Ostracon v7 n1

Volume7 No. 1, Spring1996

T'Hf, OSTRASONJ

EGYPTIAN STUDY S OC IET Y @ DHNHrgst

I N T HI S I S S UE PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Frank Pettee J udy G r eenf i e l d Sandy Kerns Mary Pratchett David Pepper Cheryl Preyer Jill Taylor

Page 1 Hatshepsut's Recarved Sarcophagus

by Peterder Manuelian & C hri sti an Loeben

ESS STAFF LIAISON Dr. Robert Pickering

THE OSTRACOIVis published three times per year by members of the Egyptian Study Society. The ESS, a support group of the DENVERMUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY,is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to study ancient Egypt.

Articles are contributed by members and scholars on a voluntary basis. Member participation is encouraged. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written oermis sio n. o 19 96 Egy pt ian St udy Soc iet y Publication of THE OSTRACON is supported by a grant from THE PETTY FOUNDATION

16 18 19

Murder ln Memphis

by LeoDepuydt Featured Pharaoh: King Sneferu

by DavidPepper Featured God/Goddess: Ser

by FrankPettee House of Scrolls: The Carnegie Museum

by BruceRabe Kingston Lacy Conference

by DavidPepper

THE RECARVEDEGYPTIANSARCOPHAGUS OF OUEENHATSHEPSUT AND KINGTHUTMOSEI By Peterder Manuelianand ChristianE. Loeben Ahout the Authors: Peter der Manuelian r's Assistant Curator, Department of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Christian E. Loeben is lnstructor of Egyptology, HumboldtUniversitdt, Berlin.

Abridged with the authors' permission from Vol. 5, 1993, the Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston.

Some objects are exquisite works of art, m a s t er pie ce stha t earn their own place i n t h e realm of art history. Others are of critical h i s t o r i cali m po r tancebut may be nothing mu c h t o l o ok at. Still m ore objectsenlightenus o n t h e r e l i g i ousa n d p h ilosophicaldevelopment o f a p a r t i cula rcu ltur e . Rarely, however, are a ll o f t h e s e fea tur e sfound in a single piece. Wh e n t h i s i s th e case , the object in question is a t r e a s ur ei nd e e d . lt is no exaggerationto a s s ig n t h e B o stonM use umof Fine A rt's E gyptianro y a l s a r c oph a g u(sFi gure1) to this elite categor y .

T h e Bo ston sar cophagusis one of only t h re e r o y a l ston e sa r cophagi currently on dis p la y o u t s i d eEg yp t.t l t is one of very few from t h e 1 8 t h Dyn a sty to s how multiple alteration sa n d p h a s e sof d e co r a tion. lt was originallyprep a re d f o r Oue e n Ha tshepsut,and then recut fo r h e r f a t h e r , Ki ng Thu tmose l, in what turned o u t t o b e a sh u fflin gof r oyal burialsand reburial s .T h e sarcophagusis an artistic masterpiecefrom a royal atelier,a prototype for the funeral beliefs a n d t rad iti on s of a millennium,and a piv o t a l h i s t o ri calp ie ce of the complicated puz z le o f e a r l yN ew Kin g d ompoliticalhistory.

Historicalbackground. The history of the New Ki n g d o mbe g a na fter a family of Thebanprin c e s e x p e lle dthe la st ruler of severalgeneratio n so f d o mr nati onby the Hyksos (literally"Rul e rs o f F o r e i gn La n d s") . The Thebans reunite d t h e c o u n tr y a n d e stablishedtheir own dyn a s t y , w h i c h ca m eto be numberedthe eighteenth .

Page 1

O n e o f t h e g re a t e s t(a n d e a rlie s t )o f t h i s f a m i l y o f wa rrio r p h a ra o h s wa s K in g T h u t m o s e I (1 5 2 4 -1 5 1 8 B CE ). Ro y a l in s c rip ti o n sl i s t h i s s u c c e s s f u lc a mp a ig n sin Nu b ia a n d i n N a h a r i n , t h e la n d a c ro s s t h e E u p h ra t e s ri v e r i n t h e k in g d o mo f Mit a n n i (mo d e rnS y ria ). I n a d d i t i o n to his ambitious construction projects at the t e mp le s o f K a rn a k a t T h e b e s a n d O s i r i s a t A b y d o s , h e wa s t h e f irs t o f a lo n g li n e o f r u l e r s t o s e le c t t h e V a lle y o f t h e K in g s i n W e s t e r n T h e b e sa s t h e s it e o f h is t o mb . T h e t o m b w a s c o n s t ru c t e d wit h " n o o n e s e e in g , n o o n e h e a rin g , "b y t h e ma y o r o f T h e b e sa nd f i r s t c h i e f a rc h it e c tin t h e V a lle yo f t h e K in g s ,I n e n i . 2 T h u t mo s e l' s s o n a n d s u c c e s s o r,T h u t m o s el l , ma rrie dh is h a lf -s is t e r,Ha t s h e p s u tw , hose name " f o re mo s t me a n s o f t h e n o b le o n e s . " S h e b o r e t h e t it le o f " K in g ' s G re a tWif e " d u ri n gt h e r e i g n o f T h u t mo s ell a n d wa s d e s t in e dt o b e c o m ea ma jo r f ig u re in t h e s t ru g g le f o r s u c c e s s i o n f o llo win gh is c o mp a ra t iv e lyu n e v e n tf u rl e i g na n d e a rlyd e a t h . T h u t mo s elll, T h u t mo s el l ' s s o n b y a le s s e rq u e e n ,wa s s t ill t o o y o u n g t o a d m i n i s t e r t h e c o u n t ry ,a n d h is a u n t Ha t s h e p s ust t e p p e di n a s c o -re g e n t . A f e w y e a rs la t e r, s h e e l e v a t e d h e rs e lf t o t h e p o s it io n o f p h a ra o h w h i l e h e r young stepson was relegated to the b a c k g ro u n d . 3 O n ly t wic e b e f o re i n E g y p t i a n h is t o ryh a d a wo ma n t a k e n t h e t h ro n e , ob u t t h i s is p o s s ib ly t h e f irs t c a s e o f t w o " k i n g s " o c c u p y in gt h e t h ro n e s imu lt a n e o u s l y . O u e e n t u rn e d -k in gHa t s h e p s u g t ra d u a llyin tr o d u c e dt h e ra d ic a l s t e p o f re p re s e n t in gh e rs e l f a s a m a n , c o mp le t ewit h ma let o rs o a n d c e re m o n i abl e a r d . 5 A f e ma lep h a ra o hwa s a lmo s t a c o nt r a d i c t i o ni n t e rms , a n d a t t h e v e ry le a s t p o s e d p r o b l e m sf o r t h e s c rib e so f t h e a d min is t ra t io in n as s i g n i n gt h e " c o rre c t " g e n d e r p ro n o u n wh e n r e f e r r i n g t o Hatshepsut.

I n e n i c h ro n ic le d t h e e v e n t s o f H a t s h e p s u t ' s p o lit ic a "l c o u p " in a n in s c rip t io n : ... havi ng ascended up to heaven, he ( Thut m ose l l ) j oi ned w i th the gods, and hi s son ( Thut m ose l l l ) arose i n hi s pl ace as K i ng of the Two Lands (U pper and Low er E gypt).

IB ut] while he (Thutmose l l l ) rul ed upon the throne . . . I it was] hi s si ster, the god' s w i f e H atshepsut , who governed the affai rs of the l and, the Two Lands bei ng under her control . E gypt w as m ade t o w ork for her w i th bow ed head ...6 Spring | 996

Supported by powerful administratorssuch as H a p usen e bthe vizier and the high stewa rd o f Am u n , Sen e n m ut,T"K ing" Hatshepsut c o mpletedjust over two decadeson the throne. Her r e i g nwas n o t th e tranquil,campaignless ey e -o f the-storm of 18'h Dynasty militarism that is s o m eti m escl aim edin the literature. In fac t , lik e ma n y r ule r so f the ThutmosidHouse,she is a ls o c r e d i te dwith m ilitaryventuresof her own.t He r best-known accomplishments,however, were t h e m an u factur etransportation, , and erect io no f a p a i r of to we r in ggraniteobelisksat the T e mp le o f K a r n a k,e an d th e expeditionshe dispatc h e dt o the foreign Land of Punt, probably located on t h e R ed Sea co a st.lo

A f t e r 2 1 o r 2 2 y e a rs , Ha t s h e p s u t ' sr e i g n c a m e t o a n e n d ; e x a c t ly h o w re ma in su n c e r t a i n . H e r death and the demise of her supportingcast of h ig h o f f ic ia lsle f t T h u t mo s e lll f in a l l y i n c h a r g e of the country. He eventuallyerased,covered u p , o r o t h e rwis e o b lit e ra t e dt h e n a m e o f h i s a u n t f ro m c o u n t le s smo n u me n t s ,an d s h e w a s c u s t o ma rily o mit t e d f ro m s u b s eq u e n t K i n g L is t s . 1 1 T h e B o s t o n s a rc o p h a g u spr e s e n t s ,i n mic ro c o s m, t h e e v e n t s a n d p rio r i t i e s o f t h e ru le rs o f t h e a g e , wit h it s c o m p l i c a t e d s u c c e s s io no f p h a ra o h s mu d d ie d b y d i f fe r i n g s c h o la rlyt h e o rie sf o rmu la t e da t t h e be g i n n i n go f this century, and by more recent reassessments o f t h e t o mb s a n d t o mb o wn e rs . t 2 l t p l a y s a c rit ic a l ro le in o u r d e c ip h e rme n to f f u n e r a r y p o lit ic sa t t h e b e g in n in go f t h e 1 8 ' hD y n a s t y . l 3

Figure1. Hatshepsut'srecarvedSarcophagus C. Spnng I 956

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Hatshepsut's sarcophagi.

The Boston sarcophagus was the second of no fewer than three sarcophagi prepared for Hatshepsut, and it is a peculiar irony that probably none of them ever actually held her mummy. Before taking the throne, Hatshepsut had prepared a tomb for herself in a secret cleft, south of Deir el-Bahari.

Although neither completed nor used, her tomb contained a f inished, crystalline sandstone sarcophagus. In the sequence of early 18'h Dynasty sarcophagi established by Hayes, this first sarcophagus of Hatshepsut was designated "Sarcophagus A." lt is a rectangular box with l ong sides divided i nto three panels, all of which are blank except for hieroglyphic udjat eyes (which magically allow the deceased a view out eastwards towards the Land of the Living).

With the exception of a representation of the sky goddess Nut on top of the lid, there are no f igures on the sarcophagus, After having herself crowned senior pharaoh, Hatshepsut clearly felt that a new royal tomb was in order; this time, as befit a pharaoh, in the Valley of the Kings.la The cleft tomb was abandoned and excavation work began to c reate what is know known as tomb KV 20 in the Valley of the Kings.15 The new tomb was provided with a new quartzite sarcophagus for female king.

This sarcophagus, the is Boston Hatshepsut's second, the sarcophagus, now known as "Sarcophagus C" [ed. note: "Sarcophagus B" was the one carved for Hatshepsut's husband, Thutmose lll. This piece was cut, decorated, inscribed, and The completely prepared f or Hatshepsut. situation should have been settled here. But many changes of plan were still to follow.

Early in her solo reign, Hatshepsut may have experienced difficulty legitimizing her clai m to the throne. Probably between years four and seven,tu Hatshepsut decided to expand upon her She association with her deceased f ather.

I removal of the body of Thutmose ordered the from his own tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV 38) for reburial next to her sarcophagus in her own second tomb (KV 2Ol, still under relegated her second construction. She (Boston Sarcophagus C) to sarcophagus Thutmose l, and ordered it to be refitted to house his mummified body and its original wood Page 3

a n t h ro p o idc o f f in . T h is c a lle d f o r a c o m p l e t e re s iz in ga n d re d e s ig no f t h e p ie c e .

