Hybrid Creatures in Late Period Egypt: The Hippocampus

The hippocampus (from the Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος, literally ‘sea-horse’), is a hybrid mythological creature which combines a horse’s head and a serpentine or fish body, often with wings. It was a common motif in Greek and Roman mythology, but it also appears on Egyptian material from the Late Period onwards.

Within classical mythology, the hippocampus often appeared alongside sea gods such as Poseidon or Neptune, with Homer describing Poseidon driving a chariot of sea-horses across the waves in battle. In Etruria, hippocampi appear on tomb walls and reliefs, often winged, and may link to the idea of voyaging to the afterlife. The creatures also appear on Greek vases, as well as Roman mosaics and oil lamps, suggesting consistency in the presence of hippocampi as mythological motifs throughout several ancient cultures. While hippocampi are traditionally viewed as sea horses, in Egyptian examples, they appear to be more fantastical creatures, presented as serpents with horse-heads, rather than specifically related to sea gods or marine myths. Hippocampi begin to appear in Egyptian art from the beginning of the Late Period (664 BC) onwards, with examples found on coffin lids and cartonnage (Figs. 1 and 2). It is possible that they were introduced during this period as a result of cultural assimilation and entanglement between Egyptian cultures and the Mediterranean during this period.

Fig. 1: Hippocampus riding on a solar barque, flanked by Isis and Nephthys as winged snakes, painted onto a Graeco-Roman Period coffin (c. 332 BC – AD 395), E.576.

Fig. 2: Cartonnage hippocampus, E.2002.

For example, a hippocampus appears on a Late Period coffin lid, painted with red details and flanked by two winged goddesses. This hippocampus is more serpentine in shape than the classical winged appearance it usually displays, and appears coiled on a boat or barque, covering a solar disc and acting as a protector. This type of presentation bears striking resemblance to earlier depictions of Khnum being protected by the serpent Mehen on the solar barque. This depiction may also link to the idea of hippocampi as protectors of those travelling to the afterlife, as seen in Etruscan mythology. In ancient Egyptian myth, snakes could act as protectors, with the rearing cobra taking pride of place on royal crowns as a uraeus, and protective demons such as Mehen encircling Re on his nightly journey (see Fig. 3). The second example of a hippocampus in the Garstang collection is made of cartonnage, is brightly painted, and was likely part of a larger piece. The creature is depicted in the same way as the example from the coffin, with a horse head and mane, and a longer serpentine body that is coiled.

Flanking the hippocampus on the coffin, the goddesses Isis and Nephthys protect the boat in the form of winged serpents, again emphasising the importance of snakes as protectors. While Isis more commonly appears as a winged female goddess, she occasionally is depicted as a snake, for example as Isis-Thermouthis in a Graeco-Roman Period funerary stela (Fig. 4). This hybrid appearance, as a serpent with the head of a woman, further emphasises how animal imagery is utilised in Egyptian art. It is likely that such depictions of hybrid gods and mythological creatures gained popularity from the Late Period onwards due to the growing connections between Egypt and the Mediterranean world, with elements of Greek myth and hybrid gods such as Isis-Thermouthis and Serapis being introduced.

Fig. 3: A snake surrounding and protecting Khnum during the nightly journey through the underworld. Book of the Amduat of the songstress Amun-re Tja-twy, E.507. Photo by Julia Thorne @ Tetisheri.

Fig. 4: Limestone funerary stela dating to the Graeco-Roman Period, showing Isis-Thermouthis (right), and Serapis (left), both in the form of serpents. E.9.

Ultimately, these depictions illustrate how changes in cultural environment, such as introduction of classical myths and ideas through trade links and migration, can allow for the introduction of new motifs such as the hippocampus. Despite being a predominantly classical creature, it was introduced into traditional Egyptian funerary cult and took on attributes of protection and transport which we see assigned to serpents throughout the Pharaonic Period. Such animal forms within ancient Egypt, whether they be real creatures such as serpents or horses, or mythological creations like the hippocampus, allowed individuals to display their desires for a safe journey to the afterlife, and illustrate how influences from the Graeco-Roman world could bleed into and affect how these desires were presented.

To learn more about how animals and hybrid creatures were used and depicted in ancient Egypt and Sudan, visit our FREE exhibition ‘Creatures of the Nile‘, open Saturday 4 May – Saturday 5 October 2024 at the Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool.

by Louise O’Brien and Chang Lu.

Stela of Montuhetepi – Garstang Museum E.67

Date	Middle Kingdom
Provenance	Esna (Egypt), found by John Garstang in 1906
Material	Limestone
Dimensions	W 12.2 x H 28.8 (cm)

This stela commemorates ‘the dignitary Montuhetepi born of the Lady of the House Rar’.

Stelae (of which this is a relatively modest and rough-worked example) were often set up to commemorate the dead, and serve as a place on earth where the living can come and focus on perpetuating offerings to the dead. As well as in tombs, they can be found in cenotaphs (symbolic tombs, as pictured in Garstang’s photograph JG-A-0253, above) and temple contexts.

In the semi-circular area at the top of the stela (the lunette) are hieroglyphic symbols. In the centre is the hieroglyph for ‘to encircle’, or ‘circuit’. It is flanked by a pair of eyes. Eyes are often included on Egyptian funerary monuments, forming a kind of spiritual passageway that links the world of the dead to the living. Here, however, one could actually read these symbols as a reference to ‘seeing the circuit’ (of the sun, or of the festival processions).

