The Ritual of the Hours of the Day on the inner vault of the qrsw-coffin of Nes(pa)qashuty from Deir el-Bahari

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erhart Graefe
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
Late Period ◽  
The Hours ◽  
Funerary Texts ◽  
The Temple

In 1932–1933, a shaft tomb with several funerary ensembles of a family of Late Period priests of Montu was found on the Upper Terrace of the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Among them was the Qrsw-coffin of Nes(pa)qashuty, which is the first coffin to date containing a version of the Rituals of the Hours of the Day and the Night with excerpts from the daily hymns to the sun-god on the inner vault of the lid. The texts for the Ritual of the Hours of the Day, written in cursive hieroglyphs, are here represented as standard hieroglyphs, with destroyed or illegible parts supplemented, followed by comments and translations. The coffin contains three hymns unknown from other sources. Finally, there are some remarks on the transmission of this important text in general and on the series of private funerary texts divided into 24 hours and representing their corresponding deities.

scholarly journals Quelques observations sur l’écriture rétrograde dans les tombes thébaines de l’époque tardive

2018 ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Silvia Einaudi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Opposite Direction ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Late Period ◽  
Funerary Texts ◽  
Egyptian History

The “retrograde” writing is characterised by an inversion in the reading sequence of the hieroglyphs, which—either in columns or in lines—are to be read in the “opposite direction”, counter to what we would expect from the signs’ direction. Throughout Egyptian history, this writing system was used to inscribe funerary texts on tomb walls and certain objects of the funerary equipment (sarcophagi, stelae, papyri). Several theories, involving technical or theological issues, have been advanced to explain the use of retrograde writing. During the Late Period, this system was widely used in the monumental tombs of the Asasif necropolis in Thebes. The analysis conducted on the decorative programme of these rock-cut tombs shows that the use of retrograde writing in this context was functional. It was intended to express in a visual manner the theological conception of the beyond, where the deceased would cross the Duat before going forth by day following the sun god.

A Pleasing Odour for Yahweh

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Anne Katrine De Hemmer Gudme
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The West ◽  
Sense Of Smell ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Crucial Part

This article investigates the importance of smell in the sacrificial cults of the ancient Mediterranean, using the Yahweh temple on Mount Gerizim and the Hebrew Bible as a case-study. The material shows that smell was an important factor in delineating sacred space in the ancient world and that the sense of smell was a crucial part of the conceptualization of the meeting between the human and the divine.  In the Hebrew Bible, the temple cult is pervaded by smell. There is the sacred oil laced with spices and aromatics with which the sanctuary and the priests are anointed. There is the fragrant and luxurious incense, which is burnt every day in front of Yahweh and finally there are the sacrifices and offerings that are burnt on the altar as ‘gifts of fire’ and as ‘pleasing odors’ to Yahweh. The gifts that are given to Yahweh are explicitly described as pleasing to the deity’s sense of smell. On Mount Gerizim, which is close to present-day Nablus on the west bank, there once stood a temple dedicated to the god Yahweh, whom we also know from the Hebrew Bible. The temple was in use from the Persian to the Hellenistic period (ca. 450 – 110 BCE) and during this time thousands of animals (mostly goats, sheep, pigeons and cows) were slaughtered and burnt on the altar as gifts to Yahweh. The worshippers who came to the sanctuary – and we know some of them by name because they left inscriptions commemorating their visit to the temple – would have experienced an overwhelming combination of smells: the smell of spicy herbs baked by the sun that is carried by the wind, the smell of humans standing close together and the smell of animals, of dung and blood, and behind it all as a backdrop of scent the constant smell of the sacrificial smoke that rises to the sky.

Art. VII.—Some Early Babylonian Contract-Tablets or Legal Documents II

1899 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-120
Author(s):  
Theophilus G. Pinches
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
The Temple

Nûr-îli-šu has built for his god the temple of Lugala and Šullat. One šar (is the measure of) the temple of his god—he has dedicated it for his life. Pî-ša-Šamaš is the priest of the temple. Nûr-îli-šu shall not make a claim against the priesthood (i.e., demand the restitution of the property he has given). The curse of the Sun-god and Suma-îla (shall be upon him) who brings an action.

