DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11714#0022
10 SAET EL
describe what is engraved underneath, or relate
what the gods have done to reward the king
for his benefits. It is not possible to recognize
the rule which the engravers have followed in
the choice of their representations.
Among these, we will first consider the god to
whom the shrine is dedicated, and the different
forms given to him.
The most usual form of Sopt is that of a
hawk, bare-headed (pi. v. 4), or wearing two
feathers (pi. ii. 5); he is crouching either on a
couch (pi. ii. 5) or on a stone base (id.); he
may have before him the triangle ^ which
r,eads " Sopt," and which is his name. This form
we find in the hieroglyph by which the name of
the nome is spelt. The hawk is the ordinary,
but not the most ancient, form of Sopt in the
time of Kectanebo, and consequently bears his
full titles : Sopt, the spirit of the East, the haivlc
or the Ilorus of the East (pi. iv. 6). Another
hardly less usual at that time, is that of an ugly
dwarf with large head and beard, wearing
feathers, with outstretched arms and wings,
having a knife in each hand. Thus represented,
he is very like the god Bes. This form is called
Sopt ivho smites the Asiatics (pi. ii. 6, &c). A
third form is that of a man having instead of a
human head, the wing and head of a hawk with
two feathers. The body is crouched on a
pedestal; the left arm is raised like that of
Amon ; the right holds a bow and arrows. He
is called " Sopt Shu, the son of Ra " (pi. ii. 6);
and on another monument, in the Louvre, " the
lord of war."
Sopt Hor differs only slightly from Sopt Shu ;
it is a hawk's upper part on the body of a sitting
man (pi. v. 4).
The counterpart to this form is that of a
standing man, with the tail and wings of a hawk,
holding a knife in the left hand and the sign of
life y in the right. He is called " Sopt, the
master of faces, most terrible" (pi. ii. 5, or pi. v. 4).
Sopt may also be figured in human form,
wearing two feathers, with a long sceptre in
HEUNEH.
one hand, and various emblems in the other.
Thus represented, he is very like the god Anhur.
This variety is very ancient. AVe have an
early example in a stele from "Wadi Gasus, now
at Alnwick Castle, dating from the reign of
Usertesen II. another in a sculpture of Wadi
Maghara of the eighteenth dynasty,2 and another
under Rameses II.3 I am inclined to think that
it is the oldest form of the god. He is then
always called " the lord of the East."
He is undoubtedly a warlike god. To him
belongs the East; namely, the provinces of the
Eastern Delta as far as the Syrian frontier, as
well as the district between the Nile and the
Red Sea. He rises on the mountain of Bakhu,
which is synonymous with the East; and it is
he who defends Egypt against the Eastern
invaders, the Menti or the Fenlchu as they are
called here, meaning of course the Persians,
who were the most dangerous enemies of
Kectanebo.
Sopt is generally accompanied by one or
several goddesses bearing the name of Khonset
(pi. v. 3 and 4); as well as by various forms of
Horus (Hormer, or Hor Si Isis), and by Amon
represented under different forms, often with
the body of a bird (pi. ii. 5). Among his
attendants, one of the most usual is the lion
Makes, who is generally represented as gnawing
the head of a prisoner (pi. iii. 3, vi. 6, vii. 5);
sometimes also as a man with a lion's head
(pi. ii. 6, iii. 4).
An inquiry into the rank which Sopt occupies
in the Egyptian religion would here be out of
place-; but I may say that from even a purely
mythological point of view, the shrine of Saft,
like other inscribed monuments of the Thirtieth
Dynasty, is rich in valuable information.4 I
believe that a careful study of the texts relating
1 Erman, Zeitschr. 1882 p 204.
2 Leps., Denkm. iii. 28.
3 Ibid., iii. 144.
4 For instance, the identity of Amon and Harmakhis
(pi. ii. 1. 5, pi. v. 1. 4).
describe what is engraved underneath, or relate
what the gods have done to reward the king
for his benefits. It is not possible to recognize
the rule which the engravers have followed in
the choice of their representations.
Among these, we will first consider the god to
whom the shrine is dedicated, and the different
forms given to him.
The most usual form of Sopt is that of a
hawk, bare-headed (pi. v. 4), or wearing two
feathers (pi. ii. 5); he is crouching either on a
couch (pi. ii. 5) or on a stone base (id.); he
may have before him the triangle ^ which
r,eads " Sopt," and which is his name. This form
we find in the hieroglyph by which the name of
the nome is spelt. The hawk is the ordinary,
but not the most ancient, form of Sopt in the
time of Kectanebo, and consequently bears his
full titles : Sopt, the spirit of the East, the haivlc
or the Ilorus of the East (pi. iv. 6). Another
hardly less usual at that time, is that of an ugly
dwarf with large head and beard, wearing
feathers, with outstretched arms and wings,
having a knife in each hand. Thus represented,
he is very like the god Bes. This form is called
Sopt ivho smites the Asiatics (pi. ii. 6, &c). A
third form is that of a man having instead of a
human head, the wing and head of a hawk with
two feathers. The body is crouched on a
pedestal; the left arm is raised like that of
Amon ; the right holds a bow and arrows. He
is called " Sopt Shu, the son of Ra " (pi. ii. 6);
and on another monument, in the Louvre, " the
lord of war."
Sopt Hor differs only slightly from Sopt Shu ;
it is a hawk's upper part on the body of a sitting
man (pi. v. 4).
The counterpart to this form is that of a
standing man, with the tail and wings of a hawk,
holding a knife in the left hand and the sign of
life y in the right. He is called " Sopt, the
master of faces, most terrible" (pi. ii. 5, or pi. v. 4).
Sopt may also be figured in human form,
wearing two feathers, with a long sceptre in
HEUNEH.
one hand, and various emblems in the other.
Thus represented, he is very like the god Anhur.
This variety is very ancient. AVe have an
early example in a stele from "Wadi Gasus, now
at Alnwick Castle, dating from the reign of
Usertesen II. another in a sculpture of Wadi
Maghara of the eighteenth dynasty,2 and another
under Rameses II.3 I am inclined to think that
it is the oldest form of the god. He is then
always called " the lord of the East."
He is undoubtedly a warlike god. To him
belongs the East; namely, the provinces of the
Eastern Delta as far as the Syrian frontier, as
well as the district between the Nile and the
Red Sea. He rises on the mountain of Bakhu,
which is synonymous with the East; and it is
he who defends Egypt against the Eastern
invaders, the Menti or the Fenlchu as they are
called here, meaning of course the Persians,
who were the most dangerous enemies of
Kectanebo.
Sopt is generally accompanied by one or
several goddesses bearing the name of Khonset
(pi. v. 3 and 4); as well as by various forms of
Horus (Hormer, or Hor Si Isis), and by Amon
represented under different forms, often with
the body of a bird (pi. ii. 5). Among his
attendants, one of the most usual is the lion
Makes, who is generally represented as gnawing
the head of a prisoner (pi. iii. 3, vi. 6, vii. 5);
sometimes also as a man with a lion's head
(pi. ii. 6, iii. 4).
An inquiry into the rank which Sopt occupies
in the Egyptian religion would here be out of
place-; but I may say that from even a purely
mythological point of view, the shrine of Saft,
like other inscribed monuments of the Thirtieth
Dynasty, is rich in valuable information.4 I
believe that a careful study of the texts relating
1 Erman, Zeitschr. 1882 p 204.
2 Leps., Denkm. iii. 28.
3 Ibid., iii. 144.
4 For instance, the identity of Amon and Harmakhis
(pi. ii. 1. 5, pi. v. 1. 4).