Underneath, there is a horizontal three-line inscription. It is an example of the ‘offering formula’ found on many Egyptian funerary monuments. It seeks to guarantee for the deceased in the afterlife a share in the offerings given by the king to the gods (in this case, the gods mentioned are Ptah and Osiris).

Below the inscription, on the left we see Montuhetepi and presumably his (unnamed) wife seated facing to the right. Montuhetepi sniffs a lotus flower, while his wife has her arms supportively around his waist. In front of them is an offering stand or table, containing bread and beer.

The lower register is partially destroyed, but it showed two of Montuhetepi’s sisters. The one on the left is mostly lost. The one on the right, whose name begins Nefer[…], seems to be holding up a conical loaf of bread, perhaps as an offering to Montuhetepi.

Check out more 3D models of Egyptian stelae in the Garstang Museum!

Stela of Tity – Garstang Museum E.26

Date	Middle Kingdom
Provenance	Abydos (Egypt), found by John Garstang in 1907
Material	Limestone
Dimensions	W 28.7 x H 37.7 (cm)

Stelae were often set up to commemorate the dead and serve as a place on earth where the living can come and focus on perpetuating offerings to the dead. As well as in tombs, they can be found in cenotaphs (symbolic tombs) and temple contexts. Many stelae have been excavated at Abydos, a major cult centre of the god Osiris, and visitors often built cenotaphs endowed with stelae to ensure their eternal presence near the festivals of this god.

This round-topped stela commemorates a man called Tity, whose titles are given as ‘dignitary, and warden of Hierakonpolis (a place in southern Egypt)’. His father, who bore the same title of warden of Hierakonpolis, is named in the horizontal two-line inscription at the top as Neferhotep. The horizontal inscription is an example of the ‘offering formula’ found on many Egyptian funerary monuments. It seeks to guarantee for the deceased in the afterlife a share in the offerings given by the king to the gods (in this case, the god mentioned is the composite deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris).

Tity is shown seated on a larger scale on the left, sniffing a lotus flower. In front of him, at the bottom, is a vessel on a stand or small table — presumably a token of the offerings Tity wished to receive in perpetuity.

Opposite Tity, we see six of his relatives kneeling on the ground facing him, shown on a much smaller scale. Depicting the deceased in a larger scale displays his importance and high status. At the top left is his wife Nebsumenu, who bears the title ‘royal adornment’. The middle left is his mother Shepset (also a ‘royal adornment’). The top and middle right are two of Tity’s brothers (‘warden of Hierakonpolis, Bebi’ and ‘great one of the tens of Upper Egypt Itres(?)’). Finally, at the bottom left and right we see two of Tity’s sisters, Nebu(em)heb(?) and Neferu.

In the middle of the stela, between Tity and his six relatives, there is one more column of hieroglyphs squeezed onto the stela (looking very much like an afterthought). It mentions another sister, Nefereni(?).

In the semi-circular area at the top of the stela (the lunette) are hieroglyphic symbols. In the centre is the hieroglyph for ‘to encircle’, or ‘circuit’. It is flanked by a pair of eyes. Eyes are often included on Egyptian funerary monuments, forming a kind of spiritual passageway that links the world of the dead to the living. Here, however, one could actually read these symbols as a reference to ‘seeing the circuit’ (of the sun, or of the festival processions).

Check out more 3D models of Egyptian stelae in the Garstang Museum!

Stela of Amenysoneb – Garstang Museum E.30

Date	Middle Kingdom, 13th Dynasty (1795-1650 BC)
Provenance	Abydos (Egypt), found by John Garstang in 1907
Material	Limestone
Dimensions	W 35.2 x H 50.0 x D 5.0 (cm)

Amenysoneb was an ancient Egyptian official who held the title of ‘regulator of a priesthood sub-division of Abydos’, and he was probably in charge of the rota of the priests at the temple of the god Osiris at the site. Two other stelae belonging to Amenysoneb are also known (and are now in the Louvre), although the Garstang stela is the most unusual and curious in terms of its decoration and form.

Abydos was a major centre of worship of the Egyptian god of death and resurrection, Osiris. One area of the site, near to the sacred processional route taken by the god Osiris in certain festivals, was dedicated to cenotaphs (symbolic tombs) and small chapels often containing stelae (pictured in Garstang’s photograph JG-A-0253, above). These mud-brick cenotaphs were intended to serve as a place where the ancient Egyptians could commemorate their dead, in proximity to the god Osiris. Stelae were erected so that those visiting Abydos and taking part in the festival would see them and speak the words written on them.

The stela of Amenysoneb is highly unusual for a number of reasons. The large ‘ankh’ sign, perhaps the most eye-catching feature of this object, the cut-out window is not a common feature of Middle Kingdom stelae. The double-sided decoration on the stela is also unusual – this monument was presumably visible in the round in antiquity.

The front of the stela shows the stela owner, Amenysoneb, on the left. He is raising his hands in adoration of the funerary god Wepwawet who is shown in jackal form above. Traces of paint are visible on Amenysoneb, with his body being painted red-brown and his collar a blue-green.

Below this figure of Amenysoneb, is a woman holding a lotus flower to her face. This is a common scene in Egyptian art as the lotus held religious and funerary associations. This woman is labelled as his mother Nebetitef. Below Nebetitef sit her son, Sainheret, and daughter, Nebetaneheh, the siblings of Amenysoneb.

The top of the right-hand side of the stela’s front is now lost, but in the surviving lower portion two sisters of Amenysoneb sit at his feet and hold lotus flowers. Nenni, the lady of the house, sits underneath Amenysoneb’s feet next to her daughter. In the bottom register, the doorkeeper of the temple, Siankhenptah sits next to his wife Titiu.

