Happy New Year from the Egypt Centre

The Egypt Centre has several small faience vessels made of faience. Unfortunately, we don't have any complete examples of this type, but I can show you a neck part and body so you can see how a whole one would look.

This type of vessel was popular during the 26th Dynasty, during the reigns of Apries and Amasis (c.550BC).

So many things about this type of vessel suggest that it is to do with rebirth and revival, and there is specific evidence that it was associated with the revivification of the New Year. But guess what, as with many ancient items we can still only take a guess as to what it was specifically used for.

Hints of rebirth/revival

Some of these vessels are found in graves. While not everything found in graves if ancient Egypt is to do with rebirth and revival after death, a lot was. For example: grapes and wine suggesting revival are associated with tombs; scarab beetles associated with the daily renewal of the sun; images of the daily renewal of the sun; etc. are all associated with tombs.

Secondly, the overall shape of the body bit is a squashed circle, reminiscent of the sun coming up above the horizon. Notice that the ancients did not depict the sun here as a proper circle, but rather a squashed circle.

There are baboons each side of the neck of the vessel. The baboons could represent Thoth and the New Year myth of The Return of the Distant One. Briefly the myth tells of Sekhmet being sent out to kill mankind, of her being persuaded to come back to Egypt in peace by Thoth who could take the form of a baboon, and the ensuing drunken celebrations. At philae, dwarves and baboons are shown paired in celebrations for The Return of the Distant One. Baboons are also said the call and 'dance' in the morning as though welcoming the newly risen sun.

There are depictions of lotus flowers (water lilies) on the vessel. The sweet smell of the lotus was said to revive. The water lily also sinks down beneath the water and then rises up to greet the sun in the morning. It was said that in the beginning a water lily rose from the waters of chaos. When it opened up it gave birth to sun god Re who rose into the sky.

And a Happy New Year?

The big clue is that the sides of the vessel spell out in hieroglyphs wpt nfr rnpt (a good/beautiful/ new year.

Moreover, there are three lines symbolising water after the New Year message. For the ancient Egyptians the  Nile was linked to the turning of the year.

New Year was heavily associated with the annual flooding of the Nile. And the annual flooding of the Nile was also bound up with the first sighting of the star, Sodep after its disappearance for around 70 days. The Egyptians believed the Nile to be the efflux (humours of the body) of Osiris, and the earth was fertilised by the flood, as Isis was her husband Osiris. The Nile's annual life-bringing flood was therefore seen as the union of Isis and Osiris, when they conceived their sun, Horus.

According to a text from Edfu (Edfu IV.3, 1-8), the New Year celebrations seemed quite fun:

There are all kinds of bread in loaves as numerous as grains of sand. Oxen abound like locusts. The smell of roast fowl, gazelle, or, oryx and ibex reach the sky. Wine flows freely through the town like the Nile bursting forth from the Two Caverns. Myrrh scattered on the brazier with incense can be smelled a mile away. The city is bestrewed with faience, glittering with natron and garlanded with flowers and fresh herbs. Its youths are drunk, its citizens glad, and its young maidens are beautiful to behold, rejoicing is all around it and festivity is in all its quarters. There is no sleep to be had there until dawn.

So what did the ancient Egyptians do with them?

We don't really know, but the fact that these are small vessels might suggest that they were used for holding samples of the new Nile water. In their size and shape these faience vessels are similar to later pilgrim vessels which later contained water from holy sites. Of course, a similarity in shape doesn't necessarily mean a similarity in use.

The New Year for the ancient Egyptians wasn't of course 1st January. Rather the Nile flooded annually around the 19th of July. Celebrations, continued over a series of days. So I may be late in wishing you a Happy New Year, but let celebration continue as it did for the ancients!

Further Reading 

Blanquet, C-H, 1992, ‘Typologie de la bouteille de nouvel an’ in Cl. Obsomer, A-L. Oosthoek (ed) Amosiades Melanges offerts au professeur Claude Vanderslyen par ses anciens etudiant, Louvain-la-Neuve, 49-54. 

Yamani, S. 2002, New Year’s bottles from Tell Marqula (Dakhla Oasis). Bulletin De L’Instit Français D’Archeologie Orientale, 102, 425-436.

A happy looking Bes

Just been trying to find out more about this rather happy looking Bes. Bes was a good, protective daemon daemon (well usually). Associated with children and women in childbirth, marsh scenes, music and dance. Sometimes though he does look a bit fierce (perhaps intentionally to scar away anything bad).

Here though he looks really happy, with a chubby face and flaring nostrils.

This object is made out of faience and is probably part of a vessel shaped in the form of Bes. It probably dates to around 600BC. If you want to know more about it click here.

You can also find out about other blog posts I have written which are about this daemon by clicking on 'Bes' on the right here.

Faience fish dishes: Cosmetic palettes, tableware, or something else?

