| Author | Message | ||
     Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 213 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 205.188.209.80 |
Guardian readers, I read an essay in the book ... _Studies in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean and the Sudan_, pp. 137-145, that I thought you might find interesting. The title of the essay was "The term xnr: 'Harem' or 'Musical Performers'?" by Del Nord. I had never heard of Del Nord BTW. Maybe we could pronounce /xnr/ as 'khener'. Early Egyptologists thought this term meant 'harem' and had some relationship to the existence of polygamy among private persons. He said this translation of 'harem' has been freely followed by Egyptologists following the Worterbuch (I don't have a copy of it). I do have Faulkner's _Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian_, and he includes the definition 'harem' for /xnr/ on p. 193. Del Nord suggests a prime example of its inappropriateness is provided by translations of inscriptions which accompany scenes of dancing, singing and clapping women (occasionally men) found in many OK private tombs. These scenes appear in the Fourth dynasty in mortuary contexts before the tomb or in a funerary procession. Musicians may be depicted, often in an adjacent register. In early examples the women have closely cropped hair. By the Sixth dynasty, the women sometimes wear long pigtails weighted with a large disk. In a few instances a totally nude dancer intrudes among other figures who are semi-nude. In the Fifth dynasty, male dancers appear. As the Fifth dynasty progresses the dances become more lively and acrobatic. In the Sixth dynasty, the female dancers wear a different kilt, open in front, similar to those worn by the males. In one instance from the Sixth dynasty tomb of Djau at Deir el-Gebrawi, the female dancers appear entirely nude. In the majority of scenes, the dancers are labeled /ibA/ 'dancing' and clapping women /Hst/ 'singing'. Occasionally /HAt/ 'lamenting' is found above the performers. The identity of the singers and dancers are often introduced by /in/ and in most cases /xnr/ follows. These labels are virtually without exception translated /ibA in xnr/ 'dancing by the harem' or /Hst in xnr/ 'singing by the harem'. The 'xnr' composed of dancers, singers and clappers were attached to other establishments. An inscription over a scene of performers in the funerary procession in the Fifth dynasty tomb of Ptahhotep is found along with a scene in the mastaba of Mereruka. The /SnDt/ appears in conjunction with these performers. Edel suggests that this /SnDt/ house of shrine represents a sanctuary of the goddess Sakhmet (Edel, _Akazienhaus_, p. 17). Speaking for myself only, I thought the Shendyt was a shrine of Sokaris at Memphis or the necropolis (?). Del Nord continues... If this is so, then the inscription of Ptahhotep would be the earliest attestation of the /xnr/ associated with a temple. In at least two OK tombs, Kaemankh at Giza and Nebkauhor at Saqqara, the /xnr/ might also be attached to the /pr Dt/ or funerary estate. In the tomb of Kaemankh (G7211), an inscription is placed over the heads of the offering bearers and of the dancing women who follow immediately /s[hpt i]Xt r r-pr ibA in xn[r] n pr Dt/...'[bringing offerings] to the tomb chapel, dancing by the xnr of the funerary estate'. This inscription makes it clear that the /xnr/ belongs to the funerary estate, where the dancing is taking place, or on the way to the tomb chapel. In the tomb of Nebkauhor, the deceased is shown bracketing two registers of dancers, singers and musicians. An inscription placed vertically before the musicians reads /mAA sxmx-ib/ 'watching the entertainment'. In the second register, immediately below, another inscription is written... /ibA in xn[r] n pr Dt/, 'dancing by the xn[r] of the funerary estate'. Texts invoking the goddess Hathor are placed above the heads of three of the musicians in the Nebkauhor scene. The /xnr/ in the tomb of Nebkauhor participates in Hathoric rites at the time of the burial, while another inscription above the dancers, /ibA nfr n kA.k ra nb/, 'beautiful dancing for your ka every day', clearly mandates beautiful dancing should take place every day in the next world, likely accompanying the appearance of Hathor for the benefit of the deceased. The author goes on to discuss the /xnr/ in rites for Hathor in other tomb chapels. Dances were accompanied by singing and clapping or other musical performances invoking Hathor by name or by her epither 'The Golden One'. They appear in the presence of the deceased, or his statue or on the tomb walls of the Fifth and Sixth dynasties. Two representations identify /xnr/ as a participant in the rites. The Fifth dynasty tomb of Iymery at Giza show two registers of dancers, singers and musicians performing. In this scene, three pairs of male dancers are shown in the upper register accompanied by male singers. An inscription between the first pair of dancers to the left reads: /mk Trf nb iTt/, "behold the Trf-dance 'bringing the Golden One'". In the register below, female dancers and singers are captioned /Hst i[n] xnr n.i/, 'singing by the xnr...'. male musicians are placed to the right of these dancers. What is a Trf-dance? I hadn't heard of it before. The authors Moussa and Altenmuller, _Nianchchnum and Chnumhotep_, p. 146, describes a Fifth dynasty tomb with a similar scene of a pair of male dancers. The inscription above their heads reads /mk Trf iTt/. The authors consider the agricultural associations of the word /Trf/ and conclude the Trf-dance is an harvest dance. A second tomb chapel in the mastaba of Mereruka belonging to Watetkhethor, the wife of a Sixth dynasty vizier, has an inscription that closely parallels the Iymery example. Appearing in the top register before a pair of dancers is /mk nb iTt/, "Behold [the dance?] 