Saturday, February 25, 2012
High Priests of Ptah
wr xrp Hmwt - Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, i.e. High Priest of Ptahsm - Sem Priest (of Ptah)
Old KingdomHPM Ptah-Du-Auu, High Priest of the Ka of Ptah and Director of the Craftsmen of the Temple of Ptah of the White Wall, Dyn 4 HPM Ptashepses, Dynasty 4 and 5. Ptahshepses was raised at the court of Pharaoh Menkaure. He married Princess Khamaat, the daughter of king Shepseskaf. He served seven kings: Menkaure, Shepseskaf, Userkaf, Sahure, Neferirkare, Raneferef, and Neuserre. Reliefs from the tomb of Ptahshepses can be found in the Museum of Liverpool:http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.com/record.aspx?id=3860&lan=EHPM Ranofer, Dynasty 5. Reigns of Shepseskaf to Userkaf.The egyptian Museum has a standing statue of Ranefer as a youth. See global egyptian museum.
Two statues of Ranefer, See Egyptologia site for larger image.Kanefer. Dynasty 5, reign of Sahure. Buried in Saqqara?Items from Kanefer's tomb are known from musea. Two offering tables exist at the British Museum and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek of Copenhagen respectively. A statue group of KAnefer, his wife Tjentety and thier son Khuwyptah is in the Kimbell Art Museum of Strong Worth (Texas)
Kanefer with his wife Tjen-tety and his son KhuwyptahSee Kimbell Museum for more detailKhuwyptah Dynasty 5, reign of Neferirkare Kakai. Buried in Saqqara.Son of the previous High Priest Kanefer. Scenes in Khouiptah's tomb show his father Kanefer as well.Ptahshepses II. Dynassty 5, reign of Unas. Buried in Saqqara.His tomb was found in Saqqarah by Mariette, then excavated by de Morgan in the late 1800s. Ptahshepses' tomb lies a little in the north of the mastaba of Ptahshepses I, who served during the reign of Shepseskaf.Liverpool Museeum has part of the tomb of Ptahshepses in tis collection. See Global Egyptian MuseumHPM Sabu also called Ibebi. Served under Unis and Teti (5th and 6th dynasty) HPM Sabu also called Thety. Time of Teti, possibly to Pepi I (dynasty 6). Sabu-Thety was the successor of Sabu-Ibebi as High Priest of Ptah and may have been his son. An inscription on a false door mentions that Sabu-Thety was the first single High Priest of Ptah. Before this time there had apparently always been two High Priests. The unification into one high priesthood may have taken place under Pepi I. HPM Sabu also called “the black”. Another High Priest of Ptah of roughly the same time period HPM Impy Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, etc., son of Ankhu, probably 1st Int. Period (Louvre)
Middle KingdomPtahemheb 11th Dynasty.Dynasty 12 HPM Sehetepebre-ankh ,Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, temp. Senusret I (Statue in Brooklyn Museum) HPM Senewosret-Ankh, Buried at Lisht near the pyramid of Senusret I.HPM Hakore-ankh at Memphis. under Amenenhet II Nebkaure-ankh temp. Senusret IIIOuahet temp. Senusret IIIHPM Nefertem, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, Dyn. 12, (Statue in Newark Museum) HPM Sehetepebre-ankhnedjem, time of Senusret III to Amenemhat III.HPM Nebipu, son of HPM Sehetepebre-[ankhnedjem-]nekhen, all Greatest of the directors of craftsmen late Dyn. 12, reign of Amenemhat III. (Louvre)(...)hotepib(rê?) Sheri Time of Amenemhat IIIImpy I. Time of Amenemhat III - Amenemhat IV13th DynastySergem Time of Iby IHPM Senbuy, Known from Stela, E. SS. 37 in the Fitzwilliam Museum. The stela shown Senbuy with his wife Nubemheb, and was dedicated by a son Re-Seth. (Bourriau, J., Three Monuments from Memphis in the Fitzwilliam Museum, JEA 68 (1982), 51-59)Impy II ?Ptahemhat 15th dynasty
New KingdomDynasty 18-19-20 Pahemred Time of Amenhotep I Possibly buried in Saqqara ?Sennefer Time of Amenhotep II Possibly buried in Saqqara ?Sem-Priest-of-Ptah Amenhotep: King’s son, Executive (Title borne by the Crown Prince), Sem-priest of Ptah at Memphis. This son may have been the original heir of Amenhotep II. Mentioned in a papyrus at the British Museum. HPM Ptahmose: Chancellor, High Priest of Ptah at Memphis. Also written as Ptahmes. He was a brother of Meryptah, the prophet and treasurer of the temple of Nebmaatre. They were the sons of the Mayor and Vizier Djehutymes (Tuthmosis) and his wife Tawy. Time of Tuthmosis IV – Amenhotep III? This may be the High Priest from a statue in the Cairo Museum: Ptahmosi , Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, etc., with cartouches of Tuthmosis IV, in Cairo Mus. CG 584 (http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s15.html)Penbenebes Time of Amenhotep III Possibly buried in Saqqara ?Wermer Time of Amenhotep III Possibly buried in Saqqara ?HPM Ptahmose: Son of Menkheperre. Reign of Amenhotep III. There are statues of a butler of Ptahmose known: Ankh-ptah, Servant of the greatest of the directors of craftsmen Ptahmosi , with text mentioning the goddesses Kadesh and Asyt (Astarte), of Syria, and temple of Ptah (http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s15.html)Ankh-ptah , Butler of the greatest of the directors of craftsmen Ptahmosi , Head of singers of the temple of Ptah, , in Budapest, Szépmvészeti Múzeum, 51.2164. (http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s16.html)SPP/HPM Tuthmose : Son of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye; Eldest King's Son, High Priest of Ptah at Memphis, Sem-Priest of Ptah at Memphis, Overseer of the Prophets of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Prince Tuthmosis depicted on a bier with a ba bird on his chest.The inscription mentions "the King's Son, Sem Priest, Tuthmose".The prince seems to have died during the third decade of the reign of Amenhotep III.HPM Ptahemhat called Ty: Time of Tutankhamen and/or Aye. A block of his Saqqara tomb show members of Egyptian government including Horemheb. Stela BM 972 which shows the High Priest of Ptah Ptahemhat Ty receiving offerings from his son Hay, a functionary of the temple of Bastet, was found in the cat necropolis of Saqqara. This may mean that his tomb is located in that general area.Zivie, A., La localisation de la tombe du grand-prêtre de Ptah Ptahemhat-Ty, RdE 35 (1984), 200-203.