No w t wo s a rc o p h a gric i h e r,b u t s t ill l a c k i n go n e f o r h e r o wn e v e n t u a lmu mmif ic a t io na n d b u r i a l , Hatshepsutorderedyet a third sarcophagusfor D," which h e rs e lf ,n o w k n o wn a s " S a rc o p h a g us p re s e n t ly lo c a t e din t h e E g y p t ia nM u s e u m i n is Ca iro . T h is p ie c e is s imila r,a lt h o u g hl a r g e ra n d s .tt mo re e la b o ra t et,o t h e B o s t o nS a rc o ph a g uC E v e n t u a llyt,h e e x c a v a t io no f Ha t s h ep s u t ' tso m b K V 2 0 wa s d e e p e n o u g h t o a l l o w b o t h p h a ra o h s ,Ha t s h e p s u ta n d T h u t mo s e l , t o b e b u rre din t h e in n e rmo s tc h a mb e r. ls H o w e v e r ,a t t f Thutmose s o me p o in t d u rin g t h e re in t e rme n o I ' s mu mmy , it wa s s u d d e n lyd is c o v er e dt h a t h i s o rig in a la n t h ro p o idwo o d c o f f in wa s t o o l a r g et o f it in s id e Ha t s h e p s u t ' s n e wly altered Wit h a p p a re n t ha s t e , t h e S a rc o p h a g u sC. in t e rio rh e a d a n d f o o t e n d s o f t h e s a r c o p h a g u s we re wid e n e df ro m t h e in s id e . T h is r e s u l t e di n t h e o b lit e ra t io no f t h e d e c o ra t io n a d d e d f o r T h u t mo s el, a n d d a ma g e dt h e t e x t s on t h e t o p s o f t h e s a rc o p h a g u swa lls wh ic h h a d b e e n re c e n t lya lt e re db y l-la t s h e p s ufto r T h u t m o s el ' s b e n e f it , De c o ra t io nwa s h a s t ilyre a p p l i e dt o t h e in t e rio rh e a d a n d f o o t e n d s , t h e k in g ' s w o o d e n c o f f in wa s p la c e din s id e ,a n d t h e lid w a s c l o s e d o v e r h im.

I n mo d e rn t ime s , Ho wa rd Ca rt e r, w o r k i n g o n b e h a lf o f Rh o d e ls la n d la wy e r a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r T h e o d o reM. Da v is , c le a re dHa t s h e ps u t ' st o m b a n d d is c o v e re dt h e t wo ro y a l S a rc o p h a gC i and D. t e T h e E g y p t ia nA n t iq u it ie sS e rv rc ep r e s e n t e d t h e re c a rv e dS a rc o p h a g u sC o f T h u t m o s eI t o Da v is , wh o in t u rn d o n a t e d it in 1 90 4 t o t h e Mu s e u mo f F in eA rt s , B o s t o n .

Wh a t b e c a meo f t h e a c t u a lmu mmif iedb o d i e so f T h u t mo s e I a n d Ha t s h e p s u t ? Ne i t h e r w e r e f o u n d in t o mb K V 2 0 . T h u t mo s el' s t r a v e l sd i d n o t e n d a f t e r h is re b u ria l b y h is d a u g h t e r , Ha t s h e p s u t ,in t o mb K V 2 0 . T h ut m o s e l l l , f in a lly in c o n t ro l o f t h e c o u n t r y a f t e r Ha t s h e p s u t ' sd e a t h , s e n t h is a g e n t s t o r e o p e n K V 2 0 , lif t t h e mu mmy o f T h u t mo s eI o u t o f h i s S a rc o p h a g u C, s a n d mo v e it b a c k t o t h a t k i n g ' s Ra t h e r t h an u s e t h e o rig in a l t o mb K V 3 8 . a lt e re d S a rc o p h a g u sC, wh ic h s t il l b o r e t h e n a me s a n d t it le s o f t h e f e ma le k in g, T h u t m o s e Spring1996

Plres.3.Otttycrrbudc offhuhor: I lnc.ntb b.vbiH.

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Ph.r.2. 9i6nr uniqueb in end l{islrcfutfilbd Felr*d; anb,$tcat ThutmcscI cenrcdwr lt

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Fh.s. 1. Cadordtc od Flairhepcltt cervrd

Figure2. The recarved C artouches of Thutmose l l l l l o r de r e da n o the rstone "S arcophagusE ," ma d e f o r h is gr a n d af ther. This had the effec t o f r e mo v i ng Thu tm ose I from any monume n t o r site that could be associatedwith Hatshepsut.

T h e k ing w as m oved again, however, and wa s e v e n tu a llyd isco veredin 1881 on the othe r s id e o f t h e cl i ffs fr o m the V alley of the K ings . His b o d y wa s fo u n d i n the royal cache of mum mie s at Deir el-Bahari,site of a secret reburial of n u mer o u sph a r a ohsand royal family memb e rs by the priests of Dynasty 21.'o The body of H a t s he p suht a s ye t to be definitivelyidentif ie d . 2 l The Decorations on the Boston sarcophagus.

T h e Bo stonSar co phagusC is currentlyexh ib it e d w i t h i ts l i d p r o p p edup to revealthe interio r. lt i s m ade o f b r o wnish quartzite, the ston e o f c h o i c efo r e a r ly 18'n Dynasty sarcophagi. O n e s o l i d pi ecew as u sed for the lid and anothe rf o r th e b ox.

H a t s h e p su t'sor d er for the alteration of t h e s a r c o ph a g u sto a ccommodatethe coffin of h e r f a t h e r r esu ltedi n some surfaces being sha v e d a n d c om p le tely reinscribed, other (for me rly b l a n k )su r face sb e ing inscribedfor the first t ime , a n d sti l l othe r s being given only royal n a me c h a n g e sa n d co n versionof grammaticalend in g s f r o n r f e m in in eto masculine(Figure2). The la s t n r i n i r teen la r g e m entof the interiorhead and f o o t Spnrg 7996

e n d s f o r T h u t mo s e l' s u n e x p e c t e d l y l a r g e wo o d e n a n t h ro p o idc o f f in c a lle df o r t h e r e m o v a l o f u p t o 6 c m (t wo in c h e s )f ro m t h e i n t e r i o r , s nd f i g u r e s . d e s t ro y in gp a rt so f t h e in s c rip t io n a T h e la y o u t o f t h e s a rc o p h a g u s 'sd e c o r a t i o n re f le c t st h e f u n d a me n t a lE g y p t ia nc o n c e r nw i t h proper orientation. The land of the northwardflowing Nile was a strictly delineatedcountry, where the east bank representedthe Landof the L iv in ga n d t h e ris in gs u n , a n d t h e wes t b a n k t h e L a n d o f t h e De a d a n d t h e s e t t in g s u n . l t i s o n the west bank of the Nile that most Egyptian n e c ro p o lis e sa re lo c a t e d , a n d t h is d i r e c t i o n a l orientationassignedspecific deities to the east and west sides of the sarcophagus. The east s id e g e n e ra llyb e lo n g st o t h e s u n -go d a n d t h e re a lm o f t h e liv in g , wh e re a s t h e w e s t s i d e c o n t a in s s p e e c h e s b y t h e G o d O f T h e Un d e rwo rld a , lo n g wit h s p e llsf ro m t h e B o o k o f the Dead. The placementof the sarcophagusin t h e t o mb a ls o f o llo we d s u it , wit h t he h e a d e n d t o t h e n o rt h , a n d t h e e a s t a n d w e s t s i d e s orientedaccordingly. Tomb KV 20 and its two S a rc o p h a gC i a n d D we re t h e e x c e p t i o nt o t h i s ru le . T h e h e a d e n d s o f t h e s e we re f o u n d f a c i n g s o u t h , a n d t h e " mo rt u a ry " (i. e . w e s t ) s i d e s f a c in g e a s t . F a r f ro m a b re a k i n E g y p t i a n f u n e ra ry t ra d it io n , t h is a b e rra t io n m a y b e explainedby the fact that the excavatorswere Page 4

c o m p e lle dto cur ve the sepulcherback aro u n d o n i t s el f du e to the poor quality of the bedro c k .

Nevertheless,they seem to have treated the t o m b as if it continued straight on its a x is t o w a r d s H atshe p sut'smortuary temple at De ir e l - Ba har i.

T h e i nscr ip ti on sfall into three basic categ o rie s : ( 1 ) d e d ica ti on sby the deceasedon beha lf o f specificdeities; (21 prayersfor protectionmade b y t h e d e ce a se dto specific deities; and (3 ) s p e e ch e s b y sp ecific deities promising s u c h p r o t e ctio n f or the deceased.

E ight e e n t h Dy n a s ty r o ya l sa r cophagiplay a critical role in th e de ve lo p m e nt of early New K in g d o m li t e r a tur e- tha t i s, the evolutionof the Th e b a n version of the Book of the Dead, replacingthe Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts and their counterpart,in turn, the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts. SarcophagusC provides some of the e a r l i e st ver sio n s of certain spells, partic u la rly o n e o f the fir st co mpleteeditionsof Chapt e r7 2 , the Book of Going Forth into Day and Opening Up the Tomb.

There is an extremely important historicaltext o n H a tshe p su t'sSarcophagusC that says: as a She [Hatshepsut]made it [the sarcophagus] monument to her beloved f ather. the oerfect god, Lord of the Two Lands, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Aa-kheper-ka-re,son of Re, Thutmoseil1,justi fied.

On the exterior and interior sides of the lid. the sky goddess, Nut, stands atop a central vertical inscription which shows alterations f rom Alterations also Hatshepsut to Thutmose l. appear on the transverse bands of text which begin on the lid and continue down the long On the lid the sides of the sarcophagus. "t" feminine ending in the word inBly.t, "the revered one," has consistently been filled in with resin to change it to the masculine form, intlby.

The vertical inscription down the center of the exterior of the lid contains a speech by the queen that has been modified and assigned to the king: Recitation (by) the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Aa-kheper-ka-re,justified. He says: O' mother Nut, stretch yourself over me, Page 5

that you might place me am ong the Indestructible Stars which are in you, and I will not perish.

The second panel on the exterior long sides are filled with udjat eyes. In earlier coffins from the Middle Kingdom, the eyes occupy the first panel at the head end; by Hatshepsut's time they have moved one panel down, closer to the foot end.22 In the earlier Middle Kingdom coff ins, the mummy lay on its side, with the head turned directly to the carved or painted udjat eyes.

However, by the New Kingdom, with its larger coffins, the mummy lay upon its back. Thus, it was less important which panel contained the udjat eyes as long as they were on the side.

The short ends of the sarcophagus are decorated with inscriptions accompanying the typical kneeling figures of the goddess Nepthys (head end) and lsis (foot end). Each wears a tight-f itting dress and the so-called khat headdress.

The goddesses kneel on the commonly shown nbw ("gold") sign, a beaded collar which here stands for Seth (the god of chaos and enemy of his brother, the resurrection deity Osiris). Seth is, thus, vanquished beneath the goddesses.

Egyptian sarcophagi came to emulate different elements and structures at various periods in their history. Several of these elements are conf lated for the first time in the early 1B'n Dynasty corpus under discussion, with the Boston sarcophagus setting a developmental trend. These sarcophagi evolved out of the form of Middle Kingdom coffins. By the end of the dynasty, they had evolved from the exterior simple box concept and incorporated elements from anthropoid coffins. Like their anthropoid counterparts, the earliest royal coffins of the 18'h Dynasty were probably also made of wood.

The original sarcophagus of Hatshepsut as queen {Sarcophagus A) was probably the first stone sarcophagus of the series and represents a transition of the form f rom one medium (wood) to another (stone).

