DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4143#0023
18
UE1R EL BAHAHI.
just given. Twelve nurses are holding children in
their arms. The nurses have as head-dress alternately
the sign LI and the emblem of Neith in the Saitic
nome. The children are all lea of the queen, and if
we add to them the two suckled by the Hathors we
arrive at the sum of fourteen.
The nurses hand over the children to two male
figures, who present them to three seated gods. If we
compare this scene with the representation at Luxor,
the first figure, the one that holds the children, would
be j? enf Ildpi, " the Nile," and the other | u
Helea.u, a god who is little known, and who is con-
sidered as representing the " magic power of speech."
If this be so, Hapi would give to the child the power
of growth, and Hekau that of speech. The hiero-
glyphs are obscure; they seem to mean that these
men take Ramaka out of the room where she was
born, in order that she may be purified by Horus
and Set. "We shall see further on this kind of
Egyptian baptism, performed for Hatshepsu, not
however by Horus and Set, but by Horus and Amon.
PL LIV.—Fourteenth Scene. The child passes
through the hands of several gods ; we do not see
exactly why. Hatshepsu and her lea now appear in
the hands of Thoth and Amon. It may be that
Amon entrusts her to Thoth in order that this god
may determine what her future will be, and may grant
her a reign of many years. Thoth and his consort
Safekhabui are the divinities presiding over the
measurement of time.
PI. LV.—Fifteenth Scene. This scene is also
somewhat obscure. The texts which are still legible
are only common-place formulas, and do not give
any clue to the meaning of the representation.
First we see Anubis rolling a large disk. We find
the same god with his disk in all the birth-temples,
except at Luxor, where he is seen holding a sceptre.
From the text at Denderah I gather that this disk is
the moon, and that the god is presiding over the
renewal of the moon, which means that he regulates
the calendar of the gods. Among the promises which
he makes to the queen he grants her
toll
lands
wbu
all
setu nebt
countries all
®
rekhytu
Rekhyt
i
\ C E Q HI
nebt Hanebtu
all Hanebtu
ft
nebt Hamemtu
all Hamemtu
nebt
all
^ in
Patu
Patu
nebt
" all lands, all countries, all inhabitants of Egypt, all
strangers, all future and all past generations."
In front of Anubis stands Khnum. Next we see
in the upper room the queen and her lea being still
carried on the hands of a nurse, who seems to hand
them over to a man who receives them.
Underneath we see again the two nurses, but the
children are older, they are able to walk. In front
of them a woman holds an inkstand, in which the
goddess Safekhabui dips her reed in order to record
that she has allotted to the young queen a great
number of years : millions of Sed periods on the
throne of Horus. I cannot explain who is the man
behind the goddess holding a long staff and the ■¥-.
This is the last scene of the lower row. We have
now to go back to the other end of the terrace, where
we shall find various episodes of the childhood and
youth of Hatshepsu, beginning with her purification
by the gods.
FEINTED UY GILBEliT AND BIVINGTON, LTD., ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLEKKENWELL, E.C.
UE1R EL BAHAHI.
just given. Twelve nurses are holding children in
their arms. The nurses have as head-dress alternately
the sign LI and the emblem of Neith in the Saitic
nome. The children are all lea of the queen, and if
we add to them the two suckled by the Hathors we
arrive at the sum of fourteen.
The nurses hand over the children to two male
figures, who present them to three seated gods. If we
compare this scene with the representation at Luxor,
the first figure, the one that holds the children, would
be j? enf Ildpi, " the Nile," and the other | u
Helea.u, a god who is little known, and who is con-
sidered as representing the " magic power of speech."
If this be so, Hapi would give to the child the power
of growth, and Hekau that of speech. The hiero-
glyphs are obscure; they seem to mean that these
men take Ramaka out of the room where she was
born, in order that she may be purified by Horus
and Set. "We shall see further on this kind of
Egyptian baptism, performed for Hatshepsu, not
however by Horus and Set, but by Horus and Amon.
PL LIV.—Fourteenth Scene. The child passes
through the hands of several gods ; we do not see
exactly why. Hatshepsu and her lea now appear in
the hands of Thoth and Amon. It may be that
Amon entrusts her to Thoth in order that this god
may determine what her future will be, and may grant
her a reign of many years. Thoth and his consort
Safekhabui are the divinities presiding over the
measurement of time.
PI. LV.—Fifteenth Scene. This scene is also
somewhat obscure. The texts which are still legible
are only common-place formulas, and do not give
any clue to the meaning of the representation.
First we see Anubis rolling a large disk. We find
the same god with his disk in all the birth-temples,
except at Luxor, where he is seen holding a sceptre.
From the text at Denderah I gather that this disk is
the moon, and that the god is presiding over the
renewal of the moon, which means that he regulates
the calendar of the gods. Among the promises which
he makes to the queen he grants her
toll
lands
wbu
all
setu nebt
countries all
®
rekhytu
Rekhyt
i
\ C E Q HI
nebt Hanebtu
all Hanebtu
ft
nebt Hamemtu
all Hamemtu
nebt
all
^ in
Patu
Patu
nebt
" all lands, all countries, all inhabitants of Egypt, all
strangers, all future and all past generations."
In front of Anubis stands Khnum. Next we see
in the upper room the queen and her lea being still
carried on the hands of a nurse, who seems to hand
them over to a man who receives them.
Underneath we see again the two nurses, but the
children are older, they are able to walk. In front
of them a woman holds an inkstand, in which the
goddess Safekhabui dips her reed in order to record
that she has allotted to the young queen a great
number of years : millions of Sed periods on the
throne of Horus. I cannot explain who is the man
behind the goddess holding a long staff and the ■¥-.
This is the last scene of the lower row. We have
now to go back to the other end of the terrace, where
we shall find various episodes of the childhood and
youth of Hatshepsu, beginning with her purification
by the gods.
FEINTED UY GILBEliT AND BIVINGTON, LTD., ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLEKKENWELL, E.C.