Preparing for the joint Amarna handling session with the Egypt Exploration Society which takes place tomorrow. I thought we could have a look at some of my favourite objects from Amarna- the fragments of fish dish. Here is one, W1269: It is part of a faience dish in the shape of a fish, glazed inside and out with the fins acting as handles. It's very much like the stone and wood examples, of which we have examples in the Egypt Centre, and which are usually considered cosmetic bowls. Some examples are also made of travertine. These fish dishes belong to a wider group which includes trussed gazelles, ducks, etc. Click on the link here for information on the stone and wood fish examples.

We also have other pieces, and the Petrie Museum has several too (e.g. UC473, UC474, UC478, UC23079, UC23081, UC23082, UC23083, UC23084, UC23085).

The ones in the Egypt Centre came to us in 1978, as a donation from the British Museum. We know they are from Amarna as they still bear the excavation numbers which show they came from the state apartments of the Great Palace (Pendlebury 1951, 74).

Previously, Petrie had also found fragments of faience fish dishes, together with faience tiles and shallow dishes in the shape of gourds in the Palace store-rooms (Petrie 1894, 12, 28). Petrie suggested that these were table dishes and that they were gathered together so that the pieces could be reused.

But, can other explanations be plausible?

As stated above, they are very similar to the stone and wood palettes of the 18th Dynasty. The stone and wood examples are usually found in temple and tomb contexts suggesting a ritual function and they are usually said to be cosmetic palettes rather than table dishes. But, I don't know of any studies showing what they actually contained. I would be glad if someone could tell me. Friedman (1998, 223) has also suggested that these faience types could be 'cosmetic palettes'.

The fish dishes also bear a strong resemblance to the late Middle Kingdom to Second Intermediate Period Marl fish dishes found on such sites as Kahun (Petrie 1891), Tell el Dab'a (Bader 2001) and Dashur (Allen 2011). Like the faience fish dish fragments, the marl examples are often found broken in groups, suggesting to Allen, some ritual significance. This is reinforced by the fact that the marl dishes are often, though not exclusively, found in temple and funerary contexts. The Middle Kingdom examples are in the shape of shallow fish and often have a raised rectangular area (unlike the Amarna faience ones).

Incidentally, it has been suggested that the s-'tiles' as identified at Petrie, alongside the shallow dishes were actually the lids of the fish dishes (Müller 1964, Friedman 1998, 223 and 236 notes 68 and 69).

It has also been noted that both the Middle Kingdom Marl dishes and the Amarna faience dishes have some resemblance to the faience marsh dishes - round dishes in blue faience often with aquatic scenes (Kronig 1934).

Why the fish? The fish is the bulti fish (Tilipa nilotica) which seems to have been a manifestation of the sun-god. The fish keeps the fertilized eggs in its mouth until they are fry and spits them out. It therefore appears to be swallowing them and giving birth to them.

Fish-shaped cosmetic palettes would make sense either for temple contexts (anointing statues) or in burial contexts. In either case rebirth symbolism would be apposite. Eye-paints and ointment were essential to resurrection. Before appearing in the 'Hall of Justice' the individual had to purify her/himself, dress in white clothing, make-up their eyes and anoint themselves. Applying eye paint also seems to have been part of everyday cult rituals. Depictions of cows destined for ritual slaughter are sometimes shown wearing eye-paint!

So then, elite tableware, cosmetic palettes, or something else?




Bibliography
Allen, J.S. 2011. Fish dishes at Dashur. In Aston, D. Bader, B., Gallorini, C., Nicholson, P. and Buckingham, S, (eds.). Under the Potter’s Tree. Studies on Ancient Egypt Presented to Janine Bourriau on the Occasion of her 70^th Birthday. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 3-15.

Bader, B. 2001. Tell el-Dab`a XIII. Typologie und chronologie der Mergel C-ton keramik. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Friedman, F.D. ed. 1998. Gifts of the Nile . Ancient Egyptian Faience. London : Thames and Hudson.

Krönig, W., 1934. ‘Ägyptische Faience-Schalen des Neuen Reiches. Eine motivgeschichtliche Untersuchung’, MDAIK 5, 144-166.

Müller, H. 1964. Ägyptische Kunstwerke, Kleinfund und Glas in der Sammlung E, und M. Kofler-Trunger (MÄS 5). Berlin.

Pendlebury, J.D.S. 1951 The City of Akhenaten Part III The Central City and Official Quarters, Volume I. London : Egypt Exploration Society.

Petrie, W.M.F. 1891. Illahun, Kahun and Gurob 1889–1890. London: D. Nutt.

Petrie, W.M.F. 1894. Tell El Amarna. Warminster: Aris and Phillips.

Weird things used in the Opening of the Mouth ritual

The Opening of the Mouth ritual was used to bring the mummified dead and also statues 'back to life', or rather to imbue them with some life-like qualities. Most Egyptologists know about the flint knife, the peseh-kef being used for this (please don't confuse this with the fish-tailed knife); which was altogether 'another kettle of fish'!

Here is a pesesh-kef (this example is from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 11.765)

Here is a fish-tailed knife from the Petrie Museum (UC10244).

And if you want to know why they are different the best paper is Thomas Hikade's 'Getting the Ritual Right'. You can find it online here. And he has lots of references about the things. I would like to 'talk' more about these because they are flinty, but must move on....