Funerary cone of Ty (Ptahemhat), from Wikimedia Commons.HPM Meryptah: Late 18th dynasty Possibly from the time of Ay and Horemheb. Buried in Saqqara.Object related to this high priest include: a relief block from the Badisches Landesmuseum, a naophorous statue Louvre A.60, offering table Berlin 2273, and canopic jars Louvre N 2987-9. (For more detail see: Gamer-Wallert, I., Das Grab des Hohenpriesters des Ptah, mrj-ptH, in Saqqara, in: Die Welt des Orients, 99-129.)Amenhotep First Prophet of Ptah (maybe at Thebes?), Wife Meryt, songstress of Amun, Daughter Takhat, songstress of Amun Dyn 18-19. From Thebes. (http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s13.html)Djeserka, first prophet of Ptah-Sokaris, time of Seti I mentioned in TT277 Sokaremsaf Time of Sety I Possibly buried in Saqqqara?Netjeruihotep Time of Sety I Possibly buried in Saqqqara?HPM Iry-Iry: Time of Ramses II. Mentioned by K.A. Kitchen.HPM Huy: reign of Ramesses II. Possibly from year 2. Shown in year 16 officiating over the burial of an Apis bull with Khaemwaset and Ramses II. HPM Pahemnetjer: The sarcophagus of Pahemnetjer is in the British Museum even though the location of his tomb is not known. It’s presumed to be in Saqqara. Pahemnetjer probably followed Huy as High Priest of Ptah. Pahemnetjer was the son of a dignitary named Mahu - according to a block from Florence. Pahemnetjer was married to a lady named Huneroy, and he was the father of both Didia and Parahotep the younger. Ca year 20 of Ramses II From Statue: Pahemneter , Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, etc., in Cairo Mus. CG 1087. (http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s17.html)Mentioned on a statue of his son - the Vizier (Pa)Rahotep: Rahotep (i.e. Parahotep), Governor of the Town and Vizier, etc., son of Pahemneter , Greatest of the directors of craftsmen of Ptah, Brit. Mus. EA 712 (http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s14.html)Statue mentioned in: Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology; v.14 (1891-92)HPM Didia: Elder son of Pahemnetjer. Brother of the Vizier Parahotep the younger. Ca yr 35 of reign of Ramesses II SPP/HPM Khaemwaset: King’s Son of his Body, Executive at the Head of the Two Lands. Son of Ramses and Isetnofret. Crown Prince from year 50 to 55. One of the best known sons of Ramses. Known as one of the first archeologists. He was famous in ancient Egypt, and later featured as the hero Setne-Khaemwese in a cycle of stories written in the Late/Ptolemaic times. Khaemwaset became Sem Priest of Ptah in ca year 16 and High Priest of Ptah in year 45.
Head of a statue thought to be Khaemwaset. From Berlin.SPP Ramesses: Son of Prince Khaemwaset, brother of Hori HPM Parahotep(II), son of Pahemnetjer. After serving as Vizier, Parahotep also became High Priest of Ptah and High Priest of Re in ca year 55 of Ramses II. Rahotep (i.e. Parahotep), Governor of the Town and Vizier, etc., son of Pahemneter, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen of Ptah, now in Brit. Mus. EA 712. http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s14.htmlHPM Neferronpet. In year 60 of the reign of Ramses. Likely the same Neferronpet who was made Southern Vizier in year 50. A pyramidion is featured on this global egyptian museum page.HPM Hori: Son of Prince Khaemwaset. Became HPM in year 65/66 of the reign of Ramses. He continued to serve under his uncle Merneptah. Statue inscribed for: Hori, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, etc., son of Khaemweset, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, Statue in Brit. Mus. EA 845. http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s15.htmlIyri Time of Sety II Possibly buried in Saqqqara?Ptahemhat Time of Ramesses III SPP (Ramesses-)Khaemwaset: son of Ramesses III and Queen Iset.Khaemwaset was buried in the Queens Valley (QV44).HPM Khaemwaset, also Governor of Town and Vizier, time of Ramses IX (statue) Khaemwese Governor of the Town and Vizier, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen of Ptah, etc., temp. Ramesses IX-X, in Aix-en-Provence, Musée Granet, 849-1-4-S. http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/s13.htmlNéferrenpet Time of Ramsesses IX
Dynasty 21Many of these names come from genealogy stela now in the Louvre and in Berlin.HPM Ptahemakhet.HPM Ashakhet I. c. 1040-1025 Time of Amenemnisu and maybe in the initial decade of Psusennes I's reign.Known only from Berlin 23673. Ashaket is associated with King Amenemnisu. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed]HPM Pipi A. ca. 1025-1005Time of Psusennes I.Son of Ashaket A. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed]HPM Harsiese ca. 1005-995 Time of Psusennes ISon of Pipi A [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed]HPM Neterkheperre Meryptah called Pipi II ca. 995-975 According to Kitchen: the high priest Pipi B is attested under Siamun on a temple building at Memphis, where the well-sculptured gateways included a lintel of the high priest 'Neterkheperre Meryptah who is called Piupiu'. Probably served, Psusennes I, Amenemope, Osochor and during the first couple of years of Siamun. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed]HPM Ashaket II. ca. 975-960. Son of HPM Pipi II. Father of HPM Ankhefensekhmet.Son of the High Priest Pipi B. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg. 111-116 ]HPM Ankhefensekhmet. ca. 960-940. Dated to the time of Siamen. Son of Ashaket. Married to the lady Tapeshenese, First Chief of the Harem of Ptah and Prophetess of Mut (this title was held by all wives of the High Priests of Ptah). [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg. 111-116 ]HPM Shedsu-nefertum. ca. 940-920. His wife Tanetsepeh was the daughter of Pasebakhaienniut. End of Dynasty 21, beginning of dynasty 22. Shedsunefertem was the son of the High Priest Ankhefensekhmet. A statue from Cairo (cat. 741) depicts Shedsunefertum and his mother Tapeshenese. She is given the titles First Chief of the Harem of Ptah and Prophetess of Mut. Also mentioned on the statue are two wives for Shedsunefertum, Mehtenweskhet (daughter of Nimlot A and Tentsepeh A, and hence a sister of Shoshenq I)) and Tentsepeh B (daughter of Psusennes I). [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg. 111-116 ]
Dynasty 22 HPM Shoshenq C: ca 920-895 Time of Osorkon I?Kitchen has a HPM Shoshenk as the son of Shedsunefertum. Father of Osorkon A [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed]
Chapel of Shoshenq, from Memphis. Now in the yard of the Cairo Museum.Image from Wikimedia Commons. Click on picture to see larger image.Osorkon A ca. 895 –870 Time of Osorkon I, Takeloth I and Osorkon II?Son of Shoshenq C. Last High Priest from this powerful family. Osorkon’s son Takelot A becomes Sem Priest, but the High Priest position went to Shoshenq D, who was a son of the ruling king Osorkon II. A grandson of Osorkon A, by the name of Osorkon is mentioned on a stela from the Louvre. This grandson is a God’s Father. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed]Shoshenq D ca. 870-851 Time of Osorkon IIShoshenq D is named on a statue as: “Great Chief Prince of His Majesty, High Priest and Sem Priest of Ptah, Great King’s Son of the Lord of the Two lands Usimare Stepenamun, Son of Re, Lord of Epiphanies Osorkon (II) Meryamun Si-Bart, his mother being Karomama” Shoshenq D is known from his burial and from an Apis-burial in year 23 of Ososrkon II. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg. 100-103 ] [Dodson, Hilton, pg 222] Nagy, I., Statue naophore du prince héritier Chéchonq, Grand Prêtre de Ptah, Bulletin de Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts, Budapest 82 (1995), 11-19.HPM Merenptah, c. 851-830 Time of Takeloth IIThe relation of this High priest to the other pontiffs is not known. He is named on a block with cartouches of Takeloth II [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg193]HPM Takelot B ca. 830-810 Time of Takeloth II and Shoshenq IIISon of Shoshenq D and known from his burial in Memphis. Takelot married his aunt Tjesbastperu (daughter of Osorkon II). Their children include the future High Priest Pediese and his wife Tairy. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg. 100-103 ] [Dodson, Hilton, pg 212-213]HPM Pedieset: c. 810-770 Son of HPM Takelot and Princess Tjesbastperu. Great grandson of Osorkon II. Served as High Priest after his father Takelot died. Passed on the office to his son Peftjauawybast in ca year 28 of Shoshenq III. Came back in office after his son died and served at least until year 2 of Pimay. Pedieset was married to his (half-)sister Tairy. Another interpretation may be that his son Peftjauawybast (son of Tairy) seems to have served alongside his father for some time. His son Takelot D was a Sem priest.[Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg.100-103] A third son of Pediese was the later Sem priest of Ptah and High Priest of Ptah Harsiese. Harsiese served as Sempriest during the later years of Pediese’s tenure as High Priest. [Dodson, Hilton, pg 220]HPM Peftjauawybast: ca. 790-780 Time of Shoshenq IIISon of Pedieset and the lady Tairy. Brother of Takelot (D) and Harsiese. A stela dated to year 28 of Shoshenq III commemorating the burial of an Apis bull shows Pef-tjau-awy-Bast as high priest, while his father Pediese is named Chief of the Ma. From other monuments it appears that Pediese would remain High Priest until at least year 2 of Pimay. This suggests that Pimay installed his son Pef-tjau-awy-Bast as high priest for a time. Pef-tjau-awy-Bast was later replaced by Pediese’s son Harsiese. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed, pg. 192-194 ]SPP Takelot (D): Son of Pedieset by a second wife. Serves as sem priest during the office of his brother Peftjauawybast. SPP/HPM Harsiese. ca. 780-760 Time of Pimay.Son of Pedieset by a third wife named Her-bast. Served first as Sem Priest and later as High Priest. Served as High Priest at the burial of the Apis bull in the second year of Pimay’s reign. Buried in Memphis. [Dodson, Hilton, pg 218]Dynasty 25 HPM Pedekhons?, Greatest of the craftsmen, son of Harsiesi, Prophet, and Takhybiat, probably Dyn. 25, (statue in Louvre) HPM Ankhefensekhmet (B), ca. 760-740 Time of Shoshenq IVSon of Harsiese. Known from Cairo statue 1212. [Kitchen, TIP, 1996 ed] Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, Dyn. 25 (statue in New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) Dynasty 26 HPM Pedepep, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, Prophet of Ptah and Bubastis, mistress of Ankhtaui , temp. Psammetikhos I, (statue in Aberdeen, Anthropological Museum) HPM Pefteuemauibaste, Greatest of the directors of craftsmen, Late Period, (Statue in Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum)
Ptolemaic Period
The high priests of Ptah ('chief of directors of craft') of the Ptolemaic Period are known from a number of monuments. Inscriptions, mainly on stelae, make it possible to reconstruct the history of the office over three hundred years. They formed a strong ruling family, occupying many influential priestly positions in Memphis and elsewhere. Their wives also hold important priestly positions, most often musicians. In addition the family had a close relation to the ruling dynasty, the Ptolemies. Some of the Ptolemies were crowned by the high priest of Ptah at Memphis, and the high priests served as scribes in the cult of Arsinoe, which was an important dynastic cult. There are even family relations to the king's house. Psenptais II was married to Berenice who was the daughter of Ptolemy VIII. The office of the high priest of Ptah is last attested in the year 23 BC; it seems not to have been continued under Roman rule. (From digitalegypt) HPM Nesisti-Pedubast, son of Anemhor I and Renpet-neferet. Married to Renpet-neferet and Nefersobek. Children included Pedubast, Khonsiu, Amenhor II, Nefertiti and Neferibre. HPM Pedubast I, son of Nesisti-Pedubast and Nefersobek. HPM Amenhor II, son of Nesisti-Pedubast and Nefersobek. Married Herankh. Children include Djedhor, Horemakhet and possibly Horemhotep. HPM Djedhor son of Amenhor II and Herankh. HPM Horemakhet (223 BCE) son of Amenhor II and Herankh. HPM Nesisti (ca 190 BCE?), son of Horemakhet and Nefertiti. Succeeded Horemakhet as High Priest of Memphis5 probably between 194/3 and 180 HPM Pedubast II, son of Psherenptah and Taimhotep. Grandson of Horemakhet and Nefertiti. HPM Psherenptah II, son of Pedubast II HPM Pedubast III (103 BCE), son of Psherenptah II and Berenice (probably daughter of Ptolemy VIII) HPM Psherenptah III (76 BCE), son of Pedubast III and Herankh-beludje HPM Imhotep-Pedubast (39 BCE), son of Psherenptah III and Taimhotep HPM Psherenamun I (30 BCE), brother-in-law of Psherenptah III. Son of Ka-hapi and Her-ankh HPM Psherenamun II (27 BCE), son of Psherenamun I and Taneferher. http://www.geocities.com/christopherjbennett/ptolemies/hpms/genealogy.htm
Ubesti
The town of Bastet's cult (see below) was known in Greek as Boubastis (Βούβαστις). The Hebrew rendering of the name for this town is Pî-beset ("House of Bastet"), spelled without Vortonsilbe.[2]
What the name of the goddess means remains uncertain.[2] One recent suggestion by Stephen Quirke (Ancient Egyptian Religion) explains it as meaning "She of the ointment jar". This ties in with the observation that her name was written with the hieroglyph "oinment jar" (bȝs) and that she was associated with protective ointments, among other things.[2]
From lion-goddess to cat-goddess
From the third millennium BC, when Bastet begins to appear in our record, she is depicted as either a fierce lioness or a woman with the head of a lion.[3] Images of Bast were created from a local stone, named alabaster today.[citation needed]
Originally she was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt. As protector, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later chief male deity, Ra, who was also a solar deity, gaining her the titles Lady of Flame and Eye of Ra.
Her role in the pantheon became diminished as Sekhmet, a similar lioness war deity, became more dominant in the unified culture of Lower and Upper Egypt.[citation needed]
In the first millennium BC, when domesticated cats were popularly kept as pets, Bastet began to be represented as a woman with the head of a cat and ultimately emerged as the Egyptian cat-goddess par excellence.[3] In the Middle Kingdom, the domestic cat appeared as Bastet’s sacred animal and after the New Kingdom she was depicted as a woman with the head of a cat or a lioness, carrying a sacred rattle and a box or basket.[4]
Bubastis
She was a local deity whose cult was centred in the city of Bubastis, now Tell Basta, which lay in the Delta near what is known as Zagazig today.[3][4] The town, known in Egyptian as pr-bȝstt (also transliterated as Per-Bast), carries her name, literally meaning "House of Bastet". It was known in Greek as Boubastis (Βούβαστις) and translated into Hebrew as Pî-beset. In the biblical Book of Ezekiel 30:17, the town appears in the Hebrew form Pibeseth.[3]
Temple
Herodotus, a Greek historian who travelled in Egypt in the 5th century BC, describes Bastet's temple at some length:
"save for the entrance, it stands on an island; two separate channels approach it from the Nile, and after coming up to the entry of the temple, they run round it on opposite sides; each of them is an hundred feet wide, and overshadowed by trees. The temple is in the midst of the city, the whole circuit of which commands a view down into it; for the city's level has been raised, but that of the temple has been left as it was from the first, so that it can be seen into from without. A stone wall, carven with figures, runs round it; within is a grove of very tall trees growing round a great shrine, wherein is the image of the goddess; the temple is a square, each side measuring a furlong. A road, paved with stone, of about three furlongs' length leads to the entrance, running eastward through the market place, towards the temple of Hermes; this road is about four hundred wide, and bordered by trees reaching to heaven."[5]
The description offered by Herodotus and several Egyptian texts suggest that water surrounded the temple on three (out of four) sides, forming a type of lake known as isheru, not too dissimilar from that surrounding the Temple of the goddess Mut in Karnak at Thebes.[3] Lakes known as isheru were typical of temples devoted to a number of leonine goddesses who are said to represent one original goddess, daughter of the Sun-God Re / Eye of Re: Bastet, Mut, Tefnut, Hathor and Sakhmet.[3] Each of them had to be appeased by a specific set of rituals.[3] One myth relates that a lioness, fiery and wrathful, was once cooled down by the water of the lake, transformed into a gentle cat and settled in the temple.[3]
Festival
Herodotus also relates that of the many solemn festivals held in Egypt, the most important and most popular one was that celebrated in Bubastis in honour of the goddess, whom he calls Bubastis and equates with the Greek goddess Artemis.[6][7] Each year on the day of her festival, the town is said to have attracted some 700,000 visitors ("as the people of the place say"), both men and women (but not children), who arrived in numerous crowded ships. The women engaged in music, song and dance on their way to the place, great sacrifices were made and prodigious amounts of wine were drunk, more than was the case throughout the year.[8] This accords well with Egyptian sources which prescribe that leonine goddesses are to be appeased with the "feasts of drunkenness".[2]
The goddess Bast was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other—the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget embellished with a lioness head.
