Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 JEGH 3.

1
Also available online brill.nl/jegh DOI: 10.1163/187416610X487250
LOOKING AT HISTORY THROUGH THE
PRISM OF MYTHOLOGY:
CAN THE OSIRIAN MYTH SHED ANY LIGHT ON
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ROYAL SUCCESSION PATTERNS?*
Jean Revez
Universit du Qubec Montral
Abstract
The Osirian Myth is testimony to the importance Egyptians put on royal suc-
cession. In this paper, we wish to show how the distinction between Myth and
History can sometimes be blurred. We will examine two case studies in which the
traditional focus on the orderly transmission of royal power from Osiris to his son
Horus is altered in order to t in extraordinary political circumstances or unusual
cultural features. We will rst look at the Great Abydene Stela of Ramesses IV
to examine how the tumultuous succession of Ramesses III changed the angle
from which the Osirian Myth is alluded to. We will then deal with the Stela of
Taharqa on the High Nile in Year 6 to see how the myth is reshaped in order to
encompass the new reality of an Egyptian dynasty of Nubian origin, where the
kings mother played a major role in the royal investiture.
Introduction
The Osirian Myth is testimony to the importance Egyptians put
on the royal succession of power. Put simply, Egyptologists have
traditionally interpreted the creation of myths (what Assmann calls
Geno-texts) or the actual form the myth takes when it is transmitted
(the so-called Phno-texts) in two ways: as either transcriptions of
historical events or as illustrations of structural relationships between
* The second part of this article is largely based on Chapter 12 of my forthcoming
book entitled Frre de roi. Lvolution du rle des frres de roi dans les modalits successorales
en gypte ancienne, to be published in the Bibliothque dtude series at the IFAO in
Cairo. Further discussion of the topic was made possible by attending a colloquium
in Montreal dealing with the theme of Justice and Public Space. The content of the
third part of the present paper was only partly dealt with at the UBC Workshop, but
was treated to a greater extent at the SSEA Symposium held in Toronto in November
2008. I would like to thank the Fonds qubcois de la recherche sur la socit et la
culture (FQRSC) for its nancial support towards the production of this article.
48 jean revez
gods.
1
After an overview of the various interpretations associated
with the Osirian Myth, we would like to examine in this paper
two case studies, the rst one being that of the famously tumultu-
ous succession of Ramesses III, in which the traditional focus on
the orderly transmission of royal power from Osiris to his son
Horus is slightly altered in order to t in extraordinary historical
circumstances. For this purpose, we will focus our attention on the
Abydene stela Cairo JE 48831, also known as the Great Abydos
Stela of Ramesses IV, to show how the distinction between Myth
and History can sometimes be blurred. In the last part of this
paper we will examine the Stela of Taharqa on the High Nile in
Year 6 to see how the same myth is reshaped once again, but this
time less to be in line with unusual political events than to be in
greater conformity with a new cultural reality, that of an Egyptian
dynasty of Nubian origin, where the kings mother, associated with
Isis, plays a major role in the transmission of royal power.
1. The Relationship between Myth and History
In her article published in 2002, K. Goebs summarizes the various
ways the Osirian Myth has been interpreted.
2
As stated above, to the
first group of scholars, who saw myths as illustrations of historical
events, belonged Joachim Spiegel who suggested that the Osirian
myth illustrated the political conflict between the Pharaoh and the
Nomarchs at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.
3
This was
exemplified by the conflicting nature of the Heliopolitan tribunal
in the myth, where the Creator god Ra, symbolizing the Pharaoh,
was in frequent disagreement with the rest of the Ennead as to
the outcome of the trial between Horus and Seth. John Gwynn
Griffiths, for his part, believed that the struggle between Horus and
Seth, which is a key episode of the Osirian Myth, illustrated the
Prehistoric struggle before unification between the North and the
South, associated respectively with these two gods.
4
Jan Assmann,
at least at first, thought that the two opposing geographical factions
1
A thorough examination of this question can be found in Goebs, A functional
approach to Egyptian myth and mythemes, 2838, esp. 30. See also Assmann, Die
Verborgenheit des Mythos in gypten, 3743.
2
Goebs, A functional approach to Egyptian myth and mythemes, 39 f.
3
Spiegel, Die Erzhlung vom Streite des Horus und Seth in Pap. Beatty I, 6883.
4
Grifths, The conict of Horus and Seth from Egyptian and Classical sources, 124.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 49
that were represented by Horus and Seth were the Kingdom of
Hierakonpolis (in the case of the falcon god) and that of Nagada
(in the case of Seth).
