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The Oldest Known Scene of the Purification of the King

Renata Landgrfov
When I was a third year student of Egyptology and was searching for a theme for my masters thesis, Professor Verner suggested me to analyze the large corpus of faience inlays and fragments of Egyptian Blue discovered during the excavations of the funerary complexes of King Raneferef and Queen Khentkaus II of the 5th Dynasty. Back then, I did not realize how vast and complex the problem was and how grateful I should have felt for having been awarded and I use this word intentionally such a task. Now, after almost six years of hard work, the results are finally coming to publication and I am very happy for this opportunity to express my immense gratitude to Professor Verner for having enabled me to enter the thrills and mysteries of Old Kingdom archaeology at such an early stage of my Egyptological career. I hope he will find this small study, which of course draws from the faience inlays, enjoyable, and I wish him many happy and productive years in the midst of our Prague Egyptological community. Generally, the scene of royal purification is characterized by several features. It is centered on the figure of the king, wearing only a wig on his head. On each side of the king there is a god, who faces the king and holds a Hs-vase over his head so that either a stream of water, anx-signs, or alternating anx- and wAs-signs flow from the vase over the head of the king. Royal purification was depicted as a ritual accompanying the coronation of the king. In his article from the year 1950, A. Gardiner1 listed the 36 then known royal purification scenes. The most ancient of the scenes included in this list comes from the reign of Hatshepsut. The deities associated with this scene in the preserved examples include almost exclusively either Horus (facing the king) and Seth (behind the king), or Horus (facing the king) and Thoth (behind the king).2 According to the quantitative analysis of the occurrences of either Seth or Thoth, Gardiner concluded that Thoth had been the primary deity associated with purification, and that after some time he could have been replaced by Seth. A similar conclusion has recently been reached by Aaron Smith.3 These conclusions appear valid in view of the evidence available to the authors. However, there exists a much more ancient example of the scene of royal purification. Among the fragments of faience inlays discovered between the years 1982 and 1997 in the funerary temple of King Raneferef,4 two small fragments were found (F1185 and F1187) that were identified as fragments from the royal purification scene. The fragments (cf. Fig. 1) show a stream of small anx sings 162

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falling down around a pair of hands, oriented the same way. A careful examination shows that the only possible reconstruction is that in which these fragments show the hands of the king (of whom also a part of the ceremonial tail is visible), standing between two gods who hold Hs-vessels and pour streams of anx sings, i.e. life, over him. Considering the fact that the oldest example that we hitherto have of this scene comes from the reign of Hatshepsut, we have here the stunning evidence of the scene of royal purification from the Old Kingdom, about 1000 years before the reign of this queen. In question of the discussion pertaining to this scene, it is interesting to examine which gods were involved in this scene, since it is most likely that in this Old Kingdom scene, it was the original, and not the substitute, deities that were represented. The two fragments themselves do not allow for reconstruction of the deities, however, the evidence of the other about 1000 fragments of faience inlays is important here, as well as that of other Old Kingdom royal reliefs. Firstly, the faience inlays of Raneferef include many representations of Horus and Seth (at least 9 and 19 cases respectively), but none of Thoth. Therefore, we may presume that also the scene of royal purification also included Seth, and not a totally unique Thoth. Secondly, the arguments of Gardiner5 and Smith,6 that the royal purification scene was part of the coronation ritual,7 appear persuasive, and since in all (admittedly New Kingdom) scenes, where both coronation and purification are depicted side by side, the same gods crown and purify the king, we may consider the preserved coronation scenes for our present argument. Again, no such complete scene has been found within the inlays. Fragment F0020 (Fig. 2) has preserved only the head of the king and part of an arm of a figure placing the crown on the head of the king. This fragment, together with a second one depicting the feet of two of the figures involved (F0024), can be reconstructed into the coronation scene, where two gods put the crown onto the head of the king (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, no traces of the identity of the gods involved can be found on the fragments, and no fragments with any deities have been found in sufficient vicinity so as to guarantee their association with the coronation scene. The argument of the absence of Thoth from the corpus of the inlays is, however, valid here. Moreover, in the only known Old Kingdom coronation scene, preserved in the funerary temple of King Unas,8 the figure of Seth is clearly present, as his ears and title nb sw, Lord of sw, indicate. Luckily, the block numbered Doc. 47 preserves the ears and hand of Seth, which rests on the crown, and thus clearly shows that in this scene, it was Seth who partook at the coronation of the King. And, since the purification scene may be associated with coronation and includes the same deities, we may once again opt for Seth rather than Thoth as Horuss partner in the purification of the king. In view of this (admittedly indirect, but on the whole rather persuasive) evi163

