5.2 Heterostructure Assembly and Characterization
5.2.3 Heterostructure Characterization
The name of the eponymous Feast of Hathor is known from the Middle Kingdom through the Greco-Roman Period. During the Middle Kingdom, the feast was called Xnt Hwt-Hr, the Sailing of Hathor.
1On the astronomical ceiling in the 18th Dynasty tomb of Senmut (TT71),
2this eponymous feast was called Hwt-Hr and in the Medinet Habu Festival Calendar
3(date attributed to the reign of Ramesses II
4), the event was designated Hb Hwt-Hr. The eponymous Feast of Hathor was also referred to in various ways in documents pertaining to Deir el-Medina. In O. Michaelides 33
5(date attributed to the first half of the 20th Dynasty
6), the feast at the beginning of IV Axt was called xa(w) nt Hwt-Hr,
‘Procession of Hathor’. Certain undated references to a feast of Hathor may also designate the eponymous feast of III Axt. In O. Michaelides 48
7(date attributed to the reign of Ramesses II
8), Hb n Hwt-Hr is mentioned among the occasions when supplies were transferred from one unidentified person to another. PA Hb n Hwt-Hr is referred to in O.
Liverpool 13625
9(date attributed to the reign of Merenptah
10), an account of transfers similar to that of O. Michaelides 48. In O. IFAO 1088
11(no date attributed), a feast called Hb aq nw p(t), Entering the Sky, was introduced between the Opet Festival and the Feast of kA-Hr-kA. I am inclined to agree with René van Walsem
12that this may be another name for the eponymous feast of Hathor. One may perhaps also note O. Berlin P 10637,
13the date of which is attributed to the thirteenth year of Ramesses III.
14The Day of Doing Good, hrw pA ir nfr,
15mentioned in this account of transfers might perhaps stand for the
1 P. Berlin P 10282, rt. 2; P. UC 32191, rt. 1, 2; see Luft, Die chronologische Fixierung (1992), 177.
2 See, for example, Parker, Calendars (1950), 42–43, pl. I; Leitz, Studien zur Astronomie (1989), 35–
48; for the date of TT71, see Porter & Moss, Topographical Bibliography I².1 (1960), 139–142.
3 Festival Calendar of Medinet Habu, 917 (list 40); Kitchen, KRI V (1983), 159.
4 For the date attributed, see Nelson, The Calendar at Medinet Habu (1934), 25–29; Spalinger, Sovereignty and Theology, Saeculum 47 (1996), 226; Haring, Divine Households (1997), 53–55.
5 IV Axt 1 xa(w) nt Hwt-Hr; O. Michaelides 33, rt. 9; for this reading of the signs after the date, see Deir el-Medina Database, O. Michaelides 033, Remarks.
6 For the dates attributed, see Goedicke & Wente, Ostraca Michaelides (1962), 20 (Ramesses III);
Kitchen, KRI V (1983), 612–613 (Ramesses III); Helck, Die datierten (2002), 374–375 (year 2 of Ramesses IV).
7 O. Michaelides 48 rt. II, 15. The feast of Hathor is referred to in this text as the ‘second feast of Hathor’, ky Hb n Hwt-Hr, although no other feast of Hathor is mentioned in the surviving part of the ostracon. Perhaps a third column once existed to the right of the surviving columns. The feast of Pre mentioned in this document is also designated as ‘the second feast’ of this deity (rt. II, 5).
8 For the date attributed, see Kitchen, KRI III (1980), 556–557; the document was attributed a date in the 20th Dynasty by Hans Goedicke and Edward Wente (Ostraca Michaelides (1962), 20).
9 O. Liverpool 13625, rt. 3.
10 For the date attributed, see Kitchen, KRI VI (1982), 162–163.
11 O. IFAO 1088, 5; (Černý, Notebooks, 110.56); see van Walsem, Month-Names (1982), 221–222, 242 (O. DeM inv. no. 1088); for a discussion of this document, see Chapter III 1.2.1.
12 Van Walsem, Month-Names (1982), 228 note 103.
13 O. Berlin P 10637, rt. 1 – vs. 2.
14 For the date attributed, see Kitchen, KRI V (1983), 455.
15 O. Berlin P 10637, rt. 3.
eponymous Feast of Hathor.