Bast was a goddess of the sun throughout most of Ancient Egyptian history, but later when she was changed into a cat goddess rather than a lioness, she was changed to a goddess of the moon by Greeks occupying Ancient Egypt toward the end of its civilization. In Greek mythology, Bast also is known as Ailuros.
History and connection to other gods
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Cats in ancient Egypt were revered highly, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats - which threatened key food supplies - and snakes, especially cobras. Cats of royalty were, in some instances, known to be dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from their owners' plates. Turner and Bateson estimate that during the Twenty-second dynasty c.945-715 BC, Bastet worship changed to being a major cat deity (as opposed to a lioness deity).[9] With the unification of the two Egypts, many similar deities were merged into one or the other, the significance of Bast and Sekhmet, to the regional cultures that merged, resulted in a retention of both, necessitating a change to one or the other. During later dynasties, Bast was assigned a lesser role in the pantheon, but retained.
In the temple at Per-Bast some cats were found to have been mummified and buried, many next to their owners. More than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bast's temple at Per-Bast was excavated. The main source of information about the Bast cult comes from Herodotus who visited Bubastis around 450 BC during the heyday of the cult. He equated Bastet with the Greek Goddess Artemis. He wrote extensively about the cult. Turner and Bateson suggest that the status of the cat was roughly equivalent to that of the cow in modern India. The death of a cat might leave a family in great mourning and those who could would have them embalmed or buried in cat cemeteries - pointing to the great prevalence of the cult of Bastet. Extensive burials of cat remains were found not only at Bubastis, but also at Beni Hasan and Saqqara. In 1888, a farmer uncovered a plot of many hundreds of thousands of cats in Beni Hasan.[9]
The lioness represented the war goddess and protector of both lands. As the fierce lion god Maahes of Nubia later became part of Egyptian mythology, during the time of the New Kingdom, Bastet was held to be the daughter of Amun Ra, a newly ascending deity in the Egyptian pantheon during that late dynasty. Bastet became identified as his mother in the Lower Egypt, near the delta. Similarly the fierce lioness war goddess Sekhmet, became identified as the mother of Maashes in the Upper Egypt.
Wadjet-Bast, with a lioness head of Bast, the solar disk, and the cobra that represents Wadjet
As divine mother, and more especially as protector, for Lower Egypt, Bastet became strongly associated with Wadjet, the patron goddess of Lower Egypt. She eventually became Wadjet-Bast, paralleling the similar pair of patron (Nekhbet) and lioness protector (Sekhmet) for Upper Egypt. Bast fought an evil snake named Apophis.
Later perception
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Later scribes sometimes renamed her Bastet, a variation on Bast consisting of an additional feminine suffix to the one already present, thought to have been added to emphasize pronunciation; perhaps it is a diminutive name applied as she receded in the ascendancy of Sekhmet in the Egyptian pantheon. Since Bastet literally meant, (female) of the ointment jar,[citation needed] Her name was related with the lavish jars in which Egyptians stored their perfume. Bast thus gradually became regarded as the goddess of perfumes, earning the title, perfumed protector. In connection with this, when Anubis became the god of embalming, Bast, as goddess of ointment, came to be regarded as his wife. The association of Bastet as mother of Anubis, was broken years later when Anubis became identified as the son of Nephthys.
Ancient Egyptian statue of Bastet
The Gayer-Anderson cat, believed to be a representation of Bastet
Lower Egypt's loss in the wars between Upper and Lower Egypt led to a decrease in the ferocity of Bast. Thus, by the Middle Kingdom she came to be regarded as a domestic cat rather than a lioness. Occasionally, however, she was depicted holding a lioness mask, hinting at her potential ferocity.
Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring, Bast also was regarded as a good mother, and she was sometimes depicted with numerous kittens. Consequently, a woman who wanted children sometimes wore an amulet showing the goddess with kittens, the number of which indicated her own desired number of children.
Eventually, her position as patron and protector of Lower Egypt led to her being identified with the more substantial goddess Mut, whose cult had risen to power with that of Amun, and eventually being syncretized with her as Mut-Wadjet-Bast. Shortly after, in the constantly evolving pantheon, Mut also absorbed the identities of the Sekhmet-Nekhbet pairing as well.
This merging of identities of similar goddesses has led to considerable confusion, leading to some attributing to Bastet the title Mistress of the Sistrum (more properly belonging to Hathor, who had become thought of as an aspect of the later emerging Isis, as had Mut), and the Greek idea of her as a lunar goddess (more properly an attribute of Mut) rather than the solar deity she was. The native Egyptian rulers were replaced by Greeks during an occupation of Egypt that lasted almost five hundred years. These new rulers adopted many Egyptian beliefs and customs, but always "interpreted" them in relation to their Greek culture. These associations sought to link the antiquity of Egyptian culture to the newer Greek culture, thereby lending parallel roots and a sense of continuity. Indeed, much confusion occurred with subsequent generations; the identity of Bast slowly merged among the Greeks during their occupation of Egypt, who sometimes named her Ailuros (Greek for cat), thinking of Bast as a version of Artemis, their own moon goddess. Thus, to fit their own cosmology, to the Greeks Bast is thought of as the sister of Horus, whom they identified as Apollo (Artemis' brother), and consequently, the daughter of the later emerging deities, Isis and Ra. Roman occupation of Egypt followed in 30 BC, and their pantheon of deities also was identified with the Greek interpretations of the Ancient Egyptians. The introduction of Christianity and Muslim beliefs followed as well, and by the sixth century AD only a few vestiges of Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs remained, although the cult of Isis had spread to the ends of the Roman Empire.
Nefertem
"Rise like Nefertem from the blue water lily, to the nostrils of Ra (the creator and sungod), and come forth upon the horizon each day."
Nefertem the child comes from his earth father Nun's black primordial waters, and his sky mother is Nut. When he matures, he is Ra.
Nefertum was eventually seen as the son of the creator god Ptah, and the goddesses Sekhmet and Bastet were sometimes called his mother. In art, Nefertum is usually depicted as a beautiful young man having blue water-lily flowers around his head. As the son of Bast, he also sometimes has the head of a lion or is a lion or cat reclining. The ancient Egyptians often carried small statuettes of him as good-luck charms.