INTRODUCTION

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Third Century ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Urban Archaeology ◽  
The Moon ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Temple

This is the twenty-fifth Special Section published in Ancient Mesoamerica, and therefore it represents something of a milestone in the history of the journal. The goal has been to present in each special section a collection of related papers from a single project or region or on a selected topic to provide readers a tightly integrated summary of current research and interpretations. Certainly one of the most compelling and provocative special sections we have published was “Urban Archaeology at Teotihuacan” which appeared in vol. 2, no. 1 (1991). This collection of papers featured two stunning articles on the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, then often referred to as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. Constructed in the early third century A.D., the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, along with the Sun Pyramid and the Moon Pyramid, was one of the three most powerful monuments in the sacred urban landscape of Teotihuacan. Rubén Cabrera Castro, Saburo Sugiyama, and George L. Cowgill (1991) reported on excavations in the 1980s of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid and the investigation of more than 137 sacrificial burials, including more than 70 males identified as soldiers because of associated offerings, discovered at the base of and underneath the pyramid. In the second article, Alfredo López Austin, Leonardo López Luján, and Saburo Sugiyama (1991) presented their brilliant iconographic analysis of the sculptural facades of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, arguing that the monumental structure was dedicated to the myth of the origin of time and calendric succession, a tangible cosmogonic proclamation that Teotihuacan was “the place where time began.”

scholarly journals HÖLDERLIN WOULD EXPLAIN: THE POETICAL THINKING OF FRIEDRICH HÖLDERLIN AND ITS RECEPTION BY BORIS POPLAVSKY

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 194-210
Author(s):  
Dmitry Victorovich Tokarev ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
Late Period ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The City ◽  
Friedrich Hölderlin

The article focuses on the two notions recurrent in Boris Poplavsky’s late-period oeuvre, namely the «Paradise and Kingdom of friends» and the «Republic of the Sun». These are linked to Friedrich Hölderlin’s poetical philosophy, which solicited vivid interest among the German and French poets of the 1910–1930s. It is assumed that the semantic aura of the image of the fl ag, one of the most frequent in Poplavsky, might have been formed in a «dialogue» with Hölderlin’s key poem Hälfte des Lebens. Besides, the poem Quietly the City Rustles, which holds a place of prominence in his posthumous collection Snowy Hour (1936), seems to be an imitation of the fi rst stanza of Hölderlin’s famous elegy Brot und Wein.

scholarly journals New discoveries on astronomical orientation of Inca site in Ollantaytambo, Peru

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Karolína Hanzalová ◽  
Jaroslav Klokočník ◽  
Jan Kostelecký
Keyword(s):  
Digital Elevation Model ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Observation Point ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Winter Solstice ◽  
Machu Picchu ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Elevation Model ◽  
The Temple

<p>This paper deals with astronomical orientation of Incas objects in Ollantaytambo, which is located about 35 km southeast from Machu Picchu, about 40 km northwest from Cusco, and lies in the Urubamba valley. Everybody writing about Ollantaytambo, shoud read Protzen. (1)  He devoted his monograph to description and interpretation of that locality. Book of Salazar and Salazar (2) deals, among others, with the orientation of objects in Ollantaytambo with respect to the cardinal direction. Zawaski and Malville (3) documented astronomical context of major monuments of nine sites in Peru, including Ollantaytambo. We tested astronomical orientation in these places and confirm or disprove hypothesis about purpose of Incas objects. For assessment orientation of objects we used our measurements and also satellite images on Google Earth and digital elevation model from ASTER. The satellite images were used to estimate the astronomical-solar-solstice orientation, together with terrestrial images from Salazar and Salazar (2). The digital elevation model is useful in the mountains, where we need the actual horizon for a calculation of sunset and sunrise on specific days (solstices), which were for Incas people very important. We tested which astronomical phenomenon is connected with objects in Ollantaytambo. First, we focused on Temple of the Sun, also known the Wall of six monoliths.  We tested winter solstice sunrise and the rides of the Pleiades for the epochs 2000, 1500 and 1000 A.D. According with our results the Temple isn´t connected neither with winter solstice sunrise nor with the Pleiades. Then we tested also winter solstice sunset. We tried to use the line from an observation point near ruins of the Temple of Sun, to west-north, in direction to sunset. The astronomical azimuth from this point was about 5° less then we need. From this results we found, that is possible to find another observation point. By Salazar and Salazar (2) we found observation point at the corner (east rectangle) of the pyramid by <em>Pacaritanpu,</em> down by the riverside. There is a line connecting the east rectangular “platform” at the river, going along the Inca road up to vicinity of the Temple of the Sun and then in the direction to the Inca face. Using a digital elevation model we found the astronomical azimuth, which is needed for confirm astronomical orientation of the Temple. So, finally we are able to demonstrate a possibility of the solar-solstice orientation in Ollantaytambo.</p>

From E-Group to Funerary Pyramid: Mortuary Cults and Ancestor Veneration in the Maya Centre of Nakum, Petén, Guatemala