1The so-called ‘do good’ prayers left as graffiti at Deir el-Bahri are almost exclusively directed at Hathor.
2Hathor was venerated all over Egypt since the beginning of ancient Egyptian history.
3She was the goddess of music, dance, love, and intoxication, just to mention a few examples of the domains of this deity, and, especially in Western Thebes, she was the goddess of the necropolis.
4Which of the numerous aspects of Hathor was celebrated during the eponymous feast of III Axt is not readily apparent. In the Greco-Roman temple of Esna, the object of veneration during this particular feast seems to have been Hathor in her role as the daughter of Re, i.e., the Eye of the Sun.
5In another Greco-Roman temple, that of Hathor at Dendera, the Feast of Hathor in III Axt was called the feast of the repetition of txy.
6As the Feast of txy was one of the feasts commemorating the return of the Solar Eye from Nubia,
7the eponymous feast of Hathor also seems to have been celebrated in honour of the Eye of Re in the temple of Dendera.
8The aspect of Hathor which was worshipped at Deir el-Medina during the eponymous feast of III Axt is not self-evident. Hathor was a popular deity in this community and the goddess was revered in her numerous aspects. One example is a stela in the collection of W. J. Bankes (Stela Bankes 7). In this stela dating to the reign of Ramesses II,
9Bukhanef-Ptah, wife of Kasa, is shown with her family in front of the goddess Nebethotep.
10Behind the goddess is a large sistrum with the head of Hathor which is also referred to as Nebethotep. The goddess in this stela seems to be a
1 See Deir el-Medina Database, O. Berlin P 10637, Dates mentioned.
2 Sadek, Popular Religion (1987), 240; see also Marciniak, Quelques remarques sur la formule IR NFR, IF NFR, ÉT 2 (1968), 25–31. Elsewhere in Egypt, these prayers were directed to other deities such as Sekhmet and Ptah (see Sadek, loc. cit.) and, thus, it is also possible that this reference to the day of ir nfr indicates a feast of a deity other than Hathor.
3 E.g., Bleeker, Hathor and Thoth (1973), 75–79.
4 For Hathor, see, for example, Hermann, Altägyptische Liebesdichtung (1959), 14–28; Allam,
Beiträge zum Hathorkult (bis zum Ende des Mittleren Reiches) (1963); Derchain, Hathor Quatrifons.
Recherches sur la syntaxe d’un mythe égyptien (1972); Bleeker, Hathor and Thoth (1973), 22–105;
Leitz (ed.), Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter V (2002), 75–79; idem, Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter VIII (2003), 347–414.
5 Sauneron, Les fêtes religieuses d’Esna (1962), 41–43. For irt-ra, see also Leitz (ed.), Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter I (2002), 426–429; idem, Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter VIII (2003), 104–106.
6 Grimm, Festkalender (1994), 46–47.
7 E.g., von Lieven, Wein, Weib und Gesang (2003), 48–49; for the feast txy, see, for example, Spalinger, Chronological Analysis, SAK 20 (1993), 297–303; Waitkus, Eine Fahrt der Hathor, GM 135 (1993), 105–111; Spalinger, Thoth and the Calendars (1994), 54; Darnell, Hathor Returns to Medamûd, SAK 22 (1995), 47–94; Frandsen, On Fear of Death and the Three Bwts connected with Hathor, in Teeter & Larson (eds.), Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F.
Wente (1999), 131–148.
8 Some other feasts where the Eye of the Sun was honoured were the New Year Festival (Von Lieven, Wein, Weib und Gesang (2003), 47–54), the Beautiful Feast of the Valley (Allam, Beiträge zum Hathorkult (1963), 69–70; Naguib, The Beautiful Feast (1991), 21–32), and the Feast of ipip (P.
Berlin P 3053, H 1–2; see Verhoeven & Derchain, Le Voyage de la Déesse Libyque. Ein Text aus dem ‘Mutritual’ des Pap. Berlin 3053 (1985), 18, 43, 53).
9 For the date of this stela, see Černý, Egyptian Stelae (1958), 7.
10 Stela Bankes 7; for Nebethotep at Deir el-Medina, see Valbelle, Les ouvriers (1985), 313, 317, 330.
form of Hathor, the Solar Eye.