Maahes
The first recorded reference to Maahes is from the New Kingdom. Some Egyptologists have suggested that Maahes was of foreign origin; indeed there is some evidence that he may have been identical with the lion-god Apedemak worshipped in Nubia and Egypt's Western Desert.
As a lion-god and patron, he was also considered the son of Ra and of Bast, the feline war goddess and patron of Lower Egypt as well as Sekhmet, the lioness war goddess and patron of Upper Egypt. Since his cult was centred in Per-Bast (Bubastis in Greek) or in Taremu (Leontopolis in Greek), he was more known as the son of Bast. As he became a tutelary deity of Egypt, his father was said to be the chief male deity at the time - either Ptah, or Ra who had by this time already merged with Atum into Atum-Ra. In his role of son of Ra, Maahes fought the serpent Apep during Ra's nightly voyage.
Considered to have powerful attributes, feline deities were associated with the pharaohs, and became patrons of Egypt. The male lion hieroglyphic was used in words such as "prince", "mashead", "strength", and "power".
Name
The name of Maahes begins with the hieroglyphs for the male lion, although in isolation it also means (one who can) see in front. However, the first glyph also is part of the glyph for Ma'at, meaning truth and order and so it came to be that Maahes was considered to be the devourer of the guilty and protector of the innocent. Some of the titles of Maahes were Lord of Slaughter, Wielder of the Knife, and The Scarlet Lord.
Depictions
Maahes was pictured as a man with the head of a male lion, occasionally holding a knife and wearing the double crown of Egypt, or the atef crown. Sometimes he was identified with Nefertem and was shown with a bouquet of lotuses near him, but he also was depicted as a lion devouring a captive.
Sacred animals
Tame lions were kept in a temple dedicated to Maahes in Taremu, where Bast/Sekhmet were worshipped, his temple was adjacent to that of Bast. The ancient Greek historian Aelian wrote: "In Egypt, they worship lions, and there is a city called after them. (...) The lions have temples and numerous spaces in which to roam; the flesh of oxen is supplied to them daily (...) and the lions eat to the accompaniment of song in the Egyptian language", thus the Greek name of the city Leontopolis was derived.
Sekhmet
Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved the capital of Egypt to Itjtawy, the centre for her cult was moved as well. Religion, the royal lineage, and the authority to govern were intrinsically interwoven in Ancient Egypt during its approximately three thousand years of existence.
Sekhmet also is a solar deity, sometimes called the daughter of the sun god Ra and often associated with the goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the solar disk and the Uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a divine arbiter of the goddess Ma'at (Justice, or Order) in the Judgment Hall of Osiris, associating her with the Wedjat (later the Eye of Ra), and connecting her with Tefnut as well.
Sekhmet's name comes from the Ancient Egyptian word "sekhem" which means "powerful one." Sekhmet's name suits her function and means, the (one who is) powerful. She also was given titles such as the (One) Before Whom Evil Trembles, the Mistress of Dread, and the Lady of Slaughter.
Image from a ritual Menat necklace, depicting a ritual being performed before a statue of Sekhmet on her throne, she also is flanked by the goddess Wadjet as the cobra and the goddess Nekhbet as the white vulture, symbols of lower and upper Egypt respectively who always were depicted on the crown of Egypt and referred to as the two ladies, and the supplicant holds a complete menat and a sistrum for the ritual, circa 870 B.C. (Berlin, Altes Museum, catalogue number 23733)
In order to placate Sekhmet's wrath, her priestesses performed a ritual before a different statue of the goddess on each day of the year. This practice resulted in many images of the goddess being preserved. Most of her statuettes were rigidly crafted and do not exhibit any expression of movements or dynamism; this design was made to make them last a long time rather than to express any form of functions or actions she is associated with. It is estimated that more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet once stood in one funerary temple alone, that of Amenhotep III, on the west bank of the Nile.
She was envisioned as a fierce lioness, and in art, was depicted as such, or as a woman with the head of a lioness, who was dressed in red, the colour of blood. Sometimes the dress she wears exhibits a rosetta pattern over each breast, an ancient leonine motif, which can be traced to observation of the shoulder-knot hairs on lions. Occasionally, Sekhmet was also portrayed in her statuettes and engravings with minimal clothing or naked. Tame lions were kept in temples dedicated to Sekhmet at Leontopolis.
To pacify Sekhmet, festivals were celebrated at the end of battle, so that the destruction would come to an end. During an annual festival held at the beginning of the year, a festival of intoxication, the Egyptians danced and played music to soothe the wildness of the goddess and drank great quantities of wine ritually to imitate the extreme drunkenness that stopped the wrath of the goddess—when she almost destroyed humankind. This may relate to averting excessive flooding during the inundation at the beginning of each year as well, when the Nile ran blood-red with the silt from upstream and Sekhmet had to swallow the overflow to save humankind.
In 2006, Betsy Bryan, an archaeologist with Johns Hopkins University excavating at the temple of Mut presented her findings about the festival that included illustrations of the priestesses being served to excess and its adverse effects being ministered to by temple attendants.[1] Participation in the festival was great, including the priestesses and the population. Historical records of tens of thousands attending the festival exist. These findings were made in the temple of Mut because when Thebes rose to greater prominence, Mut absorbed some characteristics of Sekhmet. These temple excavations at Luxor discovered a "porch of drunkenness" built onto the temple by the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, during the height of her twenty year reign.
In a later myth developed around an annual drunken Sekhmet festival, Ra, the sun god, created her from a fiery eye gained from his mother, Hathor (daughter of Ra), to destroy mortals who conspired against him (Lower Egypt). In the myth, Sekhmet's blood-lust was not quelled at the end of battle and led to her destroying almost all of humanity, so Ra had tricked her by turning the Nile as red as blood (the Nile turns red every year when filled with silt during inundation) so that Sekhmet would drink it. The trick was, however, that the red liquid was not blood, but wine so that it resembled blood, making her so drunk that she gave up slaughter and became an aspect of the gentle Hathor to some moderns. It is said that when Sekhment awoke from her drunken sleep, the first thing she laid eyes on was the creator god, Ptah and fell in love in him and the result was Mahees and Nefertem
Sekhmet later was considered to be the mother of Maahes, a deity who appeared during the New Kingdom period. He was seen as a lion prince, the son of the goddess. The late origin of Maahes in the Egyptian pantheon may be the incorporation of a Nubian deity of ancient origin in that culture, arriving during trade and warfare or even, during a period of domination by Nubia. During the Greek dominance in Egypt, note was made of a temple for Maahes that was an auxiliary facility to a large temple to Sekhmet at Taremu in the delta region (likely a temple for Bast originally), a city which the Greeks called Leontopolis, where by that time, an enclosure was provided to house lions.
Seker
Seker was usually depicted as a mummified hawk and sometimes as mound from which the head of a hawk appears. Here he is called 'he who is on his sand'. Sometimes he is shown on his 'hennu barque' which was an elaborate sledge for negotiating the sandy necropolis. One of his titles was 'he of Restau' which means the place of 'openings' or tomb entrances.