5
More recently, U. Verhoeven has convincingly
demonstrated that the Osirian myth, as related in Pap. Chester
Beatty I where several literary devices are used to give consider-
able weight to the ultimate triumph of Horus over Seth, would
have helped to legitimize the rule of Ramesses V by sanctioning
the paternal line of royal succession (the new king was the son of
Ramesses IV) over the collateral one.
6
Another group of researchers believed that myths or mythical
statements encapsulated relationships between groups of gods,
which Jan Assmann called mythical constellations or icons.
7
Seen
under this light, myths are symbolic images of cultural knowledge.
8

The anthropologist Robert Oden put forward the idea that Horus
symbolized culture; as the son of Osiris, the inheritance of kingship
should be given to him, following traditional Egyptian succession
patterns. As for Seth, he incarnates nature, as he wishes to take
over power by brutal force.
9
Vincent Tobin, along somewhat similar
lines, sees the last generation of Heliopolitan gods (which includes
Osiris and Seth) as politically-oriented gods, whose function is
to articulate various concepts in relation to kingship, as opposed
to the earlier deities of the Ennead that were mostly cosmologi-
cal in nature.
10
Lately, M. Campagno has considered the rivalry
between Horus and Seth in Pap. Chester Beatty I as evocative of
the triumph of the State court system over local kinship-based
judicial practices.
11
5
Assmann, The Mind in Egypt, 43.
6
Verhoeven, Ein historischer Sitz im Leben fr die Erzhlung von Horus
und Seth des Papyrus Chester Beatty I. Broze, (Mythe et Roman en gypte ancienne.
Les aventures dHorus et Seth dans le papyrus Chester Beatty I, 268275) comes to a similar
conclusion, but in relation to Ramesses IV.
7
Assmann, The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, 99113. For comments on this theory
see Baines, Egyptian Myth and Discourse: Myth, Gods, and the Early Written and
Iconographic Record, 8592.
8
Goebs, A functional approach to Egyptian myth and mythemes, 33.
9
Oden, The Contendings of Horus and Seth (Chester Beatty Papyrus No. 1):
A Structural Interpretation, 368.
10
Tobin, The creativity of Egyptian myth: wanderings in an intellectual laby-
rinth, 112, 115, note 23.
11
Campagno, Judicial Practices, Kinship and the State in The Contendings of
Horus and Seth, 2033. For the analysis of the linguistic discourse used by the dei-
ties based on gender stereotypes, see Sweeney, Gender and Conversational Tactics
in The Contendings of Horus and Seth, 141162.
50 jean revez
To this short list of either historical or structural readings of the
Osirian myth, one can add two other set of texts that enlighten
Ancient Egyptian pharaonic dogma, in line with U. Verhoevens
understanding of Pap. Chester Beatty I.
2. Ramesses IV and the Change of Focus from the Osiris-Horus to the
Horus-Seth Configuration
The plot to assassinate the 20th Dynasty pharaoh Ramesses III
12
has
come down to us through papyrus Turin, Lee, Rollin and Rifaud.
13

This conspiracy involved no fewer than 32 people belonging to
the Harem, the army and the clergy. Among the culprits was the
son of a woman who was very likely to have been a concubine of
Ramesses III. This kings son, named Pentaweret in the Judicial
Papyrus of Turin, was probably designated by the plotters to mount
on the throne as an usurper:
Pentaweret, the one to whom another name was given (Pn-t-wr py wn.tw
_d n.f py ky rn); he was brought in because of his collusion <with> Tiy, his
mother, when they hatched the conspiracy with the women of the harem,
and because of the crime which was to have been committed against their
lord. He was set before the councillors to be judged. They found him guilty,
they laid him down where he stood. He died by his own hand.
14
The phrase Pn-t-wr py wn.tw _d n.f py ky rn Pentaweret, the one
to whom another name was given has been interpreted in various
ways. Adrian de Buck thought that Pentaweret was the real name of
the Prince and that the other name was the ofcial name under
which Pentaweret would have ruled.
15
According to Georges Posener,
Pentaweret was on the contrary a pseudonym referring to the
prince, whose real name was concealed from the ofcial written
accounts of the trial, in order not to bring additional shame to
the royal family.
16
12
A list of the arguments in favour of/against the theory of the actual death of
the pharaoh as a result of the plot to assassinate him can be found in Vernus, Une
conspiration contre Ramss III, EAO 35, 1718.
13
KRI V, 350366. Add to this Koenig, Nouveaux textes Rifaud II (document E);
Koenig, propos de la conspiration du harem, 303314 (Rifaud F).
