators have all passed over a small yet signiicant
detail (line 10):32

s2
(

G (

fairman,33 Goldbrunner,34 and Grenier 35 translated 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 stand
diesem 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 et
le 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 superluous detail. However, if
one translates aHa not as, to stand, but to stand still or stop moving (Wb. i, 218.8-10 and
220.9), then one arrives at a diferent reconstruction:
amenope of Djeme appeared in procession; his majesty went in front of him; amenope
came to a stop directly across from this particular god (in Imn-Ip.t aHa m-aoA nTr pn); likewise the king (and the entourage, prophets, priests of the staf of the House of Life, and
all troops of the entire land which had come with him to thebes. then this good god was
enthroned).

With this modiied translation, the reason for the phrase m-aoA becomes clear. theban
priests carried the portable bark of amenope of Djeme in procession (sxa), and the procession
stopped only when he was in front of the bull in question. in other words, amenope indicated
his choice of buchis bull by suddenly rendering the bark immovable.36 this may imply that
there were actually multiple candidates vying to become the new buchis. although the wabpriests of sakhmet were specially trained to spot the distinctive markings on sacred animals,37
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 greater
detail.38 the statue of Horus behedety is carried in procession to the falcon house (pr n bik).
30
for this stela, see L. Goldbrunner, Buchis: Eine Untersuchung zur Theologie des heiligen Stieres in Theben
zur griechisch-rmischen Zeit (mre 11; brepols, 2003), 5761, pl. 5; and most recently J.-c. Grenier, Les
prgrinations dun boukhis en Haute thbade, in c. thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives
(cenim 3; montpellier, 2009), 3948.
31
the proper reading of this toponym follows Grenier, in thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines
tardives, 4; it had been already suggested briely by s. sauneron, Quatres campagnes Esna (esna i; cairo, 1959),
21 n. 2. for connections between the clergy of thebes, armant, and esna, see coulon, RdE 52, 1003.
32
following the improved text of Grenier, in thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives, 43.
33
H. W. fairman, The Bucheum, ii: The Inscriptions (ees em 41; London, 1934), 7.
34
Goldbrunner, Buchis, 60.
35
Grenier, in thiers (ed.), Documents de thologies thbaines tardives, 43.
36
see J. ern, egyptian oracles, in r.a. Parker, A Saite Oracle Papyrus from Thebes in the Brooklyn Museum
(Providence, 1962), 445, for the diferent movements of processional barks during oracles.
37
for the duties of these priests, see recently J. osing and G. rosati, Papiri gerogliici e ieratici da Tebtynis
(florence, 1998), 189215; 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 7; Wiesbaden, 2005), 678.
38
e. chassinat, Le temple dEdfou, Vi (cairo, 1931), 102.48; see recently D. Kurth, Trefpunkt der Gtter:
Inschriften aus dem Tempel des Horus von Edfu (Dsseldorf, 1998), 2323 (no. 31).

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the names of multiple priests are called until the statue assents (hn) to one of them. this
particular priest, called the servant of the falcon (Hm gmHsw), then stands in the forecourt in
front of (m-aoA) the portable bark of Horus while the following procedure takes place:39
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 plumage
qualiied them to become sacred falcons. However, the statue of Horus behedety had the
inal 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 exist
in a mysterious Ptolemaic stela from Diospolis Parva dating to the reign of Ptolemy iii
(lines x+78):40
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,41 he came
to a stop (aHa), and His majesty assented very greatly.

Given the fragmentary preservation of the inscription, collombert noted si lhypothse

de loracle parat donc pleinement assure, le sujet mme de la manifestation divine semble
devoir nous chapper totalement.42 nonetheless, he suggested that the proceedings related
to 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 following
a the [temple/tomb] of the
line with the mention of a certain ediice (line x+9):
(
osiris (of) the gods wife, udjaren<es>.43 Perhaps priests from Diospolis Parva carried the
processional bark of a deity, here denoted His majesty,44 to the western gebel to ind an
auspicious spot for a tomb or desert shrine for the deiied udjarenes.45 During the procession,
the statue came to a stop (aHa) and assented (hn) at an appropriate location, thus indicating
his choice by means of an oracle. Petosiris conducted a similar procession for the goddess
nehmetaway, leading her statue through the looded ruins of Hermopolis until it halted (aHa)
at the location of her future temple.46
39

chassinat, Edfou Vi, 102.78.