In the New Kingdom Book of the Underworld, the Amduat, he is shown standing on the back of a serpent between two spread wings, as an expression of freedom this suggests a connection with resurrection or perhaps a satisfactory transit of the underworld.[1] Despite this the region of the underworld associated with Seker was seen as difficult, sandy terrain called the Imhet (meaning 'filled up' presumably with sand).[2]
Seker, possibly through his association with Ptah, also has a connection with craftsmen. In the Book of the Dead he is said to fashion silver bowls[1] and a silver coffin of Sheshonq II has been discovered at Tanis decorated with the iconography of Seker.[3]
Seker's cult centre was in Memphis where festivals in his honour were held in the fourth month of the akhet (spring) season. The god was depicted as assisting in various tasks such as digging ditches and canals. From the New Kingdom a similar festival was held in Thebes.[3]
Ptah
It was said (in the Shabaka Stone) that it was Ptah who called the world into being, having dreamt creation in his heart, and speaking it, his name meaning opener, in the sense of opener of the mouth. Indeed the opening of the mouth ceremony, performed by priests at funerals to release souls from their corpses, was said to have been created by Ptah. Atum was said to have been created by Ptah to rule over the creation, sitting upon the primordial mound.
In art, he is portrayed as a bearded mummified man, often wearing a skull cap, with his hands holding an ankh, was, and djed, the symbols of life, power and stability, respectively. It was also considered that Ptah manifested himself in the Apis bull. He may have originally been a fertility god because of this.
Stucco relief of Ptah with staff and ankh and djed. Late Period or Ptolemaic Dynasty, 4th to 3rd century BC.
Since Ptah was the primordial mound, and had called creation into being, he was considered the god of craftsmen, and in particular stone-based crafts. Eventually, due to the connection of these things to tombs, and that at Thebes, the craftsmen regarded him so highly as to say that he controlled their destiny. Consequently, first amongst the craftsmen, then the population as a whole, Ptah also became a god of regeneration. Since Seker was also god of craftsmen, and of regeneration of the sun during the night, Seker was later assimilated with Ptah becoming Ptah-Seker.
Consequently, Ptah-Seker became considered an underworld deity, and eventually, by the Middle Kingdom, become assimilated by Osiris, the lord of the underworld, occasionally being known as Ptah-Seker-Osiris.
Stele dedicated to Ptah by the foreman of Deir el-Medina in the XX dynasty.
Legacy
The English name Egypt derives from an ancient Egyptian name for Memphis, Hikuptah, which means "Home of the Soul of Ptah". This entered Ancient Greek as Αιγυπτος (Aiguptos), which entered Latin as Ægyptus, which developed into English as Egypt.
Memphite Theology
The Memphite Theology is the Basis of all Important Doctrines in Greek Philosophy.
History and Description:
The Memphite Theology is an inscription on a stone, now kept in the British Museum. It contains the theological, cosmological and philosophical views of the Egyptians. It has already been referred to in my treatment of Plato's doctrines; but it must be repeated here to show its full importance as the basis of the entire field of Greek philosophy. It is dated 700 B.C., and bears the name of an Egyptian Pharaoh who stated that he had copied an inscription of his ancestors. This statement is verified by language and typical arrangement of the text, and therefore assigns the original date of the Memphite Theology to a very early period of Egyptian history, i.e., the time when the first Dynasties had made their new capital at Memphis: the city of the God Ptah, i.e., between 4000 and 3500 B.C. (Intellectual Adventure of Man by Frankfort, p. 55).
The Text:
This consists of three supplementary parts, each of which will be treated separately: both as regards its teachings and the identity in Greek philosophy.
Part I presents the Gods of Chaos. Part II presents the Gods of Order and arrangement in creation; and Part III presents the Primate of the Gods, or the God of Gods, through whose (Logos) creation was accomplished.
In Part I pre-creation or chaos is represented as follows:—
A. Text of Part I:
The Primate of the Gods Ptah, conceived in his heart, everything that exists and by His utterance created them all. He
is first to emerge from the primeval waters of Nun in the form of a Primeval Hill. Closely following the Hill, the God Atom also emerges from the waters and sits upon Ptah (the Hill). There remain in the waters four pairs of male and female gods (the Ogdoad, or unity of Eight-Gods), bearing the following names:—
(2) Huh and Hauhet, i.e., the boundless and its opposite:
(3) Kuk and Kauket, i.e., darkness and its opposite; and
(4) Amun, i.e., (Amon) and Amaunet, i.e., the hidden and its opposite.
(Egyptian Religion by Frankfort, p. 20; 23. Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man by Frankfort, p. 21).
B. The Philosophy of Part I:
(1) Ptah has the following attributes: (a) The Primate of the Gods, i.e., The God of Gods (b) The Logos. Thought and creative utterance and power (Egyptian Religion by Frankfort, p. 23). (c) The God of Order and form (d) The Divine Artificer and Potter (Fire Philosophy by Swinburne Clymer; Jamblichus; Ancient Egypt by John Kendrick, Bk. I, p. 318; 339).
It must be noted that while the Sun God Atom sits upon Ptah the Primeval Hill He accomplishes the work of creation. But the Memphite Theology dates back to 4000 B.C., when it is believed the Greeks were unknown (Frankfort's Intellectual Adventure of Man, p. 5; 53; 55. The Book of the Dead, p. 17).
This arrangement in the Memphite Theology could only mean that the ingredients of the Primeval Chaos contained ten principles: four pairs of opposite principles, together with two other gods: Ptah representing Mind, Thought, and creative Utterance; while Atom joins himself to Ptah and acts as Demiurge and executes the work of creation. From such an
arrangement in the cosmos we are in position to infer the following philosophies:—
(b) Creation was accomplished by the unity of two creative principles: Ptah and Atom, i.e., the unity of Mind (nous) with Logos (creative Utterance).
(c) Atom was the Demiurge or Intermediate God in creation. He was also Sun God or Fire God.
(d) Opposite Principles control the life of the universe.
(e) The elements in creation were Fire (Atom), Water (Nun), Earth (Ptah or Ta-tjenen) and Air.
Part I of the Memphite Theology is the correct Source of these philosophies: but strangely the Greeks have claimed them as their production, although without any right whatever.
C. Individual Greek Philosophers to whom portions of the philosophy of the Memphite Theology has been assigned:
Of these doctrines, "water as the source of all things" has been assigned to Thales (Zeller: Hist. of Phil. p. 38); that of the "Boundless or Unlimited", has been assigned to Anaximander (Zeller: Hist. of Phil. p. 40); while that of "Air as the basis of life" has been assigned to Anaximenes (Zeller: Hist. of Phil. p. 42). Furthermore, the doctrine "that Fire underlies the life of the universe", has been assigned not only to Pythagoras, who spoke of the functions of the central and peripheral Fires; but also to Heraclitus who spoke of the transmutation of Fire into the other elements, and their transmutation back into Fire. Also Democritus who spoke of Fire Atoms, as filling space as the Mind or Soul of the World; and Plato who spoke of a World-Soul, which is composed of Fire Atoms. (Wm. Turner's Hist. of Phil. p. 42; 5; Zeller's Hist. of Phil. p. 53; 149; Plato's Timaeus, 30A; B. D. Alexander's Hist. of Phil., p. 40).
Likewise the doctrine of opposites has been assigned not only to Pythagoras, who spoke of the elements of the unit as odd and even; but also to (a) Heraclitus who spoke of "the
unity of warring opposites"; (b) Parmenides who spoke of the distinction between Being and Not-Being; (c) Socrates, who spoke of things as being generated from their opposites; and
(d) Plato who spoke of Ideas and Noumena as real and perfect; but phenomena as unreal and imperfect. (The Phaedrus of Plato 250; Parmenides 132D; Aristotle Metaphysics I, 6; 987b, 9; Plato Phaedo 70E; Zeller's Hist. of Phil. p. 51; 61, 68; The Timaeus, p. 28).
