Detail of Figures
Detail of Figures
A hypocephalus is
a small round disk-shaped object generally made of stuccoed
linen, but also of papyrus, bronze, gold, wood, or clay, which ancient
Egyptians from the Late Period on placed it under the heads of their dead.
This odd disk, covered with strange images and texts, is known
as "Hypocephalus," which is a Greek word for "That which is below the head," in
reference to the object's funerary function. This unusual religious pillow enabled the deceased to
identify himself to the sun god by light it created.
It was believed to magically protect the deceased, cause the head and body to be enveloped in light and warmth, making
the deceased divine. It replaced the earlier cow-amulet.
The incantation
on the disk, featuring mysterious forms of the creator god, provided the deceased with protection in the shadows of the afterlife. It was often inscribed with chapter 162 of the 'Book of the Dead which is the chapter of
givin warmthunder the head of the glorified one.
The current study was undertaken to spot light on the etymology of the word hypocephalus. To shed light on the symbolism
of the hypocephalus amulet. To
focus on
the place of putting Hypocephaus in the tomb. To
explain the
inscriptions
depicted on both sides of the Hypocephalus. To describe the scenes
carved on Hypocephalus.
The preliminary resulted revealed that the Hypocephalus, literally 'that which is below the head', was placed between the head of the mummy
and the funerary headrest. The earliest examples appeared in the Late Period, around 664
BC. They were simply
inscribed pieces of papyrus, mounted on cartonnage disks.
By
the Ptolemaic
period (332-30 BC), they were made of linen stiffened with
plaster, decorated with vignettes. The hieroglyphic inscription runs around the
circumference of the disk.
The term
hypocephalus refers
to a piece
of Late Period
and Ptolemaic funerary
equipment. It is specifically, an amuletic disk, made of cartonnage,
bronze, textile, or rarely from
papyrus and even wood, emulating a solar disk The diameters
of these
objects vary from
8.0 to 23.0 cm, and they are generally flat. In the rare cases that hypocephali are concave, they
are
believed to have functioned to protect the head as a kind of funerary cap (DE CENIVAL
1990). The custom of using hypocephali
is
evident in the Upper Egyptian sites of Thebes, Abydos, and Akhmim, at Hermopolis in Middle Egypt, and within Lower Egypt, at the
cemeteries associated with Memphis.
It is
clear
that the
hypocephalus does not become a widespread funerary object. Hypocephali remained exclusive pieces of funerary equipment reserved for the high clergy and for the members of their families who occupied also high ranking positions in the pallacide of
the temples. On the basis of our researches we can state that in Thebes families of priests and priestess of Amon, in Akhmim those of Min, and in Memphis the ones of Ptah
were owners of the disks. At the moment 149 examples are known.
In the present state of
research, it seems that hypocephali came into use during the 4th
century BC. It is likely that that the priestly community of Thebes guided the development of this species of equipment,
in accord with the theological changes in the cycles of Osiris and
Amon
that show
themselves in religious literature, architecture and other archaeological traces surviving from that period.
The evolution of the hypocephalus began during the 3rd Intermediate Period when texts
emphasising Amon’s omnipotent, transcendent and universal nature were gradually integrated
into the Book of the Dead. These “supplementary chapters” can be considered as the direct antecedents of hypocephali. By the time the first hypocephali appeared in the 4th century BC, six hundred years of conceptual experimentation in the theology of Amon and Osiris had
reached its peak. The epoch produced a variety of interesting
religious “solutions,” among which belong healing statues, Horus stelae, and the series of novel textual corpora such as the
Books of Breathing, the Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys, the Great decrees of Osiris, and
the Book of Traversing Eternity. The hypocephalus possibly
made its appearance in parallel
with
these introductions,
as
an amuletic device formulated in direct relation to Book of the Dead chapters 162-165 in Thebes.
