DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4144#0014
DEIR Eli BAHA11I.
These formulas, with the second cartouche, are the
complete name of the queen, which will appear in the
official documents and wherever the queen wished all
her titles to be recorded. Here again, although some
of the forms are in the feminine, we can trace the
desire of the queen to come forward as a man, and
be considered as a king. The form of her name is
that which was adopted by all the kings of the
XVIIIth Dynasty, and we know of no princess before
Hatshepsu, who took masculine titles with feminine
endings.
Below the royal names, there is a blank which may
have been destined to contain a figure holding the palm,
which is generally the emblem of the measurement of
time, and is often connected with dates. The curved
palm, with the two columns next to it, looks like the
beginning of a calendar of the same kind as that found
on a stone at Palermo, which refers to the Old Empire.
The statement which we read here is very important:
" The first day of Thoth, the beginning of the year, the
beginning of the seasons, united for the queen of Upper
and Lower Egypt, with the double diadem, who joins
the two lands, who goes round the Northern Hall in
the festival of Seshet, the daughter of Ra who loves
him, Hatshepsu."
It seems to me that we have here an allusion to a
reform in the calendar,1 such as the one which took
place occasionally when the variable year of 365 days
and the fixed year of 365J, based on the recurrence of
natural phenomena, like the rising of the Nile, were
made to start anew from the same day, viz., the first
day of the month of Thoth. The titles here given to
the queen are unusual; they probably go back to a
very high antiquity, certainly to the Old Empire. We
find them several times on the calendar of the Palermo
stone, and always after indication of days of the
month.
Under the blank we read these words: sic hem ren-s
pu ma dr n ueter m ball, for her name is truly that
which the god made before.
The coronation is followed by religious ceremonies,
by new purifications, which take place in a hall called
czzi 'sei, the great house. The queen is led first to
the eastern side by the A.nmutef priest, who is here
supposed to be the god ^^ Hu or Khes, the god
of Metelis, the seventh nome of Lower Egypt. It
1 See Introductory Memoir, p. 10.
is difficult to understand why he appears on this
occasion. He pours water over the head of the queen,
saying:
a
AAAiW\ II
.WWA 1 AAlWVi
0
f
tniab n(d) ten m mil, apen nu ankh uas neb
I purify thee with water this of life purity all &c.
" I purify thee witli this water which gives all life,
purity," &c.
Afterwards it is Horus who takes hold of the queen
and leads her to the western side of the hall. The
same thing would probably be represented as taking
place over again if there had been room enough left
on the wall to engrave it.
Plate LXIV. This is the final ceremony of the
festival of coronation, called the festival of Shet or
Seshet MSl =*=^c=>^:, as we saw before. Unfortunately
the sculptures have suffered considerably from erasure.
The ceremony takes place in a hall called |0p| useJcht,
which means the " wide one," showing it to be of large
dimension. In this hall are two pavilions. In the
first, two priests of high rank, who have assumed the
appearance and head-dress of Horns and Set, place
on the head of Hatshepsu the diadem of Upper
Egypt, the white crown, and they both pronounce
the same formula: "We have fixed on thee the
dignity of King of Upper Egypt, sitting on the throne
of Horns.
The queen, wearing her crown, goes out; the few
signs left seem to show that she went round the
so-called Northern Hall "W it, as was said in the
inscription (pi. lxiii.). She has before her four divine
standards of Thoth, Horus, Khonsu and Anubis. Then
she goes to the second pavilion, where the same gods
put on her head the crown of Lower Egypt, repeating
the same words, the name of the crown onlv being
changed. This done, the queen goes out as usual
in male attire, wearing the red diadem and a
short gown, and holding a hook and a flail. She
is said to go in and out of the hall in the Seshet
festival.2
Henceforth Hatshepsu is the rightful occupant of
the throne. We cannot suppose that a long time
- A similar ceremony was performed on the anniversary of the
coronation, the so-called Sed festival, as we see in tbe description of
its celebration at Bubastis, under Osorkon II. (Festival Hall, pi. xxiii.j.