The transverse bands of inscriptions derive from the anthropoid coff ins of the 17'n and early 1 8'n Dynasties.

They represent the bandage wrappings wound around the mummv itself.

Spring 1996

The developmentof Hatshepsut's three stone sarcophagialso betrays her growing concern w i t h bolster in gher legitimacy on the thro n e . num b e rs Ea c hm o n u m e n tshows ever-increasing of titles and epithets,a concernabsent from the l a t e rsar co p h a gof i the 18'hDynasty.

H a y e s ha s sp o ken of S arcophagus C a s no t of a reign, but of a perio d . 2 3 r e p r e se n tati ve, Pe r h aps no other monument embodies t h e f a s c i na ti ngpe r io d of the early 18'h Dynas t y a s well as the Boston sarcophagus. With its s u p e rla ti ve cr a ftsmanship, complex po lit ic a l h i s t o ry, an d developmental and relig io u s s i g n i ifcan ce , the sarcophagus is indee d a microcosmfor a dynasty on the rise to an era of p r o s p e r ityan d p r o minence.

ENDNOTES 1. The other two sarcophagibelong to Seti I (made of alabasterand in the Sir John Soane'sMuseum, London)and Ramseslll (made of red granite;the lid of which is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge;the lower half in the Louvre Museum, Paris);see Bertha Porterand RosalindL. B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings l, The Theban Necropolis, Part 2, Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1964), pp. 526, 643.

2. For the biography of Ineni, see Kurt Sethe, Urkunden des iigyptischen Altertums lV (Berlin and Graz: J.C. Hinrichs, 1961); cf . more recently EberhardDziobek, Das Grab des lneni; Theban Nr. Veroffentlichungen 68 (Mainz 8/, Archdologische am Rhein:Philipvon Tabern, 19221, pp. 84, and 226.

3. On the coronation of Hatshepsut, see Roland Tefnin. "L'an 7 de Touthmosis lll et d'Hatshepsout," Chroniqued'Egypte 48 (1973), pp. 232-42; Siefried Schott, "Zum Kronungstag der Krinigin Hatshepsut," Nachrichten von der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, I Phil.-hist.Klasse 6 (Gottingen, 1955), pp. 195219: Jean Yoyotte, "La date suppose6 du couronnementd'Hatshepsout,"KEMI, 18 (1968), pp. 85-91; WilliamC. Hayes,Varia from the Time of Hatshepsut," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archdologischen lnstituts, Abeitlung Kairo 15 (195i ), pp. 78-80.

Spring | 996

ru see 4. On the Oueens Nitocris and Sobeknef ChristianeM. Zivie, "Nitokris,"in W. Helckand W. Wetendorf, eds., Lexikon der Agyptologie lV (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1582'), cols.

513-514; Jurgenvon Beckerath,"Sobeknofru,"in Lexikon der Agyptotogie lV (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz,1982), cols. 1050-1051; Alan H. Gardiner,Egypt of the Pharaohs (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1961), p. 102. For a general introductionto the problemsof Hatshepsut'sreign see Emily Teeter, "Wearer of the Royal Uraeus: Hatshepsut,"KMT | (1990) pp. 4-13, and 56-57.

The same issue containsadditionalessayson the periodby CatharineRoehrigand DennisForbes.

5. See ElisabethStaehelin,"Zum Ornat an Statuen " Bulletin de la Soci6td regierender Koniginnen, d'EgyptologieGendve13 (1989) pp. 145-156.

6. Sethe, Urkunden des dgyptischen Altertums lY, 59. 13-60.4 ( : lines 16-17 of the ancient text); and Dziobek, Das Grab des lneni; Theban Nr. 81, pp. 49-50, 54.

7 . For recentdiscussionson Senenmut,see Dorman, The Monuments of Senenmuti idem, The Tombs of Senenmut; Meyer, Senenmut: eine prosopographische Untersuchung.

8. See Donald Redford, History and Chronology of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt: Seven Studies (Toronto:Universityof Toronto, 1967), pp. 57-87; Walter-Friedrich Reineke,"Ein Nubienfeldzug unter " K<inigin Hatschepsut, Agypten und Kusch, Schriften zur Geschichte und Kultur des Alten Orients 13 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, '1977]., pp. 369-376.

9. Labib Habachi,The Obelisksof Egypt: Skyscrapers of the Pasr (Cairo:American Universityin Cairo Press,1984), p. 60.

10. Kenneth A. Kitchen, "Punt and How to Get There," Orientalia 40, pp. 184-208; Kemp, Ancient Egypt; A SocialHistory, pp 136-137.

1 1. Just how soon after his accessionThutmoselll began his campaignof erasuresis uncertain;see C.F, Nims, "The date of the dishonoringof Hatshepsut," Zeitschrift ftir dgyptische Sprache 93 (1966), pp. 97-1OO;W.Seipel,"Hat shepsutl" in Lexikon der Agyptologie ll (Weisbaden: Otto Harrassowitz,19771.,col. 1051, n. 72, idem, "Zur VerfehmungHatschepsutsdurch Thutmosislll.," Acts of the I st lnternational Congress of (Berlin:1979), pp. 581-582.

Egyptologisrs

Page 6

12. See Kurt Sethe, Das Hatschepsut-Problemnoch (Berlin: Akademie der einmal untersucht Wissenschaften, 1932l.; W.F. Edgerton, The Thutmosid Succession (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933); Hayes, Royal Sarcophagi pp. 141-146; idem, "Egypt:.lnternalAffairs from TuthmosisI to the Death of Amenophislll," in The CambridgeAncient History ll, Part | (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1973), chapter 9, pp. 315-322. On reassessmentsof royal tomb ownership,see Romer,"TuthmosisI and the Biben el-Mol0k:Some problemsof Attribution,"Journal of EgyptianArchaeology60 (19741.,pp. 1 19-133.

13. One of the f irst scholarsto sort out the history behind the evidenceof the sarcophagiwas H.E. Winlock, "Notes on the Reburialof Tuthmosis1," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 15 (1929), pp. 56-68.

14. The best plan and section of KV 2O may be found in Kent Weeks et al., "The BerkeleyMap of the Theban Necropolis, Report of the Third Season, 1980, "Newsletter of the American ResearchCenterin Egypt 113 (1980), pp. 38-39.

Photographsof the interiorsof both tombs KV2O and 38 are now publishedby GeorgeB. Johnson, "No One Seeing,No One Hearing:KV38 & KV2O: The First RoyalTombs in the Valley of the Kings," KMT 3 (1992-93),pp. 64-81.

19. Davis et al., The Tomb of Hdtshopsit0. Carter includeda watercolorin the publicationshowing SarcophagusD as found, pl.9 (facing p.78), reproducedin black and white in Romer,Valleyof the Kings, p. 193. See also Reevesand Taylor, Howard Carter Before Tutankhamun,pp. 78-79.

20. Gaston Maspero, Les Momies Royales de D6ir elBahari (Paris:Ernest Leroux, 1889), pp. 581-82, pls. 78, 88; G. Elliot Smith, The Royal Mummies (Cairo: Institut frangais d'arch6ologieorientale, 1912), pp. 25-28; pls. 20-22. See also J.R. Harris and E.F.Wente, RoyalMummiesof the Eighteenth Dynasty:A Biologicand Egyptological Approach," in C. NicholasReeves, ed., After Tutankhamun.

Research and Excavation at the Royal Necropolis at Thebes (London; Kegan Paul International.

1992), pp. 2-2O; Reeves, Valley of the Kings, pp.183-92.

21. On the femaleoccupantof KV6O,see DonaldB. Ryan, "Who is buried in KV6O?" KMT | (1990), pp.58-59.

22. Hayes,Royal Sarcophagi,pp. 64-66.

23. Hayes,RoyalSarcophagi,pp. 136-137.

15. Porter and Moss, Topographical Bibliography ll, 2, pp.546-47; Davis et al., The Tomb of Hatshopsit1,pp. 77-80, pl. 8; ElizabethThomas, The Royal Necropolis of Thebes (Princeton: Moorman, 1966), pp. 75-77; John Romer, Valley of the Kings (New York: William Morrow and Company,1981), pp. 192-195; Eric Hornung,The Valley of the Kings.

16. See Hayes,RoyalSarcophagi,pp. 146-149.

17. For a color photographof the exteriorfoot end and a succinct descriptionof SarcophagusD, see Mohammed Saleh and Hourig Sourouzian,The Egyptian Museum Cairo, Official Catalogue (Mainz: Philippvon Zabern, 1987), cat. 131.

18. For notes on the architectof Hatshepsut'stomb, KV2O. whose statue is now in the Louvre, see P.E. Newberry,"A statue of Hapu-senb:Vezir of Thothmes ll, " Proceedings of the Society of BiblicalArchaeology22 (1900), pp. 31-36, and James Henry Breasted,.Ancient Records of Egypt ll, (New York: Russell & Russell, 1906), pp. 160-162,esp. 5 389.

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GlazedAmphorafrom the 18'nDynasty MetropolitanMuseum of Art, NY

Spring 1996

MURDERIN MEMPHIS: THE STORYOF CAMBYSES'MORTAL WOUNDINGOF THE APIS BULL By Leo Depujrdt About the Author: Leo Depuydt was educated at Yale University, the University of Ttibingen, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and the University of Louvain. After teaching two years at Yale, he has been with the Department of Egyptology at Brown University since 1991.

Reorintedfrom the Journal of Near Eastern Studies 54 no.

2 (1 9 95) , T he Univ e rs i ty o f C h i c a g o ; e d i te d wi th the a u th o r ' sper m is s ion.

This report reopensthe investigationinto one of t h e g r ea t cr i m e cases of antiquity, the alle g e d m u r de ro f th e sacredA pis bull by Camby s e sin the Ptah Temple at Memphis soon after the Persianconquestof Egypt, circa 525 BCE. The case owes its fame to the stature of both the a c c u se dan d th e presumedvictim. The fo rme r, Cambyses, had shortly before the conquest b e c om e r ule r o f the largest empire that t h e w o r l d h a d h ithe rto seen. The latter, the A p is b u l l , em a n a ti on and embodiment of the g o d Ptah, inspireda cult that most vividly stirredthe E g y pti anr e lig io usimagination.l The accu s a t io n o f m ur d e r ,h e n ce, carriedwith it a grave c o u n t o f s a cr ile g e . Th e principalquestionhas alwa y s b e e n w he the r the heinouscrime did or d id n o t t a k e pla ce ,a n d the answer to this questi o nh a s v a r i edove r ti m e. lt is the focus of the follo win g i n q u i r y.

Th i s is th e thir d time that the case has b e e n r e o p ene d .Th e episodeis so often mention e din h i s t o r ica wr l iti ng s over the last two and a h a lf mi l l en n iath a t ci ting every reference,if I h a d b e e n a b le to d o so, would have been ted io u s .

H o w e ve r , th r e e periods, which partly ov e rla p , c a n be d isti nguished in the cont in u in g i n t e . Dr etati onof this historicaltradition. T h e f i r s t p e r io d is b y far the longest and runs f ro m the earliestreferencesa few decades after the â&#x201A;Ź Vâ&#x201A;Ź , rtto ab o u t 1850; the second period s p a n s f r o m al r olr t18 5 0 to roughly 1900; and the t h ird p e r r odccve r sf'om roughly 19OOto the pre s e n t .