1The family of Bukhanef-Ptah is shown approaching (Hathor-)Nebethotep with musical instruments, such as tambourines and clappers, as well as with flowers and bags of food.
2It seems, thus, that the members of this lady’s family are taking part in a festive event, perhaps the eponymous Feast of Hathor, the Eye of Re.
The act of playing the tambourine and other percussion instruments played an important part in placating the angry goddess on her return from Nubia.
3At Deir el-Bahri, just north of the village of Deir el-Medina, Hathor was venerated primarily as the goddess of the western mountain and the necropolis.
4In addition to Hathor, the Deir el-Bahri cult was directed at Amon.
5In the graffiti found in the ruins of Thutmose III’s Hathor temple at Deir el-Bahri, the visitors to this shrine mention Hathor, Daughter of Re.
6In the area surrounding Deir el-Medina, several small temples for the cult of Hathor were erected along the northern road.
7Like the Hathor temple at Deir el-Bahri, the Hathor shrine built by Seti I to the area north of the present Ptolemaic precinct, in addition to Hathor, was also dedicated to Amon.
8The sanctuary of Hathor founded by Ramesses II was, according to Bernard Bruyère,
9a smaller version of the terrace temple of Hatshepsut at Deir Bahri. The temples build by Seti I and Ramesses II at Deir Medina thus appear to have been dedicated to a cult of Hathor similar to that of Deir el-Bahri. These small temples at Deir el-Medina, consequently, may have been the location of the Feast of Hathor, the Eye of Re.
10Alternatively, the focal point of the celebration of the feast might have been the little chapel inside the present Ptolemaic precinct (Bruèyre’s
1 Sadek, Popular Religion (1987), 114. A sistrum called Hathor-Nebethotep, the Eye of Re, is depicted on Stela Turin N. 50027 (date attributed to the 19th Dynasty; Tosi & Roccati, Stele e altre (1972), 60). However, see O. DeM 744 + 745 where both Hathor and Nebethotep are listed as recipients of grain rations (Hwt-Hr XAr 1/4...nbt-Htp X[Ar...; (744) 2, (745) 5; date attributed to the late 19th Dynasty; Grandet, Ostraca Deîr el-Médînéh VIII (2000), 36–38 (Amenmesse or Seti II);
Collier, Dating Ostraca (2004), 115–116 (late Seti II to Siptah)). For Hwt-Hr nbt-Htp, see Leitz (ed.), Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter V (2002), 83; idem, Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter VIII (2003), 414–415; for nbt-Htpt, see idem, Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter IV (2002), 111–112; idem, Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter VIII (2003), 292–293.
2 Stela Bankes 7.
3 Von Lieven, Wein, Weib und Gesang (2003), 50–51; see also Manniche, Music and Musicians (1991), 60–61.
4 Allam, Beiträge zum Hathorkult (1963), 67; Bleeker, Hathor and Thoth (1973), 75.
5 Karkowski, Beautiful Feast of the Valley Representations (1976), 363–364.
6 Graffito from the Thutmose III Deir el-Bahri temple nr. 31 (see Sadek, An Attempt to Translate the Corpus of the Deir el-Bahri Hieratic Inscriptions, GM 71 (1984), 89); Graffito from the Thutmose III Deir el-Bahri temple nr. 80 (see Sadek, An Attempt to Translate the Corpus of the Deir el-Bahri Hieratic Inscriptions (Part Two), GM 72 (1984), 76).
7 The Hathor chapel of Seti I (Bruyère, Rapport 1935–1940 I (1948), 99–104; Porter & Moss, Topographical Bibliography I².2 (1964), 694–695); the Sanctuary of Hathor build by Ramesses II (Bruyère, Deir el Medineh. Fouilles de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cd’É 25–28 (1939), 269–271; idem, Rapport 1935–1940 I (1948), 19–20; Porter & Moss, Topographical Bibliography I².2 (1964), 695–696); the temple attributed to Merenptah (Bruyère, Rapport 1935–
1940 I (1948), 91; idem, Rapport 1935–1940 II (1952), 107–109 (no. 250), I, 143–144 (nos. 382–
383), pl. 41; Porter & Moss, Topographical Bibliography I².2 (1964), 695).