'bringing the Golden One'". In the 3rd register is another inscription: /mk sStA n xnrt/ or 'Behold the secret(s) of the member of the xnr'. These tombs provide further evidence that the /xnr/ performed in ceremonies invoking the goddess Hathor. The author turns to discussing female overseers of the /xnr/. The word /xnr/ occurs in feminine titles in the Old Kingdom. In a scene from the Sixth dynasty tomb chapel of the vizier Mehu at Saqqara, two women are labelled /imyt-r xnr/, 'overseer of the xnr' and /sHDt nt xnr/, 'inspector of the xnr'. Two of the female overseers of the /xnr/ were attached to the temple or cult. Male participation in the /xnr/ is certain by the FIP since male determinatives show up along with female determinatives. Determinatives of both sexes also appear in Middle Kingdom letters from Lahun and in writing the word on a stela of a Twelfth dynasty nomarch from the Panopolite nome. No male overseers of the /xnr/ are known from the Old Kingdom. In the Sixth dynasty tomb of Nebkauhor at Saqqara, a man carrying a wand stands just to the rear of the dancing (and singing) women who are identified as the /xnr/. He is labeled /sbA/, 'instructor' (?) or 'conductor' (?). The /xnr/ may have been professional performers hired by the family of the deceased to provide lively entertainment in the procession to the tomb. They were probably attached to the court or the temples of Hathor, Wepwawet, Bat and Sakhmet. In the Old Kingdom, the /xnr/ were composed of female performers and they were always supervised by other women. The translation of /xnr/ in the Worterbuch as well as Faulkner's _CDME_ as 'harem' is singularly inappropriate. Male singers and dancers play a role in the /xnr/ beginning in dynasty 5 that continues in the Sixth dynasty and later. By the Eleventh dynasty, men have replaced women as supervisors. One /xnr/ is known to have been attached to the royal court in the Old Kingdom and another to the court of the Middle Kingdom. A third /xnr/ mentioned in a Tenth dynasty tomb at Bersheh may have also been attached to a royal court. 'Musical performers' is a more valid translation of /xnr/ than 'harem' or 'harem women'. Regards, Jack | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 787 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.186 |
Dear Jack, Thank you for the interesting outline ! From FAULKNER, Concise Dict p. 193, xnr also means "prison" or, as a verb, "to restrain". Doesn't this suggest a harem, where women are locked up ? They would also perform at funerals and maybe the term started being used for mere musicians / dancers ? As to the "House of the Acacia", I seem to remember that besides dancing the women belonging to it were also involved in slaughtering or butchering cattle (Hathor as the Faraway Goddess killing rebels, even though the goddess is more easily associated with the sycamore nh.t, see on Menkaure's group statues ?). JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 440 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
Dear Jack and JD, i found this comment on the WEB: **** CALLENDER, Gae, The Nature of the Egyptian 'Harim': Dynasties 1-20, BACE 5 (1994), 7-25. (pl.). This article looks at recent scholarship concerning the jpt and the xnr, both often translated with the word "harim" and thought to resemble the Ottoman "harim," but, in fact, having not more in common with it than referring to groups of women. The history of both institutions over twenty dynasties is traced. The author studies the terms xnr/wt and jpt, and then presents the archaeological evidence for the "harim" in Ist to XVIIth Dynasties, particularly evidence from the XIth Dynasty and from the Pap. Bulaq 18, concerned with a royal household of the XIIIth Dynasty. After concluding remarks on the O.K. and M.K. evidence, the author turns to the jpt nswt in the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties and archaeological evidence for the N.K. "harim" and, finally, to the XXth Dynasty. It is only in the latter period that some resemblance with the Turkish "harim" can be postulated, on account of the evidence of the Harim Conspiracy against Ramses III. *** so far ! best regards: Bernie | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 788 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.140.140 |
Dear Bernhard, Fascinating material ! The jp.t is a primitive hut on a platform, attested as a hieroglyph since the late 1st dyn. and from the 2d (from memory), and represented in detail in Hatshepsut's Deir el-Bahari reliefs as still being used in God's Land (Punt) during the 18th dyn. But the ipet is also the dwelling of Amon : Karnak is jp.t-s.wt, "the Ipet of Places", i.e. "the Temple of Temples" (see parallel name of Hatshepsut's Deir el-Bahari temple : Dsr Dsr.w, "the Sacred Place of Sacred Places") ; Luxor is jp.t-resy.t, "the Southern Ipet". The ithyphallic form of Amon (kA mw.t=f, Bull of his Mother = self-begotten Creator) demonstrates his fertility aspect, and from there it's a short leap to a royal ipet-dwelling where concubines also live, a "harim" where the king plays the role of a fertility god (see coded intimacy scenes on Tutankhamen's golden naos ; the statuette once contained therein could have been an ityphallic representation of the king) ? JD | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 215 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 152.163.253.36 |