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dence, it is very likely that the purification fragments can be reconstructed into the purification scene, where Horus and Seth pour anx signs over the king (Fig. 4). It would thus also appear that Seth, and not Thoth was the original deity associated alongside Horus with the royal purification scene. Considering royal ideology in the Old Kingdom, this appears very likely. Horus and Seth were deities closely associated with Egyptian kingship. In the Pyramid texts, Horus and Seth assist the king in his journey to the afterlife. Horus and Seth also represent Upper and Lower Egypt, as does the Double Crown that the king assumes at his coronation, and thus it appears likely that the process be carried out by deities representing the two parts of the country. In the reliefs of the royal funerary temples of the Old Kingdom, Seth again functions alongside Horus as one of the deities associated with the two parts of the country. In the relief decoration of the funerary temple of Djedkare-Isesi, Seth appears as a deity assisting the embrace and giving life to the king.9 In the funerary temple of King Pepy II., Seth appears among the deities bringing offerings to the king.10 Moreover, in the Sun Temple of King Niuserre, Horus and Seth reach the king the arrow that he sends to the four directions as a symbol of his divine rule.11 Thoth, on the other hand, appears only in one of the royal funerary (or sun) temples of the Old Kingdom, namely in large and rather general processions of deities in the temple of Sahure.12 Thus, it would appear that13 in royal relief decoration as well as in the purification scene in general, Seth is perceived as the counterpart to Horus, acting together with him as a guardian of the Egyptian king, who stand by him from the day of his ascent to the throne on and together give the King their blessings in the course of royal festivals.14 This function of the two deities is also reflected in the scene, in which Horus and Seth tie together the smA-tA.wj symbol and thus, as representatives of Upper and Lower Egypt respectively, unite the Two Lands. This throughout positive aspect of Seth (in association with Horus) in the representations in temple reliefs is not limited to the Old Kingdom, Seth can throughout Egyptian history be found in the scenes of the Unification of the two lands and Coronation.15 The question we thus must ask is not why Seth deputizes for Thoth in three out of 25 New Kingdom scenes, but why Thoth to such a great extent replaced the original Seth. A glimpse into the Pyramid Texts suggests yet another solution, though. In PT Spell 35, purification is clearly connected with four deities, Horus, Seth, Thoth, and Dwn-anwy: Your purification is the purification of Horus, your purification is the purification of Seth, your purification is the purification of Thoth, your purification is the purification of dwn-anwy.16 Thus the purification ritual is indeed connected with the four cardinal points, and through this connection Thoth appears to come in play for the scene as a suitable substitute for Seth. Thus, I believe Seth to have been the original deity connected together with Horus 164

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to the scenes and Rituals of royal purification and coronation. Seth served this role due to his being one of the two deities most tightly connected with Egyptian kingship. At a later stage, Seth could be replaced by Thoth, and this was made possible by Thoth being one of the gods of the cardinal points, since also the idea of the four cardinal points was connected with the ritual of coronation. The search for the reason why Seth seems to have been replaced in a wide majority of cases remains outside the scope of this small tribute to Professor Miroslav Verner.