8 Bruyère, Rapport 1935–1940 I (1948), 103; an altar dedicated by Seti I to Hathor and Amon was found in the chapel.
9 Bruyère, Rapport 1935–1940 I (1948), 23.
10 In the Ptolemaic temple of Hathor at Deir el-Medina, Hathor is called the Eye of Re (de Bourguet, Le temple de Deir al-Médîna (2002), 203–205).
chapel 3).
1In this chapel, the main deities seem to have been Hathor and Horus.
2A stela dedicated to Mut of Isheru, i.e., another form of the Solar Eye, was also found in this particular chapel.
3As far as I am aware, no priests or priestesses of Hathor are known from the community of Deir el-Medina.
4There is, however, one stela dating to the reign of Ramesses II
5which was dedicated by Nebenmaat, the Servant (bAk) of Hathor.
6Several wives of the royal artisans are known to have held the title Chantress (Smayt/Hsyt) of Hathor.
7If the Feast of Hathor was celebrated in honour of the Eye of Re, it was perhaps these women who pacified the enraged goddess by singing and playing music to her.
8The main ritual of the eponymous Feast of Hathor seems to have been a procession of the celebrated goddess. As stated above, the feast was called the Sailing of Hathor during the Middle Kingdom.
9A water procession on the river or on a lake, thus, may have been part of the festivities. A procession of Hathor is also mentioned in a graffito from the temple of Thutmose III at Deir el-Bahri.
10In the Greco-Roman temple calendars, processions of Hathor are mentioned as having taken place during this feast.
11During the Greco-Roman Period, the Feast of Hathor, furthermore, may have been part of a longer fertility festival in the month of III Axt.
12Among the rituals of the Hathor Feast in her temple at Dendera, a fertility rite called the ‘opening of the breasts of women’ is mentioned.
13The ‘presentation of offerings’ performed in honour of Nebetuu, a manifestation of Hathor in the Esna Temple, also seems to have been a fertility ritual.
141 For Chapel 3, see Bruyère, Rapport 1935–1940 I (1948), 96–97.
2 Both a stela and a slab with the names of Hathor and Horus were found in the excavations of Chapel 3 (Bruyère, Rapport 1935–1940 II (1952), 105–106).
3 Bruyère, Rapport 1935–1940 II (1952), 105.
4 For the priestesses of Hathor, see, for example, Gillam, Priestesses of Hathor: Their Function, Decline and Disappearance, JARCE 32 (1995), 211–237.
5 For the date of Stela Turin N. 50188, see Tosi & Roccati, Stele e altre (1972), 169.
6 BAk n Hwt-Hrt Hnwt mHyt sDm-aS m st mAat nb-n-mAat; Stela Turin N. 50188.
7 E.g., TT2, entrance to offering chapel, wall A’, 1st register; offering chapel, room 1, wall, 3rd register left (Černý, Répertoire Onomastique (1949), 12, 15; reign of Ramesses II; Porter & Moss, Topographical Bibliography I².1 (1960), 6–9); TT4, offering chapel, wall A (Černý, op. cit., 44;
reign of Ramesses II; Porter & Moss, op. cit., 11–12); TT6, offering chapel, room 2, wall B, 2nd register left (Černý, op. cit., 59; date attributed from late in the 18th Dynasty into the reign of Ramesses II; Porter & Moss, op. cit., 14–15); TT211, offering chapel, wall C (Černý, op. cit., 88;
date attributed to the 19th Dynasty; Porter & Moss, op. cit., 307–309); TT216, offering chapel, room 3, wall E, 1st register right (Černý, op. cit., 107; date attributed to the mid-19th Dynasty; Porter &
Moss, op. cit., 312–315). For Hsyt n Hwt-Hr at Deir el-Medina, see Bruyère, Rapport 1929 (1930), 34–35; for Chantresses in ancient Egypt, see also Onstine, The Role of the Chantress in Ancient Egypt (2005).