People also know about the model adzes waved in front of the mummy too. Here you can see a detail of a piece of the Book of the Dead in the Egypt Centre showing the priest on the far right waving things at the mummy. The adze is on the top of his heap of magic tools and you can see the foreleg of an ox under that.

And, if you want to know more about this fragment of the Book of the Dead, click here.

Well what about this:

Things like this have proved a bit of a mystery to Egyptologists, and have been considered granaries or even cosmetic containers! However,a few years back I was privileged to hear Silke Grallert talk about them. It seems they were used in the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony from the 26th Dynasty. And if you want to know more, here is the link.

Of course, I can't actually resist flints. So, a picture, not very good I'm afraid of some miniature polished stone knives from a photo I took in Cairo Museum in 2003. They are from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Similar ones were found in KV55. Their context suggests they were part of the 18th Dynasty Opening of the Mouth 'toolkit' put in tombs. Such things aren't listed in texts, or drawn on tomb walls in association with the Opening of the Mouth ritual.

More Nubian Stuff - Faience Head, a Talisman for Children

EC537 is a faience head of a Nubian. The head can be recognised as Nubian by the treatment of the eyes and by the cruciform hairstyle. The piece is 3.5cm high. It appears to belong to a larger piece. Parallels suggest a date of the Third Intermdiate Period to Late Period. 

The hairstyle appears to be associated with Nubian women (Bulté 1991, 94), who are often shown on items associated with toilet and with childbirth and motherhood (e.g Ashmolean AN1896-1908 E.1807 and the British Museum ostraca below). 

Similar examples include ECM822 in the Eton College collection (Graves 2013). Several important goddesses such as Tefnut and Sekhmet were associated with Nubia in the Late Period. Friedman (1998, 208) believes that such figures are associated with motherhood and perhaps used to protect young children. A complete example is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1951.13, in Friedman 1998 ed. 69: 109, 208 and http://www.mfa.org/search/collections?keyword=1984.168) shows a nursing figure. Graves (2013) further associates them with Beset.

 

A female figure with a similar hairstyle can be seen on this 19^th Dynasty ostracon from Deir el-Medina (British Museum EA 8506, copyright British Museum Trustees).

References

Bulté, J. 1991. Talismans Égytiens d’Heureuse Maternité. Faïence bleu vert à pois foncés. Paris.

Friedman, F.D. ed. 1989. Gifts of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience. Thames and Hudson: London.

Graves, C. 2013. Eton College Myers Collection of Egyptian Antiquities Object Highlight: ECM822, A Faience Nubian Head. Birmingham Egyptology Journal, 1. http://birminghamegyptology.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Eton-College-Myers-Collection-of-Egyptian-Antiquities-Object-Highlight-ECM822-A-Faience-Nubian-Head1.pdf (accessed 1.10.2013).

Other Nubian and Nubian related items in the Egypt Centre

Incense burner, votive model, offering stand?

New object just put on display. It is made from faience and is around 4 cm in height. But what is it?

It is in the shape of a capital from a column. Model stone capitals are usually said to be either sculptors' models or votive offerings. Howver, at Middle Kingdom Kahun, Petrie found model columns in stone and wood in situe with either offerings of bread on them, or in one case a put to burn incense.

Of course this is not Middle Kingdom in date. The style of the plant on the column suggests it is Greek or Roman. The fact that it has an indentation in the top suggests to me that it may well be an incense burner. For more, including parallels, click here.

Mysterious Amarna Woman!!!!

I have been putting this rather tatty looking object on display today. I know other museums have better examples, but it is the only ring bezel belonging to the Amarna female king Nefernefruaten, which I could find in our collection.

A ring bezel is the decorative part of a ring. This object is made from faience (which is a bit like glass). This is one of several ring bezels we have with the name of Amarna kings upon them.

It has one of the several names of the king, more precisely, it shows the name which Egyptologists call the 'prenomen'. Only the nomen and the prenomen were written in cartouches. The prenomen was given to the king when he came to the throne.

So whose name is on this? The name reads as ‘Ankhkheperure-mery-Waenre’, which is the prenomen of Nefernefruaten. It means ‘Living are the forms of Re, who is beloved of the Sole one of Re’ (Ankhkheperure=Living are the Forms of Re; mery= beloved of; Waenre=Sole One of Re).

The identity of this person has long been disputed. That Neferneferuaten was a female king is suggested by the fact that sometimes the name is written to show it is a female form (it isn't here) and sometimes the name has the epithet ‘effective for her husband’. She has been variously identified as Smenkhare, Meritaten and Nefertiti, or even another wife of Akhenaten. The epithet ‘beloved of Waenre’ associated the person with Akhenaten as Akhenaten also had the title 'Waenre'. More recent scholarship suggests that Nefertiti is the most likely contender. Whoever she was, she was perhaps a coregent of Akhenaten and later Tutankhamun. 

The names of kings were written on items such as rings to give kingly protection to the wearer. 

The bezel was donated to the Egypt Centre in the 1970s from the British Museum. So thank you to the British Museum for perhaps a tatty looking but nonetheless interesting, object. Often the least pretty objects are the most intriguing.

A link to our website with information on the object.