Furthermore, the doctrines of the Nous (or Mind) or an Intelligent Agency as responsible for creation, has been assigned not only to Anaxagoras, but also to Socrates who spoke of the existence of useful things as the work of an Intelligence: To Plato who spoke of a World-Soul or Mind, as the cause of life and knowledge in the universe and to Democritus, who attached a similar meaning. (Zeller's Hist. of Phil. p. 80; p. 85; Wm. Turner's Hist. of Phil. p. 82; p. 109). The doctrine of the Logos has been assigned to Heraclitus who spoke of Fire as the Logos or creative principle in nature; while the doctrine of the Demiurge, or an Intermediate God who created the world, has been assigned to Plato (Wm. Turner's Hist. of Phil. p. 55, p. 108).
A. Text of Part II
The Gods of Order and arrangement in the cosmos are represented by nine gods, in one God-head, called the Ennead. Here Atum (Atom), the source of the Ogdoad, is also retained as the source of the Gods of Order and arrangement. Atum (Atom) names four pairs of parts of his own body, and thus creates eight Gods, who together with himself become nine. These Eight Gods are the created Gods, the first creatures of this world; and Atum (Atom), the Creator God, the Demiurge, of whom Plato spoke. The Gods whom Atum (Atom) projected from his body were
(ii) Tefnut (Moisture)
(iii) Geb (Earth) and
(iv) Nut (Sky);
who are said to have given birth to four other Gods:
(vi) Isis (wife of Osiris, Female Principle)
(vii) Seth (the opposite of good)
(viii) Nephthys (Female Principle in the Unseen World).
(Plutarch: Isis et Osiris, 355A; 364C; 371B; Frankfurt; Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, p. 66–67).
B. The Philosophy of Part II.
As we read the text of Part II, we find that the Sun God Atum (Atom) who was present in the Chaos was also present at the development of orderly arrangement in the cosmos. At this stage Atum (Atom) assumes the role of creator of all Gods except Ptah, the God of Gods. He next proceeds to accomplish this special type of creation in the following manner: He commands Eight Gods to proceed from His own body according to the names of those eight parts.
The result of this creation presents us with what has been called (a) the "Ennead" or the unity of "nine Gods in one Godhead" (b) the doctrine of the Demiurge as in Part I, (c) the doctrine of the created Gods and (d) the doctrine of the Unmoved Mover; also (e) the doctrine of opposites and (f) Omnipotence and Omniscience. Of these doctrines, that of the "Ennead" will be dealt with elsewhere, and since the doctrine of the Demiurge has already been treated, together with (c) the created Gods, I shall now discuss the doctrine of the Unmoved Mover, as based upon the same act of creation. According to the Memphite Theology of the Egyptians, Atum created Eight Gods who proceeded from eight parts of His own body. He was seated upon Ptah the Hill and was unmoved. In this act of creation Atum (Atom) became the Unmoved Mover. In spite of the Memphite Theology being the direct source of these doctrines, yet Plato has been given credit for the doctrine of the created Gods; while Aristotle has received credit for that of the "Unmoved Mover". Certainly the world has never been more misled.
Here it must be made quite clear, that the doctrine of a Demiurge in creation includes two other doctrines: that of the created Gods and that of the Unmoved Mover.
It was the function of the Demiurge to create the universe; and in doing so, his first act was the creation of the Gods, who accordingly became the first creatures.
But the manner in which the Demiurge created the Gods was the process of projecting them from His own body.
This method of creation clearly makes the Demiurge the Unmoved Mover.
However the history of Greek philosophy has assigned the authorship of the doctrines of the Demiurge and the created Gods to Plato, and the authorship of the doctrine of the Unmoved Mover to Aristotle.
But this so-called Platonic doctrine is one, made up of three inseparable parts (a) the Demiurge (b) the function of the Demiurge and (c) the method of the function: a unity which contradicts Aristotle's authorship of what is really only an inference from the supposed original doctrine of Plato.
(The Myth of Creation in Plato Timaeus; Wm. Turner; Hist. of Phil., p. 109–110; Zeller's Hist. of Phil. p. 192; Wm. Turner's Hist. of Phil. p. 142).
The doctrine of opposites has already been discussed, however, in Part I of the Memphite Theology. One of the pairs of created Gods, Osiris and Isis was used to represent the male and female principles of nature. In addition to this, Osiris had other qualities attached to Him, which might be understood from the following derivatives (a) osh meaning many, and (b) iri meaning to do and also (c) meaning an Eye. Consequently Osiris came to mean not only many eyed or omniscient, but also omnipotent or all powerful. Here again, as in all instances already mentioned, in spite of the fact that the Memphite Theology is the source of Greek philosophy, yet the doctrines of "an Intelligent Cause", a Nous as responsible for the life and conduct of the world, has been assigned to Anaxagoras,
[paragraph continues]Socrates and also Plato, whose World Soul, consisted of fire atoms, like the World Soul of Democritus. (Plato Timaeus 30, 35. Xenophon Memorabilia I, 4, 2; Wm. Turner's Hist. of Phil. 63).
A. Text of Part III
In this third part of the Memphite Theology, the Primate of the Gods is represented as Ptah: Thought, Logos and Creative Power, which are exercised over all creatures. He transmits power and spirit to all Gods, and controls the lives of all things, animals and men through His thought and commands. In other words it is in Him that all things live move and have their eternal being.
B. The Philosophy of Part III
From Part III we infer the following doctrines:—(a) all things were created by the thought and command of Ptah, the God of Gods. (b) Through the thought and command of Ptah, we all live, move and have our eternal Being. (c) Ptah is Creator and Preserver as has already been pointed out elsewhere; Ptah's powers were transmitted by magical means to Atum who performed the work of creation. (Intellectual Adventures of Man by Frankfort, p. 52–60).
II. Memphite Theology is the Source of Modern Scientific Knowledge.
B. The identity between the Sun God Atom, and the atom of science.
A. The Ennead and the Nebular Hypothesis coincide.
Just as the Memphite Theology is the source of Greek philosophy or primitive science, so it is also the basis of modern scientific belief. The Gods of Order and arrangement in the cosmos are represented by nine Gods in the Godhead, called the Ennead. Atum, (Atom), the Sun God, i.e., Fire God, creates eight other Gods, by naming four pairs of parts of his own body, from which they came forth. Here the names
of the created Gods were given as Shu and Tefnut (Air and Moisture), Geb and Nut (Earth and Sky); and two other pairs of opposites: Osiris and Isis; and Seth and Nephthys, who are supposed to be the first creatures of this world (Frankfort's Intellectual Adventures of Man, p. 54).
Now if we compare this Egyptian cosmology with the Nebular hypothesis of Laplace, we would find very striking similarities in the two contexts. According to the Nebular hypothesis our present solar system was once a molten gaseous nebula. This nebula rotated at an enormous speed, and as the mass cooled down it also contracted and developed greater speed. The result was a bulging at the equator and a gradual breaking off of gaseous rings, which formed themselves into planets. These planets in turn threw off gaseous rings, which formed themselves into smaller bodies, until at last, the sun was left as the remnant of the original parent Nebula. From this context it is clear that the original parent nebula was fire or the Sun, and that by throwing off parts of itself, it created some planets, which in turn threw off parts of themselves and created others. According to the context of the Memphite Theology, the creator God was the Sun God or fire God Atum (Atom), who named four pairs of parts of his own body, from which Gods came forth.