Spring | 996

lf a trial had been held at any time in the first p e rio d (u p t o 1 8 5 0 ), t h e ju ry wo u l d n o t h a v e n e e d e dmu c h d e lib e ra t io n t o re a c ha r e s o u n d i n g "Guilty" verdict! The most often-citedreportof wh a t a lle g e d ly h a p p e n e d , t h a t wh i c h s t a n d s closest to the events, is that of Herodotusof Ha lic a rn a s s u swh , o wro t e a ro u n d 4 5 0 B C E . 2 Not long after his conquestof Egypt, Cambyses u n d e rt o o ka n e x p e d it io ns o u t h wa rdw h i c h e n d e d in d is a s t e r. Up o n h is re t u rn t o M e m p h i s , He ro d o t u ss a y st h e f o llo win gh a p p en e d : 3 (lll, 27) WhenCambyses Apis cameto Memphis, appearedamong the Egyptians On his put on appearance, the Egyptiansimmediately their best clothes and engagedin festival. At the sight of the Egyptiansdoing this, Cambyses f ormed the suspicion that they were making merry at his misfortunes. He ... asked them how it was that when he, Cambyses,was in Memphisbefore,the Egyptianshad done nothing of this sort, but only for now, when he was there after having lost most of his army. The Egyptianstold him that their god was wont to appear only at very long intervalsof time and that, whenever he did so appear, all of the Egyptiansrejoicedand kept festival... Cambyses said: "What! Some sort of tame god has come to the Egyptians,and lam not to know of it!" and so he bade the priestsbring Apis to him...

When the priestsbroughtApis to him, Cambyses was nearly lunatic. He drew his dagger and madeto stab Apis in the belly but struckthe calf in the thigh. At this he burst into laughterand said to the priests, "You miserablewretches,is that the kind of your gods, things of blood and flesh and susceptibleof iron? Surelythis god is worthy of the Egyptians;but, all the same, you will not lightly make a mock of me." ... The festival among the Egyptianshad broken up ... and Apis, wounded in the thigh. died as he lay on the floor of the shrine. After he died of his wounds, the priests buried him in secret from Cambyses. lt was directly as a result of this, say the Egyptians--thisdeed of wrong--that Cambyseswent mad, though indeedhe was not in true possessionof his wits before.

The image of Cambyses as a cruel madman persisted throughout classical antiquity and down to early modern times, in Egypt and elsewhere. But two events in the 19'n century bore the seed of change. The decipherment of hieroglyphic writing by J.F. Champollion in 1822 finally allowed the ancient Egyptians to speak Page I

for themselves. The discoveryof the Serapeum ( Fi g u r e1 ) , bu r ia l place of the A pis bulls, by A .

Mariette in 1850, was the first great a r c h a eo lo g icaf li nd in the young disciplin eo f Egyptology. lt was located in the desert at Saqqara,a few miles from tlie ancientcapitalof Me mph is i n the Nile V alley. The living A p is residedin the Ptah temple in nearby Memphis itself where the celebrations reported by H e r o do tusw er e he ld.

T h e e v i de n cefr o m the S erapeumis still not f u lly p u b l i sh e d ,a b u t as it began to come to ligh t in t h e l ast ce n tur y, a second epoch in t h e in t e r p r e tati onof the A pis murder case wa s in a u g ur a ted . lt w as only natural that scho la rs w o u l d tr y to co nfirm Herodotus' account b y f i n d i n g th e Apis he mentions among th o s e b u r i e di n th e Se r a peum. Commemoratives t e la e p l a c e di n th e Ser a peumon the occasionof A p is b u r i a l sr e ve a lth a t two A pis bulls had lived a t t h e t i me o f C am b yses'conquestin the fifth y e a r of his reign (53O-522 BCEI. Around that time, A p i s X L ll ha d die d and A pis X LIV was bo rn . ( Th e n um b e r sof the bulls are those assign e db y M a r i e tte ; a n d a lthough the numbers are n o t s u c c e ssi ve, the bu lls certainlywere).5 A p i s XL IV w as b o r n in Y ear 5, Month 5, Da y 2 9 o f C am b yse s'r e ign (May 29,525 B CE ) a c c o r din gto ste le Louvre 1M.4187.6 Hav in g lived 7 years, 3 months, and 5 days, rather less than the average life span of about twenty ye a r s ,th is b u ll d ie d in Y ear 4, Month 9, Da y 4 o f D a ri usI's r eig n (A ugust 31, 518 B CE ) . A s traditionrequired,it was buried 70 days later in Y e a r 4 , M on th 11 , Day 13 (November8, 5 1 8 BCE).? r A pis X LIV was A pis X L ll.

T h e p red e ce sso of A p i s X L ll w as b uried in Y ear 6, Month 1 1 ( O c t o b e r 28 - November 26, 524 B CE) o f Ca mb yse s' r eig n according to stele Lou v re 1 M . 4 1 3 3 .8 l ts d a te of death is unknown , b u t si n c ea ne w bu ll i s, as a rule, born only after it s p r e d e cessohr a s died, it may be assumedt h a t Apis XLll died before the date of birth of its p r e d e cesso rAp , is XLIV --Y ear5, Month 5, Da y 2 9 - - u n d e rC am b yses.

That a new Apis is born after its predecessor's de a t his o n e o f th r ee rules pertainingto the A p is Page 9

cult derivedfrom all the availableevidence(see below). No two Apis bulls were, therefore,ever alive at the same time. What took place,then, shortly after the Persianconquest was an Apis s u c c e s s io n .

T o le a rnf ro m e x c a v a t io n st h a t a b u ll h a d i n d e e d d ie d a ro u n dt h e t ime o f Ca mb y s e s c' on q u e s t ,a s Herodotusreported, was too good to be true.

Apis XLll was, therefore, readily accepted as He ro d o t u s b ' u ll, a n d t h is is t h e o p in i o nf o u n d i n s t a n d a rd wo rk s o n E g y p t ia n h is t or y i n t h e s e c o n d h a lf o f t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u ry . e T h u s , t h e g u ilt y v e rd ic t h a n d e d d o wn in t h e c l a s s i c a l s o u rc e ss e e me dc o n f irme db y t h e a rc h a e o l o g i c a l e v id e n c e ,a n d h e n c et h e re we re n o gr o u n d sf o r a p p e a l.

Ho we v e r, a ro u n d t h e t u rn o f t h e c e n t u r y , s e rio u sd o u b t s a ro s e a s t o wh e t h e r A p i s X L l l c o u ld in f a c t h a v e b e e n t h e o n e m e a n t b y He ro d o t u s . A t h ird p h a s e in t h e h is t o r y o f t h i s p ro b le mc o mme n c e d . T wo a rg u me n t sw e r e p u t f o rwa rd a g a in s t id e n t if y in g A p is X L l l w i t h He ro d o t u s ' b u ll. lt s h o u ld b e n o t ed t h a t t h e s e c o n d ,mo re c o n c lu s iv e ,a rg u me n th a d t o w a i t f o r G . P o s e n e r' s p u b lic a t io n o f L o u v r e s t e l e 1 M. 4 1 3 3in 1 9 3 6 . 1 o F irs t ,A p is X L ll re c e iv e da re g u la rb u r i a la n d t h e sarcophagus was even a personal gift of Ca mb y s e s a s it s in s c rip t io n in d ic a t e s . l t I n s u p p o rt o f t h is f irs t a rg u me n t ,o n e m i g h t a d d t h a t Ca mb y s e s ' p ie t y wa s p ra is e d i n g l o w i n g terms by Udjahorresne,one of his Egyptian counsels. But Udjahorresnewas after all a " c o fa b o raot r. " 1 2 S e c o n d ,a y e a r-d a t eo f 2 7 c a n s t ill b e r e a d i n L o u v re1 M. 4 1 3 3 . S in c et h is mu s t b e th e y e a r o f b irt h o f A p is X L ll in A ma s is ' re ign ( t h a t i s , 5 4 4 1 4 3B CE ),A p is X L ll wo u ld h a v e be e n n e a r l y 2 O y e a rs o ld wh e n it d ie d . lt c o u ld , t h e r e f o r e , hardly have been the pooX(, "calf," mentioned b y He ro d o t u s(lll 2 8 ). 1 3 S in c eo n ly a s in g leA p is is a liv ea t a n y o n e t i m e , a n d A p is X L I V d ie d o n ly in 5 1 8 B CE , n o o t h e r b u ll wa s a v a ila b let o re p la c eA p is X L l l a s t h e one referred to by Herodotus. As a result, Herodotus'report was rejectedas fictional and with it the entire relatedclassicaltradition. The Spring1996

Figure1. Insidethe Serapeum.(FromMariette)

E g y p ti anstor y o f the murder of the A pis b u ll h a d n ow be e n "strippedfrom all foundatio nin f act,"1a and "the entire tradition about C a m byses' ab h o rrent and sacrilegiousc rime I h a d ] colla p se ld Jinto nothing."15 lt bec a me co mm o n to th in k that "Mariette's excav a t io n s h a d b ro u g h tthe proof that Cambysescould n o t h a v eco m m itte dth e crime."16 T h e r e for e , th e guilty verdict had b e e n ov e r t ur n e d o n a ppeal. The view that t h e E g y p tia n evid e n ce contradicts Herodotus n o w pr e v a i l s. lts d o minancemay be illustrat e db y statements in three valuable survey articles of an e ncyclo p e d ic nature in the f ields o f A c h a em e n id studies, ancient history, a n d E g y p to lo g y ( fu r ther bibliography is found in these contributions). ln CAMBRIDGEANCIENT HISTORY,one reads that "tradition adds to the w o u n d in g o f the A pis the animal's ling e rin g d e a t h an d cla n d estineburial. The hierog ly p h ic r e c o r dsca r ce lybe arsthis out... lt is a pie c eo f f o l k l o r e . 'No t p r oven" or even 'not guilt y " is the necessaryverdict."l7 fhe LEXTCONDER AAVpfOIOGIE notes that "[t]his unsympathetic p i c t t r r epa in ted by the Classicalauthors o f t h e at r o i tie s i nfl i cted upon the E gyptian s b y C a r r , b yse ,;a n , his agents must now b e Sprirg 7996

s o me wh a t t e mp e re d . T h e A p is bu l l , w h i c h Ca mb y s e sa lle g e d lymu rd e re d ,a c t ua l l y d i e d i n Y e a r 6 o f h is re ig n a n d wa s c e r e m o n i o u s l y interred."18 According to the CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF IRAN, Herodotus' account is "disproved by a stele from the Serapeum wh ic h t e s t if ie st o t h e s o le mnb u ria li n t h a t y e a r of the Apis bull born in the twenty-seventhyear o f A ma s is . " le Wit h t h e s e e lo q u e n td e f e n s e s ,t h e A p i s m u r d e r c a s e wo u ld s e e m t o b e c lo s e d a n d C a m b y s e s vindicatedfrom the accusationbrought against h im b y t h e c la s s ic a l t ra d it io n . H o w e v e r , a reconsideration of the evidence,presentedhere, c re a t e sf irm g ro u n d sf o r h ig h e ra p p e al . l t w i l l b e d e mo n s t ra t e d b e lo w t h a t t h e a rc h a e o l o g i c a l e v id e n c e d o e s n o t c o n t ra d ic t He ro d o t u s . l f a n y t h in g ,it ra t h e rc o n f irmsh im.

M. Mille r h a s a lre a d y o b s e rv e dt h at " t h e A p i s s t o ry in He ro d o t u ss e e mst o b e p u re f i c t i o n ,y e t it is t h e h in g e o f t h e wh o le n a rra t i v e ,a n d i t i s mo s t d if f ic u ltt o b e lie v et h a t t h e re wa s n o t s o m e remote foundation f or ir.."2o This general c o n s id e ra t io is n re a s o n a b leb u t c a n h a r d l vc o u n t a s p ro o f.

Page 1O

Proof can be' derived from an understandingof the Apis career. The four principalevents in the careerof the Sacred Apis are birth, installation, de a t h , an d bu r ia l. S ome stelae give prec is e datesfor all four events as well as the exact life span of the bull. Three rr-ilesregarding the relationships between these events can be d e r i v e dfr o m th e a vailableevidenceas work in g hyp o t h ese s.