These formulas, with the second cartouche, are the
complete name of the queen, which will appear in the
official documents and wherever the queen wished all
her titles to be recorded. Here again, although some
of the forms are in the feminine, we can trace the
desire of the queen to come forward as a man, and
be considered as a king. The form of her name is
that which was adopted by all the kings of the
XVIIIth Dynasty, and we know of no princess before
Hatshepsu, who took masculine titles with feminine
endings.
Below the royal names, there is a blank which may
have been destined to contain a figure holding the palm,
which is generally the emblem of the measurement of
time, and is often connected with dates. The curved
palm, with the two columns next to it, looks like the
beginning of a calendar of the same kind as that found
on a stone at Palermo, which refers to the Old Empire.
The statement which we read here is very important:
" The first day of Thoth, the beginning of the year, the
beginning of the seasons, united for the queen of Upper
and Lower Egypt, with the double diadem, who joins
the two lands, who goes round the Northern Hall in
the festival of Seshet, the daughter of Ra who loves
him, Hatshepsu."
It seems to me that we have here an allusion to a
reform in the calendar,1 such as the one which took
place occasionally when the variable year of 365 days
and the fixed year of 365J, based on the recurrence of
natural phenomena, like the rising of the Nile, were
made to start anew from the same day, viz., the first
day of the month of Thoth. The titles here given to
the queen are unusual; they probably go back to a
very high antiquity, certainly to the Old Empire. We
find them several times on the calendar of the Palermo
stone, and always after indication of days of the
month.
Under the blank we read these words: sic hem ren-s
pu ma dr n ueter m ball, for her name is truly that
which the god made before.
The coronation is followed by religious ceremonies,
by new purifications, which take place in a hall called
czzi 'sei, the great house. The queen is led first to
the eastern side by the A.nmutef priest, who is here
supposed to be the god ^^ Hu or Khes, the god
of Metelis, the seventh nome of Lower Egypt. It
1 See Introductory Memoir, p. 10.
is difficult to understand why he appears on this
occasion. He pours water over the head of the queen,
saying:
a
AAAiW\ II
.WWA 1 AAlWVi
0
f
tniab n(d) ten m mil, apen nu ankh uas neb
I purify thee with water this of life purity all &c.
" I purify thee witli this water which gives all life,
purity," &c.
Afterwards it is Horus who takes hold of the queen
and leads her to the western side of the hall. The
same thing would probably be represented as taking
place over again if there had been room enough left
on the wall to engrave it.
Plate LXIV. This is the final ceremony of the
festival of coronation, called the festival of Shet or
Seshet MSl =*=^c=>^:, as we saw before. Unfortunately
the sculptures have suffered considerably from erasure.
The ceremony takes place in a hall called |0p| useJcht,
which means the " wide one," showing it to be of large
dimension. In this hall are two pavilions. In the
first, two priests of high rank, who have assumed the
appearance and head-dress of Horns and Set, place
on the head of Hatshepsu the diadem of Upper
Egypt, the white crown, and they both pronounce
the same formula: "We have fixed on thee the
dignity of King of Upper Egypt, sitting on the throne
of Horns.
The queen, wearing her crown, goes out; the few
signs left seem to show that she went round the
so-called Northern Hall "W it, as was said in the
inscription (pi. lxiii.). She has before her four divine
standards of Thoth, Horus, Khonsu and Anubis. Then
she goes to the second pavilion, where the same gods
put on her head the crown of Lower Egypt, repeating
the same words, the name of the crown onlv being
changed. This done, the queen goes out as usual
in male attire, wearing the red diadem and a
short gown, and holding a hook and a flail. She
is said to go in and out of the hall in the Seshet
festival.2
Henceforth Hatshepsu is the rightful occupant of
the throne. We cannot suppose that a long time
- A similar ceremony was performed on the anniversary of the
coronation, the so-called Sed festival, as we see in tbe description of
its celebration at Bubastis, under Osorkon II. (Festival Hall, pi. xxiii.j.