On the back of the stela, six registers show different scenes of daily life, of a similar nature to scenes found on tomb walls of the period.

Various workmen and women prepare food (top register), slaughter cattle (second register), mill grain and prepare bread and beer (third register).

This is followed by scenes involving ploughing and harvesting (fourth register), transport of grain (fifth register), and sowing crops (sixth register). Of particular interest here is the depiction of a wheeled vehicle, carrying various types of grain which are represented by text, rather than a pictorial depiction.

The depiction of scenes of daily life such as these is common in Egyptian tombs, but on stelae it is very unusual indeed. These scenes were intended to magically provide for the deceased and their ka in the event that physical food offerings were lacking.

Check out more 3D models of Egyptian stelae in the Garstang Museum!

Stela of Neferu – Garstang Museum E.87

Date	First Intermediate Period – early Middle Kingdom
Provenance	Naqada (Egypt), found by John Garstang in 1904
Material	Limestone
Dimensions	W 36.5 x H 29.5 (cm)

E.87 is a rectangular slab stela commemorating ‘the revered man Neferu’ and ‘the revered lady Nebetit’. Stelae were often set up to commemorate the dead and serve as a place on earth where the living can come and focus on perpetuating offerings to the dead.

The human figures are in raised relief, and the hieroglyphic inscription is in sunk relief. In the middle stands Neferu facing right, with Nebetit standing behind him. Neferu holds the long vertical staff of authority in one hand, and the horizontal sekhem-sceptre in the other. He wears a kilt with a visible knot at front. He also wears a broad collar. Behind him, Nebetit wears a long close-fitting dress coming down to her calves, held up by an apparent belt, and two straps. She reaches out to grasp Neferu’s hand.

The hieroglyphic inscriptions in three vertical columns at the right of the stela begins with the standard ‘offering formula’ found on many Egyptian funerary monuments. It seeks to guarantee for the deceased in the afterlife a share in the offerings given by the king to the gods (in this case, the god mentioned is Osiris).

The remainder of the hieroglyphic inscription tells us that ‘It was his beloved friend Iy who made this for him’. Monuments are often set up in memory of the dead by the living, and so Iy presumably commissioned this monument for his deceased friend Neferu and the woman we would have assumed was Neferu’s wife, Nebetit.

However, in between the two relief figures of Neferu and Nebetit, there is another hieroglyphic inscription, that says ‘It was her beloved husband Iy who made this for her’. So, it would appear that Nebetit was the wife of Iy who commissioned the stela.

This presents a conundrum: the way that Neferu and Nebetit are shown looks at first sight like a husband and wife pairing, but Nebetit is not called Neferu’s ‘wife’ on the stela, and the inscription makes it clear that she was actually the wife of Iy. So why is she shown in this rather intimate way with Neferu, touching hands?

More than one explanation is possible. It may be that Nebetit was a female relative of Neferu (perhaps a sister?), which would make Iy his brother-in-law. Alternatively, it is not impossible that Neferu was Nebetit’s first husband, and that she subsequently married Iy after Neferu’s death.

Check out more 3D models of Egyptian stelae in the Garstang Museum!

Hathor: The Goddess to get a beer (or glass of milk) with

In many ancient cultures, gods and goddesses were often not considered to be inherently good or bad, but rather possessed the potential to be both – performing benevolent actions benefiting devoted humans, or unleashing rage upon those deemed unworthy of the gods’ goodwill. Both traits were reasons for worship: you could praise a god or goddess for their favours, and you could equally praise them in order to avoid their wrath.

Adored properly, deities were thought to have benefited humankind with gifts, favours, skills and luck. But there are many known tales of gods and goddesses teaching humankind just how wrathful they could be if not adored correctly.

One such tale is the ancient Egyptian story that Egyptologists call “The Destruction of Mankind”. In this story, the creator god Ra had grown tired of the ungrateful humankind who wished to rebel against him. He chose to send a goddess to teach his creation a lesson and, in one version of the story, he sends the goddess Hathor.

T.2014-440 Fragment of faience sistrum handle, in the form of the goddess Hathor. Excavated by John Garstang at Meroë, Sudan.

A loving cow

Hathor is easy recognisable among the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. She would often be depicted as having features of a cow, such as bull horns and cow ears. She might be depicted as a cow-headed woman, and sometimes she would even be depicted entirely in the form of a cow. Hathor would be one of the few women you could call a cow and not have to worry about her wrath! In fact, you would be historically and politically correct to do so, as she often took the form of the heavenly cow.

As a brief summary, Hathor can be thought of as serving as the goddess of the sky, love, women and fertility. She was a goddess of agriculture, fertility and childbirth, and was thought to bestow beautiful gifts upon children. She was associated with music, dance, drunkenness and, most of all, gratitude. In fact, the longer story of Hathor’s origin involves Hathor nearly ending all humans for their lack of just that. And therein lies what will invoke the wrath of the cow goddess…

The benevolent man-slayer?

For about 3000 years, the goddess Hathor was attested in ancient Egyptian writings and art. The state of Egypt went through changes during this longer time span, and so did their holy beings. Hathor was generally considered a benevolent goddess, and through a series of hymns, songs and tales about her, we can read of how she was considered the personification of kindness and love.

At least that’s how she came to be perceived in time – after initially being used as a weapon by the great sky god Ra to destroy humankind. Yes, the goddess synonymous with kindness and everything nice was once synonymous with Sekhmet – the goddess of war and everything vengeance!