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarosław Źrałka ◽  
Wiesław Koszkul ◽  
Bernard Hermes ◽  
Juan Luis Velásquez ◽  
Varinia Matute ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Structure ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Ancestor Veneration ◽  
Solar Observations ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
The Temple

Recent investigations at the Maya centre of Nakum (in Guatemala) enabled the study of the evolution of an interesting complex of buildings that started as the so-called E-Group, built during the Preclassic period (c. 600–300 bc). It was used for solar observations and rituals commemorating agricultural and calendrical cycles. During the Classic period (ad 250–800), the major building of the complex (Structure X) was converted into a large pyramidal temple where several burials, including at least one royal tomb, were placed. We were also able to document evidence of mortuary cults conducted by the Maya in the temple building situated above the burials. The architectural conversion documented in Structure X may reflect important religious and social changes: a transformation from the place where the Sun was observed and worshipped to the place where deceased and deified kings were apotheosized as the Sun Deity during the Classic. Thus the Maya transformed Structure X into one of the most sacred loci at Nakum by imbuing it with a complex solar and underworld symbolism and associating it with the cult of deified ancestors.

The Planets in Ancient Egypt

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Friedrich Quack
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Ancient Egypt ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Maximum Power ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Late Period ◽  
Religious Texts ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Religious Associations ◽  
Night Sky

The five visible planets are certainly attested to in Egyptian sources from about 2000 bce. The three outer ones are religiously connected with the falcon-headed god Horus, Venus with his father Osiris, and Mercury with Seth, the brother and murderer of Osiris. Clear attestations of the planets are largely limited to decoration programs covering the whole night sky. There are a number of passages in religious texts where planets may be mentioned, but many of them are uncertain because the names given to the planets are for most of them not specific enough to exclude other interpretations. There may have been a few treatises giving a more detailed religious interpretation of the planets and their behavior, but they are badly preserved and hardly understandable in the details. In the Late Period, probably under Mesopotamian influence, the sequence of the planets as well as their religious associations could change; at least one source links Saturn with the Sun god, Mars with Miysis, Mercury with Thot, Venus with Horus, son of Isis, and Jupiter with Amun, arranging the planets with those considered negative in astrology first, separated from the positive ones by the vacillating Mercury. Late monuments depicting the zodiac place the planets in positions which are considered important in astrology, especially the houses or the place of maximum power (hypsoma; i.e., “exaltation”). Probably under Babylonian influence, in the Greco-Roman Period mathematical models for calculating the positions and phases of the planets arose. These were used for calculating horoscopes, of which a number in demotic Egyptian are attested. There are also astrological treatises (most still unpublished) in the Egyptian language which indicate the relevance of planets for forecasts, especially for the fate of individuals born under a certain constellation, but also for events important for the king and the country in general; they could be relevant also for enterprises begun at a certain date. There is some reception of supposedly or actually specific Egyptian planet sequences, names and religious associations in Greek sources.

scholarly journals VII. Some additional notes on the orientation of greek temples; being the result of a journey to greece and sicily in April and May, 1900

1901 ◽  
Vol 196 (274-286) ◽  
pp. 389-395
Keyword(s):  
Direct Observation ◽  
Orientation Angle ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Complete Clearance ◽  
The Temple

A journey to Greece and Sicily in the spring of last year enabled me to obtain a few more examples of the orientation of Greek temples, and to make a correction in the case of one of those previously published. Delphi. At Delphi the complete clearance of the site of the Temple of Apollo allowed of the measures of the existing foundations being taken by direct observation, and I found the orientation angle to be 227° 8'; that is, east amplitude + 42° 52'. I also examined more particularly the openings between the mountains which would be available for the sunrise. Of these there are two, one with amplitude — 7° 42' E. has the altitude above the temple floor of 3° 8', reduced as respects the sun by refrac­tion to 2° 49'. The other at amplitude — 23° 16' E. with altitude 2° 6', reduced to 1° 40'.

The tombs of Asasif: archaeological exploration in the 2013/2014 season

2016 ◽  
Vol XXIV (1) ◽  
pp. 239-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patryk Chudzik
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Late Period ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The University ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Third Intermediate Period

In the 2013/2014 season, a Polish team from the University of Wrocław started work in the northern part of the Asasif necropolis, near the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari. An archaeological survey was carried out on the Asasif slope. Cleaning work and documentation were undertaken of the architecture of four private tombs: MMA 509/TT 312, MMA 512, MMA 513/TT 314 and MMA 514, as well as the archaeological finds thereof. The rock-cut tombs belong to a Middle Kingdom necropolis and were all reused in later times, especially in the Third Intermediate Period and Late Period.

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