Popielska-Grzybowska, Joanna [Editor]; Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists <2, 2001, Warszawa> [Editor]: Proceedings of the Second Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists: Egypt 2001: perspectives of research, Warsaw 5 - 7 March 2001 (Warsaw, 2003)

Andrds Gulyas

a statue is indicated in this way. On the other hand, if
this should be the primary meaning of the n, then we
should have the same indication on other statues as
well.
The groups of statues offer a clear evidence to con-
sider the god form Ptah-of-Ramesses as a separate
being clearly distinguished from Ptah and Ramesses
as a god and to reject the opinion according to which
the n indicates the owner or the producer.
In a group of four gods in Wadi es Sebua, al-
though it is clear' that all the statues of the sanctuary
belong to the same ruler, Ramesses II, we have
a composite name just in the case of one of them.
Ptah-Tatonen and Ptah-of-Ramesses are taken to be
two separate gods, meaning the n Rr-msj-sw ex-
presses a theological difference.
Pth-n-(Rr-msj-sw mrj-Jmn) m prJmn
Pth tl-tnn kl swtj spd rbwy
(.Rr-msj-sw mrj-Jmn) m pr Jmn
Hwt- Hr nbt nht rst
Ptah-of-Ramesses II in the House of Arnun
Ptah-Tatonen with tall plumes, with pointed horns
Ramesses II in the house of Amun
Hathor, the Lady of the Southern sycomore10
In a group of four gods in Gerf Hussein, the dei-
fied Ramesses had a separate statue between god
forms composed with the n Rr-msj-sw addition. This
means that these composite gods cannot be simply
identified with the deified Ramesses:
Pth-n-(Rr-msj-sw mrj-Jmn) m pr Pth
nb hcw (Rc-msj-sw mrj-Jmn) m pr Pth
Pth-tl-tnn-n-(Rr-msj-sw mrj-Jmn) m pr Pth
Hwt- Hr n...
Ptah-of-Ramesses II in the House of Ptah
The Lord of the crowns, Ramesses II in the house of
Ptah
Ptah-Tatonen-of-Ramesses II in the house of Ptah
Hathor of...* 11
A similar group of gods can be found in Abu
Simbel. Here we have a triad of gods with the fol-
lowing names:

l0Ki?/II,p. 734.
11 Ibidem, p. 725.

Jmn-n- Wsr-m>ct-Rr stp. n-Rc
Rc-msj.sw
( Wsr-mSct-Rc stp.n-Rr) dj cnh
Amun of Ramesses II
Ramesses
Ramesses II given fife12
In this interesting group of gods we can see two
forms of the deified Ramesses II sitting one beside
the other.
As a conclusion of this short survey we can ob-
serve that the addition n + Name of the ruler has
a theological importance. These composite gods ap-
pear in the reign of Ramesses II but we find them
with later rulers of the Ramesside Period as well. They
occur from the Delta to the Nubian temples and they
can be composed with various deities.
It is important to stress the fact that although this
kind of god expresses a more or less strong unity
between the ruler and the god in question, it is also
clear that this kind of syncretism is not the same as
for example in the case of Amun-Re or Re-Harachti.
With these gods, the unity is more explicit, while the
Ramesside rulers seem to have just wanted to ex-
press an essential and very strong relationship. The
religious meaning of these gods can be best described
by the inscriptions of the Osiris-columns of Gerf-
Hussein. These inscriptions render probably the
names of the statues:
(.Rc-msj-sw mrj-Jmn) hc.(w) m ntrw
Ramesses appeared as/in the gods13
The translation is not necessary simply «between»
but may be «as» or «in» the gods, as well. The trans-
lation seems to be ambiguous not just because of our
lack of knowledge, it is necessarily so because of the
theological meaning the Egyptians wanted to express.
These ambiguities of meaning make it possible in the-
ology or philosophy to express conceptual nuances
and to avoid clear cut distinctions.
There are several theories concerning the role and
meaning of these gods. Some of them can be defi-
nitely excluded from acceptable solutions. Others are
hypothetical, meaning we do not have evidence to
12 Ibidem, p. 763.
13 Ibidem, p. 719.

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