Spell 162 prescribed that the amulet be placed
beneath the head of the deceased, to
protect the deceased in the darkness of the Netherworld. Once the dead person received the
2
light and energy
emitted by the hypocephalus, he could “appear again like one who is on
Earth”. The Light and Energy
come into being by the invocations and magical formulae
addressed to the creator god. This general idea is conveyed in chapters 163-165
too,
where Amon appears in different pan-iconic forms. The god is described as a tremendous and universal creature. Amon makes his way
on the sky
in
the protection of his uraeus which produces fiery flames to shield him against his enemies. The texts identify the protection of the uraeus-snake with the protection of the wedjat-eye.
The hypocephalus,
on the basis of the representations of Amon in the centre panel of the disk, is, according to the Ancient Egyptian theory, identical with the pupil of the wedjat- eye. Amon’s hidden and tremendous forms are ultimately responsible for the life-giving and
protecting energy that the sun disk radiated over the head of the deceased.
3
The protection of the head has a key-role in the Ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs beginning
from prehistoric times. References in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts and Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts make it clear that priests identified the head with Re itself. So the revitalization of the deceased’s head was particularly
important throughout the history
of Ancient Egypt. In different epochs, different kinds of practices were invented to protect the
head. The hypocephalus amulet that appeared in the 4th century BC was one of the latest
methods devised in this on-going pattern of belief.
2. Objectives of the dissertation
The hypocephalus was already the focus of my MA thesis
in
2007, at which time I had already gathered and discussed the principal theories and speculations
arising about the disks
during the last two hundred years. The MA thesis laid a foundation for the research that I was
to
undertake in the dissertation.
The hypocephalus
is still a
seldom investigated topic of Egyptology. Between 1961 and 1998, Edith Varga studied the antecedents of the object type, gathering all practices aiming protection of the head until the 4th century BC from all over Egypt. Through her work, hypocephali were “rediscovered” for Egyptology. She identified no less than
two thirds of the presently known examples, and
published these in several articles. The analysis and
typology of the amulet at the time it appeared in the 4th century BC remained for a further
research project. In my thesis, I aimed at continuing
the
researches of Edith Varga and to present the resulting catalogue of hypocephali to the public.
In 2007, I had already thrown light on some erroneous theories regarding hypocephali, and I have attempted in the dissertationto give a detailed account on these. From the very
beginning of the thesis, I felt that it was essential to better define hypocephalus object category, and to ensure that objects mistakenly indentified over the last centuries, be interpret
correctly.
Round terra cotta discs from Saqqara are not hypocephali, since they were not found
under the head of the deceased, but instead, near the sarcophagus in the sarcophagus chamber of XXVIth dynasty tombs.
“Rectangular and three dimensional hypocephali” discussed
in
the literature, are mere inventions. Rectangular panels containing the text of, or depicting the vignette
of BD
spell 162, or statues inscribed with the same text are obviously not hypocephali. An
object that includes
BD spell 162 on its surface, or which carriesthe representation of
4
the ihet-cow is a separate category of magical artifact, not to be directly included
with
the list of known hypocephalus amulets.
3. Analysis of hypocephalus
3.1 The system of hypocephalus
The surface of hypocephali were richly decorated and inscribed with various kinds of
texts. The analysis of these objects can be based on the systematisation of the decoration.
In general, on the edge of the amulet a circular text was inscribed,
which borders the interior
section, the so called pictorial field. Typologies of
the
object focus on these two sections.
The pictorial field was divided by
horizontal lines into smaller bands, or registers. In the morphology of the designs of hypocephali, the four register type with two opposite hemispheres was possibly the first and most widespread version (distributed from Thebes to
Memphis). So, I considered this version as the “standard” and adapted the analysis of disks
with fewer registers accordingly.
On disks with three, or two registers new iconography was rarely depicted, in cases where
it occurs, it appears to have been a variation of the standard iconography.