(1 )A new bull is born a fte r th e d e a th o f i ts p re dec es s or . 2l (2 ) D e a t h and bur ial o f a b u l l a re s e p a ra te d b y 7 0 d a ys, t he t im e allo tte d to a n e l a b o ra te ri tu a l i n cl u ding t he em b a l mi n g .2 2 (3 ) A b ull is bur ied be fo re i ts s u c c e s s o r i s i n s ta l l ed.

The expected sequence of events in any su c c e ssio n of Ap is A by A pis B wou ld , therefore,be as follows.

1 . Ap isA die s.

2. ApisB is born,andApisA is buried.23 3. ApisB is installed.

I n v i e w o f the following discussion,it may b e kept in mind that the installation of a new Apis is precededby a matter of months by the burial of its predecessor.

A h a r mon iza ti on of the archaeological evide n c e from the Serapeumand Herodotuscan now be a t t e mp ted . In r ehabilitating Herodotus , A .

Klasens,in a well-documentedstudy, has taken t h e l e a d,2ab u t th o ugh occasionallyquoted , h e s e e m st o ha ve fo u n d no following.

Kl a s e n sm ake s tw o suggestionsregardingt h e s u c c e ssi onof Ap is X Lll by A pis X LIV - the f irs t false, the second correct. First, he assumes t h a t t he two bulls could have liv e d a s long as they did not reig n a t s i mu l t an e o u sly t h e s a me tim e 2 s and he cites an instan c e m e n t i o ne db y Otto .26 However,A pis X LIV wa s born on Month 5, Day 24 of Year 28 of the Ptolemy Vlll Euergetesll, after its predecessor d i e d i n Yea r27 .27 K l a s e n s'seco n dsuggestion,however, is on t h e ma r k . 2 8 At lll 2 7 , Herodotus stated, "Wh e n Ca mb y se s cam e to Memphis, A pis appe a re d ( e g c r vq)a m o n gth e E gyptians." In terms of t h e f o u r p r i ncip a leve nts in the A pis career (s e e Page 11

above), this event has always been interpreted as the birth of an Apis. After all, the Apis is describedas a "calf." However,the birth of the Apis was not celebratednationwide, and the A p is wa s u s u a lly n o t e v e n b o rn in M e m p h i s . 2 s Yet Herodotus described how the Egyptians, u p o n Ca mb y s e s 'in q u irin ga b o u t t h e c a u s e f o r these festivities,explainedthat "their god would appear at very long intervalsof time and that, wh e n e v e r h e d id s o a p p e a r, a ll t h e E g y p t i a n s re jo ic e da n d k e p t f e s t iv a l" (lll 2 8 ). Si n c e A p i s b u lls liv e d o n a v e ra g e 2 0 y e a rs , on e m i g h t expect to experienceonly about two to three a p p e a ra n c ein s a lif e t ime .

O f t h e t h re e o t h e r la n d ma rk sin t h e c a r e e ro f t h e A p is , d e a t h a n d b u ria l h a v e n o c a u s e f o r j o y .

T h e o n ly e v e n t t o wh ic h He ro d o t u s c a n , therefore,have referredis the installation. The verb qcrveo0cr,"appear,"used by Herodotusto refer to the event, is in ali probabilitya Greek equivalentof Egyptian b'y, "appeat,"denoting t h e p h a ra o h ' sin s t a lla t io n . 3 0 I t h a s a lre a d yb e e n c o n c lu d e dt h a t t h e A p i s c a l f whose death is describedby Herodotuscannot b e A p is X L ll o r A p is X L I V . A p is X L ll w a s n o t a calf but rather a bull about 20 years old, and Apis XLIV did not die around the conquestbut la t e r, in 5 1 8 .

A n y a t t e mp t t o ha r m o n i z e Herodotus with the archaeologicalevidence must be based on the assumption that three differentbulls playeda role in the events during the f irst couple of years after the Persian conquest. lmportantly, there is no overlap between Herodotusand the evidencefrom the Serapeumwith regardto these three bulls: two (Ma rie t t e ' sX L ll a n d X L I V ) a re o n ly k n o w n f r o m t h e S e ra p e u m;t h e t h ird , a b u ll t h a t d i e d y o u n g a t t h e t ime o f it s in s t a lla t io nis , o n ly k n o w n f r o m He ro d o t u s . T h e n , h o we v e r, He ro d o t u s w o u l d h a v e b e e n mo re in t e re s t e din t h e h ig hl yu n u s u a l in c id e n to f a k in g mu rd e rin ga n A p is t ha n i n t h e ongoing and uneventful successions of Apis b u llso v e r t h e c e n t u rie s .

T h e s e t h re e b u lls ma y n o w b e c o n s i d e r e d establish whether the separately to Herodotus a rc h a e o lo g ic a l e v id e n c e a n d c o n t ra d ic to n e a n o t h e r.

Spring 1996

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Figure2. Apis Sarcophagus at the Serapeum.(FromMariette)

1 . As to the calf mortally wounded b y Cambyses, Herodotus states that it was buried l.a0pr1,"secretly." Consequently, one might expect not to find a trace of this b ul l in the Se rapeum,which is indeedt h e c ase . H er o d otus and the silence of t h e a r ch a e o lo g ical evidenceare, therefore,n o t a t va r ia n ce , and K lasens is justified in p o stula ti nga n A pis x.31 2 . H er o d o tusdo es not mention other bu lls , but the existence of two more can be inferredfrom his report and what is known a bo u t th e Ser apeum'straditions. He d o e s r e co r d the in stallationof an A pis, a n d a ccor d in gto the rules outlined above, a n i n s ta lla ti onwa s generallyprecededby t h e b ur ia l o f the previous bull.32 A n offic ia l b ur ia l sho u ld , therefore, have occurre d a r ou n dth is time. In fact, the recordsfr o m Spring | 996

t h e S e ra p e u m c o n firm t h a t Ap i s X L l l receiveda stately burialunder the auspices o f Ca mb y s e s . T h is b u ria lmu s t h a v e t a k e n p la c e wh e n Ca mb y s e swa s a w a y i n t h e south on his ill-fatedexpeditionor perhaps during the period between the conquest a n d t h e e x p e d it io n . lt is n o t k no w n h o w lo n g a f t e r t h e c o n q u e s t(a ro u n d5 2 S B C E ) Cambyses returned to Memphis for the s e c o n dt ime , b u t ju d g in g f ro m t h e e v e n t s describedby Herodotus (lll 14-26), many months must have passed.33Sometimein t h a t p e rio dt h e b u ria lo f A p is X L ll o c c u r r e d .

T h e k n o wn b u ria ld a t e in Y e a r 6 s u i t s t h i s s c e n a rio .

3. From Herodotus' report that the Apis had d ie d o f a wo u n d in f lic t e d b y C a m b y s e s , t h e f in d in g o f a n e w b u ll c a n b e i n f e r r e d .

Ha v in g t o f in d a re p la c e me n tw a s v e r y Page 12

exceptional,but so was the murder of an Apis.3a There is no record as to how this was done, or whether a procedureexisted f o r r ep la cin gelected A pis bulls that ha d d i e d you n g be foreor duringthe installat io n ceremony.

Sacred herds were kept t h r ou g h o u t Eg ypt and a substitute wou ld p r e su m a b lyha ve been found whose record s h ow edtha t i t was born after the death o f A p i s XL ll. Th is would be A pis X LIV . Th e i n s ta lla ti onof this A pis is mentionedin it s epitaph,3sbut the text breaks off tantalizi n g ly b e for e the date. One expects this d a t e to h a ve fa llen after the date of bur ia l o f Apis XLll in Y ear 6, Month 11 o f C a m byse s, as the S erapeum's customs r e q ui r e. The birth date of A pis X LIV is Y e ar 5, M o n th 5, Day 29 of Cambyse s .

A s me n ti on e dearlier,this impliesthat A pis XL l l d ie d b e fore that date. The resu lt w o uld be a gap of a year and a ha lf b e t w ee nthe de ath and burialof A pis X L ll, r a t he rtha n th e required70 days. This ga p i s hi gh ly ir r e g ularand it has often bee n d i s c usse d .36 Perhaps the irregularityis s o meh o w r e la ted to the incident of th e A p i s m ur d e r .

However, since th e S e r a p e u m 'sad ministratorswould proba b ly have found a bull that was born after the d e ath of Ap is XLll, or at least have s o d a t ed i ts bir th, the year and a half ga p c o ul dw ell b e bona fide.37 I n s u m m a r y, th e circumstancesin which t h e s u b s t i tutecou ld h a ve been found are unkno wn .

A g a i n , the r e ar e no incongruities betwe e n He r o d o tusa n d the archaeological record.

Co n c l usi on . Did Cambysesmortallywound t h e Ap i s ? Ulti m ately,this dependson whether o n e b e l i e v esw ha t H er odotusand his informantss a id t h a t C a m b yse sdid . The precedinglines have a t l ea s t sh o wn th a t no essential points in h is a c c o u n t a r e "d e monstrably f alse,"38 as is c o m mon lyassu m e d.

O n t h e w ho le , H er odotusfaithfully reporte dt h e i nf o r m ati onh e ga thered,but he did not scre e n i t. W h e n te llin g f antastic stories, he hard ly c o n c o ctedthe m himself. However,in record in g t h e m , he wa s "probably indifferent to t h e T h u c y d id e a nqu e stion 'B ut did they happe n ? ' Page 13

b e c a u s e , lik e P la t o , h e k n e w v e ry w e l l t h a t me n ' s f a n t a s ie sa n d d e e d s liv e t e rribl yc l o s e t o each other and often move interchangeably."3e Accordingly,Herodotusprobablyheardthe story o f t h e A p is mu rd e r in E g y p t f ro m E g y p t i a n in f o rma n t s .Wh e n He ro d o t u swa s a y ou n g m a n , p e o p lewh o h a d t h e ms e lv e sb e e n y o u n g a d u l t s wh e n t h e mu rd e r a lle g e d lyh a p p e n edm u s t s t i l l h a v e b e e n a liv e . He ro d o t u sc o u ld ea s i l y h a v e me t s o me o n ewh o wa s in Me mp h isa t t h e t i m e o f Ca mb y s e s 're t u rn f ro m t h e s o u t h . I n t h i s light, it is also noteworthy that a detailed examination of Herodotus' treatment of the preceding Saite Period (664-525 BCE) has s h o wn t h a t h e is g e n e ra llyt ru s t wo rt hy . a 0 After the discoveryof the Serapeum,Herodotus' veracity in the Apis case was subordinatedto t h e q u e s t io no f wh e t h e r t h e b u ll h e m e n t i o n e d c a n o r c a n n o t b e id e n t if ie da mo n g t ho s e f o u n d in t h e S e ra p e u m.S c h o la rs h iph a s n o t d i s t a n c e d it s e lf f ro m t h is q u e s t io n ' s p rio rit y e v e r s i n c e .

Whether answered negatively or affirmatively, the questionowes its enduringpriorityin part to t h e o rig in a ld e lig h tt h a t mu s t h a v e a cc o m p a n i e d t h e a rc h a e o lo g ic a dl is c o v e ry t h a t th e r e h a d indeed been an Apis successionaround 525 BCE. However,becausethe truth of Herodotus' s t o ry wa s t h o u g h t t o h in g e o n it , s c ho l a r s h i p of t h e t h ird s t a g e , wh ile rig h t ly re jec t i n g t h e t h e o rie s o f t h e s e c o n d s t a g e re g a r d i n gt h e identity of the Apis mentioned by Herodotus, had to extend this rebuttal to Herodotus' a c c o u n tit s e lf . T h u s , t h e b a b y wa s t h r o w n o u t with the bath water.

