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Vivian Tu

16 November 2017

RSOC 19

Dr. Pinault

Analyzing Artifacts from Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt has left behind many artifacts that allow us to discover their traditions and

lifestyle. The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum houses some of these artifacts, ranging from steles

to fragments. Throughout the museum, there were various amounts of artifacts depict different

parts of Ancient Egyptian tradition.

One of these steles is RC 1746, the Offering Stele of a Lady of the House, which is

exhibited in Afterlife Gallery A (See Figure 1). This artifact has two distinguishable registers

that have clear images with the exception of a few faded hieroglyphs. The stele is around the the

size of an A4 paper, so it is not huge. The top of the stele is round like an arch. There are a few

cracks in the artifact, but they do not distract from any of the images on the stele. Unlike some

other steles, this one does not have any color.

The top register consists of two sitting women that are sniffing lotus plants. This refers to

the belief that the scent of the lotus helped the deceased attain immortality since the scent pleases

the gods. The lotus is also used to symbolize rebirth. On the right hand side, above the woman,

there are hieroglyphs that can be made out as the Lady of the House, who is the one that this

offering stele is for. The woman on the left is identified through the hieroglyphs to her right,

which show that she is her daughter. In between the Lady of the House and her daughter, there

are offerings such as bread and khepesh. One of the notable elements of the top register is the

shen ring that lies between wedjat eyes. The wedjat eye is a symbol for Horus eye. In Egyptian
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mythology, Horus eye helped Osiris resurrect when he was killed by Seth. The two eyes,

according to Collier and Manley, represent to observe or to view (133). Thus, with the shen

ring representing eternity, the register demonstrates the Lady of the House looking forward to

eternity while sniffing a lotus.

The second register is fairly simple. The Lady of the House is once again seated, sniffing

a lotus. On the far left, there is a man offering a lotus. His identity is shown by the hieroglyphs,

which reads that he is her son whose name is Ramose. The woman next to the son is her

daughter, which can be read on the top left of her head. She is offering lotus and incense to the

Lady of the House. In between the two women is an offering table, which includes bread.

I like how simple the drawings of this artifact are. The hieroglyphs and drawings were

easy to read and distinguish. Something that I found interesting was the fact that the Lady of the

House and her daughter are not referred to by their name, but her son does. The name, as we

learned from the six components of the human self, gives an identity to the respected person.

While this was not emphasized in the stele, I thought that this showed the strict patriarchal

Egyptian society during the time since the offering stele is intended for the Lady of the House.

This is similar in many of the folktales we read because women were only referred by their title.

For example, in the Tale of the Two Brothers, the wife was only referred to as Batas wife. In

El-Shamys The Maghrabis Apprentice, Muhammads wife was only referred to as the girl. In

my opinion, the artist emphasized the lotus because all of the persons carved on this stele have a

lotus in hand. The lotus was also an important symbol to Ancient Egyptians because ... it was a

natural symbol of the sun and or creation (Wilkinson, 121). According to Ancient Egyptian

tradition, they believed that the world was created by Nut, and Nut brought the sun, which was

personified as Ra, to the world. Thus, the artist is highlighting how the lotus was a way for the
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deceased to obtain immortality as they travel down to the Duat in hopes to rise up with the sun

again.

Artifact RC 1606 gives another perspective to Ancient Egyptian steles. RC 1606 is the

Stele of a Temple Chantress, which is located in the Sekhmet and Akhenaten Gallery D (See

Figure 2). Compared to RC 1746, this colorful cedar-wood stele is slightly larger than RC 1746.

There are more hieroglyphs, as seen with the offering formula that is seen on the bottom half of

the stele. Similar to RC 1746, the stele is rounded on the top. The stele looks symmetrical in

regards to the placement of registers. There are two registers separated by a border, and the rest

is hieroglyphs. There are some faded and cracked parts in the stele, but the overall meaning can

still be conveyed. While it does not look restored, the drawings can be easily distinguished.