On the basis of the register structure, we have to distinguish the concentric hypocephali
and the corpus of textile hypocephali from the “standard”, which show a distinct
iconography. (See plate II)
3.2 Analysis of the iconography
The study of the iconography has shown the ideal order of the registers and the figures.
The general theme is the Solar cycle in its
Late Period interpretation. This over-arching cycle was emphasized in the theme of register II (the four ram headed deity (bA dmD) and that of register IV
(the
meeting
of
the two
celestial discs (snsn kA.wj), which together were
responsible for creating the life-giving light and energy beneath the head of the deceased. The
5
pictorial field was intended to depict the way in which the Sun could create an efficacious
microcosm beneath the head of the deceased. The two opposing hemispheres symbolise the
opposition of day and night. In addition to the opposing hemispheres, the cycle of the cosmic matters is expressed directly by the discoidal of the amulet and by the continuous aspect of the rim inscription.
3.3. The typology of the rim inscription
The analysis of the iconography is followed by the typology of rim inscriptions. In my
system, I differentiated six text types. But there are examples which show mixed types, so
there are transitions between the groups.
(See plate I)
Typologies
help to determine groups
of disks, which may help to trace the development of hypocephali between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC.
4. Results
After the examination of the iconography
and
the texts, I was able to differentiate workshop
products. In that chapter I tried to insert hypocephali into the series of funerary
equipment of each regional centre in the period of
the
4th through 2nd centuries BC.
I also tried to stress the local character in the production of the disks:
Each centre had local characteristics affecting both texts and iconography.
The first disks dated to the 4th century BC in all cases (Theban, Abydenian and Akhmimic) were of the four-register type (standard) and probably were inscribed with Text Group 1 on the rim. Unfortunately,
this kind of observation by itself, is not always enough to determine the date of a hypocephalus,
and
conclusions about date can only be reached by considering the available prosopographical
information as well. Not only do the number and
structure of the disks show great variety
during the 3rd century BC, but the texts do as well.
Text Group 2 (in Thebes and Hermopolis) and Text Group 3 (only in Thebes) appeared in the first half of the 3rd century, while Text Group 4 became general only around the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphos. The introduction of the fourth text type occurred in tandem with the modification of the perspective
of the two hemispheres
of the disks: the orientation of the scenes and texts in them were adjusted to match, in order to avoid visual confusion.
By this time, a drastic simplification of the iconography can also be detected.
In Memphis, on the contrary, a separate evolution of hypocephalic
iconography can
be observed. As far as is known, Memphis was alone in producing exclusively textile disks
6
and these were inspired by the content of BD 134. This chapter is about the protection of the deceased and about his or her apotheosis. The preference in Memphis for illustration of the
hypocephalus in terms of BD 134 is understandable, in view of the fact that chapters BD 162-
165 were had strong Theban overtones based on the ideology
of the cult of Amon.
Accordingly, Memphite priests omitted spells 163-165 from the canon of the Book of the Dead which they promulgated.
The Memphite textile disks can be dated from the end of the 3rd century BC down to
end of the 2nd century BC. We can suppose that
the southern revolts of the late 3rd early 2nd centuries, paired with
steadily deteriorating economic conditions might have contributed to
the
decline of the
richness of elite burials, and hypocephali started to disappear in Upper and Middle Egypt. Meanwhile the northern part of the
country, and Memphis in particular,
remained free from the kind of problems which would have disrupted the funerary
behaviour
of the elite. It seems the tradition of the hypocephalus flourished in Memphis during the 2nd century BC.
During the three years of doctoral study and during the writing of this thesis, I
devoted much time to the exploration of the genealogies connected with the owners of hypocephali. This prosopographical research constituted an indispensable
part of the work, since for objects that have come into museum collections without any context, the only way to know about them (such as where they may have originated and when they were excavated) is to search for clues within the genealogies of their
original owners.
5. The catalogue
My work is capped off by a catalogue in which the available information contained
upon the disks, has been presented, together with possible genealogical reconstructions
and photographs and/or drawings of each piece.