T h e wa y in wh ic h t h e a b o v e q u e s t ionh a r d e n e d in t h e mid d leo f t h e la s t c e n t u ry re mi n d so n e o f c e rt a in t re n d s in b ib lic a l a rc h a e o log y . l f t h e B ib le me n t io n sa h ill, t h e re mu s t b e a h i l l . l f He ro d o t u ss a y s t h e re is a b u ll, t h e n wh e r e i s t h e b u ll? lf Ca mb y s e swe re t rie d in a mo d e rn U . S . c o u r t o n t h e b a s is o f t h e e x is t in ge v id e n c e ,h e m i g h t we ll wa lk a wa y a f re e ma n , b e in g a b l e t o a f f o r d t h e b e s t la wy e rsmo n e y c a n b u y a n d b e n e f i t i n g f ro m t h e a d v a n t a g eo f t h e p rin c ip leo f p r e s u m e d in n o c e n c e o r t h e re q u ire me n tt o p r o v e g u i l t b e y o n da d o u b t . Ho we v e r,u n lik eju ri e s ,a n c i e n t h is t o ria n sd o n o t n e e dt o re a c hv e rd ict sa n d c a n Spring1996

in an ongoing proces s . I n c a l i br a tep la u sib ilities l i g h t o f th e e vid ence,I would personallyra t h e r believethat Cambysesis to be presumedguilty u n t i l p r o ve nin n o cent.

E NDNOTE S : 1 . For a recentsurvey of this Memphitic cult, with focus on the Ptolemaicperiod,see D. J. Thompson,Memphisunder the Ptolemies (Princeton, 1988), pp. 19O-211.

At Memphis the burials began in the 13'n century BCE, but the cult is alreadyattested in the earliest records (cf. W. K. Sim ps on," A Run n i n go f th e Ap i s i n th e R e i g nof A ha and Passages in Manetho and Aelian," Or., n.s.. 26 t1 9 5 7 1:139- 421.

pioneers in Egyptian history as E. Meyer and A. W i edemann.

10. Posener. La premidre domination pe6e, pp. 30-35.

This needs to be taken into account when evaluating di scussi onsof thi s probl emdated before 1 936, including the influential entry "Kambyses" in A. Pauly and G. Wissowa.

Realenzyklopddie der classischen Alterumswissenschaft (Stuttgart, 1 917).

11. See J.V. PriiSek,Kambysesutndl dre Uberlieferung des Althertums, Forschungenzur Geschichtedes Altertums I (Lei pzi g, 1897), pp. 10-11; P osener, La pr em i1r e domination perse, p. 174; Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte Agyptens vom 7, bis zum 4. Jahrhundert, p. 58.

2 . Fo r a lis t of c las s i c a ls o u rc e s , s e e E . K i e B l i ng," D i e Gotter von Memphis in griechisch-rcimischer Zeit," Archiv fir Papyrusforschung15 (1953): 28, n. 8. A distinctive va ri a t ionon t he lit er a ryth e me o f C a m b y s e sa n d the A pi s is found in the Coptic story of Cambyses' invasion of Egypt, preserved in fragmentary form in six parchment leaves,now in Berlin (see H. L. Jansen, The Coptic Story of Cambyses' lnvasion of Egypt: A Critical Analysis of lts Literary Form and its Historical Purpose, Avhandlinger u tg i tt av det Nor s k eV i d e n s k a p s -Ak a d e m i iOs l o , l l : H i st.

Fi l o s.K las s . .no. 2 [ O s l o , 1 9 5 0 ]).

13. Posener, La premiire domination perse, p. 174 with n.4.

3. The translationis taken from D. Green, Herodotus: The History (Chicago,1987l.,pp. 222-24.

14. Pr65ek, Kambyses u[nd] GeschicheAgyptens vom 7. bis zum 4. Jahrhunderf, p. 59.

4 . Se e M . M alinin e , G. P o s e n e r, a n d J . V e r coutter, Catalogue des ste/es du SdrapCum de Memphis. 2 vols.

(Paris. 1968); Vercoutter, Textes biographiques du Sdrapdum de Memphis: Contribution l'6tude des sti/es votives du S1rapdum, Bibliothdque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes.lV" Section (Scienceshistoriqueset philologiques) (Pa ri s , 1962) . Rec e n t c o n tri b u ti o n sa re A. F a ri d , " N eun d e mo t is c heI ns c hr if te na u s d e m S e ra p e u mv o n M emphi s im Louvre-Museum."

Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archdlogischen lnstituts, Abteilung Kairo 49 (1993): 6991; P. Pr6vot, "Observationssur des stdles du Sdrapdum de Memphis," Revued'Egyptologie43 (19921: 215-21.

15. Kienitz, Die politische GeschichteAgyptens vom 7, bis zum 4. Jahrhundert, p. 59.

For the text of the inscription,see B. Gunn, "The inscribed Sarcophagi in the Serapeum," Annales du Service des Antiquitds de l'Egypte 26 (1926): 82-94, at 85-86; Posener,La premidre dominationperse, pp.35-36.

12. A .B . Ll oyd. " The Inscri pti on of U d jahor r esnet a, Collaborator'sTestament," JEA 68 (1982): 166-80.

16. l. Hofmann, "Kambyses in Agypten," Studien zur altdgyptischenKultur I (1981): 179. Hofmanncites many literary parallels from other Near Eastern literatures, interestingin their own right, in order to explainhow the fi cti onalaccountof the bul l ' s ki l l i ngmi ght h ave com e int o existence.

17. J. D. Ray, "Egypt 525-404 BC," CambridgeAncient History, 2d ed., vol. 4 (Cambridge,1988), p. 260.

5. For bibliographicalreferences on Apis XLll and Apis XLIV. see B. Porter and R. L. B. Moss, assistedby E. W. Burney. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, lll2: Memphis.

Part 2, Saqqdrato Dahsh0r. Fascicle 3 UIF 777-1014]l, 2d e d . rev . by J . M dlek( O x fo rd ,1 9 8 1 ), p p . 7 9 9 -8 0 0 .

18. R. S. Bianchi, "Perser in Agypten," Lexikon der Agyptologie,vol. 4 (Wiesbaden,1982), p. 943.

6. G. Posener, La premiire domination perse en Egypte: Recueil d'inscriptions hi6roglyphiques, Bibliothdque d 'Etude11 ( Cair o,19 3 6 ), p p . 3 6 -3 1 .

20. M. Miller. "The EarlyPersianDates in Herodotus,"K/ro; Beitrdgezur alten Geschichte37 (1959): 35.

7. For the stelaein which this informationis contained,see Posener,La premi4re domination perse, pp. 38-39.

8 . l b i d . ,pp. 30- 35. T h e d a y -d a tei s d a m a g e d .

9. Cf. F. K. Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte Agyptens vom 7, bis zum 4. Jahrhundert vor der Zeitwende (Berlin, 1 9 5 3) , p. 58 wit h n . 2 , re fe rri n g to w o rk s by such Spring 7996

19. E . B resci ani ," The P ersi an Occupation of Egypt . " Cambridge History of lran, vol. 2 (Cambridge, 1985), p 5O4.

21 . J. Vercoutter, "Une 6pitaphe royale in6dite du S6rap6um (contribution a I'histoire des Apis et du S6rapdum de Memphisl," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archdologischen lnstituts, Abteilung Kairo 16 (1958): 341 . Moreover, the new Apis was very often found shortly after the death of its predecessor(ibid.,p. 343).

It cannot be discounted that the Serapeum's administratorsoccasionallytamperedwith the numbersto Page 74

make them match the rule if a suitablebull had been born slightlyearlier.

22. For this ritual, see Vercoutter, "Apis," Lexikon der Agyptologie.vol. 1 (Wiesbaden,1975), pp. 338-50. The principal source is a bilingual pap.yrus,in Hieratic and Demotic, edited by W. Spiegelberg,"Ein Bruchstitckdes Bestattungsritualder Apisstiere (Demot. Pap. Wien Nr. und ftir Sprache 271," Zeitschrift Sgyptische Altertumskunde56 (1920): 1-33, now re-editedby R. L. Vos, in The Apis Embalming Ritual: P. Vindob. 3873, A n a l e c ta5 0 (L e u v e n ,1 9 9 3 ).

Ori e n ta liaLov aniens ia 23. The order of these two events seems to vary, but it is no t cru cialt o t he f ollo w i n g a rg u m e n t. T w o c o n tra sti ve e xa mp l e sm ay s uf f ic e. In th e c a s e o f th e s u c c e s s i o nthat occurred in Year 16 of Necho ll (Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte Agyptens vom 7 . bis zum 4. Jahrhundert, p.

15 5 ), Ap is B was bor n b e fo reA p i s A w a s b u ri e d :A p i s A di e d i n Y ear 16, M ont h 2 , D a y 6 ; Ap i s B w a s b o rn i n Y ear 16 , Mo n t h 2, Day 7; a n d Ap i s A w a s b u ri e di n Ye ar 16, Mo n th 4 Day 16. Howe v e r,i n th e s u c c e s s i o no f y e a rs27 a n d 2 8 of P t olem yV lll (Eu e rg e te sl l ), A p i s A d i e d i n Y ear 27 , Mo nt h 10, Day 26 (H . B ru g s c h ," D e r A p i s -Kre i saus den Zeiten der Ptolemdernach den hieroglyphischenund demotischen Weihinschriften des Serapeums von Memphis." Zeitschrift fAr dgyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde24 t18861: 20-22} and was, therefore, presumablyburied 70 days later on the last day of Year 27 or the first day of Year 28, dependingon how the TOth day was counted; Apis B was born after that in Year 28, Month 5, Day 24 lE. de Roug6, "Mdmoire sur quelques inscriptionstrouv6es dans la sdpulture des Apis lsuite]," Revue 6gyptologique5 t1 8871: 2) .

24. A. Klasens,"Cambysesen Egypte,"Jaarberichtvan het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap, Ex Oriente Lux 3/9 -10 (1945- 48) :347 - 4 8 .

25 . l b i d ., pp. 346- 47.

32. When the CambridgeHistory of lran, following common opinion, states that Herodotus' report that Cambyses "incensedat linding the people of Memphis in a festive mood due to the appearanceof the new Apis, ... mortally wounded the sacred bull which was then buried secretly by the priests" is "disproved by a stela from the Serapeum...,which testifies to the solemn burial lin Year 6 of Cambysesl of the Apis bull born in the twentyseventhyear of A masi s" (B resci ani",P ersi anO ccupat ion. " p.5O4; i tal i csmi ne),then thi s i s a non sequ it urbecause an "appearance"of one bull is not disproved by, but, rather, presupposesand is even confirmedby the slightly earl i eroccurrenceof the " sol emnburi al "of ano t herbull.

33. A nother factor i s that a bul l i s not usually inst alled earl i erthan the age of ni ne months,and tw o year s is not abnormal (Vercoutter, "The Napatan Kings and Apis Worship [SerapeumBurialsof the NapatanPeriodl,"Kush 8 I19601:74).

34. There is a traditionthat, in 343 BCE,ArtaxerxesOchus also murdered an Apis (Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte Agyptens vom 7, bis zum 4. Jahrhunded, p. 1O8: A. B. Bosworth, A Historical Commentaryon Arrian's History' of Alexander [Oxford, 1980], p. 262; Thompson,Memphis under the Ptolemies;p. 1O6, n. 3).

35. For the text, see Posener, La premi4re domination perse, pp. 36-41.

36. For a remarkablecase in which a burialwas apparently delayed for years, see Thompson, Memphis under the Ptolemies,pp. 199, n. 53; 295.

37 . For a discussion of this problem and attempts to explainit, see my forthcomingarticle in JAOS, "Evidence for Accession Dating under the Achaemenids," esp.