8 For women playing music during the Feast of Hathor, see Hartwig, Tomb Painting and Identity (2004), 96; for female musicians, see, for example, Manniche, Music and Musicians (1991);
Fantecchi & Zingarelli, Singers and Musicians, GM 186 (2002), 27–35.
9 P. Berlin P 10282, rt. 2; P. UC 321911, rt. 1, 2; see Luft, Die chronologische Fixierung (1992), 177.
10 Graffito from the Thutmose III Deir el-Bahri temple nr. 1; see Sadek, An Attempt to translate, GM 71 (1984), 71–73.
11 Grimm, Festkalender (1994), 52–55.
12 Altenmüller, Feste, LÄ II (1977), 175; cf. Daumas, Hathorfeste, LÄ II (1977), 1034–1035.
13 Grimm, Festkalender (1994), 381.
14 Sauneron, Les fêtes religieuses d’Esna (1962), 41.
As indicated in the aforementioned O. Michaelides 33
1(date attributed to the first half of the 20th Dynasty
2), a procession of Hathor also seems to have been part of the festivities during the Hathor feast at Deir el-Medina. The identification of any other activities associated with the Feast of Hathor is less clear. According to P. Turin Cat. 1881 + 2080 + 2092
3(year 8 of Ramesses IX
4), the royal artisans received extra provisions, Hsw,
5two days before the Feast of Hathor. Another delivery of offering loaves is known to have taken place right after the Feast of Hathor.
6The date of the eponymous feast of III Axt is given as IV Axt 1 in the Middle Kingdom sources.
7In the temple of Thutmose III at Deir el-Bahri, the procession of Hathor is said to have taken place on IV Axt 4,
8whereas the Festival Calendar of Medinet Habu
9(date attributed to the reign of Ramesses II
10) mentions IV Axt 1 as the date for the Feast of Hathor. During the Greco-Roman Period, the date of the eponymous Feast of Hathor varied from temple to temple. In the temple of Dendera, the eponymous feast was celebrated for the whole month of III Axt and, additionally, processions of Hathor occurred from III Axt 29 through IV Axt 1.
11As the temple of Dendera was dedicated to Hathor, it is understandable that this ancient, eponymous feast of the goddess was celebrated for an extended period of time. In the temple of Kom Ombo, a feast of Hathor was celebrated from III Axt 28 through IV Axt 5,
12whereas in the temple of Esna the feast was celebrated on one day only, on III Axt 29.
13Many references to a feast of Hathor at Deir el-Medina seem to indicate private feasts.
14A communal feast of Hathor, nevertheless, appears to have been celebrated at the beginning of IV Axt. In the aforementioned O. Michaelides 33,
15the crew is said to have
1 2a(w) nt Hwt-Hr; O. Michaelides 33, rt. 9; for this reading of the signs after the date, see Deir el-Medina Database, O. Michaelides 033, Remarks.
2 For the dates attributed, see Goedicke & Wente, Ostraca Michaelides (1962), 20 (Ramesses III);
Kitchen, KRI V (1983), 612–613 (Ramesses III); Helck, Die datierten (2002), 374–375 (year 2 of Ramesses IV).
3 III Axt 29 m hrw pn Ssp m-dt wdpw-nsw ns-imn...krS Sri 500 aqw Sbn 500 ps Htp-nTr 350 Drwy dbn 50; P. Turin Cat. 1881 + 2080 + 2092 rt. V, 4–10.
4 For the date of P. Turin Cat. 1881 + 2080 + 2092, see Kitchen, KRI VI (1983), 613–614; Helck, Die datierten (2002), 489–490.
5 For the term Hsw, see Janssen, Village varia (1997), 1 notes 6, 10.
6 IV Axt 3 hrw pn Ssp m-dt wdpw-nsw ns-imn pA sS pr-aA t-nfr psn Htp-nTr 400 Sbn=st wnmy 200 smHy 200; P. Turin Cat. 1881 + 2080 + 2092 rt. VII, 1–2.
7 P. Berlin P 10282 rt. 2; for the reconstruction of the date, see Luft, Die chronologische Fixierung (1992), 116 note d; see also Schott, Festdaten (1950), 89.