Translation
of The Text
Edge: I am the Provider13 in the Sun Temple14 in Heliopolis. [I am] most exalted and very glorious. [I am] a virile bull without equal. [I am] that Mighty God15 in the Sun Temple in
Heliopolis. <May the Osiris
Shishaq live forever>16 with
that
Mighty God in Heliopolis.17
Left Middle: O God of the Sleeping Ones18 from the time of the creation.19 O Mighty God, Lord of heaven and earth, of the hereafter, and of his great waters,20 may the soul of the Osiris21
Shishaq22 be granted
life.
Bottom: May this tomb never be desecrated,23 and may this soul and its lord never be desecrated in the hereafter.
Upper Left: You shall ever
be as
that
God, the Busirian.24
To the Left of the
Standing Two-headed God: The name25 of this Mighty God.
13 Egyptian jbaty, an epithet of the god Osiris. (Cf.
Adolf Erman and Hermann Grapow, Wörterbuch der Ägyptischen Sprache, 5 Vols. (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1971), 5:562, entry 7
(hereafter cited as Wb.) It can also mean a
box
like the Hebrew הבט ( ) ―ark‖ of the covenant, which is thought to be an Egyptian borrowing. Cf. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1968), 1061.
14 Egyptian ew.t bnbn, literally ―house of the benben.‖ Cf. Wb 1:459,10. Also see Ricardo Caminos, ―The
Chronicle of Prince Osorkon,‖ Analecta
Orientalia 37 (Rome: Ponitifica Institutum Biblicum, 1958) 127. Reference
to the House of the Benben is also found in two late demotic magical papyri, which also contain the name of
Abraham, Francis Ll. Griffith and Herbert Thompson, The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden (London: H. Grevel, 1904), column IX, line 14; and Janet H. Johnson, ―The Demotic Magical Spells of Leiden I
384,‖ Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden 56 (1975): 29-64, column IX,
line 14. Cf. also
wbn.n=k m ew.t bnbn m Iwnw. ―You have shown forth as the phoenix in the temple of the Benben in Heliopolis.‖ (Pyramid Texts
603 §1652).
15 Mighty God is a name given to both Osiris and to the dead person thought of as Osiris. Cf. Wb 2:361,2 & 7.
16 <
dionu ba Wsir Vvq r
nee j.t> Proposed reading of the missing portion of the outer edge.
17 This same phrase is found in a demotic Sensen papyrus referring to Osiris, ―Wsir ncr oa m Iwnw,‖ Guiseppe Botti,
―Il Libro del Respirare e
un
Suo Nuovo Esemplare nel Papiro Demotico N. 766 del Museo Egizo Di Torino,‖
Journal of Egyptian Archeology 54 (1968): 226.
18 I.e. the dead. Cf. Wb 4:392,9.
19 Literally ―the first time.‖ Cf. Wb 3:438,1.
20 The primeval ocean from which the sun rose on the day of creation and which surrounds the earth. Cf. Henri Frankfort, Ancient Egyptian Religion (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1961), 114. A similar phrase is found in one
of
the demotic magical papyri,
r-wn n=y pa ta r-wn n=y ta twa.t r-wn n=y pa nwn, ―Open
the earth for me, open the netherworld for me, open the primeval waters for me.‖ Griffith and Thompson, The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden, London, line I
5.
21 On the identification of the dead with Osiris, see Frankfort, Religion, 103ff.
22 Shishaq or Sheshonq was the name of several Egyptian pharaohs of Dynasty XXI, the Libyan dynasty.
23 Emending to nn th.tw ea.t tn. Similar passages, but even more garbled, are found in the British Museum
Hypocephali 8445c, 3445f, and 37909.
24 A nisbe adjective formation of Jd.w, Busiris, a cult center of Osiris in the Delta, and thus used as an epithet of
Osiris. Cf. Wb 5:630,7.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder