DOI Artikel:
Blackman, Aylward M.: Sacramental ideas and usages in ancient Egypt
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12742#0049
[2] SAGRAMENTAL IDEAS AND USAGES IN ANCIENT EGYPT. 45
the king of Heliopolis. This king was rcgarded both as the son an cl also as the embo-
diment of tbe sun-god. As such, he himself had to undergo lustration every day al
dawn. Tbc lustral washing of the king-priest took place before he officiated in the
sim-temple, and as a resuit of it he was thought to be reborn like bis divine proto-
type It was performed in an adjunct of the temple and of the attached royal ré-
sidence called the House of the Morning (pr-dwît), so named because of the early
hour at which the lustration was performed, i. e. just before sun-rise^. Owing to
his close association with the sun-god, the king was supposed to be assistecl at this
lustration by Horus and Thôth, who, as we have seen, were held to be the sun-god's
bath attendants ^. Horus and Sëth were also supposed to act as lustrators of the king
in the House of the Morning H an iclea that must have arisen after Heliopolis had
become, as Professor Sethe maintains it did, the capital of a united Egypt in pre-
dynastic times, Horus and Sëth being the tutelary gocls of Lower and Upper Egypt
respectively. Àctually the king was sprinkled by two priestly officiants impersonating
cither pair of gods and probably wearing appropriate masksH
The water used for the cérémonial washing of the king, and doubtless also for the
sprinkling of the sun-god's cultus-image, was brought from a sacred pool attached to
the temple. The water of the pool was identified with that of Nun, the primeval océan
out of which the sun-god was born in the first instance ^\ While the lustrators poured
the holy water over the king, they recited formulée which asserted that it imbued him
with the Solar qualities of life and good fortune, and that by means of it he was re-
born and rejuvenated like the sun-god, or that the purification he was undergoing
was that of the gods Horus, Thôth, and Sëth themselves, and also that of Sepa, a
divinity likewise closely connected with the Heliopolitan sun-cult^.
The purification of the king was completed by fumigating him with incense and
by presenting him with balls of natron to chew. The king was not only purified by
the incense-smoke, but by means of it was brought into communion with the four
gods Horus, Thôth, Sëth, ancl Sepa and their kas, and also with his own ka. The
natron also, we learn from one of the formula? pronounced at its présentation, was
regarded as that of the four above-mentioned gods. Another formula asserts that it
bas been chewed and spat out by Horus and Sëth, and that when the king has chewed
(,) Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, pp. 86 foll.; Journal of Egyplian Archœology,
pp. 117, 153 Ml.
(2) Journal of Egyplian Archœology, vol. V, pp. 1&8, i53 foll.
(3) Op. cit., vol. V, p. 156 ; Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, p. 86.
(4) Locc. du.
m Journal of Egyplian Archœology, vol. V, p. 156.
(0) Op. ch., loc. cit., foll.; Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, p. 88.
(7) Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, pp. 87 foll.; Journal of Egyplian Archœology,
vol. V, p. 157.
the king of Heliopolis. This king was rcgarded both as the son an cl also as the embo-
diment of tbe sun-god. As such, he himself had to undergo lustration every day al
dawn. Tbc lustral washing of the king-priest took place before he officiated in the
sim-temple, and as a resuit of it he was thought to be reborn like bis divine proto-
type It was performed in an adjunct of the temple and of the attached royal ré-
sidence called the House of the Morning (pr-dwît), so named because of the early
hour at which the lustration was performed, i. e. just before sun-rise^. Owing to
his close association with the sun-god, the king was supposed to be assistecl at this
lustration by Horus and Thôth, who, as we have seen, were held to be the sun-god's
bath attendants ^. Horus and Sëth were also supposed to act as lustrators of the king
in the House of the Morning H an iclea that must have arisen after Heliopolis had
become, as Professor Sethe maintains it did, the capital of a united Egypt in pre-
dynastic times, Horus and Sëth being the tutelary gocls of Lower and Upper Egypt
respectively. Àctually the king was sprinkled by two priestly officiants impersonating
cither pair of gods and probably wearing appropriate masksH
The water used for the cérémonial washing of the king, and doubtless also for the
sprinkling of the sun-god's cultus-image, was brought from a sacred pool attached to
the temple. The water of the pool was identified with that of Nun, the primeval océan
out of which the sun-god was born in the first instance ^\ While the lustrators poured
the holy water over the king, they recited formulée which asserted that it imbued him
with the Solar qualities of life and good fortune, and that by means of it he was re-
born and rejuvenated like the sun-god, or that the purification he was undergoing
was that of the gods Horus, Thôth, and Sëth themselves, and also that of Sepa, a
divinity likewise closely connected with the Heliopolitan sun-cult^.
The purification of the king was completed by fumigating him with incense and
by presenting him with balls of natron to chew. The king was not only purified by
the incense-smoke, but by means of it was brought into communion with the four
gods Horus, Thôth, Sëth, ancl Sepa and their kas, and also with his own ka. The
natron also, we learn from one of the formula? pronounced at its présentation, was
regarded as that of the four above-mentioned gods. Another formula asserts that it
bas been chewed and spat out by Horus and Sëth, and that when the king has chewed
(,) Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, pp. 86 foll.; Journal of Egyplian Archœology,
pp. 117, 153 Ml.
(2) Journal of Egyplian Archœology, vol. V, pp. 1&8, i53 foll.
(3) Op. cit., vol. V, p. 156 ; Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, p. 86.
(4) Locc. du.
m Journal of Egyplian Archœology, vol. V, p. 156.
(0) Op. ch., loc. cit., foll.; Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, p. 88.
(7) Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archœology, vol. XL, pp. 87 foll.; Journal of Egyplian Archœology,
vol. V, p. 157.