But Atum (Atom) together with the Eight Created Gods composed the Ennead or Godhead of nine: a very striking similarity with modern science which teaches that there are nine major planets. We may now summarise these similarities:—(a) The creator God in both the Egyptian and Modern Cosmologies is the Sun or Fire. (b) The creator God in both cosmologies creates Gods from parts of Himself. (c) The number of Gods are nine and correspond with the nine major planets. These similarities make it evident that Laplace obtained his hypothesis from the Memphite Theology or other Egyptian sources.
Of course the Memphite Theology, according to Frankfort in his Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, p. 54 does not
mention the creation of planets. Nevertheless, since it was the method of the Egyptian to conceal the truth by the use of myths, parables magical principles (primitive scientific method), number philosophy and hieroglyphics, we can easily see what methods might be involved before we could arrive at a better translation of the Memphite Theology.
At any rate, the entire setting of the Memphite Theology is astronomical, and what could be more natural, than to expect an astronomical interpretation? It seems well within reason, to regard the Ennead as the heliocentric system of history. Atom the sun God, creating eight other Gods or planets from his own body, as the Unmoved Mover a teaching which has been falsely attributed to Aristotle.
B. The identity between the Egyptian Sun God Atum (Atom) and the atom of Modern Science:
There are two things which I desire to point out in connexion with the relationship between Atum (Atom) the Egyptian Sun God and the atom of modern science. These things are (i) the similarity of attributes and (ii) the similarity of names. (i) The Egyptian God Atum (Atom) means self-created; everything and nothing; a combination of positive and negative principles:—all-inclusiveness and emptiness; a Demiurge, possessing creative powers; the Creator Sun. (p. 53, Frankfort's Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man; p. 182, Frankfort's Kingship and the Gods).
Atum (Atom) also means "the all and the not yet Being"; (p. 168 Frankfort's Kingship of the Gods). As a God Atum (Atom) represents the principles of opposites. The atom, as the substratum of matter, according to Greek philosophy, is defined by Democritus as "movement of that which is" (To on) within "that which is not" (To mē on). It therefore represents the principle of opposites, and shows the identity between the Egyptian Sun God and the substratum of matter. Furthermore, the atom is defined as "the full and void; being and not-being (Zeller's Hist. of Phil., p. 38) and these definitions
coincide with the everything and nothing, and the "all-inclusiveness" and emptiness of the Egyptian Sun God.
(ii) The similarity of names shared by the Egyptian Sun God and the atom of science:
Now, with reference to the similarity of these two names, the first thing we should bear in mind is the fact that they both possess identical attributes, as has been already pointed out in section i; and consequently we are compelled to conclude that the atom of science is the identical name of the Egyptian Sun God: the most ancient of Gods except Ptah, who was present with Atom at creation. The second thing we should bear in mind is the fact that the name of the God Atom (sometimes spelt Atum) belongs to the cosmology of the Memphite Theology, whose date goes back to 4000 B.C. when the Greeks were not even known. Consequently we are compelled to conclude that the Greeks obtained both the original name and the attributes of the Sun God Atom from the Egyptians.
Furthermore, the Greeks were unacquainted with the Egyptian language, during the period of the so-called Greek philosophy, dating from the sixth century B.C. and as a consequence transliterated Egyptian words into Greek without regard to theirCoptic derivatives. The following Homeric stories verify the practice of the Greeks in the transliteration of Egyptian words and the plagiarism of their legends. (a) According to Homer, Proteus was a Maritime Divinity feeding his phocae on the coast of Egypt. He was endowed with the gift of prophecy which was exercised only upon compulsion. Proteus, however was an Egyptian Pharaoh who succeeded to the throne on the death of Pheron, the son of Sesostris. Proteus was also worshipped at Memphis. The Greeks did not only transliterate the name of this Egyptian King, but also plagiarized on the legend. (Herodotus II, 112).
(b) Likewise the story of Io the Argive Princess, who was changed into a heifer, and after long wanderings, reached
[paragraph continues]Egypt, where she gave birth to a God, and where she herself was worshipped as the Goddess Isis, points clearly to the introduction of the worship of Isis or Athor, under the symbol of the heifer, at an early period into Argos. Here it must be pointed out that Io is the Coptic name for Moon, and the same word was preserved as the dialect of Argos, without any affinity with any Greek root. It was a habit of the Greeks to Hellenize Egyptian words by transliterating them and adding them to the Greek vocabulary.
(c) This practice of borrowing words from nearby nations continued until New Testament times. In Acts of Apostles of the Greek Testament, Chapter 13th and verse 1, the word Niger (i.e., black man) in the name Simeon the Negro is a Roman or Latin word (niger, nigra, nigrum) meaning black. Simeon, of course, was an Egyptian Professor attached to the Church at Rome.
The atom of science is really the name of the Egyptian Sun God that has come down to modern times, through the so-called Greek philosophy, and carries identical attributes, with the Sun God. (Diodorus I, 29; John Kendrick's Ancient Egypt, vol. II 5–52; Eust. ad Dionys: Perieg: V).
N.B.
It must be remembered that what we erroneously call Greek philosophy, was the beginning of science or the investigation of nature; and consequently we cannot separate modern science from Greek philosophy.
III. Memphite Theology Opens Great Possibilities for Modern Scientific Research.
A. Greek Concept of the Atom; erroneous.
The Greeks derived the meaning of the atom from (i) (alpha) i.e. a negative prefix meaning not; and (ii) (temnein) i.e. the present infinitive active of (temno) to cut. The two derivatives together meaning "that which cannot be cut". For centuries the world has been misled by this misconception
of the Greeks: a fact which no doubt, had impeded the progress of atomic research by Western scholars, who had believed in the so-called Greek origin of philosophy or primitive science.
Today, however, the Greek conception of the atom is no longer tenable, since modern science has successfully split the atom.
B. Great scientific secrets in the Memphite Theology, yet to be discovered.
I believe that the time has come, within which man will be able to unlock most of the secrets of nature hitherto hidden and unknown. I have shown that the Nebular Hypothesis of modern times coincides with the teachings of the Memphite Theology, in which the Sun God Atom is said to have created eight other Gods, which together with himself constitute the Ennead of the Egyptians, which correspond to the nine major planets of modern scientific teaching.
We also know that out of Cosmic Chaos there arose from the primeval waters a pair of Gods i.e. the Primeval Hill and Atom the Sun God, and that through the contact of Atom with the Hill, He received power to create the other eight major planets. This seems to imply that
(i) Atomic energy originates from water and earth, since water H2O, and uranium, an indispensable ingredient in atomic energy, is found in the bowels of the earth. Note that both Atom and the Hill came out of the primeval Waters.
(ii) Four pairs of Gods, representing positive and negative principles still remain in water, in the form of male and female frogs and snakes, and constitute four fifths of the secrets of creation, which man has yet to fathom.
(iii) Successful scientific research in the principles and secrets of nature lies in the study of the Memphite Theology, whose symbology requires the key of magical principles for its interpretation. With this approach our men of science should be able to unlock the doors of the secrets of nature and become the custodians of unlimited knowledge.
This is the legacy of the African Continent to the nations of the world. She has laid the cultural foundations of modern progress and therefore she and her people deserve the honour and praise which for centuries have been falsely given to the Greeks. And likewise, it is the purpose of this book to make this revelation the beginning of a universal reformation in race relations, which I believe would be the beginning of the solution of the problem of universal unrest.