14
KRI V, 358, 914. Translation in Vernus, Affaires et scandales sous les Ramss, 148.
On this political scandal, see ibid., 141157; Vernus, Une conspiration contre Ramss
III; Grandet, Ramss III, histoire dun rgne, 330341; Koenig, propos de la conspi-
ration du harem; S. Redford, The Harem Conspiracy. The Murder of Ramesses III.
15
de Buck, The judicial papyrus of Turin, 156, note 1.
16
Posener, Les criminels dbaptiss et les morts sans noms, 52.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 51
The crime committed against Ramesses III had the same effect on
Ramesses IV as the plot against the 12th Dynasty king Amenemhat
I had on Sesostris I. Although it was the father who was the victim
of the plot, its dire political and psychological consequences were
felt by his son and successor. The decision to condemn his brother,
or rather his half-brother Pentaweret, and to force him to bring an
end to his life, was Ramesses IVs.
17
The impact that the so-called Harem Conspiracy had on
Ramesses IV is clearly detectable in the Cairo Stela JE 48331 found
in Abydos.
18
This imposing limestone stela, measuring 2m60 by
1m20, was published by Korostovtsev
19
in 1947 and studied subse-
quently by mostly Belgian scholars, including Philippe Derchain,
20

Michle Broze
21
and Benot Claus.
22
The upper part of the rounded stela shows Ramesses IV mak-
ing the offering of the Maat to an important group of gods.
23
This
major inscription, both in content and form, is very similar to two
other famous Ramesside dedicatory texts, those of Sethi I
24
and
Ramesses II,
25
written in honor of their respective dead fathers.
The Abydene funerary context is shared by all three inscriptions,
which allows us to compare these texts belonging to one and the
same literary genre.
The Dedicatory Inscription of Sethi I to Ramesses I can be
divided up into three main sections: in the rst section (lines 18),
17
von Lieven, Ein Gottesurteil im pLee?, 189, puts forward the hypothesis of
a death sentence through oracular decree rather than royal justice.
18
PM V, 73; KRI VI, 2025; Peden, The reign of Ramesses IV. A transliteration and
translation of the text is given in Peden, Egyptian Historical inscriptions of the twentieth
dynasty, 159173. Another stela with similar content, dedicated to Osiris and dated
to year 4 of Ramesses IV (Stela CG 757), was also found in Abydos.
19
Korostovtsev, Stle de Ramss IV, with pl. III.
20
Derchain, Comment les gyptiens crivaient un trait de royaut.
21
Broze, Mythe et Roman en gypte ancienne. Les aventures dHorus et Seth dans le papy-
rus Chester Beatty I., 235, 252, 272275. Broze, Le roi, les dieux et la conjuration:
Ramss IV et la Conjuration du Harem.
22
Claus, Lgyptien dans tous ses tats . . .ou presque. propos des confessions
ngatives de Ramss IV. See also Tiradritti, I have not diverted my inundation.
Legitimacy and the Book of the Dead in a Stela of Ramesses IV from Abydos.
23
Korostovtsev, Stle de Ramss IV, pl. I.
24
Lefebvre, Inscription ddicatoire de la chapelle funraire de Ramss I
Abydos; Clre, Notes sur la chapelle funraire de Ramss I Abydos et sur
son inscription ddicatoire, with pl. I; Schott, Der Denkstein Sethos I. fr die Kapelle
Ramses I. in Abydos.
25
KRI II, 323336; Maderna-Sieben, Die grosse Bauinschrift von Abydos;
Spalinger, The Great Dedicatory Inscription of Ramesses II. It is beyond the scope of this
present article to deal with the pervasive solar aspect of the text which Spalinger
has dwelled upon.
52 jean revez
Sethi dwells upon the dreadful political situation of Egypt before
the accession to power of Ramesses I. Sethi I goes on to describe
the coronation of his father and the military feats that he, Sethi,
accomplished as a prince under the rule of his predecessor. The
second part of the text (lines 816) deals essentially with the erec-
tion of the funerary chapel built by the now reigning king Sethi in
honor of his deceased father. Finally (lines 1625), Sethi pays lial
respect to the deied Ramesses I and to Wennefer, the patron god
of the Abydene necropolis.
The Dedicatory Inscription of Ramesses II to his father Sethi I
is quite similar in content and form. In the rst part, Ramesses II
outlines the restoration work that he has carried out on the temples
erected in Egypt by Sethi I (lines 2530). He then proceeds to
give a gloomy picture of the state in which he found the temple
of Abydos previously built by his father (lines 3037), which leads
him to take action without delay (lines 3773). Once the restoration
work is completed (7379), Ramesses II gives a glorious account
of his reign to his father who (lines 79102), in return, guarantees
health and power to his son (lines 102120).
The Cairo Stela JE 48831 of Ramesses IV, although related in
many ways to both texts summarized above, defers ever so slightly
but signicantly from the two others. The rst part of the text is a
hymn to Osiris (lines 412). In the second section, the king wishes
to absolve himself of all sins committed against others, by means of
the literary genre known as the negative confession (lines 1318).
Finally, in the last part of the text, an invocation is made to each
of the gods that appear in the scene engraved in the upper portion
of the stela (lines 1936).
This stela, engraved by Ramesses IV, is different from the two
other Ramesside texts in two fundamental ways.
First of all, the inscriptions of Sethi I and Ramesses II are both
simultaneously dedicated to their late respective fathers Ramesses I
and Sethi I are explicitely named in the texts and to Osiris, the
main god of Abydos. In both cases, a clear distinction is made
between the mythical content of the text notably in reference
to the role played by Horus as the legitimate successor of his father
Osiris and the more historical, factual depiction of the reign
of the kings that are highlighted.
26
Thus are briey related in
26
Maderna-Sieben, Die grosse Bauinschrift von Abydos, 255256. It is neverthe-
less quite clear that historical events in Egypt were described in terms referring to
looking at history through the prism of mythology 53
the Dedicatory Inscription of Sethi I: the reign and the death of
Ramesses I, the campaign of the young prince Sethi against the
Fenehu (as mentioned above) and the accession to the throne of
Sethi I.
27
As for Ramesses II, he clearly mentions in his text the
name of the sites (Abydos naturally, but Thebes and Memphis as
well) that benet from his largesse; he also describes in detail the
ceremony of his coronation.
28
Contrary to his predecessors, Ramesses IV never mentions any-
where in the stela his father Ramesses III by name; the inscription
is solely dedicated to Osiris and 12 other gods. In addition, the
more down-to-earth themes, such as the traditional account of
the architectural program of the king, seem to be relegated to the
background. The discourse of the pharaoh appears primarily to
evolve around the Osirian Myth:
I am a legitimate (ruler) (nk (//) n bs); I did not usurp (nn /wr.n. ); I am in
the place of him who has begotten me as the son of Isis (tw. m st wtt. m
s St).
29
Since I have become king in the place of Horus, I have brought
truth (mt) to this land that was without it.
30
The inscriptions of Sethi I and Ramesses II refer in abundance to
the topos of the king resuming the work of his father and with
the Abydene context in mind transpose this theme in the mythi-
cal sphere by assimilating his lial piety to that of Horus towards
his own father Osiris.
Behold, I am the king upon the throne that he has enlarged, upon the
throne that he has occupied. This land belongs to me as it was the case
with my father (t pn m-. mtt t.).
31
Your condition is that of the son of Osiris (sp ntk sp s Wsr); behold, you
are a good successor like him; his kingship, you exercise it likewise.
32
The comparison between the phrases drawn from the inscriptions
of Sethi I and Ramesses II, on the one hand, and the previous
excerpt taken from the stela of Ramesses IV, on the other, is quite
Mat. Hornung, Lesprit du temps des pharaons, 147163. Kruchten, Comment on crit
lhistoire gyptienne: La n de la XIXe dynastie vue daprs la section historique
du papyrus Harris I.
27
KRI I 111, 10112, 5. Lines 69.
28
KRI II, 324, 1013. Line 26.
29
Passage analyzed by Monnet, Remarques sur la famille et les successeurs de
Ramss III, 218.
30
Line 13.
31
KRI I, 112, 12.
32
KRI II, 329, 1314.
54 jean revez
signicant. In the latter case, if expressions such as I am in the
place of him who has begotten me as the son of Isis are typi-
cal of the funerary genre and do not particularly shine by their
originality, quite surprising by its candidness and straightforward-
ness is the sentence I am a legitimate ruler, I did not usurp.
Beneath the conventional and traditional religious discourse, it
is difcult not to read a clear political message whose potentially
devastating effect is lessened by being embedded in myth. On the
religious plane, Ramesses IV does not only present himself as the
legitimate successor of Osiris; by denying that he has usurped, he
also wishes to set himself apart from the god Seth, with whom, as
the murderer of Osiris and rival of Horus, he could be identied.