Hi JD and Bernie, The Trf-dance is described in Erman's _Life in Ancient Egypt_, p. 247 as follows. Three scenes are represented in the tomb from the end of the 4th dynasty. Two dancers wearing a fringed girdle (Shezmet girdle?) stand opposite one another with outstretched arms grasping each other by the hand. Both perform exactly the same movements. In one scene, they raise one arm and one foot toward their partner; in another scene they draw up their foot like a crane; in the third scane they turn away from each other as if to run away in opposite directions. Each of these scenes/steps(?) had their own name, the second scene seems to be called 'the pillar'. This dance was performed at the tomb as part of a feast in honor of the deceased. In the first post I mentioned the authors called this a harvest dance. Was it a grape harvest? Regards, Jack | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 790 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.140.155 |
Dear Jack, On what base is Trf linked with words concerning the harvest ? Could it be a variant (dialect ? similar to ps / fs, "to cook") of Trp, a goose or edible bird (FAULKNER, Concise Dict, p. 306, which would then explain the bird-like postures of the dance ? If this is true, the bird could be linked with the harvest (migratory bird returning from Africa to Europe in the Spring = corn harvest ; or migrating from Europe to Africa in the Fall = harvest of fruit / grapes ?). JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 442 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
Dear JD and JACK, relating to one of the typical dancing scenes shown in this fourth dynasty tomb: could it be the Crane itself (!), watched during it's typical AUTUMN-migration-postures (JD was mentioning) starting-up (?) activities, and possibly matching the time of grape-harvest related feasts (autumn/september) ?? - best regards: Bernie | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 443 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
dear JD and Jack,.. addendum..: regarding the migration routes of the cranes, egypt seemed to be an inter-station (to re-establish their energy by "fishing" in the Nile river (and at faiyum)). look at these migration routes in : http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/distr/birds/cranes/anthvirg.htm - scroll some pages down - Bernie | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 216 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 64.12.96.232 |
Dear JD & Bernie, JD asked, "On what base is Trf linked with words concerning the harvest ? Could it be a variant (dialect ? similar to ps / fs, "to cook") of Trp, a goose or edible bird (FAULKNER, Concise Dict, p. 306, which would then explain the bird-like postures of the dance ?" I couldn't find /Trf/ in Faulkner's _CDME_ or Budge's _EHD_, vol. 2. I don't know about the /p/ --> /f/ dialectal differences as early as the OK period. I wondered about the harvest associations myself. The author Del Nord refers the readers to two other works regarding a discussion of the Trf-dance: Brunner-Traut, _Tanz._, p. 78 and Wild, _Sources Orientale 6_, p. 72. I have neither of these sources. The Brunner-Traut source is _Der Tanz im alten Ägypten_ (Glückstadt, 1958) according to Shaw and Nicholson's entry under 'dance' in _The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt_, p. 79. Since the dancing and singing and clapping is in a funerary setting in the burial procession or at the tomb chapel, I wonder if they are related to the muu-dancers. Regards, Jack | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 445 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
dear JACK and JD, from my private link-library a fine KMT-ARTICLE (1995) in relation with the MUU-dancers, and with some references to the work of emma brunner-traut and other authors: http://www.egyptology.com/reeder/muu/ but a complete online version of brunner-traut could not be found (for the moment) ! best regards: Bernie | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 791 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.23 |
Dear all, Here are some pictures of Old Kingdom dancers. The first one is from the tomb of Debeheni at Giza, built during the reign of Menkaure (late 4th dyn.). It shows that the dance occurred at the time when the offerings were exhibited in front of the tomb and then carried inside. One of the inscriptions reads "to clap hands by the [khener] of the Acacia" (I can't read the one above the dancers proper).  The next image is from the 5th dyn. tomb of Nefer at Giza. It shows a transformation of the realistic scene which we just saw at Debeheni's : it now looks as if offerings are presented to the tomb owner, accompanied by music and dance. The dance is labelled as "clapping hands for the dance by the khener".  The 6th dyn. tomb of the vizier Ptahhotep confirms what was obvious from Debeheni's tomb : above the dancers, one notices the offerings accumulated in front of the tomb, while below (i.e. before the dance) one sees some of the funerary navigations. The dancers are labelled as "khener of the House of the Acacia". The dancers are part of a procession, which also features a strange priest holding a stick or cane through a garment : the jrj-nTr, already attested in a name of the late 1st dyn. king the Horus Semerkhet, who is "the jrj-nTr of the Crown Goddesses".  A scene from the 6th dyn. tomb of Kaiemankh at Giza shows the usual dancers, but the ladies clapping their hands are not from the khener but are the deceased's children. Kaiemankh is sitting inside a tent, and plays the senet-game (a mehen-snake game-board is also represented). The outcome of this game no doubt defines the fate of the deceased. To me all this suggests rituals inside a New Year hut, in this case the tomb chapel (I consider the slits of panelled architecture as a variant of the see-through walls of a New Year hut).  Some novelties seem to appear during the 6th dyn. : in the tomb of Serefka at Sheikh Said, the dance accompanying what is shown as a meal is labelled as "dance of the young women for the kA".  In the tomb of Ibi at Deir el-Gebrawi, the dancing girls' hairdo is weighted with a stone (?) which they cause to swirl about. As for the next pic, apologies for the bad quality).  In the tomb of Inti at Deshasheh, the dancers have ribbons bound around their chest (as seen with hunters and warriors) and hold strange, antelope-headed wands, which (from memory) occur in the PTs and are related with the Duat.  At least one scene from the Middle Kingdom links the dance with harvest scenes : that from the tomb of Antefiqer's mother at Thebes.  Several 12th dyn. scenes link the dances with a procession, more precisely when a hauled shrine containing a statue of the deceased is opened to present incense and offerings, for example in tomb 3 at Beni-Hassan and at Antefiqer's.   In the tomb of Ukhhotep at Meir (where the Hathoric symbol the ukh is worshipped), the dancers seem to have been replaced by women presenting the Hathoric attributes, the menat-necklace and sistrum. Christiane DESROCHES-NOBLECOURT considers the menat as an equivalent of prehistoric nude statuettes. This erotic aspect fits in with dancing as such, and throws an interesting light on the notion of kA, possibly generative power (see allusion to kA in the inscription of Serefka above, and elsewhere ; and homophony with kA, "bull").  JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 450 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
DEAR JD, yes ! the old kingdom is your turf ! you brought us some very interesting depictions from the tombs mentioned above. best regards: Bernie | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 451 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
dear JD, ..addendum.: From the time of the Middle Kingdom, some of the women in the khener also bore the title of Chantress (Smat, "shemat"). ciao: Bernie | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 792 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.23 |
PS: detail from Ukhhotep scene :  PS2: some of the inscriptions accompanying the tomb 3 and Antefiqer processions state : "to open the doors of the sky (for) the god to come out". The sky is represented by the hauled chapel. In the Near East, the New Year hut also represents the sky. Could the "dance of the winds" represented above (at Antefiqer's) be linked with the slits in the festival hut (slits in the sky through which the winds come out ???). On the Hathoric aspect of the dance, see inscription at extreme left of Antefiqer scene : "behold?, the Golden One (Hathor) comes". Should one understand : she comes towards the deceased who has regained his potency / fertility (kA) in the seasonal hut ? Something like the Opet-festival in autumn at Thebes, where Amon and his consort meet in a distinct temple called an jp.t, "harim" or private quarters ? JD | ||
| Janine Williams Senior Member Username: janine Post Number: 728 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 24.162.236.176 |
Wonderfull, JD. All of this is new to me. The AE's really made a production out of it all! Janine | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 452 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
dear JD, regarding the pictures presented by you, i believe seeing an SEM-priest wearing his typical ceremonial outfit of the coat of a leopard. this coat was not ever of natural origin, but in some cases an artificial product. we found these "copies" (well made textile-leopard-imitations !) in tutankhamen's tomb. look at the first picture, and see the rightmost-person standing in the higher located entrance of the tomb/temple. the artist uses some small lines to give us the impression of the contours of the SEM-priest leopard-cape, covering his head and shoulder as well ! ok, and for our younger readers some more background : *** The Sem (mortuary) priests served mainly at the tomb cultuses, performing the elaborate rituals at mummifications and burials. From the oldest times it was the son of the king who took care of his deceased father, and later this practice was taken up by any first son in non-royal families. In this capacity he was called a Sem-priest, but there were also other kinds of mortuary priests. *** best regards: Bernie | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 793 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.23 |
Dear Bernhard, I can't see a sm-priest in the (bad quality) pics above and don't remember ever seeing one in Old Kingdom scenes. sm means "oldest son", so the New Kingdom (etc.) priest was hired to play this role in the real son's stead. The panther skin is something of a mystery. During the 4th dynasty, it is worn by the deceased himself (whether male or female). Could the spotted skin have suggested the starry sky ? There's a New Kingdom statue where the spots are replaced by stars (that of Aanen, 2d prophet of Amon under Amenhotep III, and brother of queen Tiye). When worn by the sm-priest, the skin may be a hunter's outfit (originally, offered animals had to be hunted, a symbol of victory over chaos !). JD | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 796 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 213.177.133.131 |
Dear Bernhard, It took me so long to write the illustrated posting that I forgot to thank you for the info on the migration of cranes. The link with autumn is strengthened by one of the scenes above, showing dancers alongside the vine harvest (and loading corn into granaries, not actually harvesting it -which would have been in the Spring-). Dear Jack, The mww are usually shown striding (not sure whether this is a dance or not). But in one instance (Rekhmire, if I remember well) two men are shown standing on one leg, at another moment of the funeral, and they're labelled as "dance of the mww". This may be a contamination (as sometimes seen in these complicated rituals), but sounds close to the Trf dance you mentioned from the article. JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 454 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
Dear JD, my phantasy composed this man with his cape (?) and interesting contours (or were the lines shown only fragments of others pictorial elements ?) into a s-m (sem) priest wrapped in his leopard-skin, which is fluttering around his body. (( for other readers: i refer to the first picture of posting-number 791 by JD, and the man (priest) standing at the higher-located entrance (right corner) of a temple/tomb/.. ! the head and shoulder of this man are covered with something like a cape or skin (leopard-skin). that's why i thought by myself: can be a sem-priest (or even an enigmatic TEKENU-priest ). because the scene is shown from an old-kingdom tomb (owner: Debeheni / late 4. dynasty ), you argue, that it could not be a sem-priest, while never been seen an old-kindom depiction or scene with such a sem-priest. ok, but what if, if this may be the first OK-scene with a sem-priest, because we have some evidence for it in relation with some men of the old-kingdom reported to have been sem-priests: 1.) RA-WER about 2508-2462 B.C. (Old Kingdom, late Dynasty 4 to early Dynasty 5) one of his TITLE's was this of an SEM-PRIEST. look at: http://www.echoesofeternity.umkc.edu/Rawer.htm 2.) DJAU vizier and brother of a queen at the time of PEPI-II, one of his titles: SEM-PRIEST. according to texts written by KURTH SETHE: http://www.geocities.com/per_medjat/inscription_of_djau1.html - scroll half page down. --- finally i found an interesting article elaborating on the early beginnings of using LEOPARD-skin, and not only by so caled sem-priest. here an overview: **** WILLIAMS, Bruce B., The Wearer of the Leopard Skin in the Naqada Period, in: Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East. Studies Martha Bell, 483-496. (fig., table). Study of the enigmatic court functionary wearing a leopard skin on royal monuments from the late Naqada Period, namely the Narmer Palette, the Narmer Macehead and the Scorpion Macehead. Having drawn into the discussion the representations on the Lion Palette and in the Hierakonpolis Painted Tomb, the Naqada I painted vessels, and a relief fragment of a stela from Gebelein dating to the time of Khasekhemuy or Djoser, the author tabulates the common features on the objects with respect to garment, hairdress, action and identifying legend. Not seeing a connection with later bearers of the leopard-skin garment, notably the sem-priest, the author considers the labels to refer to functions rather being specific titles of the officials. These officials had a function connected to the pharaonic ritualized combat and execution, a function that seems to continue as late as the IIIrd Dynasty. In this function the courtier takes part in battles, escorts the ruler to inspect slain enemies or attends him at ceremonies that include bound prisoners. ***** so far, before now opening a new topic, i will stop here ! best regards: Bernhard | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 455 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
dear JD,..to be continued..: above in your nr. 793, you arise the question if the spotted skin (from a leopard) should suggest the starry sky !? (oh, i just remember the fine song by Don Mc Lean: starry starry night ..) hmm, i guess no, because (as i mentioned above) we found (in kv62) some textile-imitations of such (sem-priest)-leopard-skins. and to imitate these typical spots, they embroidered (fixed) some more blossom-shape looking patches on it, but no star-shaped patches, which easily could have been done ! seemed, they really wanted to imitate the skin of a leopard. sincerly: Bernhard | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 797 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.133 |
Dear Bernhard, Interesting postings (once more !) ! What you took for a sm-priest is a statue of Debeheni, deceased, inside a shrine on a sledge, which has been hauled on top of the mastaba using a ramp, no doubt to be lowered into a serdab. The man wearing an animal skin (lion ? panther ?) on the Narmer Palette is interesting, for I believe him to be the king's sm = eldest son (j)Tt, i.e. possibly Athôthis, the successor of Narmer / Menês. So that the skin outfit could indeed have characterized the position of eldest son (including the priestly duties attached to it) as early as the 1st dynasty. The putative sm-figure holding a corn ear in front of the king on Scorpion's mace head could be this king's heir too ! sm or stm was also the title of the high-priest of Ptah in Memphis. But I don't remember seeing anybody wearing a panther skin as sign of a priestly office during the Old Kingdom (could be wrong though !)... On stars and rosettes : there may be a link between the two, as the rosette seems to designate the king at the end of prehistory ("Rosette Scorpion" = king Scorpion on mace head; "Rosette's sandals" = king's sandals on Narmer Palette). The tradition could be attested as late as Tutankhamen (rosette-studded shroud above coffin, etc.). I often wondered whether the archaic rosette wasn't a misunderstood variant of the Sumerian sign for "god", dingir, a star. Or the rosette could represent the king as a Sethan celestial body rising above the horizon, i.e. coming out of the flower-shaped pudenda of the sky goddess. JD | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 217 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 152.163.253.36 |
Dear JD, Thanks for the postings of the line drawings; where did you find those? Jack | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 218 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 205.188.209.80 |