Temple chantresses were women who sang and performed music before the gods in the

temple, and on processions (Rosicrucian Museum Virtual Gallery). According to the description

of the stele in the museum, the temple chantress was a Chantress of Amun, who served to

pacify gods (Rosicrucian Museum). As such, the depictions on the stele represent the womans

role as a Chantress of Amun. The top register is adorned of a sun disk, with two uraei and wings

sticking out from it. This symbol can be seen in many other artifacts, and is used as a ...

protective symbol [and] a symbol of the daily procession of the sun (Wilkinson, 101). The

sun disk with the uraei by itself means Ra, while the wings symbolize protection. Thus, the

winged sun disk can be interpreted as a symbol of protection from Ra. In the stele, the winged

sun disk is hovering over Ras barque, which he uses to travel into the Duat to bring the deceased

with him into the sky. The boat, from right to left, carries the gods Ra, Horus, and Khepri. This

makes sense because Ra travels into the Duat every night, Horus brings the deceased to the boat,

and Khepri brings dawn. On the ends of the boat, there are loti, which in this case, symbolizes
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rebirth. Facing the gods is an offering, which show that the gods are given the offerings before

the deceased. At each end of the boat, there are kneeling figures who have their arms raised up in

adoration. This demonstrates respect and praise to Ra and his barque for letting the deceased exit

from the Duat. The border below the first register is adorned with bows, which symbolizes the

might and power of Egypt.

Below the border are two images the left image contains Ra and the other contains

Horus. In each image, there is a temple chantress that have her arms raised in praise. In between

the god and the chantress, there is a lotus pointing at the respected god and below the lotus is a

jar, that looks like it is in the shape of a heart. These images are correlated to the job of the

temple chantress, which is to pacify the gods. The scenes show the temple chantress praising the

god, and pleasing them with a lotus, so potentially, the deceased can travel with Ra on his

barque. Between the two images are three rows of hieroglyphs, with the two on the outside

starting with, An offering which the king gives.

Although some of the hieroglyphs are faded, it is clear that the bottom half of RC 1606 is

the offering formula typically found on steles. Like the hieroglyphs in the middle, the formula

starts off with, An offering which the king gives to and then it goes to a list of a thousands

offerings such as provisions, which can be seen on the third line down to the left.

In my opinion, the stele is very colorful. I think that the meaning behind this stele shows

what the deceased want to achieve in the afterlife and at the same time, show the job that a

temple chantress had. This also demonstrates heka. In a way, I think the stele could have been

used by anyone in hopes that the gods Ra and Horus will be generous enough to let them onto

the boat when they are deceased. I think that the artist was trying to emphasize the impact on

praising the gods. The gods in Egypt are apotropaic, so they can either hurt or help people. With
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enough praise and worship, the gods will not attempt to hurt the people in any way. I also think

that the author was focusing on the sun. The top register shows the barque that is possibly getting

ready to take off from the Duat and the second register shows the praising of Ra and Horus, who

are symbols of the sun. The sun is very important to Ancient Egyptian notion of the creation of

the world, so there is a possibility that the author is trying to showcase that here.

While these artifacts may not be the same as RC 250, it has similar attributes to the other

two that connects them together. RC 250 is a Canopic Jar Sarcophagus, which can be found in

the Religion and Kingship Gallery C (Figure 3). The sarcophagus is utilized as a jar to hold the

organs of the deceased and is placed with the body during burial. Usually, these canopic jars are

not inscribed with anything, but this one has a colorful inscription along with it. The jar is

rectangular in shape and is large. The height is approximately two feet. Even though this artifact

is old, the hieroglyphs are still easy to read and the images are clear. The only visible parts of the

jar are the front and sides, but they give a clear understanding to what the overall message of the

artifact.

The front of the jar has two important registers (Figure 4). The first register (Figure 5) is

in a shape of a door. The hinges of the door are in the shape of horizontal door bolts, which is the

hieroglyph for the letter s. The left side of the door says, For all of eternity, belonging to Osiris,

Wenennefer. The right side of the door says, For all of eternity, belonging to Osiris, the Lord

of Djedu. Wenennefer refers to a title of Osiris, which means the one who continues to be

perfect (Collier/Manley, 42). This title alludes to the power of Osiris as a representation of the

deceased pharaoh. Despite being the god of the underworld after Seth killed him, he still holds

great power over the land of Egypt, specifically in Djedu. In this register, the artist is praising
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Osiris. Above these two registers are three winged sun disks, which could represent that Ra is

protecting Osiris.