From a political point of view, Ramesses IV does not want to be
accused of any wrongdoing against the reigning Ramesses III or
against any potential crown prince that the ageing king could have
designated among Ramesses IVs brothers to succeed him. In both
cases, Ramesses denies playing the role of the brother who, in
a legal case, is assimilated to an opposing party or rival, as the
expression wp sn.wy (separating the two brothers) illustrates; it
can apply to Horus and Seth or the prince Ramesses (namely the
future Ramesses IV) and Pentaweret.
33
Noteworthy of mention is also the probable pun on the car-
touche name of Ramesses IV (// mt R ) Ra is the ruler of the
Maat, and the expression (//) n bs I am a legitimate ruler (the
name ruler being written inside a cartouche) engraved on stela
Cairo JE 48831. It is naturally possible to establish a link between
the meaning of this title and the traditional will of the pharaoh
to restore order (Maat) over the cosmos after the expulsion of Isfet
(identied with Seth), but more prosaically, one could equally be
inclined to believe that this choice of royal name was due to the
will of Ramesses IV to show himself as the restorer of order after
the assassination fomented against Ramesses III.
Further allusions to the Harem Conspiracy and usurpation
abound in the Abydene stela of Ramesses IV. They can be under-
stood at either the theological or political level.
33
Note that Ramesses IV also makes ample use of metaphors built around natural
phenomena to assert his legitimation and absence of deviate behavior, as demons-
trated by such sentences as I have not diverted my inundation from where it ows
(line 15) or I have not cut barley while it was too little and maatjt-plant before it was
counted (lines 1819). For translation and comments on these passages, Tiradritti,
I have not diverted my inundation. Legitimacy and the Book of the Dead in a
Stela of Ramesses IV from Abydos, 198202.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 55
I have not attacked a man in the position of his father (bw tkn. s /r nst t.f );
I know that you abhor this (r.kw bwt.k).
34
I have not broken the egg that came to existence (n sd. sw/t pr.t( )).
35
In the latter case, one could interpret this taboo quite literally; how-
ever, as this proscription is to our knowledge known from no other
documents except the stela of Ramesses IV, it would be tempting to
give this sentence a more political twist and to consider the expres-
sion sw/t pr.t( ) the egg that came to existence as referring to the
crown prince who was destined at birth to become pharaoh, and
against whom Ramesses IV swears having done no harm.
36
The amalgamation between the religious and political discourse
in the text makes it possible that the Negative Confession of
Ramesses IV could be addressed to either Osiris or Ramesses III,
although the name of the king is totally absent from the stela.
The parallel is so striking between the ght opposing the future
Ramesses IV as prince and his brother Pentaweret, on the one
hand, and Horus and his brother Seth, on the other hand, that
explicit reference to the dispute is given in the text:
I (Ramesses IV) have made it (possible) for you (Thot) to judge between the
rival brothers (wp.k r/.wy-sn.wy). I have driven away for you evil (mnwt).
37
It is a well known fact that Ramesses IV wears the rare epithet of
mty which means who is in his right in his royal cartouche,
38

a point which supports the evidence that he is considered as the
legal victor of the lawsuit that opposed him to his rival Seth, who
is probably alluded to in the word mnwt mentioned above.
No explicit allusion is made to Seth in the dedicatory inscrip-
tions of either Sethi I or Ramesses II, to the point that the very
sign of the god Seth is voluntarily omitted in both texts, even in
34
Line 18.
35
Line 16.
36
See Grimal, Les termes de la propagande royale gyptienne de la XIXe dynastie la conqute
dAlexandrie, 9798, 131; Zivie, Giza au deuxime millnaire, 103104 for the use of sw/t
egg with this particular meaning. On the motive of the egg in Egyptian cosmogony
see Bickel, La cosmogonie gyptienne avant le Nouvel Empire, 233241.
37
Line 29.

Derchain, Comment les gyptiens crivaient un trait de royaut,
15 notes that the stela offers many similarities with the Pap. Chester Beatty I that
contains the Conict of Horus and Seth, which was most likely composed during the
middle part of the 20th Dynasty. On the dating of this papyrus see Verhoeven, Ein
historischer Sitz im Leben fr die Erzhlung von Horus und Seth des Papyrus
Chester Beatty I.
38
On this matter see Kitchen, The Titularies of the Ramesside Kings as
Expression of their ideal Kingship, 137.
56 jean revez
the theophoric name of Sethi. In the Dedicatory Inscription of
Sethi I, the Sethian sign is replaced everywhere by the amulette
known as the Isis knot.
39
In the Dedicatory Inscription of Ramesses
II, the cartouche (Sethi-Merenptah) is systematically substituted
with the abbreviated cartouche name of (Merenptah).