Dear JD, Just a few more comments: The translation, "to clap hands by the [khener] of the Acacia" (I can't read the one above the dancers proper)", found in the Debeheni tomb dating to the fourth dynasty at Giza is discussed in the Del Nord article in footnote 29 on p. 140. Henri Wild suggests the reading 'the acacia house' for the /SnDt/ in _Sources Orientales 6_, p. 91. Can you see it, JD? How Wild arrived at that reading is beyond me. When you look at Ptahhotep's tomb relief drawing, 2nd register with the four dancers (right near the middle), the inscription is repeated: /xnr n imA.t/ The 'tree' [M1] is phonetically /imA/ according to Allen, _Middle Egyptian_, p. 434, or /im(A)/ according to Gardiner, _Egyptian Grammar_, p. 478. It is similar to the word for 'tent'. So I don't understand how Wild arrived at 'the acacia house'. Another comment... You wrote, "In the tomb of Ibi at Deir el-Gebrawi, the dancing girls' hairdo is weighted with a stone (?) which they cause to swirl about. As for the next pic, apologies for the bad quality)." From the Del Nord article comes footnote 14 on p. 140: "ibid. Reisner discovered in Naga-ed-Der tomb N 241 a wooden statuette of a woman wearing such an object on a long pigtail; this three dimensional figure makes it clear that the circular object is a disk and not a ball (see photograph MFA C8854/8857)". Regards, Jack | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 801 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.79 |
Dear Jack, The line drawings are from : Hermann MÜLLER-KARPE, Handbuch der Vorgeschichte, C.H. BECK'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München, 1974. On the House of the Acacia, I suppose the reading SnD.t for the tree relies on the presence of the phonetic complement –t, which excludes jmA. The house determinative appears on occasion, but not always, as on the carrying chair of Hetepheres, Khufu's mother, who was "head of the butchers of the Acacia [House]". This was the link with butchering offerings, which I alluded to in an earlier posting. In the Debeheni inscription, I assumed that the destroyed horizontal sign was xnr, but it could also be the knife sharpener sSm, "butcher". What do you make of the two /t/s preceding the tree sign ? The first one could go with the genitive = n.t, but then the missing horizontal sign would have to be a feminine word, which doesn't fit for either xnr (harim) or sSm (butcher) ! I don't find sSm.t as indicating a collectivity of butchers in FAULKNER's dict., but this is the reading one gathers from Hetepheres' inscription, or does it mean "female butcher(s)" ? I guess this is the more plausible explanation.  (see last title to the left) Thank you for the clarification on the disk at the end of the girls' pigtails ! JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 457 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
DEAR JD, thanks for your qualified answers. i enjoyed recognizing your sharp and well trained eye in combination with your knowledge. i studied again this picture, and yes: it seems you are right: there is a slab, and the building is a mastaba. -- must be a statue of the deceased, not a sem-priest. ( clear ). ok, now i am convinced and happy  best regards: Bernhard | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 219 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 64.12.96.232 |
Hi JD, You ask, "What do you make of the two /t/s preceding the tree sign ? " Still talking about the [M1][X1][X1] in the Debeheni tomb: Wild translated it 'the Acacia house' in _Sources Orientale 6_, p. 91, while Edel restores it as /SnDtt/, 'the SnDtt maidens' in _Akazienhaus, pp. 9-11. Del Nord mentions in the same footnote, most other authors restore it to /xnr.t/ (Edel, p. 9, n. 2). All the orthographic variations are listed on pp. 138-139, the only example I see involving a tree [M1] and two /t/'s is an example from a 6th dynasty tomb of Mehu. It reads at the end /Hwt-Hr nb.t (n)h.t [M1]/, or 'Hathor, mistress of the sycamore'. Could this be an abbreviated expression: (nb).t (nh).t [M1]? The xnr definitely performed in Hathoric rites. Isn't it interesting that Edel is restoring it 'SnDtt maidens' when we have an article of apparel also associated with Hathor called a /SnDw.t/? Could this be an article of clothing that the Hathoric dancers might wear during their performance? The /SnDw.t/ was a linen apron worn by the king. It's mentioned in the PT § 546 and its definitely associated with Hathor. Regards, Jack | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 802 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 213.177.133.193 |
Dear Jack, So the tree plus double /t/ at Debeheni's could be read -either as clapping hands jn xnr SnD.t.t, "by the khener of the Acacia(-House)-maidens" -or as jn sSm.t SnD.t, "by the butchery / butcher-maidens of the Acacia(-House)" ? xnr.t appears less likely, as this would mean "prison", nor does /tt/ appear plausible as an abbreviation of nb.t nh.t, IMHO. The link of the SnDw.t apron with the SnD.t acacia is very interesting of course ! In anthropological literature one sometimes finds mentioned that for primitive hunters the gaze of dying prey rendered impotent. Could the apron have protected against this, and been adopted by "butchers" (who succeeded to hunters in the strict sense) ? To check this I just had a look at tens of Old Kingdom butchering scenes. While the butchers often wear an apron covering their private parts possibly more than in the case of fowlers, field-workers, etc., there are too many exceptions even in very rich and carefully decorated tombs for this to be considered a rule. Sometimes the genitals are even explicitly shown (even though this could allude to the powerlessness / impotence in a deity vanquishing / castrating another one : Horus castrates Seth, but looses his Eye, and vice-versa ; the universe is all right when the gods are "at peace") ? JD | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 804 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.140.92 |
