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ISSN 0342-1279 ISBN 978-3-11-019131-8 Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. © Copyright 2006 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin Dieses Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Printed in Germany Satz: META Systems GmbH, Wustermark Druck: Druckerei Gerike GmbH, Berlin Buchbinderische Verarbeitung: Hendricks & Lützenkirchen GmbH, Kleve

A Late Middle Kingdom Offering Table Cairo Temp. No. 25.10.17.1 By Aisha M. Abdalaal (Plate 1)

The offering table is one of the most important elements in the constructions of the funerary architecture 1. It is used in Egypt from at least the 1st Dynasty, if not earlier 2; as it represented the cultic way to bring back the deceased spirit 3 and to ensure his well being in the afterlife 4, by the different types of offerings represented on its surface. Representations of offerings are of the most common items that occur on stelae, statues, and in different scenes and even as amulets 5. This offering table is some how different, as it is a kind of votive stone that an individual likes to leave it in the sacred places of specific deities 6.

D es cr ip ti on It is a rectangular slab, made of limestone, in a fair state of preservation except for the damaged parts of its upper and right side. It measures 23 cm in height and 18.5 cm in width, its provenance is unkown. This offering table consists of three elements:

The cavity The upper part of the offering table is occupied by a rectangular deep cavity; measuring 5 cm in height, 13.5 cm in width and 2 cm in depth. Such a cavity was found in three other offering tables 7 that were longitudinal in shape and not horizontal like the case we are dealing with here. These cavities were used to contain a small statue of the stela’s owner. The horizontal cavity on this offering

M. F. Mostafa, Untersuchungen zu Opfertafeln im Alten Reich, HÄB 17, Hildesheim 1982, pp. 3 ff.; Vandier, Manuel II, pp. 523, 530−533. 2 E. Hornung/B. Bryan, The Quest for Immortality. Treasures of Ancient Egypt, Copenhagen 2002, Cat. 56. 3 We may note that some of these offering tables were incised with signs of life and spirits together with or without the usual offering list, cf. CG 23123, 23165. 4 D. P. Silverman (ed.), Searching for Ancient Egypt, Cornell University Press 1997, p. 288. 5 K. Martin, Tafel, Opfer-, in: LÄ VI, sp. 146 ff. 6 W. K. Simpson, The terrace of the great god at Abydos, New Haven and Philadelphia 1974, p. 3. There are three types of offering tables which were really used in tombs through Old and Middle Kingdom, see M. F. Mostafa, op. cit., p. 5 and passim; R. Hˆlzl, Ägyptische Opfertafeln und Kultbecken, HÄB 45, Hildesheim 2002, pp. 125 f. 7 R. Hˆlzl, op. cit., pp. 139 f., Taf. 7−9. 1

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Fig. 1: Offering table, Cairo Temp. No. 25.10.17.1

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table is more likely identical with the S-sign 8, which could refer to the sacred lake in a temple 9, especially the one in the Osiris temple at Abydos 10. I believe that it represents the primeval water which guarantees resurrection and purification for the donated offering and for the deceased himself 11. The function of the cavity was either to keep liquid offering or to be used by the priest who performs the ceremonies as a purification basin 12. It is worth-mentioning here that there are remains of black pigment on the inner surface of the left edge of the cavity. The presence of the black pigment could have been existed due to the fact that the artist probably used this cavity as an ink container during the process of painting the hieroglyphic text 13 that could be assured by the colored sign.

The texts The texts contain seven vertical lines of incised hieroglyphs, within a rectangular area: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Htp di nisw (1) wsir (2) nb anx tAwy (3) di.f prt xrw (m) t Hnqt kAw Abdw n kA n (4) imy r pr (5) ib -a mnTw ? (6) mAa xrw Htp di nisw PtH skr (7) di.f snTr mrHt n kA n imy r pr sbk Htp(8) mAa xrw Htp di nisw WpwAwt nb tA Dsr(9) di.f TAw nDm n kA n nbt pr ibw-t (10) mAat xrw

“A boon which the king gives (to) Osiris lord of anx tAwy, that he may grant invocation offerings (consisting of) bread, beer, oxen and fowls to the Ka (guardian spirit) of the overseer of the house ib-a mnTw (?), justified. A boon which the king gives (to) Ptah-Soker, so that he may grant incense and ointment to the Ka (guardian spirit) of the overseer of the house Sobek Hotep, justified. A boon which the king gives (to) Wepwawt lord of the sacred land, that he may grant sweet breath to the Ka (guardian spirit) of the lady of the house ibw, justified.”

Comment: (1) Htp di nisw: The arrangement of writing dates this offering table earlier than Second Intermediate Period (13th Dynasty) 14.