40
The ostra-
cism of the name of Seth is attested elsewhere in Abydos
41
and
in the Valley of the Kings,
42
and illustrates the fact that the god
of Ombos is unwelcome in the realm of Osiris, whose power he
usurped. This widespread practice is based on the principle that
potentially dangerous situations are better left unsaid. However, in
the case of Ramesses IV, mere omission of the name of Seth was
not a means sufcient enough to drive away the threat that the god
posed to kingship. Consequently, the pharaoh could not be simply
satised with the obliteration of the name of Seth from the text.
In order to conjure the crime committed against royalty, he must
clearly distance himself from Seth-Pentaweret by spelling out the
latter as the true guilty party, and presenting himself as the genuine
incarnation of Horus.
O Osiris, I have lit the torch for you on the day of the wrapping of the
mummy; I have chased Seth away from you when he was causing damage to your
body (w n.n. St /r.k m wn.f w t.k); I have set up your son Horus as your
successor. O Horus, I spat on your eye after it had been removed by its attacker (w
psg.n. n rt.k m-t j.tw.s n /n.s); I have given you the throne of your father
Osiris and his inheritance over all the earth; I have caused your voice to triumph
on Judgement Day (w sm.n. rw.k hrw w_-mdt).
43
As a conclusion to this second point, sufce it to say that the text
of Ramesses IV, contrary to the dedicatory inscriptions of Sethi I
and Ramesses II, focuses far more on the difcult circumstances that
brought the successor of Ramesses III to ght against his brother
in order to gain power, rather than on the usual pattern of smooth
transmission from father to son. The subtle change of focus under
which the Osiris Myth was perceived had to do with the exceptional
historical events that needed to be accounted for. It thus comes
as no surprise that the mythical constellations of Osiris-Seth and
39
KRI I 114, 15; Cf. also the doorjambs of the chapel, KRI I 109, 7; 109, 10.
40
KRI II 327, 9; 330, 5; 332, 1.
41
Stela Brussels E. 5300 from Abydos, in Speleers, La stle de Ma du muse
de Bruxelles, with pl. IV.
42
See for example plates 2, 1217 in Hornung, The tomb of Pharaoh Seti I.
43
KRI VI, 23, 1524, 3. Another variant of this phrase is found later, in line
24,5: I have caused the voice of Horus to triumph on Judgement Day (w sm.
n. Hr rw w_-mdw).
looking at history through the prism of mythology 57
of Horus-Seth take the upper hand over the traditional couple of
Osiris-Horus in the dedicatory inscription of Ramesses IV.
The third and last distinction we would like to make between
Stela Cairo JE 48831 and the two other Ramesside funerary texts
is of a grammatical nature. Whereas the verbal forms used in the
inscriptions of Sethi I and Ramesses II are generally conjugated in
the afrmative form, the negative construction of the past is used
to the exclusion of almost all other forms in the section of the text
of Ramesses IV known either as la dclaration dinnocence, the
Negative Confession, or negatives Sndenbekenntnis.
44
Negative Confession spells are generally used in specic cir-
cumstances where a person has to be proven pure and sinless before
attaining a higher state of being, as in chapter 125 of the Book of
the Dead when the deceased shows up in front of the tribunal of
the netherworld in order to gain access to the afterlife,
45
or when
a priest is about to enter the more sacred parts of a temple.
46
The
dclarations dinnocence are only exceptionally used in a royal
context;
47
in the Abydene stela of Ramesses IV, no fewer than 20
confessions are phrased negatively.
It is quite clear that the main purpose of the Cairo Stela JE
48831 is to allow Ramesses IV to seek justice in front of the tribunal
made up of Osiris and the other gods, so that he may be denitely
exonerated of all suspicion regarding the dubious circumstances that
led him to come to the throne. Why did Ramesses IV feel such a
need for a moral trial, probably years after the dramatic death of
his father? Did not the Judicial Papyrus of Turin
48
bring an end
to this dreadful affair? It could well be that nearing the end of his
44
Lines 1519. KRI VI 23, 924, 2.
45
Hornung, Das Totenbuch der gypter, 234239; Barguet, Le livre des morts des anciens
gyptiens, 158162. Comments in Maystre, Les dclarations dinnocence (Livre des Morts,
chapitre 125); Assmann, Maat. Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im Alten gypten, 136140;
Claus, Lgyptien dans tous ses tats . . .ou presque. propos des confessions nga-
tives de Ramss IV., 6065.
46
Cf. Grieshammer, Zum Sitz im Leben des negativen Sndenbekenntnisses.
Assmann, Maat. Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im Alten gypten, 140149.