In the ‘Destruction of Mankind’, humans had started to neglect to honour Ra, failing to provide gifts and offerings to the gods. In anger, Ra sent his ‘Eye’, in the form of Hathor, to rage havoc on them on earth. She ran through cities, killing everyone she came upon, ruining fields and destroying homes in a bloodthirsty fury.

The only thing that saved the humans was the intervention of the other gods, telling Ra that the “lesson” had been taught, and that there would soon be no more humans left if Hathor – as Sekhmet – wasn’t stopped. However, Sekhmet-Hathor could not be controlled.

Usually, Ra’s Eye would return to him once a job of raging havoc on somebody was done, but under Hathor it did not listen. Ra had to trick her, and so he used red wine, or beer with red ochre, to mimic blood. 7000 jars of this fake blood was poured over the marshes of Dendera and, in her thirst for blood, she drank every drop, passing out in a drunken stupor. When she woke up from her drunken state of sleep, she woke up as Hathor – the benevolent and gentle goddess once more.

E.4033 Egyptian beer jar from a grave at Hierakonpolis, dating to the late Predynastic Period – one of the 7000 used to get Hathor drunk?!

In Egyptian writings, we can read of how the goddess went from being like Sekhmet, a lion deity raging with bloodlust, and then becoming like Bastet, a feline goddess. The cow goddess went from being a mighty lion, to soft like a kitten.

Eternal gratitude, bald fan-boys, and milk

Hathor’s Sekhmet-rage was not due to being called a cow, but humanity sure seemed to learn from the lesson: Never loose respect for the gods (and maybe never dismiss or mess with an angry woman). Or was the new found respect and admiration due to Hathor’s new groove as a figure of benevolence? She would forever be respected for her powers, and would sometimes be named “Mistress of Fear”, and yet she would also be adored for her mildness that ensued after the destruction of humankind.

Following her mythical origin as a dangerous destroyer of men and women alike, she became the ultimate symbol of kindness, and humanity would show their adoration of her throughout the ancient Egyptian times. And perhaps even to this day?

Another epithet of Hathor was “The Lady of Drunkenness”, and the annual festival among the ancient Egyptians known as the Tekh Festival, or Festival of Drunkenness, celebrated how humans were alive partly thanks to alcohol. It was alcohol that knocked out the mighty cow deity trying to destroy humans, and they would drink to that! In temple scenes we can see how the ancient Egyptians would drink until they – much like Hathor, passed out.

E.5287 Fragment of object featuring Hathor, in the form of a woman with cows ears, being processed for photogrammetry.

One of the ultimate groups of fans of Hathor were “the balding men of Hathor”, a priesthood devoted to the goddess – balding from ageing. This semi-baldness of these Hathor-fans has been depicted in statues; with a high hairline similar to that of Hathor herself. It symbolised wisdom, maturity, and was also considered a symbol of eroticism, displaying divine-human physical change as one aged. The process of change with age was considered sacred, and the ever-changing states of a human lifespan was put on the map of things holy in Ancient Egypt – thanks to Hathor’s aesthetics and her fanbase.

Hathor was often invoked in love poetry, and she was thought to bring couples together romantically. In fact, she was a patroness of love, and was often called “the golden one”. Because of her position as a goddess of love, sex and reproduction, gifts given to her by the people would often be of a sexual nature. Humans would sometimes leave wooden phalluses as votive objects for her in her sanctuary at Deir el-Bahri, as a way of avoiding impotence, and to increase chances of producing lots of children. Normally, sending phallic-pics to women are not advised, it seems however, as if Hathor might be the one woman who would not frown upon having such a photo dedicated to her.

During the Festival of Drunkenness, the Egyptians would engage in sexual activities to further honour Hathor as goddess of love. Overall, participating in this festival or leaving somewhat obscene votive objects seems like a good way to gain the favour – or stay on the good side – of the goddess known for both her generous love-related gifts as well as her raging wrath!

E.7027 Fragment of ivory clapper, featuring the face of Hathor.

A more family-friendly way of showing your gratitude towards Hathor might be the consumption and praise of milk. Depictions of Hathor show her udders “flowing with milk”, praising not only Hathor and her association with mothers and children, but also praising milk and its benefits for humans. The seven Hathors – minor goddesses considered aspects of Hathor – sang The Hymn of the Seven Hathors, which gave praise to the goddess:

We play the tambourine for your ka,
We dance for your majesty
We exalt you
To the height of heaven.
You are the Mistress of Sekhem,
the menat and the sistrum
The Mistress of Music
For whose ka one lays.

We praise your majesty every day
From dusk until the Earth grows light,
We rejoice in your countenance,
O Mistress of Dendera.
We praise you with song.

Interestingly, this song is quite similar to the song we sing before breakfast as children in Norway. Our song praises the cow and the milk it provide for us. The similarity as seen in the first verse, is striking:

My cow, I thank you,
Delicious milk you give to me,
Every day I to my bread –
Drink your milk so sweet.

…

(Kua mi, jeg takker deg,
Deilig melk du gir til meg.
Hver en dag jeg til mitt brød –
Drikker melka di så søt.)

If the ancient Egyptians were right in their beliefs, I choose to believe that Hathor is pleased about how humans are giving praise to the cow through songs to this day. Personally, I will forever think of Hathor when I hear children sing the Norwegian breakfast song, which might place me in Hathor’s favour!

So keep drinking milk, and you might get a better dating karma, family life, or even get accepted to join the brotherhood of “the bald ones of Hathor”. In the very least, you might be safe from invoking the wrath of Hathor. If you’re lactose-intolerant – like me – you might want to try chanting the Hymn of the Seven Hathors, or buy Hathor a pint of beer (or 7000 jars) as she was always quite the party animal…

Blog credit: Marie Lindseth, Egyptology student at the University of Liverpool, Garstang Museum volunteer, and member of the Photogrammetry Team.