Oops, the transcriptions should be : -jn xnr n SnD.t.t -jn sSm.t n SnD.t... | ||
| Janine Williams Senior Member Username: janine Post Number: 733 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 24.162.236.176 |
JD & Jack or Anyone: If either of you specialists in hieroglypics ever run across a hieroglyph of: The Sphinx drawn FROM THE FRONT with a BEN-BEN atop its head, please let me know . I originally saw it in an UNtranslated papyrus from either the Michigan collection or Princeton collection. (Reduced 2/3rds). I did not mistake it. It is a frustrating trick of fate, that a new library and re-organization of the old one caused it to disappear. I was probably the only one in the world looking for such a glyph, stumbled over it, and haven't seen it since! The library doubted that they even have the book (student)- until I reminded her that I took it home with me. (It would be annoying if a professor has had it in his carroll for 10 years, which the library can't trace.) Help! Sincerely, Janine | ||
| Janine Williams Senior Member Username: janine Post Number: 734 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 24.162.236.176 |
P.S. Whatever untranslated facsimile that hieroglyph is in... it is located in the first colume on the left, at the beginning of a line... about half way down the page. | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 464 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
DEAR JANINE, i posted in the wrong topic. sorry !please look at my links above. thanks ! ciao: bernie | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 220 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 205.188.209.80 |
Hi JD, Also I wonder if the khener was made up of foreign women at first, maybe Libyans? Hi Janine, I'll try to keep your search in mind if someone else doesn't come up with something first. Best, Jack | ||
| Janine Williams Senior Member Username: janine Post Number: 737 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 24.162.236.176 |
Thanks, Jack. Janine | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 807 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.122 |
Dear Jack, Why Libyan women ? In the oldest representations (Debeheni), they're dressed the Egyptian way, then their dresses become shorter (easier for acrobatic dances !), with or without ribbons wound around the chest. None of these dancers are dressed like the Libyan women depicted in the funerary temples of Sahure and Pepy II, even though these also wear the chest ribbons (as do Egyptian hunters and warriors sometimes). JD | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 809 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 213.177.158.187 |
Dear Jack, There's a mention of the "House of the Acacia", even more strangely alongside the "Meadow of the Dance"... in the Bible (Jdg 7:22 ) ! See http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/jfb/Jdg/Jdg007.html ; http://www.livingbiblestudies.org/study/JT14/046.html. Coincidence or not ? JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 468 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
dear JD and JACK, still another idea: the ACACIA-tree was the SACRED TREE of the old goddess NEITH ! is there any relation to her by referring to a HOUSE OF THE ACACIA ? was it a place to worship NEITH, surrounded by many acacias, or a house with an inner courtyard, and here some shadow-giving acacias, a place for devotion (neith) and dancing !? BTW: and one of the titles of goddess hathor was "lady of the acacia" as well. in old egypt dancing was one important part of worshipping goddesses like isis, neith and hathor. and naturally one liked to dance under the shadowy branches of a big acacia tree. best regards: Bernhard | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 812 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 213.177.133.114 |
Dear Bernhard, Interesting ! I didn't know the acacia was linked with Neit, but you're right, an island in the Fayyum was called "Acacia of Neit" (from the second roll of the Book of the Fayyum (see an outline in Italian of Horst BEINLICH's publication here : http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/sbf/Books/LA43/43517rec.pdf). Another goddess worshipped at Memphis, Sekhmet, is also "lady of the Acacia" on a stela from the Serapeum at Memphis (http://www.aelives.com/gods.htm ; http://www3.sympatico.ca/chartreuse/AvatarsOfTheGoddess/EgyptN.htm). On acacia groves in Asia, another one, linked with the moon-goddess al-Uzza, existed at Mecca during the pre-Islamic period (see Al-Uzza here : http://members.tripod.com/witchiegirl/deities.html). Thus the acacia seems to have been linked with goddesses (and dancing ?) both in Egypt and the Near East ! JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 469 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
dear JD and JACK, i found another interesting evidence in context with acacias as an place of worship. my proposal: the meaning "house of the acacia" must not mean a real physical building surrounded by trees of the acacia. there exist another possible explanation: it is a (holy) place of many (sacred) trees (a GROVE), - here we have acacias- , with eventually restricted access only by priests and other preferred persons ( dancers ?), to worship a special god or goddess, or it was even a mystical place of hidden energies. you find this in many cultures. in europe you have many old places like this (often of celtic origin ). ok, in this special case we have a sacred place, a grove, surrounded by acacias to worship NEITH or another goddess like(later) Hathor. for this proposal i can provide another interesting argument: in the ancient arabian religion ( from time before mohammed ) there existed a religious trinity:al-lat/meant/al-uzza. and the goddess AL-UZZA was worshipped in a desert-situated sanctuary of ACACIA-trees ! ( the location was south of mecca ) it was the famous Mohammed himself who destroyed this acacia-sactuary ! best regards: Bernhard | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 470 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.73 |