47
Some cases are recorded in the Pyramid Texts, see Leclant, Les Textes des
Pyramides, documents nouveaux de Saqqarah, 532; Meurer, Die Feinde des Knigs in
den Pyramidentexten, 8893. The most well-known case (aside from that of Ramesses IV)
comes from an inscription in the temple of Isis in Philae where king Ptolemy II must
declare himself innocent of all crimes before the switchover to the New Year. Zabkar,
Hymns to Isis in Her Temple at Philae, 115119, 123126; Assmann, Maat. Gerechtigkeit
und Unsterblichkeit im Alten gypten, 143144.
48
KRI V, 350360.
58 jean revez
life (Ramesses IV had only two more years to live in year 4 of his
reign, the probable date at which the stela was engraved),
49
the king
wanted to be justied before the gods in the Cairo stela, as he was
previously before mankind
50
through the Judicial Papyrus of Turin.
Wishing to prove his innocence before his father Osiris (and ulti-
mately his defunct father Ramesses III), in the presence of a divine
tribunal in Abydos, the cultic center par excellence for Osirian worship,
was very likely a priority, especially in a case involving the grave
imputation of parricide. Turning to the gods for justice became
also a pressing matter in view of the increasing corruption of the
State administration under the 20th Dynasty, a growing tendency
that would greatly discredit the Egyptian judicial system.
51
As important, if not even more so, was his hope that the rec-
ognition of his probity by the gods would allow for a legitimate
transmission of royal power to his own children after his death,
and that this transfer of power would occur in a far smoother
fashion than was the case for him. This hypothesis is supported by
an excerpt at the very end of the Abydene stela of Ramesses IV,
when the king addresses the gods present in the stela:
May you be my protection (s) every day, and may all evil (_w) which comes
near the place where I am be driven away! May you be in the following with my
children! May they be masters in this land, may they be strong exactly like Shu and
Tefnut! (my wsr.w mtt w Tfnwt) Pass my great fullling of ofcial functions to
my heirs, (because) the abomination of your majesties are the rebels!
52
The allusion to rivalry in the context of transmission of royal power
is here explicitly stated. The metaphorical reference to the Ennead
gods Shu and Tefnut illustrates the will to perpetuate the chain of
generations that would ultimately lead to the birth of Horus. In
49
If we assume that stela Cairo JE 44876 from Abydos (KRI VI, 1720), dated
with certainty to year 4 and very similar in content and form to our stela, is contem-
porary to the latter. Contra, see Claus, Lgyptien dans tous ses tats . . . ou presque.
propos des confessions ngatives de Ramss IV, 7778.
50
Grandet, Ramss III. Histoire dun rgne, 341342, believes that the Turin Judicial
Papyrus was a written public version of the judgement, most likely to be posted at
the entrance of Ramesses IIIs Medinet Habu funerary temple. Contra: Koenig,
propos de la conspiration du harem, 293. If the hypothesis of Grandet is difcult
to prove, it is nonetheless highly possible that public opinion, at a time when social
unrest was not all too uncommon (as exemplied by the Deir el-Medineh work strike
that marked the reign of Ramesses III) may have played an important role into
pressuring Ramesses IV to set up a major trial.
51
Vernus, Affaires et scandales sous les Ramss. La Crise des Valeurs dans lgypte du Nouvel
Empire, 172196.
52
Lines 3435. KRI VI 25, 710.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 59
other words, Ramesses IV prays to the gods that his children behave
better than Ramesses IIIs sons and be given a better chance of
ruling peacefully.
His concern for a peaceful succession seems to echo a simi-
lar demand some centuries later, when Osorkon II addresses an
unidentied god in the following words:
You will conrm (smn) my children in the <positions> which I have given
them, so that brother is not resentful of brother.
53
The rivalry between brothers in the latter case is expressed in even
clearer terms than in the case of Ramesses IV.
As a concluding remark to the text we have examined, should we
lend credibility to Ramesses IVs claim of innocence? Should the
pharaoh have felt such a need for clarication had he really been
above suspicion? One can rightfully wonder if this emphasis on
self-justication is not a contrario a cover up for real guilt.
A closer examination of the available documentation tends to
lead to the opposite conclusion; Ramesses IV does seem to have
been chosen by Ramesses III as his designated heir. Various scenes
show Ramesses as a prince playing a prominent role under the
reign of his father, as in a relief dated to year 22 of Ramesses
III in his temple in Karnak,
54
in a scene in his funerary temple
in Medinet Habou,
55
and in another in the Theban Tomb 148
of Amenemipet.