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/Landgrfov_poznmky/
A. H. Gardiner. The baptism of Pharaoh, JEA 36 (1950), pp. 312. The exceptions include the purification of Hatshepsut from her temple at Der el-Bahri, where Amon and Re-Harakhti are shown, and the purification of Amenhotep III., enacted by Montu and Atum; as well as two scenes, where the king is purified by a single deity, Horus (Seti I) and Atum (Ramesses III); for details see Gardiner, JEA 36 (1950), pp. 45. 3 A. Smith, Kingship, Water and Ritual: The Ablution Rite in the Coronation Ritual of the Pharaoh, in A. Amenta, M. M. Luiselli, M. N. Sordi, LAcqua nellantico Egitto: vita, rigenerazione, incantesimo, medicamento, (Roma 2005), pp. 329336. 4 R. Landgrfov, Faience Inlays and Tablets of Egyptian Blue in M. Verner et al., The Funerary Complex of Neferre at Abusir, Vol. I. [Abusir IX], (Prague 2005), pp. 161 183; R. Landgrfov, Faience Fragments from the Funerary Temple of King Neferre: Neferres Substitute Relief Programme [Abusir XIV], (Prague 2005). 5 A. Gardiner, JEA 36 (1950). 6 A. Smith, Kingship, Water, and Ritual. 7 This is of course not to say that the idea of royal purification was exclusively connected to coronation, but its depiction was limited to this context, cf. S. Schott, Die Reinigung Pharaos in einem memphitischen Tempel (Berlin P 13242), (Gttingen 1957), pp. 67ff. 8 A. Labrousse, J.-P. Lauer, J. Leclant, Le Temple haut du complexe funraire du roi Ounas, (Cairo 1977), p. 96 fig. 73. 9 D. Stockfisch, Untersuchungen zum Totenkult des gyptischen Knigs im Alten Reich: Die Dekoration der kniglichen Totenkultanlagen, Vol. II. [Antiquitates: Archologische Forschungsergebnisse], (Hamburg 2003) doc. 5.8.1. 10 G. Jquier, Le monument funraire de Pepi II, Vol. II, Le temple, (Cairo 1938), pl. 46. 11 F. W. von Bissing, Das Re-Heiligtum des Knigs Ne-woser-re, Vol. II, (Leipzig 1907), pl. 18/9. 12 L. Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Sahure, (Leipzig 1913), pls. 20, 21 and 25. 13 Contrary to Smith, Ablution Ritual. 14 H. Bonnet, Reallexikon der gyptischen Religionsgeschichte, (Berlin 1952), p. 706. 15 H. Kees, Horus und Seth als Gtterpaar, (Leipzig 1923), pp. 826. 16 R. O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, (Oxford 1969), p. 7.
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LANDGRFOV Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

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(after: Junker, Gza XI, Fig. 7) Fig 3 The granite sarcophagus of the Vizier Minunefer in Leiden (Inv. No. AM 106) (after: Leemans, Mon. Eg. III, Pl. I) Fig. 4 The granite coffer of Akhtihotep (after: Ziegler et al., Akhethetep, 165f., Figs. 2225) Fig 5 Typical limestone sarcophagi of the Fourth Dynasty (top) and the limestone sarcophagus of Seneb (Leipzig Inv. No. 3695) (below) (after: Junker, Gza I, Fig. 5 and idem, Gza V, Fig. 30) Fig. 6 The sarcophagus of Seneb within a hypothetical granite sarcophagus showing how the limestone lid was set in place Pl. 1 The lower part of the assembled inner sarcophagus from the tomb of Sekhemka (1929) (Photo No. 5169 Archive of the Institute of Egyptology, University Vienna) Pl. 2A, B The limestone sarcophagus of Seneb (Leipzig Inv. No. 3695) shortly after restoration showing its fragmentary and smashed state ( Courtesy Museum Leipzig) /Kanawati_popisky/ Fig. 1 False door of Qar of Saqqara Fig. 2 The unfinished condition of Qars false door: a) a view of the false door jambs, b) Qars figures at the bottom of the right jamb Fig. 3 The architrave of Qar of Edfu Fig. 4 The slab stela of Qar of Edfu /Krej_popisky/ Fig. 1 Fig. 1 Pl. 1 Pl. 2 /Landgrfov_popisky/ Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Fragments F1185 and F1187 (excavation no. 892/I/84). Fragment F0020 (excavation no. 100/I/82). Reconstruction of the coronation scene (with fragments F0020 and F0024 Reconstruction of the purification scene (with fragments F1185 and F1187). /Mynov, Coppens_popisky/
Fig. 1 /Myliwiec_popisky/ Fig. 1 Saqqara, Polish-Egyptian excavations west of the Netjerykhet pyramid. Late Old Kingdom shafts in square 2104. Drawing by Beata Baszczuk Fig. 2 Burial nr. 393 in the burial chamber connected with shaft nr. 41. View from the north, i.e. from the shaft. Photo by Maciej Jawornicki Fig. 3 Shaft 41 and burial 393: 1) Cross-section A-A (N-S) through the burial chamber with view of its east wall. 2) Plan of the shaft and burial chamber. 3) Cross-section CC (E-W) through the shaft with view of the burial chamber. 4) Cross-section D-D (E-

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