Check out more 3D models of objects in the Garstang Museum!

E.66 Engaged statue of the goddess Hathor, excavated by Garstang in Esna, Egypt.

A bust, some tiles and the Goddess Hathor…

Working closely with objects from the Ancient World is a real privilege. You often find yourself imagining who might have worn a set of beads, or who sat on the chair with lion feet. What was the world like? And what were these objects witness to? With so many amazing objects in our collection it’s often difficult to pick a favourite. However, while we have been away from our collection and have had time to reflect, we have asked our volunteers just that!

Museum volunteer, Lauren Darshan

The sculptured head of Hathor is my favourite object in the museum! Garstang discovered it while excavating at the site of Esna. The level of detail and craftsmanship is striking; I always find myself noticing something new when I walk past. The 3D rendering of the cult image makes it very life-like and her name can be read next her face, adjacent to the plumed headdress she wears. There is a sun disk between the feathers which symbolises her connection to the solar god Ra.

There are even remnants of paint on the object – especially on the cartouche next to her cheek. However, what really makes this my favourite object is that there are traces of gold leaf; she was painted this way to portray her divinity, as gold was believed to be the skin of the gods. You can only imagine how wonderful this piece would have looked when it was first sculpted and painted thousands of years ago. And yet it’s incredible to me that, despite some damage, it has and still continues to look out across time.

Museum volunteer, Juliet Spedding

Amongst the many items on display at the Garstang Museum are six unassuming objects (E.100-105).  They are green rectangular-shaped tiles. Visually they don’t compare to some of the other objects, they don’t attract the same attention from the public as a mummy does.  Yet it is what they are made of, their age, and the place that they were initially displayed that makes them special.

These objects are faience tiles from the pyramid complex of Djoser who was pharaoh during Egypt’s 3rd Dynasty (c.2667-2648 BCE).  Djoser was the first pharaoh to have a pyramid built for him – known today as the Step Pyramid due to its unique stepped appearance.  Pyramids did not stand in isolation and had whole complexes around them. It is from part of this complex that these faience tiles come.

Faience was the first man-made non-clay ceramic. Even by Djoser’s time faience was nothing new, as it is believed to had been around since the Badarian Culture (c.5500-4000 BCE).  To create faience requires a control and understanding of chemistry, as well as a knowledge of how to use the ingredients to produce something that will not fall apart.  With these tiles they succeeded, as they have survived for over 4,000 years! Even the most unassuming looking objects can unlock insights into ancient cultures and technologies.

 

Museum volunteer, Mark Hayward

My favourite object is probably not what you might think. Given my PhD is on soul-houses and offering-trays it would be natural to assume that one of the examples held by the Garstang museum would my favourite but, while I do like them a great deal, they are not. My favourite object isn’t even on display, at least not in the usual sense.

On first entering the museum the visitor is faced with a head. A bust. A rather grand bust that has caused more than a few first-time visitors to jump when they catch sight of it. The model for the bust was of course our museum’s namesake, Professor John Garstang. Born in Blackburn and a graduate of Oxford University, John Garstang founded the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology in 1904 and was the professor of Archaeology at the University of Liverpool between 1907 and 1941.

So, why do I like the bust so much? Well, the museum has a number of pictures on display of Professor Garstang at work in Egypt. The photographs show a young, rather roguish man (another story entirely) standing in front of tombs, grinning at the camera. The bust however shows a very different sort of character. A much older, more distinguished, and, dare I say, more serious man greets each visitor on entry, but I like to think that behind the sober gaze of the older Professor, the more playful and animated young archaeologist is still there grinning at us too!

Communicating with the dead in ancient Egypt – offering trays and soul houses

What is this object?

E.6914

Visitors to the museum will know that it is an offering-tray.

And what about this?

E.6355

This is a soul-house, a close cousin to the offering-tray. Both objects were associated with ancient Egyptian burials. They are quite common in museums, and offering-trays in particular pop-up in all sorts of places. Museums throughout the North West, such as Bolton, Macclesfield and the Atkinson Museum in Southport, have a few of them. Liverpool World Museum has a number of them and Manchester Museum has one of the biggest collections of offering-trays and soul-houses in the world.

What are they though? What were these strange objects used for?

First, a bit of background. Offering-trays and soul-houses have mainly been found in Middle Egypt (roughly between Cairo in the north and Luxor in the south) with the majority coming from sites like Asyut, Beni Hasan and Deir Rifeh. Dating from the Middle Kingdom (approximately 2050 to 1700 BC), they differed from most objects associated with burials in that they were not buried inside the tomb with the deceased but were instead left outside, so that they could be used by the living.

Entrances to shaft tombs at Beni Hasan – these graves had no superstructures, unlike the elaborate rock-cut chapels of the governors of the region, cut into the cliffs above these tombs. Photograph by Gina Criscenzo-Laycock.

The tombs where these objects have been found however are not the grand affairs that we normally associate with Egyptian nobles and kings. Instead these tombs are for the less well off. Those who could not afford to bury their family members in tombs with elaborately decorated scenes or the beautifully made wooden models that also come from this period. Instead, offering-trays and soul-houses were made from the same simple clays as the familiar pottery used by the Egyptians in their day-to-day lives. They were then placed on top of the tomb shaft once it had been sealed in order to allow visitors to the tomb to leave their offerings.

