DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6553#0163
APPENDIX.
101
the Theban system. On the lower part of the tablet are alternate rows
of the flowers, and of the buds of the papyrus. The upper part of a
standing figure, crowned with an otf, represents Ptolemy Philadelphia,
adoring a train of deities; slight indications of the heads, only remain:
but they appear to have been "Ra, or Re, the lord of the.....region,
fixed for ever (I); the great god, the father (or the statue); .... Moid,
the son of the sun, the lord of the . . . region ; and Tafne . . . of the
sun, the 7nistress of the . . . region, the daughter ({he eye) of the sun, the
mistress of heaven, the regent of the gods." If the tablet was ever com-
pleted, the respective titles and addresses were no doubt prefixed in ver-
tical lines before these figures; but, under the Ptolemies, many of these
works were left unfinished. In the centre is the name of the " Queen
Esi-Arsinoe," the sister, and the wife of the king; and she appears to
offer incense to " Amoun-ra," and to " Khons (or Shons), the son of
Ra, the lord of the two worlds, the great god, the lord of . . . region,
illuminating his son (J), resident (?) in the symbolic eye." The head-
attire of the deity (Khons) is that usually assigned to Pnebto,5 the son of
Horns; it consists of three vertical, vase-shaped ornaments, surmounted
by discs, and supported by the horns of a goat. The name of the region,
repeated among the titles of the deities, probably indicates the place, from
which the stone was procured. Like those on the other tablets, the in-
scription was a prayer to the local divinities on the occasion of the quar-
ries being opened during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphia. It refers
to a triad, consisting of Ra, the sun ; of his son Mout, (splendour), the
Phaethon of the Greeks ; and of his daughter, Tafne, twin-sister of
Moui, and equivalent to the Gemini in the Zodiac, the eldest of the
Heliades; and also to the Theban triad, Amonn, or Jupiter; Muth,
Hera or Juno, whose figure is erased ; and Chons or Khons, Hercules or
Deus Limits.
No. 10.—On the cornice of this tablet is Hat, " the good demon ;" and
below it is the figure of a king, who holds in his hands the emblem of
fields, and who wears a flowing head-dress and an uroms. The lines
immediately before him contain a cartouche, and the titles,— " all life,
all power, and all dilated heart (?), like the sun, for ever ;" but they
do not express his name ; and the other lines exhibit the name, and
the titles of the divinity, and the benefits conferred by her. The king
is in the presence of two deities, the first of whom holds in her hands
a lotus sceptre, and the symbol of life, and wears upon her head the vul-
ture claft, surmounted by a disc, by goat's horns, and by two plumes.
An inscription before her contains her names and titles, among which are
• Cf. Champol. "Pan. Egypt." " Mon. Egypt." fol. Paris, PI. IV. 1.
PI. LVIII. Horus, in a similar attire, is called " liar," or " llor, the sun,
the great god, the great and first (born) of Ainon-ra."
101
the Theban system. On the lower part of the tablet are alternate rows
of the flowers, and of the buds of the papyrus. The upper part of a
standing figure, crowned with an otf, represents Ptolemy Philadelphia,
adoring a train of deities; slight indications of the heads, only remain:
but they appear to have been "Ra, or Re, the lord of the.....region,
fixed for ever (I); the great god, the father (or the statue); .... Moid,
the son of the sun, the lord of the . . . region ; and Tafne . . . of the
sun, the 7nistress of the . . . region, the daughter ({he eye) of the sun, the
mistress of heaven, the regent of the gods." If the tablet was ever com-
pleted, the respective titles and addresses were no doubt prefixed in ver-
tical lines before these figures; but, under the Ptolemies, many of these
works were left unfinished. In the centre is the name of the " Queen
Esi-Arsinoe," the sister, and the wife of the king; and she appears to
offer incense to " Amoun-ra," and to " Khons (or Shons), the son of
Ra, the lord of the two worlds, the great god, the lord of . . . region,
illuminating his son (J), resident (?) in the symbolic eye." The head-
attire of the deity (Khons) is that usually assigned to Pnebto,5 the son of
Horns; it consists of three vertical, vase-shaped ornaments, surmounted
by discs, and supported by the horns of a goat. The name of the region,
repeated among the titles of the deities, probably indicates the place, from
which the stone was procured. Like those on the other tablets, the in-
scription was a prayer to the local divinities on the occasion of the quar-
ries being opened during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphia. It refers
to a triad, consisting of Ra, the sun ; of his son Mout, (splendour), the
Phaethon of the Greeks ; and of his daughter, Tafne, twin-sister of
Moui, and equivalent to the Gemini in the Zodiac, the eldest of the
Heliades; and also to the Theban triad, Amonn, or Jupiter; Muth,
Hera or Juno, whose figure is erased ; and Chons or Khons, Hercules or
Deus Limits.
No. 10.—On the cornice of this tablet is Hat, " the good demon ;" and
below it is the figure of a king, who holds in his hands the emblem of
fields, and who wears a flowing head-dress and an uroms. The lines
immediately before him contain a cartouche, and the titles,— " all life,
all power, and all dilated heart (?), like the sun, for ever ;" but they
do not express his name ; and the other lines exhibit the name, and
the titles of the divinity, and the benefits conferred by her. The king
is in the presence of two deities, the first of whom holds in her hands
a lotus sceptre, and the symbol of life, and wears upon her head the vul-
ture claft, surmounted by a disc, by goat's horns, and by two plumes.
An inscription before her contains her names and titles, among which are
• Cf. Champol. "Pan. Egypt." " Mon. Egypt." fol. Paris, PI. IV. 1.
PI. LVIII. Horus, in a similar attire, is called " liar," or " llor, the sun,
the great god, the great and first (born) of Ainon-ra."