DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3236#0033
TRANSLATIONS OF THE INSCRIPTIONS.
33
After the fall of the native dynasties the
Hyksos have left memorials in the temple. The
name of the king Apepi, beloved of Set, is the
only one now legible. This dedication tells us
nothing of value for the local mythology. Set
was the especial deity of the Hyksos, and ap-
pears on an altar of the period found in Cairo
(and therefore, perhaps, from Heliopolis) as
" Lord of Avaris."
The nineteenth and twentieth dynasties bring
in a flood of divinities. The god of Thebes,
the capital of Egypt, holds perhaps the third
place, the first being given to Ptah Tathnen,1
with whom Rameses II. continually com-
pares himself. This god was again, perhaps, a
form of the Memphite god, and held a very
high place in the worship of the king. On an
almost equal footing appear the gods of Helio-
polis, the emblems of living and conquering
royalty. Turn and Harmachis with Shu are
the gods to be attributed to the pre-eminent
religious influence of that city. UatI ap taui is
brought in owing to her connection with the
marsh lands of the Delta, and Horus of the
foreigners, or of the desert hills, similarly occurs
once in this dynasty.2
Amongst the other gods, while Menthu is
often made use of in warlike boasts of Rameses,
the only one of any prominence in the dedica-
tion is Set, who is called " the very valiant," and
once, on a monument of Merenptah, " lord of
Avaris." Set was the Hyksos divinity and an
Asiatic god, and the kings of the nineteenth
dynasty not only bore names compounded with
that of Set, but also frequently dedicated monu-
ments to him. It is not reasonable, therefore,
from these occasional mentions of Set in the
dedication, to conclude that Set was the
especial god of the city. Set, lord of Avaris,
A^^wV116 deCree 0f Ptah Tatunen or Tathnen at
and Z CE-JaviUe, Trans. S.B.A., vol. vii. p. 119, etc.),
and below, p. 34, note. ;
mL~* *??f' M6L U' also ^ti^ Sekhet neht Ant,
"""tress of the valley, and Hor aa pehti, as occurring at San.
appears also in a dedication by Merenptah at
Tel Muqdam, Mar. Mon. Div. 63; while if Tanis
were Avaris, and Set the especial deity, we should
expect to find that the dedications of the nine-
teenth dynasty in the temple, unless very
strongly influenced by other causes, were mono-
polized entirely by that god.
In the twenty-first dynasty we find no special
dedication beyond that to Amen ra as god
of the Theban capital. In the twenty-second
Amen ra continues. The only exception in or
about this period is on the pillar of Aa arq ra,
which is of doubtful period. Unfortunately
it has not been seen by any one except
Mariette; but it seems probable that it belongs
to the time between the Ramessides and the
Saites rather than to the middle kingdom. The
dedication upon this to a goddess Per ... is
hard to restore.
I have examined a number of the objects
found in the tombs at Zuwelen by Mr. Petrie.
The eyes, &c, are distinctly of the twenty-second
dynasty in most cases, while some are twenty-
sixth. A scarab from the town ? bears the throne
name of Osorkon II., which was adopted also
by other kings of the same family; and the
bones from the jars have been identified as
those of cats by Mr. 0. Thomas, assistant in
the Zoological Department of the British
Museum. This throws some light on the
condition and religion of Tanis at the period.
The ushabti of the priestess of Amen Ankhsnast
(see Nebesheh, p. 46) must also be of the
twenty-first or twenty-second dynasty.
There is a great blank after the twenty-
second dynasty, and with the exception of a
statue at Bulaq, the only materials for filling it
up are the Ptolemaic remains found by Mr.
Petrie. These point two ways. The monuments
in the chapel are dedicated to the deities of Amt,
the capital of the nineteenth, nome; the block
from the temple is concerned with a black bull,
Horus in the city of Bennu. And Bennu was the
name of the territory of the fourteenth nome.
E
33
After the fall of the native dynasties the
Hyksos have left memorials in the temple. The
name of the king Apepi, beloved of Set, is the
only one now legible. This dedication tells us
nothing of value for the local mythology. Set
was the especial deity of the Hyksos, and ap-
pears on an altar of the period found in Cairo
(and therefore, perhaps, from Heliopolis) as
" Lord of Avaris."
The nineteenth and twentieth dynasties bring
in a flood of divinities. The god of Thebes,
the capital of Egypt, holds perhaps the third
place, the first being given to Ptah Tathnen,1
with whom Rameses II. continually com-
pares himself. This god was again, perhaps, a
form of the Memphite god, and held a very
high place in the worship of the king. On an
almost equal footing appear the gods of Helio-
polis, the emblems of living and conquering
royalty. Turn and Harmachis with Shu are
the gods to be attributed to the pre-eminent
religious influence of that city. UatI ap taui is
brought in owing to her connection with the
marsh lands of the Delta, and Horus of the
foreigners, or of the desert hills, similarly occurs
once in this dynasty.2
Amongst the other gods, while Menthu is
often made use of in warlike boasts of Rameses,
the only one of any prominence in the dedica-
tion is Set, who is called " the very valiant," and
once, on a monument of Merenptah, " lord of
Avaris." Set was the Hyksos divinity and an
Asiatic god, and the kings of the nineteenth
dynasty not only bore names compounded with
that of Set, but also frequently dedicated monu-
ments to him. It is not reasonable, therefore,
from these occasional mentions of Set in the
dedication, to conclude that Set was the
especial god of the city. Set, lord of Avaris,
A^^wV116 deCree 0f Ptah Tatunen or Tathnen at
and Z CE-JaviUe, Trans. S.B.A., vol. vii. p. 119, etc.),
and below, p. 34, note. ;
mL~* *??f' M6L U' also ^ti^ Sekhet neht Ant,
"""tress of the valley, and Hor aa pehti, as occurring at San.
appears also in a dedication by Merenptah at
Tel Muqdam, Mar. Mon. Div. 63; while if Tanis
were Avaris, and Set the especial deity, we should
expect to find that the dedications of the nine-
teenth dynasty in the temple, unless very
strongly influenced by other causes, were mono-
polized entirely by that god.
In the twenty-first dynasty we find no special
dedication beyond that to Amen ra as god
of the Theban capital. In the twenty-second
Amen ra continues. The only exception in or
about this period is on the pillar of Aa arq ra,
which is of doubtful period. Unfortunately
it has not been seen by any one except
Mariette; but it seems probable that it belongs
to the time between the Ramessides and the
Saites rather than to the middle kingdom. The
dedication upon this to a goddess Per ... is
hard to restore.
I have examined a number of the objects
found in the tombs at Zuwelen by Mr. Petrie.
The eyes, &c, are distinctly of the twenty-second
dynasty in most cases, while some are twenty-
sixth. A scarab from the town ? bears the throne
name of Osorkon II., which was adopted also
by other kings of the same family; and the
bones from the jars have been identified as
those of cats by Mr. 0. Thomas, assistant in
the Zoological Department of the British
Museum. This throws some light on the
condition and religion of Tanis at the period.
The ushabti of the priestess of Amen Ankhsnast
(see Nebesheh, p. 46) must also be of the
twenty-first or twenty-second dynasty.
There is a great blank after the twenty-
second dynasty, and with the exception of a
statue at Bulaq, the only materials for filling it
up are the Ptolemaic remains found by Mr.
Petrie. These point two ways. The monuments
in the chapel are dedicated to the deities of Amt,
the capital of the nineteenth, nome; the block
from the temple is concerned with a black bull,
Horus in the city of Bennu. And Bennu was the
name of the territory of the fourteenth nome.
E