So, how were these offerings left? Look at the two objects. What do they have in common? First they both have surrounding walls with a lip or run-off at the front. Look closer, and you will see that both objects also have what look like channels running from small depressions or tanks towards the lip. These are to allow liquids, presumably water, to be poured into the depressions that will then flow along the channels, over the lip and on to the earth that seals the tomb.

See the small lumps or mounds? These represent offerings of bread. What about those odd shapes that look a bit like moustaches then? These represent offerings of meat. Indeed, model representations of most of the objects that can be seen depicted on the tables of Egyptian nobility have also been found on offering-trays and soul-houses.

E.506 (1) – detail from the Book of the Dead of Bakhenkhons, featuring a heavily laden offering table.

In use for somewhere between four and five hundred years, these little known objects are likely to have played an important part in providing the living with a way of staying in contact with their deceased relatives.

Want to learn more about these objects? Visit the Garstang museum (open every Wednesday between 10am and 4pm)* where we have a fine collection of objects from the Middle Kingdom. Also, keep an eye out whenever you are visiting a local museum, you never know where these objects might turn up!

 

*When we’re not all in lock-down!

 

Blog credit: Mark Hayward, PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool, and Garstang Museum volunteer.

Papyrus Westcar

Continuing the theme of Egyptian literature, today we’re going to be talking about another ‘classic’ Egyptian story; the Tale of Khufu and the Magicians, also known as Papyrus Westcar.

The Westcar Papyrus (P. Berlin 3033) was (supposedly) found by Henry Westcar, a British antiquarian, in 1823-4. In 1838-9 it was (supposedly) bequeathed to Karl Lepsius, but was found in his attic after his death; there’s a deal of speculation about whether Lepsius did ‘inherit’ the papyrus, or whether it was stolen! The papyrus was viewed as a curiosity, until it was translated into German by Adolf Erman in 1890; since then, it has been re-translated numerous times.

The story is quite an unusual one, consisting of five vignettes relating to the sorcerous efforts of various priests and magicians. Each tale (save the last) is told in the court of King Khufu, the famous 4th Dynasty pharaoh and builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza, though the composition of the text itself has been placed between the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period.  The first of the stories is almost entirely missing, but the others survive.

The First Story

The first story is missing entirely, save for the ending, where Khufu orders that offerings be made to the kings featured in the story. The conclusion mentions King Djoser, and may have had something to do with his famous Step Pyramid (and Imhotep, its famous architect!).

The Second Story

The first complete vignette begins when Prince Khafre stands up to speak and tells of a biayt – a ‘wonder’ – that happened in the time of King Nebka. Nebka had gone to the temple of Ptah to perform rites therein, accompanied by his chief lector-priest, Weba-iner, and the lector-priest’s wife. The lady meets a charming commoner, and the two decide to spend a pleasant day drinking in a nearby pavilion…and their ‘pleasant day’ doesn’t end until the sun has set!

Weba-iner finds out about this, and decides to exact his revenge with magic. He crafts a wax model crocodile, and passes it to the caretaker, instructing him to wait until the commoner goes for his daily swim, and then throw the model crocodile into the water.

Meanwhile, Weba-iner’s wife sends to have the pavilion made ready again, and spends another ‘pleasant day’ with the commoner. After the sun sets, the commoner goes for his evening swim…and the caretaker throws the crocodile into the lake! When it touches the water, the crocodile springs to life, becoming a real crocodile, seven cubits long. It snaps its jaws around the commoner and drags him to the bottom of the lake!

Chuffed with his work, the lector-priest brings Nebka to the lake to see the magical crocodile. He summons it back, and it brings the commoner along for the ride. The lector-priest transforms the crocodile back into a wax figure, and explains his woes to Nebka. Outraged, the king declares that the crocodile can drag the commoner back to the bottom of the lake, while the adulterous wife of Weba-iner is burned alive.

Then, everyone celebrates how cool the magical crocodile was. Priorities.

The Third Story

After declaring that offerings be made to Nebka and his lector-priest, Khufu is ready for another tale. This time, Baufre has the floor, ready to tell a salacious story of a bored king, a boating accident, and fishnet stockings.

King Snofru is bored. So bored, in fact, that he sends for his chief lector-priest, Djadjaemankh, and complains that he has been through every room of the palace looking for something to do and found nothing. The lector-priest has an idea on how to alleviate his King’s ennui…

Djadjaemankh counsels Snofru to visit his palace lake, and sail around on it with a ship manned entirely by beautiful women. The king sends off for twenty ebony oars, plated with gold, with handles of special wood plated in electrum (why not?), as well as twenty beautiful, virginal women, with braided hair and large breasts. He also asks for twenty nets, and for the women to remove their clothes and replace them with the nets.

This may be the first historical reference to fishnet stockings in the world.

The women row back and forth, and Snofru feels very pleased with himself, but alas! He made a mistake asking for women with braided hair. The lead stroke gets entangled in her braids, and her turquoise fish-pendant falls into the water! Distraught, she stops rowing, which infuriates Snofru. He is, after all, a king, so he can just get her another pendant. Alas, she doesn’t want another pendant, she wants hers back. She gets a little bit sassy, telling Snofru, “I prefer my own to its substitute”. Ouch.

Growing rather grumpy due to this turn of events, Snofru sends for Djadjaemankh. The lector-priest arrives, and Snofru complains that he was having a rather wonderful time, but then this fish-pendant got lost and ruined everything. Without a worry, Djadjaemankh casts a magic spell, folding the waters of the lake, and revealing the lake bed. He pops over to the newly-revealed lake bed, retrieves the pendant, and then casts a spell to return the water to normal.