Excursus 2.

38. Kienitz, Die politische GeschichteAgyptens vom 7. bis zum 4. Jahrhundert, p. 58.

26. E. Otto, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der Stierkulte in Geschichte und Aegypten, Untersuchungen zut A l te rtu m s k unde.egy pt e n s1 3 (L e i p z i g 1, 9 3 8 ), p . 1 5 .

39. Green,Herodotus: The History, p. 11.

27. See Thompson, Memphis under the Ptolemies, p p . 2 8 9 -90. T his was f i rs t e s ta b l i s h e db y B ru g s c h ," D er Ap i s-Kreis ,pp. " 19- 24.

40. H. de Meulenaere,Herodotus over de 26ste Dynastie.

Bijdrage tot het historisch-kritisch onderzoek van Herodotos' gegevens in het licht van de Egyptische en andere contemporairebronnen, Biblioth6quedu Mus6on 27 (Leuven,1951).

28. Kl a sens", Cam by s ese n Eg y p te ,"p p .3 4 7 -4 8 .

29. For the birthplaces of the Ptolemaic bulls. see Thompson, Memphis under the Ptolemies,pp. 284-96.

30 . Kl a se ns", Cam by s ese n Eg y p te ,"p . 3 4 7 , n . 6 5 .

31 . l b i d ., p. 314. T his p ro p o s a lo f a n A p i s x h a s been describedas a somewhat desperateattempt to hold on to th e h i stor ic it yof t he A p i s mu rd e r(H o fm a n n ," K a m b y sesi n th a t such A g yp te n, "p. 180) , but i t s h o u l db e re me mb e re d a re b u t t al is ins pir e d b y th e c o n fi d e n c e th a t the a rch a e o logic ev al idencec o n tra d i c tsH e ro d o tu s .

Page 75

Apis bull from the tomb of Khnumhotep, 12'hDynasty

Spring 1996

WHO'S WHO IN ANCIENTEGYPT

From Newberry,

wig . S n e f e ru b ra n d is h e sa ma c e i n h i s r i g h t h a n d a n d , wit h h is le f t h a n d ,g ra s p st h e h a i ro f a defeatedAsiatic prisonerwho begs for mercy.

A t a n e ig h b o rin gs it e in t h e S in a i, Sn e f e r uw a s depictedwith Hathor,the mistressof turquoise.

From the Third Dynasty onwards, royal e x p e d it io n sv is it e d t h e S in a i min e s a n d r e c o r d s of successful missions were carved onto cliff f a c e st o g lo rif yt h e k in g .

Ancient Egyptian Scarabs

FEATUREDPHARAOH

Three famous Egyptian artifacts date f rom S n e fe ru ' s re ig n :

KIN GS N E F E R U

By David Pepper About the Author: David Pepper is a professional engineer and commercial pilot and has a BS in Physics, an MS in Aerospace Engineering, and a Masters in BusinessAdministration. He has served on the ESS Board as treasurer and is currently chair of the publications committee.

1 . T h e " G e e s eo f Me id u m" f re s c o w a s f o u n d at the mastaba of Nefer-maat who was b u rie dn e a r t h e P y ra mido f Hu n i, S n e f e r u ' s f a t h e r, a t Me id u m. lt wa s S n e f e r u w h o c o mp le t e d t h e c o n s t ru c t io n o f H u n i ' s p y ra mid ,a s re c o rd e do n a c o mm e m o r a t i v e stelefound next to the pyramid.

Sneferu was the birth-name of t h e s on o f Ki ng Huni, the last p h a r ao h o f th e T hird Dynasty.

On the Papyrus Prisse it is written, "And it came to pass t h a t the M aje sty of K ing Huni d i e d a nd th a t th e Majestyof K ing Sn e fe r u a r o se as a beneficent k i n g o ve r all the earth."

Ac c o rd in g to M a netho's List of Ki n g s, Sn e fer u is consideredto be the f irst king of the Fourth D y n a s ty.

S n e fe ru's r e ig n began about 2 6 2 0 BCE, a n d a ccordingto the T u r i n Pap yr u s,he reignedfor 24 y e a r s . Whe n he was crowned, S n e f e r uto o k o n the Horus name Nebmaat, "Lord Of Truth."

Historiansrecordedthat he was a b e ne fi cen tki ng who founded c i t i e sa n d b u ilt m any temples.

2. The twin statues of Prince Rahotep (probablya son of Sneferu)and his wife Nofret a re n o w in t h e C a i r o Mu s e u m. T h e s e l i f e - s i z e d statues are masterpiecesof art with inlaid eyes of o p a q u e q u a rt z a n d p u p i l s o f rock crystal. Rahotepsports a d a p p e r mu s t a c h e ,a n d h i s wif e h a s a h e a v y s h o u l d e r le n g t h wig a n d p a i n t e d d ia d e m.

King Sneferu.(FromFakhry)

T h e r eis a r elie fi n the E gyptianMuseumin Ca iro w h i c h wa s co lle cted by Flinderspetrie a t t h e si t e o f the tu r q u o isemines at W adi Maghara ,in t h e Si n a i. l t sh o ws the king dressedin a pla it e d k i l t a nd w ea n n g a divine crown of do u b le pl u r , r e:an C d,.u h le horns set upon a rou n d e d Spring 7996

3. The reconstructedfurniture o f Q u e e n He t e p h e r e s ,w i f e o f S n e f e ru ,is n o w o n d i s p l a y in t h e Ca iro Mu s e um . T h i s f u rn it u re wa s f o u n d b y Re is n e rin a t o mb s h a f t n e x t t o K h u f u ' s p y ra mid . K h u f u wa s t h e s o n a n d s u c c e s s o r o f S n e f e ru , a n d t he b u i l d e r o f t h e G re a tP y ra m i da t G i z a .

Sneferu was often mentioned in legends that we re c o p ie d b y s c rib e s in la t e r e ra s . I n t h e PapyrusWestcar, which was written during the later Hyksos Period,there is the story of "The L a d y o f t h e L a k e . " lt is t h e t a le o f h o w t h e k i n g Page 76

summonedthe magicianDjedemankhto suggest an activity to relieve his boredom' Soon afterward,Sneferu was being rowed around by 2 0 b e au tiuf l m aidens, clad only in fishn e t g o w n s . A tur q u o ise charm .was subseque n t ly l o s t i n th e wa ter , and the magiciancast a s p e ll to retrieveit from the bottom of the lake.

In another literary work, "The Prophecy of Neferti,"Sneferusummons a prophet to foretell t h e f u t ur e . Th e king supposedlyhears a t a le that predicts the coming of the First lntermediatePeriod and t he a c cessio n o f a s t r o n g ki ng , Am enemh e t , w ho will r e-unite t he T w o L a n d s i nto one c o u n t r y. M o d e r n s cholar s t h i nk this tale , which da t e s fr om th e Middle a wa s Ki n g d om , "justificationtale" written by Amenemhet to j u s t i f y h is usu r p a tionof t he t h r on e .

and attached by a causeway to the Bent Pyramid. Inscriptions found in this temple describethe many temples Sneferu erected to honor the gods throughout Egypt; There is evidencethat the temple supporteda cult center d e d ic a t e d t o S n e f e ru u p t h ro u g h t he M i d d l e K in g d o ma n d o n in t o P t o le ma ict ime s ' F a k h r y says, "We found [ancient incensealtars]there, s t ill s t a n d in g u p rig h t a n d u n h a rme d . O n o n e wa s a b o wl o f c h a rc o a l,wa it in g in v ai n f o r t h e a t t e n d a n t p rie s t t o c o me a n d s p rin k l ei n c e n s e u p o n t h e e mb e rs . "

The Red Pyramid is larger than the Bent at 3 4 0 f e e t in h e i g h t a n d c o n t a in s mo re m a t e r i a l due to its shallower43d e g re e s lo pe , w h i c h ru n s a ll t h e w a y u P t o t h e t o p . A lth o u g h i t s c a s in g s t o n e s a r e m i s s in g , s e v e ra l bl o c k s i n s c rib e d wit h S n e fe r u ' s n a me we re f o un d a t t h e The Bent Pyramid (Photoby the author) Red Pyramid. This pyramid a ls o h a s h ig h c o rb e lle dc e ilin gc h am b e r s .

A l m o s t eve r y O l d K ingdom pharaoh built a pyramid, and Sneferu was no exception. lt is The Red and Bent Pyramidsare the third and known from Old Kingdom inscriptions that fourth largestpyramidsin Egypt, secondin size Sneferu had at least two pyramids. Evidence only to the two pyramids of Sneferu's has been found that the Bent Pyramidat Dashur successors,Khufu and Khafre,at Giza' wa s c alle dth e "so uthern P yramidof S nef e ru . " It is felt that Sneferu's"NorthernPyramid"must On the PalermoStone it is recordedthat in year have beenthe one that is locatedone mile north 1 3 o f S n e f e ru ' sre ig n ,a g ia n t s h ip o f s t a t e , 1 0 0 of t h e Be n t Pyr a mid,and which is now ca lle d cubits in length, called The Adoration of the t he " R ed" Pyr a m id.

Two Lands, was built. The construction of a n o t h e r 6 0 s ma lle rs h ip s is a ls o me n t i o n e d ,a l l The Bent Pyramid gets its name f rom the 5 4 built with 40 shiploadsof cedar wood imported su d d e n ch a n g e i n slope f rom the steep f ro m L e b a n o n . degreesat the bottom, to a shallow 43 degree is a P yramid B ent The up. a n g l eab o u t ha lf- w ay REFERENCES v e r y l a r g estr uctur e,335 feet in height,that s t ill has most of its smooth casing stones in situCHRONICLE OF THE Clayton, Peter A. T h i s p yr am id is also unique in that it has t wo PHARAOHS. Thames and Hudson: London, en t r a nce s: the usual northern entrance, a n d 19 9 4 . a n o t h erhig h up o n the western side. There a re h i g h c or b e lle dceilingsin its two largechamb e rs , Fakhry,Ahmed. THE PYRAMIDS. Universityof a n d t h e up p e rcha mberhas largebeamsof c e d a r Ch ic a g oP re s s :Ch ic a g o ,1 9 6 1 . w o o d still in pla ce .

S n e f e r u 'sm or tua ry temple was found in 19 5 1 b y A h me d Fakh r y. lt was buriedunderthe s a n d Page 1 7

von Zabern, Philipp. THE EGYPTIANMUSEUM Mu : n ic h , 1 9 8 7.

CA I RO . P re s t e l-V e rla g Spring | 996

FEATURED GOD/GODDESS

SET bv Frank Pettee About the Author: Frank Pitttee is one of the most active members in the ESS. He has served on the ESSboard and is currently an editor on the Publications Committee.

Pettee also gives lectures to local school children and volunteers for many DMNH activities.

Was he given a raw deal, or did he deservethe bad reputationgiven him in lateryears?

Set (or Seth) was an early god, portrayed with a nondescript a n i ma l he a d , endowed with long ears a n d a la r g e be a k-like s n o u t , on a h u man body.

His h ierogl y p h i c d e ter m in ative is either the figure of

an animalfu o. a

Set was the third offspring of Nut and Geb following Osiris and lsis, and was born on the third of the five intercalarydays of the Egyptian year. (Thecalendarof ancientEgyptconsistedof 12 months of 30 days each, with five intercalary days left over). Ra, the sun god, had forbidden Nut to marry Geb. When she disobeyed,Ra ordained that she would be unable to bear children in any month of the year. Thoth felt sorry for her and, by playinga game of draughts with Khonsu,the moon god, won from him one seventy-secondpart of his light, amountingto those five days. On each of these days Nut was able to give birth to a child: Osiris,Horus, Set, ls is ,a n d Nep h t h y s .