8 Graffito from the Thutmose III Deir el-Bahri temple nr. 1; see Sadek, An Attempt to translate, GM 71 (1984), 71–73.
9 Festival Calendar of Medinet Habu, 917 (list 40); Kitchen, KRI V (1983), 159.
10 For the date attributed, see Nelson, The Calendar at Medinet Habu (1934), 25–29; Spalinger, Sovereignty and Theology, Saeculum 47 (1996), 226; Haring, Divine Households (1997), 53–55.
11 Grimm, Festkalender (1994), 379–382.
12 Grimm, Festkalender (1994), 380–381. This festival period is mentioned in Kom Ombo Festival Calendar A. In Calendar B, the feast is said to take place from III Axt 29 through IV Axt 2.
13 Sauneron, Les fêtes religieuses d’Esna (1962) 15; Grimm, Festkalender (1994), 381. In the temple of Esna, the Feast of Hathor was celebrated in honour of her manifestation Nebetuu (Sauneron, Les fêtes religieuses d’Esna (1962), 41–43).
14 See Valbelle, Les ouvriers (1985), 323–335; Sadek, Popular Religion (1987), 192–196; see also Chapter III 2.4.
15 Wsf xa(w) nt Hwt-Hr; O. Michaelides 33, rt. 9; for this reading of the signs after the date, see Deir el-Medina Database, O. Michaelides 033, Remarks.
been freed from work on the Royal Tomb on IV Axt 1 due to a procession of Hathor.
According to this document, the men were also work-free on the subsequent day, IV Axt 2.
1The first and second day of IV Axt might, indeed, have been annually occurring work-free days at Deir el-Medina.
2According to O. Cairo CG 25515
3(year 6 of Seti II
4) and O.
Cairo CG 25545 + JE 72454
5(date attributed to year 6 of Seti II
6), the crew was work-free from III Axt 29 through IV Axt 2. In O. Turin N. 57047
7(year 22 of Ramesses III
8), the men are said to have been freed from work on the Royal Tomb from III Axt 28 through IV Axt 6. In the lamp account O. Strasbourg H. 136
9(date attributed to year 24 of Ramesses III
10), the days III Axt 27 – IV Axt 3 dave been omitted indicating inactivity during this period. There are, however, some documents indicating that working took place during the days of the Feast of Hathor. In O. Cairo CG 25520
11(date attributed to the second half of the 19th Dynasty
12), individual men absent from work on IV Axt 2 are listed, indicating that the rest of the crew was working. In O. DeM 339
13(reign of Ramesses III
14), some men are listed as having been absent from work on IV Axt 1 and, thus, it seems that in this particular case, most of the crew worked on the first day of this eponymous feast. Note also the work journal O. Cairo CG 25299,
15the date of which is attributed to the fourteenth year of Ramesses IX.
16According to this document, gypsum was applied to the
1 Wsf; O. Michaelides 33, rt. 10.
2 The ratio of references to working to references to inactivity is 2/5 for both IV Axt 1 and 2; see also Helck, Feiertage, JESHO 7 (1964), 157.
3 aHa...(iw=w) wsf; O. Cairo CG 25515 rt. VII, 14–17.
4 For the date of O. Cairo CG 25515, see, for example, Černý, Ostraca Caire (1935), 7; Kitchen, KRI IV (1982), 322–327, 382–384; Helck, Die datierten (2002), 141–147, 160–163.
5 Lamp account omitting III Axt 29 – IV Axt 2; O. Cairo CG 25545 + JE 72454; see Helck, Die datierten (2002), 146.
6 For the date attributed, see Helck, Die datierten (2002), 146–147; Donker van Heel & Haring, Writing in a Workmen’s Village (2003), 34.
7 (III Axt) sw 28 wsf sw 29 arq wsf IV Axt 1 sw 2 sw 3 sw 4 sw 5 sw 6 wsf; O. Turin N. 57047, rt. 6–7.
According to O. Ashmolean Museum 4, Kaha and Amennakht received an oracle statement from Amenhotep I during a procession on III Axt 28 (rt. 1–2, vs. 1–3; date attributed to year 5 of
Ramesses IV; e.g., Kitchen, KRI VI (1983), 142). As most of the crew generally seems to have been
Ramesses IV; e.g., Kitchen, KRI VI (1983), 142). As most of the crew generally seems to have been