M. F. Mostafa, op. cit., p. 116, Taf. 13; CG 23094, Pl. XX. A. O. Bolshakov, in: Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2, 2001, p. 574. 10 About the function of the sacred lake and the water in the temple of Osiris, see B. Gessler-Lˆhr, Die heiligen Seen ägyptischer Tempel, HÄB 21, Hildesheim 1983, pp. 425−437. 11 Cf. e. g. A. Radwan, The anx-Vessel and its Ritual Function, in: BdE XCVII/2, 1985, pp. 211−217. 12 R. Hˆlzl, op. cit., pp. 136−138. 13 About colors and how the artist prepares surfaces in ancient Egypt see T. G. H. James, Egyptian Painting, London 1985, passim. 14 C. J. Bennett, Growth of Htp-di-nsw Formula in the Middle Kingdom, in: JEA 27, 1941, pp. 77 ff.; P. C. Smither, The Writing of http-di-nsw in the Middle Kingdom, in: JEA 25, 1939, pp. 34−37; D. Franke, The Middle Kingdom Offering Formulas − A Challenge, in: JEA 89, 2003, pp. 39 f. 8 9

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(2) wsir: The orthography in which the name of the god Osiris was written here did not appear before the reign of Senosert III 15. (3) nb anx tAwy: It was used as a title for god Osiris from the reign of Amenemhat III and throughout 13th Dynasty 16. (4) n kA n: This form of writing did not occur before the 13th Dynasty 17. (5) imy r pr: It is a widespread title, which mean stewart and administrator, it was always abbreviated to be attached to the name of a specific department 18. (6) ib-a mnTw: This name was not mentioned by Ranke, PN. I was unable to find any parallel of it in other publications. We should note here the irregular writing of mnTw, without the mn-sign and the w-sign which comes at the beginning. The name could be read as follows: mnTw ib -a which means “Monthu the brave”, ( ib-a = lit. great heart). This meaning fits with the character of the god Monthu as a warrior 19. ib di mnTw, which means “the heart that Monthu gave”, which is too not recorded 20. ib-a nTw; which means “the great heart of nTw”, even this reading is not cited in Ranke, PN 21. I think that the first reading is the closest to the Egyptian conception, due to the fact that the word ib-a occurred once as an epithet for the god Montu in the Mammisi inscription of the temple of Dendara from the Greco-Roman era 22. (7) PtH skr: A composite funerary god, who appeared from at least the 5th Dynasty. He was worshipped as a god of the dead. Later on he was associated with Sokar and Osiris and became Ptah-Soker-Osiris. In the later form he represents the three aspects of the universe: creation, stability, and death. His main cult center was in Memphis 23. (8) sbk Htp: A commonly used name from Middle Kingdom and especially from its later eras 24. The name ends with the determinative , a common feature used since Middle Kingdom to refer to persons 25; although the common determinative is that was used with the above mentioned name of ib-a mnTw. This may indicate the importance of Sobek-hotep. It is suggested that the latter was the person who dedicated this votive offering table to his deceased parents 26. (9) WpwAwt nb tA Dsr was a funerary deity 27, and one of the earliest gods worshipped at Abydos. Starting with the 12th Dynasty, he became the main deity of Abydos and gained the epithets “Lord

C. J. Bennett, op. cit., p. 78. W. Barta, Aufbau und Bedeutung der Altägyptischen Opferformel, AF 24, Glückstadt 1968, p. 74; see also C. J. Bennett, op. cit., p. 80; cf. e. g. CG 20084. 17 K. Pfl¸ger, The Private Funerary Stelae of the Middle Kingdom and their importance for the study of Ancient Egyptian History, in: JAOS 67, 1947, p. 133. 18 W. Ward, op. cit., No. 132. 19 About the god Monthu see E. K. Werner, The god Montu: from the earliest attestations to the end of the New Kingdom, New Haven 1997, passim. 20 Cf. e. g. PN I, p. 396,18−20. 21 Cf. e. g. PN I, p. 214,6−8. 22 C. Leitz, Lexikon der Ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen, OLA 111, Leuven 2002, p. 12 (8). 23 I. Shaw, op. cit., p. 230; J. Van Dijk, in: Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, III, 2001, p. 74. 24 PN I, p. 305,6. 25 A. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, Oxford 1979, A.50. 26 We always meet such cases that one of the offspring donate votives to his deceased parents. This might also have been a kind of a family votive offering recording more than one person of the same family or friends, cf. CG 23035,45,65,81; R. Hˆlzl, op. cit., p. 125 f. 27 For Wepwawt see A. Essa, Untersuchungen zum Gott Upuaut bis zum Ende des Neuen Reiches, unpublished PhD, Cairo Uni. 1989, passim. 15 16

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of Abydos” and “Lord of the Necropolis”. nb tA Dsr means literary “lord of the sacred land”. It is worth mentioning that Memphis also was one of his cult centers 28. (10) ibw- t: It is a well known name from the Middle Kingdom, but not so popular 29. The name was derived from the verb ib, which means thirsty 30. It ends with three small circles as signs of plural 31, which may indicate the meaning of soft pickings of bread 32. This name resembles the modern Egyptian name loqma antonomasia to the small soft peace of bread.