Set marriedhis sister.

Nephthys, and was said to be the father of Anubis.

Desert a n ima ls , t h o s e t h a t live in the water, and a n y a n imal w i t h r e d hair or red skin were consideredchildrenof Set.

stone symbolizing the desert country on ei t h e rs i deof the Nile.

He was considered the god of the south, in contrast to Horus, the god of the north, which was held to be a f r i e n d ly division during the early dynasties.

His evil reputation probablybegan about t h e t ime o f K i n g Menes,(FirstDynasty, 2920 BCE). The followersof Set were at odds with those followers of Horus who lived in the Set. (from Rohl) south. This strife resulted in the re-writing of the Osiris myth to includethe feud betweenHorusand Set over the Set's chief cult center was at Ombos, near murder of Osiris. As the story goes, the Nekhebet,and he was consideredLord of Upper characterof Set was blackenedby the followers Egypt by his followers. The original"role" of Set of Osiris,who believedhe was born at the wrong was not the evil personification attributedto him time and in the wrong place. They claimedSet in later years. In the Pyramid Texts, he acted as had torn himself from the womb of his mother a friend of the dead and even assistedOsiristo and burst through her side. This did not impede reachheaven. He also held an importantpart in her and the myth goes on to say that Nut had the coronationceremonies. Both Set and Horus numerouschildren,for she was a mother-goddess are depictedin carvingsand paintingsas pulling as well as the goddessof the sky. on oppositeropes thus uniting Upper and Lower Egvpt.

Spring 7996

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AlthoughSet was the murdererof Osiris,and the Tribunalof God's judgment had been in favor of Horus, Ra sympathizedwith the claims of Set. Ra depended on Set who stood in the solar barqueto defend it against the enemiesof Ra, especially the serpent Apep (Apophis). As consolationto Set for the loss of his throne, he was exiledto the sky and becamethe GreatBear constellation.

Set regained some of his status in the 1gth Dynasty when some of the Ramessidekings included"Belovedof Set" in their royal titles. ln the 2O'nDynasty,the worship of Osiris became predominant,and Set was forever demoted to the personification of Evil. The representations of him on monuments and paintings were erased and replacedwith that of Thoth or Sobek.

Both good and evil are attributed to Set, and more of his story can be researchedby those who are interested.

REFERENCES: lons, Veronica. EGYPTIANMYTHOLOGY. The H a m l y nPub lish in Group: g Feltham,Middlese x .

Spence, Lewis. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS.Dover PublicationsInc.

Set and Horus pouringlibationover Seti L {from Budge} Page 19

HOUSEOF SCROLLS

The EgyptianCollectionof the GarnegieMuseum of NaturalHistory by BruceRabe T h e Ca rn e g ie Mu s e u m o f Na t u ra l H i s t o r y i n Pittsburghhouses a small but select collection of Egyptianarchaeological materialin the Walton Ha ll o f A n c ie n t E g y p t . Wit h n o " s u p e r s t a r " pieces (except the famous CarnegieBoat), the museumwisely choosesto concentrateon more prosaicartifactsthat illustratevariousaspectsof Egyptian culture.

This approach is very successful;the artifacts are skillfullyintegrated in t o d io ra ma s , mu ra ls , v id e o s , a c o m p u t e r s t a t io n ,a n d o t h e r d is p la y s .

The centerpieceof the collectionis the Carnegie B o a t . lt is a ma z in gt h a t a p ie c e s o i m p o r t a n t , discovered relatively late in the history of E g y p t ia na rc h a e o lo g y ,s h o u ld la c k d o c u m e n t a t io n . I n e x p lic a b lyt,h e e x a c t p ro v e na n c eo f t h e b o a t is u n c e rt a in . B a s e d o n t h e s i m i l a r i t yt o o t h e r b o a t s a t t h e F ie ldMu s e u min C h i c a g oa n d a t t h e Ca iro Mu s e u m, it is a lmo s t c e r t a i n l yo n e of four boats excavated by de Morgan at the p y ra mid o f S e n u s e rt lll a t Da s h u r d u r i n g t h e 1 8 9 4 -9 5 f ie ld s e a s o n . T h e b o a t wa s p u r c h a s e d b y a n a g e n t o f A n d re w Ca rn e g iea s a s u r p r i s e g if t f o r t h e mu s e u m;e v e n t h e mu s eu md i r e c t o r d id n o t le a rno f t h e g if t u n t il t h e b o at a r r i v e di n 1 9 0 1 ! T h e 3 o -f o o t v e s s e l n o w o c c u p i e sa n e n t ire wa ll in t h e c o lle c t io n , whe r e i t i s in c o rp o ra t e din t o a n e x h ib it o n t h e n a u t i c a l t ra d it io no f E g y p t .

A n o t h e r h ig h lig h t is t h e F u n e rar y R e l i g i o n Exhibit. This showcasesartifacts collectedby t h e mu s e u md u rin g e x c a v a t io n so f 1 7 t nD y n a s t y t o mb s in A b y d o s . T h e it e ms a re d is p l a y e di n a s imu la t e dt o mb , wh ic h in c lu d e swa l l p a i n t i n g s copied from the originals by projecting slides o n t o t h e e x h ib itwa lls . T h e re s u ltg iv e st h e f e e l Spring1996

o f a n actua l tomb while still allowing t h e i n s p ecti onof in d ividualitems.

The Life and Times of William John Bankes Conference

Th e Car n e g ieM useum publishesa well-k n o wn s e r i es o f po p ular pamphlets on v a rio u s E g y ptolo g icato l p ics, includingone on the ro y a l b o a t ; th e se , and a well-illustrated e x h ib it c a t a l og ,a r e ava ilablein the museum book s t o re .

Th e Natur a l History Museum buildingconn e c t s t o t h e C ar n e g ieMuseum of A rt, which als o h a s a f e w Eg yp ti ani tems on display. B oth mus e u ms are at 44OO Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh.

M u s eu m h o u r s are 1O-5 Tuesday thro u g h Sa t u r da yan d 1- 5 Sunday.

by David Pepper

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A t t h e 1 9 9 5 Co llo q u iu mh e ld a t K ing s t o nL a c y , t h e f o rme r Bankes estate near Wimborne Min s t e rin Do rs e t ,1 2 s p e a k e rsp re s e n t e dp a p e r s o u t lin in g t h e lif e a n d t ime s o f W i l l i a m J o h n B a n k e sa n d h is c o n t e mp o ra rie s .E a r l ys k e t c h e s we re s h o wn a n d q u o t a t io n sf ro m jou r n a l sw e r e read.

Papyri that were collected were translated,and discoverieswere put into their historicalperspective.

B a n k e s t, h e lo rd o f t h e ma n o rh o u s eo f K i n g s t o n L a c y in Do rs e t , E n g la n d , liv e d d u r i n g v e r y in t e re s t in gt ime s . T h e F re n c h h a d j u s t c a p i t u la t e d E g y p t t o t h e B rit is h ,a n d t h e l a n d s o f t h e Ne a r E a s t a n d t h e ir a n c ie n t c it ie s h a d j u s t b e c o me a c c e s s ib let o f o re ig n e rs . A c o n t e m p o ra rya n d f rie n d o f L o rd B y ro n ,He n r yS a l t , J . L .

B u rc k h a rd t ,a n d G io v a n n iB e lz o n i,B a n k e sw a s a n E n g lis hc o u n t ry g e n t le ma nwh o s e t o f f t o e x p lo ret h e wo rld in t h e e a rly 1 9 ' hc e n t u r y . H i s p riv ile g e du p b rin g in gh a d t ra in e dh im w e l l f o r t h e s k ills h e wo u ld n e e d a s a n e x p lo rer . H e w a s in t e llig e n t ,v e ry we ll re a d in a n c ien t L a t i n a n d G re e kt e x t s , a n d h e h a d b e e nt ra in e da s a n a r t i s t a n d c o p y is ta s p a rt o f h is s c h o o lin g .

B a n k e sa ls o h a d a n e y e f o r c o lle ct i n g . A f t e r s e rv in g a s a me mb e r o f t h e B rit is h P a r l i a m e n t f ro m 1 8 1 0 t o 1 8 1 2 , h e b e g a n h is t r a v e l sw h i c h wo u ld la s t e ig h t y e a rs . Du rin g h is t r a v e l s h e regularlysent objects d' arts home for display in h is p riv a t ec o lle c t io n . B a n k e sa c q u ir e dp a i n t i n g s and portraiturefrom famous schools of art in S p a in . He t ra v e le d wid e ly in S y ria a n d m a d e t wo e x p e d it io n su p t h e Nile b e y o n dAb u S i m b e l .

P a p y r u sb u r n i s h eirn i vo r y fr o m th e to m b o f T u ta n kh a m u n , 1 8 ' hDyn a sty,Ca ir oM u se u m .

Sprh'g 1996

B a n k e sv is it e dE g y p t in 1 8 1 4 -1 5 a n d t h e n a g a i n in 1 8 1 8 -1 9 , c o p y in g t h e s c e n e s he s a w o n mo n u me n t s . O f t e n wo rk in g f o r d ay s , o r e v e n mo n t h s , o n e n d , h e wo u ld c limb l a d d e r sa n d s k e t c h b y c a n d le lig h t , s o me t ime s f o r m a n y h o u rs wit h o u t a b re a k . S o me o f h i s d r a w i n g s a re t h e o n ly re ma in in ge v id e n c ewe h a v e t o d a y o f wa ll p a in t in g swh ic h h a v e s u f f e redi r r e p a r a b l e lo s s . B a n k e sa ls o c o lle c t e ds t e la ea nd p a p y r i ,a s d id ma n y o f t h e o t h e r e a rly e x p lo r e r s ;a t t h i s Page 2O

time the hieroglyphicscript had not been fully de c i p he r e dan , d i t was hoped that bringingt h e actual artifacts back to scholars would enable s be decoded. t h e h i e r o g lyp h to His house at Kingston Lacy still contains his collectionof antiquities. With objects such as a l a r g eo be liskr em o vedfrom P hilaewith the h e lp o f B e lzo n i, a g iant stone sarcophagus ,a n d s m a l l e ro b je cts l i ke perfume jars and usha b t is , th e c olle cti on is an important glimpse in t o E g y p t 'spa st. The collectionis now displaye din th e f o rm e r billia r droom of the house, and 2 5 st e l a e fr om th e workmen's village at De ir e l Me d i nalo o k d o wn onto the pool table!

Bankes should best be remembered,however, a s a n e xa cti ng draftsman who painsta k in g ly to o k m e a su r e m ents and made metic u lo u s d r a w i ng sof the tombs and temples he visit e d .

He was one of the few early visitors who tried to f a i thfullyr ep r o ducethe monumentshe s a w, in s t e ado f do in g a series of rough sketch e sin th e f i e ld , a n d th e n later using artistic licen s et o d r a m ati zethe scene when back in E ng la n d .

The contributionsof these early explorersshould not be underestimated. These pioneersproduced volumes of notes and referencebooks that excitedthe next generationof scholarsand explorersand helped to found the new science of Egyptology.

Co llo q u iu m i n c l u d e d the S p e a k e rs a t E g y p t o lo g is t sT . G . H. J a me s , S t e p he n O u i r k e , a n d L is e Ma n n ic h e . O t h e r s p e a k e rsin c l u d e da r t h is t o ria n s , b io g ra p h e rs ,a n d a rc h iv i s t s . T h e conferencewas excellent,the subject material f a s c in a t in g a , n d t h e lo c a t io nwa s in o n e o f t h e mo s t e le g a n t h o u s e s in B rit a in ; h e n c e , i t w a s t ru ly a me mo ra b lee v e n t .

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T HE D E N V E RM US E U MOF NATURALHISTORY 2 O O 1C o l o r a d oB l vd .

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