Cheered up once more, Snofru proceeds to spend the day partying with the entire palace, and making joyful offerings to his favourite lector-priest.

The Fourth Story

After another bout of offerings, this time dedicated to Snofru and Djadjaemankh, Khufu is amazed…but his son, Prince Hardedef, is not. Hardedef complains that all of these stories take place in the past, where one cannot easily discern truth from falsehood. Instead, Hardedef can tell Khufu of a man who still lives, and who can perform miracles! A commoner, named Djedi, who is 110 years old; he eats five hundred loaves of bread and a shoulder of beef, and drinks one hundred jars of beer every day. He can mend a severed head, make a lion follow behind him with its leash on the ground, and even knows the number of chambers in the sanctuary of Thoth!

Image of Thoth, from the Book of the Dead (2016 Book of the Dead).

Now, Khufu is intrigued. He himself had been seeking the chambers of the Thoth sanctuary, in order to make something like it for himself…so he commands that Hardedef bring Djedi to him, so he can be questioned! Hardedef sets off for Djed-Snofru by boat, and the prince is borne to Djedi upon an ebony palanquin, with poles of special wood, plated in gold (of course).

Hardedef finds Djedi, with servants anointing his head and rubbing his feet. After buttering him up, Hardedef summons Djedi to meet with Khufu, and the two return to the river bank, board ships, and head back to the royal residence. Djedi is announced to Khufu, who excitedly asks if it is true – can Djedi really mend a severed head? Djedi answers that he can, and Khufu sends for a prisoner to be brought so Djedi can prove it.

Djedi refuses to work his magic on a human, asking instead for a goose; Khufu agrees, and a goose is brought before Djedi and beheaded. The head is placed on one side of the chamber and the body on another, and Djedi works his magic – causing the body of the goose to waddle over to its head and reattach it. Khufu sends for another goose, and Djedi does the same; he then sends for a bull, and once again, it stands up and walks – with its leash on the ground (hang on, I thought Hardedef said it was a lion who would walk with his leash on the ground – oh well, I suppose Khufu wasn’t paying attention…).

E.608– Faience lion figurine.

Khufu then brings out the big question – does Djedi know the number of the secret chambers in the sanctuary of Thoth? Djedi says he doesn’t know the number – but he does know where it is kept, in a hidden casket at Heliopolis. Khufu asks him to bring the casket, but Djedi says it is not him who will bring it – it would be brought by the eldest of three children, currently in the womb of the woman Reddjedet.

“Who is she?” Khufu asks, and Djedi replies, telling him that she is the wife of a priest of Re, pregnant with his three children. These children would ascend to the highest offices of the land – a fact that Khufu is not entirely happy about. Khufu agrees to visit the woman, and the temple of Re, but the sandbanks of the canal will be cut off when she is due to give birth – Djedi assures him that he will cause water to rise there.

And then there are more offerings, of course.

The Fifth Story

The fifth vignette continues immediately, Reddjedet struggling with a difficult labour. Seeing this, Re sends for the gods Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heket, and Khnum, sending them to deliver these three children – who are prophesied to become the next royal dynasty. The gods disguise themselves as musicians – Khnum carries the bags – and go to visit Reddjedet.

The priest, Reweser, leads them to Reddjedet, and the gods assist with her birth. Isis commands the baby Userkaf to behave himself, and he is born into her arms with ease. After washing the child, Meskhenet and Khnum bless him.

Then, Isis brings forth Sahure, and again, he is washed and blessed by the other gods. Finally, she hastens the birth of Kakai, who is washed and blessed like the others. Having delivered the three children, the gods head out to inform Reweser, who provides them with a tip for their efforts – a sack of grain.

E.9381 – Wooden model of Nephthys.

Isis realises that they had not yet provided a sufficiently wondrous wonder, and so the gods create three royal crowns, placing them in the sack. They summon a storm, and return to the house, asking if they can leave the grain so it will not get wet in the rain.

Later, the household are throwing a celebratory party, but there is no grain to brew beer – save for the grain left by the ‘musicians’. Reweser decides to use this grain and sends the maid to fetch it, thinking he will compensate them when they return. When the maid enters the room, she hears the sounds of celebration – dancing, singing, and music – without any obvious source. Reddjedet heads down to the room, puts her ears to the grain sack and discovers the sound is coming from inside the sack!

She realises that her sons will be kings, and is overjoyed – but fearful. Reddjedet hides the sack, locking it away in her room, and tells Reweser, who is equally joyous, and they have a wonderful party.

A few days later, Reweser has a quarrel with the maid, ordering her to be beaten as punishment, and she decides to seek her revenge by telling Khufu of the new kings. She finds her brother (or uncle, depending on the translation), and tells him of her plan, but he is appalled – and beats her with flax. Distraught, the maid rushes to the riverbank to get a drink of water and is snatched away by a crocodile (presumably not the same one from the previous story, but who knows?).

Her brother (or uncle) heads to tell Reddjedet, who is terrified that Khufu will now know about her children. He informs her of the maid’s death by crocodile…

…and the story ends there!

The Significance of Westcar

These stories appear to teach entertaining moral lessons – though some are perhaps lost in translation, and others just make very little sense to our modern sensibilities! Egyptologists have argued that these stories may have been drawn from the folklore of the common people of ancient Egypt, instead of deriving from the compositions of the royal court.