P. collombert, Hout-sekhem et le septime nome de Haute-egypte, i: La divine oudjarenes, RdE 46 (1995),
64, 6770, pls viiviii (esp. 68 n. v, for this meaning of aHa); cf. also the discussion of J. c. Darnell, Theban Desert
Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, i: Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscriptions 145 and Wadi el-Hl Inscriptions
145 (oiP 119; chicago, 2002), 133.
41
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
46, 67 n. u, and note that this refers speciically to the necropolis of Diospolis Parva in e. chassinat, Dendara, ii
(cairo, 1934), 133.3, and s. cauville, Dendara, X (cairo, 1997), 282.13; for the term Dw-StA, see recently D. meeks,
Mythes et lgendes du Delta daprs le papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.84 (mifao 125; cairo, 2006), 45 n. 20.
42
collombert, RdE 46, 69.
43
collombert, RdE 46, 64 and 68 n. y, translated [...temp]le dosiris (?), lpouse-du-dieu oudjarene<s>,
but this could simply refer to the mortuary cult of udjarenes, just as on bm 934, line 2 (ibid., 57, 58 n. d, 73);
see in general m. smith, osiris nn or osiris of nn, in b. backes (ed.), Totenbuch-Forschungen: Gesammelte
Beitrge des 2. Internationalen Totenbuch-Symposiums. Bonn, 25. bis 29 September 2005 (sat 11; Wiesbaden,
2006), 32537.
44
both collombert and Darnell assumed Hm=f referred to Ptolemy iii, but this phrase could just as easily
denote the god, especially since the term Hm can speciically designate the processional cult-statue of a divinity
performing oracles; cf. Kruchten, Le grand texte oraculaire, 27. the divinity could be either neferhotep or the
august sistrum of Diospolis Parva, mentioned previously on line x+7.
45
or perhaps the priests were searching for the lost tomb of udjarenes?
46
Lefebvre, Le tombeau de Petosiris, inscr. nos 61.36, 81.77; following the new interpretation of Derchain, GM
219, 1617.
40

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JEA 96

returning to the bucheum stela, it is interesting to note that amenope of Djeme was
speciically used for this ritual. amenope was of course the main god of Luxor temple,47 the
location of the buchis enthronement ritual,48 but until recently he was not known to perform
oracles. However, a fascinating inscription on the statue of a Ptolemaic strategos named Plato
relates how the following occurred when amenope of Djeme appeared in processions:49
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,50 causing me to rejoice (because) his majesty was throughout
my 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 of
amenope performed oracles.51 it appears amenope inherited the role of chief oracular god
of thebes from the deiied amenhotep i,52 a god with whom he shared much in common.53
David Klotz

47
for amenope, see primarily m. Doresse, Le dieu voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [i], RdE 23
(1971), 11336; id., Le dieu voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [ii], RdE 25 (1973), 92135; id., Le dieu
voil dans sa chsse et la fte de la dcade [iii], RdE 31 (1979), 3665; D. Klotz, Kneph: The Religion of Roman
Thebes (PhD thesis, Yale university; new Haven, 2008), 6980.
48
in lines 78, 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 speciically in the opet (Ip.t) = Luxor temple; Grenier, in thiers (ed.),
Documents de thlogies thbaines tardives, 42, claimed that while the buchis ceremony may have taken place in
either Luxor or Karnak, the latter option is peut-tre plus probable, without noting an example where Ip.t alone
can refer to Karnak, which is properly Ip.t-s.wt. J. Quaegebeur, amnophis, nom royal et nom divin: Questions
mthodologiques, RdE 37 (1986), 97106, argued that Ip.t could refer to many locations in thebes; however, the
toponym opet exclusively designates Luxor temple in the Graeco-roman Period: cf. Klotz, Kneph, 702. the
allusion to enthronements in the past (Dr-bAH) calls to mind royal inscriptions of the eighteenth Dynasty which
explicitly locate coronation rituals within Luxor temple; cf. Lacau and chevrier, Une chapelle dHatchepsout, 133
and 135 n. j; a. H. Gardiner, the coronation of King @aremHab, JEA 39 (1953), 1415 (especially line 14);
L. bell, Luxor temple and the cult of the royal Ka, JNES 44 (1985), 25194.
49
coulon, RdE 52, 88 col. 3, 90, 96, 1038.
50
for the oracular phrase rdi-Hr in relation to the processional image of amenope, see K. Jansen-Winkeln, ein
Priester als restaurator: Zu einer ptolemischen inschrift am Luxortempel, ZS 132 (2005), 35, pl. xvi, line 1.
51
for representations of the portable bark of amenope of Djeme, see Doresse, rde 23, 11336.
52
cf. J. ern, Le culte d'amenophis i chez les ouvriers de la ncropole thbaine, BIFAO 27 (1927), 17691.
53
for similarities between the processional barks of amenhotep i and amenope, see already Doresse, RdE 25,
112; for confusion between the names amenhotep and amenope, see Quaegebeur, RdE 37, 97106.