The Offerings Five offering items in raised relief are arranged from left to right and occupy the lower part of the offering table as follows: 1. The head of an ox was considered one of the preferred items of the offering list, which supplies the deceased with his favorite food. It also has a symbolic meaning as it represents the cutting of the god Seth’s head and his followers who were transformed into the shape of calves, when they tried to kill Osiris. Horus followed them and cut the head of Seth and his followers 33. Thus, offering a head of an ox to the deceased could mean that no evil can stand in his way during his journey in the Netherworld. 2. Coned bread: Bread and beer were the main nutrition of the Egyptian. No meal was considered complete without them. From the historical documents we could at least identify about forty terms for different kinds of bread and cakes. The offering of bread in scenes represents an offering which played the main role in the mortuary cults, not only shown in the relief of stelae and offering tables, but also in the temples. Here were relief depicting kings in the act of presenting coned loaves of bread to the gods, described as gift of white bread. Bread had always a symbolic meaning, which could be understood through its relationship with the different representation 34. 3. A circle that contains a human arm in raised relief could be interpreted as follows: The hand represents the verb di “to give” and was illustrated in an offering list dated to the end of the 5th and 6th Dynasty 35. The arm and hand were always related to the offering rituals and was always transposed into representational contexts 36. A similar rare representation of the above mentioned item occurred on three offering tables 37, whereas the palm of the hand was only shown inside a circle. The arm was extended outside the

28 I. Shaw, op. cit., pp. 304 f.; S. Morenz, Egyptian Religion, translated by A. E. Kemp, Cornell University Press 1992, p. 173; J. Houser-Wegner, in: Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, III, 2001, pp. 96−97. 29 PN I, p. 20,4. 30 Wb I, p. 61,12−16 31 Determinative of plural were always expressed by three strokes ( Z2). It appeared since the 6th Dynasty onward as three circles, see A. Gardiner, op. cit., Z2, pp. 535 f. 32 Wb I, pp. 51,13; 61,3. 33 PT, p. 535, § 1286. 34 D. Samuel, Bread, in: Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt I, 2001, pp. 196−198; R. H. Wilkinson, Reading Egyptian Art, London 1992, p. 207. 35 H. O. Berliv, The Egyptian Reliefs and Stelae in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Leningrad 1982, p. 40. 36 R. H. Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 53. 37 A. Kamal, Table d’Offrandes, Caire 1909, CG 23011, Pl. VI.

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circle and towards the two corners of the offering tables, there is a water jar just before the hand, in a gesture of washing the hand. 4. A blank circle: This blank circle may contain the name of the ruling king 38, or the sign nsw which refers to the king to personify the formula itself 39. We should not ignore that the circle in the ancient Egyptian conception refers also to the sun disk, which represents the source of light and warm. Symbolically, this circle would refer to a round loaf of bread. Thus, it is believed that this circle represents bread and light that the owner needed in the Netherworld. 5. There is another coned bread 40. However, it is suggested that this part represents a magical symbolical offering list, in order to provide the deceased with all his needs 41. The lower part of the offering table is occupied by four small sunk lozenge, which were probably used for liquid offerings. It might have been also used as a libation basin, or could have played the role of a sacred lake 42.

D at in g According to the abovementioned suggestions, this votive offering table could be dated back to the 13th Dynasty.

38 Cf. e. g. the offering table of King Mentuhetep, CG 23248, whereas the king’s name was written on the round bread, see R. Hˆlzl, op. cit., Abb. 15. 39 Offering formula is a wish for the different kinds of everything that could be brought to the deceased person to keep his vital power in the otherworld. It appears firstly on the stelae and false doors of the early dynastic period, and continued throughout the ancient Egyptian history. See I. Shaw/P. Nicholson, BM Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, AUC in Cairo Press 1996, p. 209; see also W. Barta, op. cit., passim; D. Franke, op. cit., p. 39. 40 Supra no 33. 41 For the magical function of the offering tables see R. Hˆlzl, op. cit., pp. 72−74; G. Pinch, Magic in ancient Egypt, London 1994, p. 154. 42 Supra no 10.

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Late Middle Kingdom offering table (Cairo Temp.No. 25.10.17.1)

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