The tale was certainly written much later than it is set, and this provides the opportunity for reflection; the text itself acknowledges its fictional nature, with Hardedef remarking that it is hard to discern fact from fiction in stories from the past. Moreover, the text uses this temporal distance to create characters out of the royal figures it discusses; rather than distant, impersonal pharaohs, they are each portrayed almost as caricatures. Nebka is strict, lawful, and judgemental. Snofru is bored, cantankerous…and a little perverted! Meanwhile, Khufu is harsh, cruel even, willing to sacrifice a man’s life to see a magic trick and concerned that his dynasty will be replaced.

Is the ending of the story complete? It seems a little abrupt, but studies by Egyptologists Verena Lepper and Mirian Lichtheim both indicate that this is, indeed, how the story was supposed to end. The crocodile sequence is repeated – almost like a refrain – and in any case, Lepper argues, there was enough room on the papyrus to add more if there was any more to add.

By Christopher Bebbington.

The Destruction of Humanity

We are fortunate to have many surviving pieces of Egyptian literature and religious writings, allowing us to translate, read, and share stories that were originally composed in the ancient past. We have previously looked at the story of Osiris and Isis, one of the most famous tales from ancient Egypt. Today, we’re going to be looking at a very different tale, however – one known amongst Egyptologists by the rather unusual name, “the Myth of the Heavenly Cow”.

The Myth of the Heavenly Cow, telling the tale of the near-destruction of humanity, was first discovered in the outermost of the four gilded shrines of Tutankhamun, but in incomplete form. Three completed versions of the text were found, however, in the tombs of Seti I, Ramesses I, and Ramesses II. The text forms part of a corpus of royal funerary compositions dating to the New Kingdom, but was written in Middle Egyptian (the seminal form of the classical Egyptian language), and the ideas within it may date back as far as the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom.

E.507(2) – A section of the amduat of the 21st Dynasty songstress of Amun, Tja-ty. The amduat is another royal funerary composition; unlike the Myth of the Heavenly Cow, the amduat is concerned with the topography and inhabitants of the Egyptian underworld.

The Rebellion of Man

The story begins in the mythical past, at the dawn of Egyptian history when the land was ruled by the sun god, Re, ‘the god who created himself’. The sun god had reached old age, and his mortal subjects had conspired against him, rebelling against his rule. Re summoned his council in secret – the gods Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nun, and the primordial ‘mothers and fathers’ who were with him before the world was created. He also summoned his ‘Eye’, a fiery manifestation of his divine power, and retreated with his council to discuss what should be done about the rebellious hearts of men.

The council of gods suggested that Horus should ‘let [his] Eye go’, sending her down in the form of the goddess Hathor, to wreak vengeance on the disobedient humans below. With her power, she could smite the evildoers, preventing them from rebelling against the rule of the sun god.

E.9186 – A wadjet-eye amulet. Eyes could symbolise many things in ancient Egypt; while the wadjet is a symbol of magical protection, the powerful Eye of Re instead symbolised divine vengeance.

The Descent of the Eye

The story continues with Hathor returning triumphant; not only did she overpower mankind, but it pleased her! As Re celebrated his unopposed rule, Hathor took the form of the vengeful lion-headed goddess Sekhmet, to wade in the blood of the humans she had massacred throughout Egypt.

E.9011 – an amulet depicting the mighty goddess, Sekhmet.

At this point, Re realised that his retribution was perhaps a little disproportionate. With Sakhmet spilling the blood of people across Egypt, he sent for swift messengers – messengers who could ‘rush like the shadow of a body’ – and concocted a plan to calm the raging Eye.

The Drunken Goddess

Re sent his messengers to Elephantine, to bring him red ochre in vast quantities. When the messengers returned, he sent word that the ochre should be ground up to make red pigment, while servants were to grind barley and make beer. The pigment was mixed with the beer, creating a mix that looked like human blood; in total, 7 000 jars were made for Sekhmet.

Vowing to protect mankind against the vengeful goddess, Re had the beer brought to the fields that Sekhmet would target next, and during the night, the beer was poured over the fields, flooding them. When the goddess arrived that morning, she found the fields already full of ‘blood’, and stopped to sate her thirst on it. With the Eye drunk – 7 000  jars drunk! – she decided to leave mankind alone, returning to the other gods.

The Aftermath

In the aftermath of the tale, Re leaves the earthly world behind forever, ascending to the heavens. The sky was created in the form of the Heavenly Cow, a manifestation of the goddess Nut, and the other gods joined him, separating themselves from the world of mortals. In future generations, the pharaoh would be a human – one who acted as an intermediary between the mortal world and the realm of the gods.

E.66 – cult statue of Hathor in her bovine form.

The Ancient Egyptian World and the Concept of Evil

The Myth of the Heavenly Cow elucidates the role of the pharaoh – a semi-divine emissary who ruled the world on behalf of the gods, maintaining ma’at (balance) and stopping isfet (chaos), and ensuring the gods were properly worshipped. At the end of the tenure of the pharaoh, they would take their place in the gods’ realm, ascending to the heavens and integrating themselves in the divine cosmos.

The tale also raises issues of evil in the world – even in the mythical, perfect times, humanity was imperfect and chose to rebel against the rule of the sun god. The existence of evil is not due to the actions of the creator god, but instead arises from the selfish interests of humanity; Re must slaughter the very people he created in order to stop this evil.

When the gods choose to leave, separating themselves from humanity, it creates three realms – the divine realm, the duat (the underworld), and the mortal world. It is this mortal world where evil can be found; it is the mortal world that is forever caught in the perilous struggle against the ensuing forces of chaos, and where the pharaoh must work to bring about order and divine perfection.

By Christopher Bebbington.