The second register is a scene between Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys (Figure 6). In this, Isis,

the woman on the left, is holding an ankh on one hand and is raising her other hand in a symbol

of praise. This could be interpreted as Isis giving life to the mummified Osiris. Osiris is holding a

flail and crook, which represents royalty. The woman on the right, Nephthys, is also holding her

arms up in praise. In Egyptian mythology, when Osiris was killed, cut into pieces, and had his

body parts spread out across Egypt by Seth, In company with her sister Nephthys, Isis sailed

through the marshes or flew as a kite in search of the scattered parts with the aid of Anubis,

the god of mummification (Silverman, 134). This register could be showcasing the aftermath of

that journey. After finding all of the body parts, Osiris was mummified by Anubis. Isis gave

energy to Osiris in order to be able to conceive Horus. After fighting for and winning the throne,

Horus resurrects Osiris with his wedjat eye and Osiris became the god of the underworld. In a

sense, Isis gave life to Osiris and both Isis and Nephthys praised his returning. In this register,

Osiris is also surrounded by two uraei; the one facing Isis wears the Pshent and the one facing

Nephthys wears the Atef crown, similar to the one that Osiris wears. This could demonstrate the

protection of Osiris because he was a king. A uraeus can be a ... protective but also potentially

dangerous image (151). The Pshent crown was used to represent the union of Egypt. The Atef

crown, since it is usually associated with Osiris, is used to represent him. Because of these

different notions, the uraei in this register can represent the protection of Osiris, as well as the

power of Osiris.

The sides of the canopic jar has alternating drawings of the Isis knot and the djed for the

first two registers (Figure 7). The Isis knot is a symbol for life and the djed is a symbol for
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stability. These symbols would typically be associated with each other, since it links to ... the

binary nature of life itself (Wilkinson, 201). These two symbols are important because the two

together represent the power of Isis and Osiris. The third register of the side of RC 250 has five

mummified bodies; three of the mummified bodies have a head shaped as a uraeus, while the

first two have the heads of a human. This could demonstrate the apotropaic function of the

uraeus, which is to either give or take life. The two human mummified bodies in the front show

that The mummified bodies also seem to be wearing sashes in the shape of sa which means

protection. As the deceased, they do not need to worry about their body being weakened, with

the djed giving stability, the Isis knot giving life, and the sa giving protection.

Osiris was a huge integral to this artifact. I enjoyed his mythology and his role as a god,

so I am glad that I got to analyze this artifact. To me, I found this pretty unique. Compared to the

other canopic jars that were on the left side of the artifact, this jar stood out to me. In my opinion,

the artist was ultimately praising the greatness of Osiris and how he is the god that determines

life and death. Osiris is the one who decides who gets to ride Ras barque in the Weighing of the

Heart. His choice determines whether the deceased stays in the Duat or not. By creating these

images on a canopic jar, this gives the deceased a better chance to gain protection from Osiris.

These three artifacts represent some notion of the afterlife. RC 1746 shows how one

could be reborn through the sniffing the lotus, RC 1606 demonstrate Horus and Ras roles in the

Duat, and RC 250 is dedicated to Osiris, who is the god of the underworld. While they have

these similarities, they have their differences. The first two artifacts were steles, which is

different from the purpose of a canopic jar. Steles are meant for the deceased to use to aid them

through the afterlife. RC 1746 shows the Lady of the House using the lotus flower, while RC

1606 gives an offering formula for the gods so that they will be appeased when the deceased go
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into the afterlife. Although these two artifacts are steles, there are some differences such as color

and the number of illustrations, which could demonstrate the difference between the socio-

economic statuses of the deceased. On the other hand. canopic jars are meant to safekeep the

deceaseds organs for the afterlife. Out of all of these three artifacts, I would have to say that RC

250 is the most aesthetically pleasing due to its 3D dimension.

Many motifs depicted in these artifacts are shown in many other artifacts. For example,

RC 1606 is similar to votive stele of Wedjarenes, illustrated in Wilkinson (Wilkinson, 100). The

top register has the winged sun disk, the middle register has the deceased giving praise to the

gods, and the bottom consists of hieroglyphs. RC 1746 has depictions of figures smelling the

lotus, which can be seen in other illustrations (e.g. Wilkinson, 120). The front second register of

RC 250 also shares a similar image to the one that was discussed about in class. These motifs can

be interpreted in many ways.

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Works Cited

Collier, Mark. Manley, Bill. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. University of California Press,

1998.

GODS AND RELIGION | Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose Houses the Largest

Collection of Egyptian Artifacts on Exhibit in Western North America,

www.egyptianmuseum.org/religiongallery.

RC 250. Canopic Jar Sarcophagus. Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

RC 1606. Stele of a Temple Chantress. Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

RC 1746. Offering Stele of a Lady of the House. Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

Silverman, David P. Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.

Wilkinson, Richard H. Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian

Painting and Sculpture. Thames and Hudson Inc, 1992.