dear JD, during i worked on my second posting, you have been answering. it was like a kind of interference, and i could not read your last actual posting. now we are on the same trace, and need to know more about goddess al-uzza and her suggested relation with the (older) egyptian religion. i found: http://www.geocities.com/jywanza1/Allat.html and: http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/blston2.htm and: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/u/uzza.html and: http://answering-islam.org.uk/Books/Al-Kalbi/uzza.htm and: http://www.acacialand.com/temple.html and: http://www.sacredsites.com/december2001pages/petra_ruins.htm - the two last links will show us: al-uzza found at PETRA too ! best regards: Bernie | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 814 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.134.118 |
Dear Bernhard, If al-Uzza indeed represents the full moon, then the parallel with the Egyptian goddess wDA.t (Udjat-eye) comes to mind (wDA.t is sometimes transcribed as uzat). In Egyptian wDA means "hale", "uninjured", i.e. a meaning close to "strong", uzza. The excellent links which you posted demonstrate once again the difficulty of determining the original features of ancient religions, especially based on comparisons between different cultures ! JD | ||
| bernhard a. grundl Senior Member Username: bernhard_grundl Post Number: 471 Registered: 09-2002 Posted From: 193.27.50.74 |
dear JD, i agree. and to avoid a mis-interpretation: my links above in relation with al-uzza were more intended to show the possibility of "the house of acacia" being a grove of acacias (not a real building or temple), and a natural situated place of worship, and not primarily under the consideration of al-uzza being a later form of earlier egyptian goddesses. ok, if al-uzza can be considered to be a direct "descendant", or variant, of an earlier egyptian deity, would even be still better ! but the most important aspect for me was: the NEAR-EAST practicing of an "open-air" place of worship, like a GROVE; esp. in context with the acacia-tree. ( sacred tree of neith/hathor/sekhmet/..). i guess, we have enlightened the secret of the "house of acacia" !? best regards: bernhard | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 815 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 80.236.150.95 |
Dear Bernhard, The most important point here, IMHO, is the link which you provided between the acacia and Neit. Neit played an all-important role at the Archaic Period : queens and female retainers bear theophorous names compounded with that of the goddess (Mer-Neit, Neit-hotep etc.). This is often (IMHO naively) interpreted as resulting from marriages by the Upper Egyptian Thinite kings with ladies from the Delta, to win the hearts of the people there. It rather results from the ritual role of these ladies at Court, which was linked with Neit (a role later occupied by Hathor). What could be the link between Neit and the acacia-tree ? The leaves and seed pods are used for fodder, but the latter also to make a dye, and Neit is linked with the dyeing of tissues, if I remember well. Whereas the tree of Hathor, the sycamore, produces a kind of figs, so that the goddess feeds people as a tree in the same manner as she suckles the calf Ihy or the king as a motherly cow. JD | ||
| Jack Dean Intermediate Member Username: jdean Post Number: 221 Registered: 08-1999 Posted From: 205.188.209.80 |
Dear JD, You ask 'Why Libyan women?' Edward Wente wrote an essay 'Hathor at the Jubilee' that appeared in _Studies in Honour of John A Wilson_. He compares Sahure's girls and their dress with the dress of the performing artists in Kheruef's chapel. He states the dress of these performing artists suggests that they were Libyan (p. 88), and the variegated striped pattern of the skirts of similar dancers on unpublished jubilee talatat of Amenhotep IV at Karnak confirms their foreign origin. This doesn't apply as far as I know to the earliest repesentations at Debeheni. Regards, Jack | ||
| J.D. Degreef Senior Member Username: jd_degreef Post Number: 816 Registered: 02-2000 Posted From: 213.177.133.28 |
Hi Jack, After the link uncovered by Bernhard between the acacia and Neit (a goddess with cult sites in the Sahara), Libyan dancers suit me fine.  But the fact remains that none of the dancing women represented during the Old Kingdom is represented dressed as a Libyan. Even the bandlets around the chest, appearing at the 6th dyn., are different. But Asiatic prisoners in Old Kingdom scenes (e.g. Sahure) wear a "normal" kilt, so I'd be prepared to consider the dancers as Asiatics, especially given the existence there of acacia groves associated with a goddess and possibly with dancing (even though at a much later period than the Old Kingdom !). A hymn to Hathor mentions the Beduins (presumably from the E. Desert ?) "jumping" (as a dance movement, apparently) for the goddess (Siegfried SCHOTT, "Les chants d'amour de l'Egypte ancienne", transl. Paule KRIEGER, Ed. Orient Illustré, Paris, 1956, pp. 95-96). The people from the E. Desert or Punt building Min's hut in Pepy II's funerary temple are wrapped in bandlets (over their whole body, not just the chest). It could well be that the later association between the female dancers and Libya is a consequence of the Upper Egyptian goddess Hathor having taken the place of Neit. I don't think we have sufficient data to decide either way anyhow... JD |