56
Prince Ramesses holds the title of iry-p t which
explicitly designates him as the heir presumptive. Thus, the material
evidence seems to corroborate Ramesses IVs claim of innocence,
since he, and not his brother Pentaweret, was the legitimate suc-
cessor of Ramesses III.
53
Jacquet-Gordon, The inscriptions on the Philadelphia-Cairo statue of
Osorkon II, pl. VII. See Grimal, Les termes de la propagande royale gyptienne de la XIXe
dynastie la conqute dAlexandrie, 476, note 167, who links up these two texts.
54
KRI V, 213, 13214, 7. The Epigraphic Survey, Ramses IIIs Temple within the Great
Inclosure of Amon, I. Reliefs and Inscriptions at Karnak I, pl. 18, 25a. Kitchen, Ramesses
VII and the Twentieth Dynasty, 187; Kitchen, The Twentieth Dynasty revisited,
117118.
55
KRI V, 114; 373, 10; The Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, II. Later Historical
Records of Ramses III, pls. 111, 112, 127 b-c ; Wilson, Ceremonial games of the New
Kingdom, pl. XXXVIIXXXVIII. ern, Queen Ese of the Twentieth Dynasty
and her mother, 34. Kitchen, The Twentieth Dynasty revisited, 117.
56
PM II:1, 259 (5); KRI V, 412, 14413, 9; Gaballa and Kitchen, Ramesside
Varia IV. The Prophet Amenemope, His Tomb and Family, 172173, g.8; Kitchen,
The Twentieth Dynasty revisited, 117.
60 jean revez
To conclude this part of the paper, the Abydene Cairo Stela JE
48831 of Ramesses IV, together with other important documents
of his reign, such as the Judicial Papyrus of Turin, the Papyrus
Harris I and the Papyrus Turin 1882, refer in one way or another
to the conspiracy fomented against Ramesses III, whose presence
and tragic death show through many written passages. In a culture
that was reluctant to write explicitly about the darker side of his-
tory, myths could sometimes shed light, whether intentionally or
not, on politically chaotic succession patterns, as in the case of the
succession of Ramesses III.
3. Taharqa and the Emphasis on the Isis-Horus Relationship
The Kushites have handed down to posterity a proportionally
high number of large royal stelae where the circumstances of the
accession to the throne of the newly endowed king are described
using terminology referring to the Egyptian Osirian Myth. Erected
for the most part at Gebel Barkal and Kawa, in major temples
dedicated to the almighty deity Amun of Thebes or to its Nubian
form, Amun of Napata, these monumental inscriptions are testi-
mony to the fundamental and original nature of Kushite culture.
This society, which had no prior scripture of its own before being
exposed to Egyptian culture (one must always bear this important
fact in mind), was very adept at making use of the great richness
of a foreign language in order to suit its specic needs. As we will
see now, the specic and unconventional perspective from which
the Osirian Myth is related in Nubian texts is a perfect illustration
of the Kushites ability to revert to an original Egyptian religious
intellectual construct and then to transform it ever so subtly so as
to serve their own theological purposes.
As a point of departure, let us turn our attention to the stela of
Taharqa on the High Nile in Year 6. This grey granite stela, mea-
suring 2m02 in height and 1m22 in width, was originally found in
temple T at Kawa. The very-well preserved stela
57
contains 22 lines
of inscription; the double scene in the lunette shows king Taharqa
offering to the ram-headed god Amun-Ra of Kawa on the left, and
to the human-headed Amun of Thebes, on the right. The kings
mother Abar stands behind the king, shaking the sistrum.
57
At least when it was found. It unfortunately broke to pieces later on. Macadam,
The temples of Kawa. T. I. The Inscriptions, 22.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 61
The existence of unfortunately more corrupt parallels of
parts of this major inscription of Taharqa, found in Coptos,
58

Matanah
59
and Tanis,
60
bears witness to its importance.
61
The
text version of Kawa V can be divided into three major sections:
rst, praise is given to the king for his deeds (l. 14); there follows
a description of the great and benecent ood that spreads over
Egypt, a wonder interpreted as a divine manifestation of gratitude
towards Taharqa, whose efcient rule is thus rewarded (l. 513);
the third part, running from l. 1322, deals with the visit from
Nubia of the Queen-Mother Abar, in order for her to attend her
sons coronation rite. This last section, which makes up the longest
part of the whole text a detail generally overlooked due to the
familiar name given to the stela is of paramount interest to our
study, so it is given here in its unabridged form:
[Now my mother] was in Bow-land (Nubia) (T-st), namely the kings sis-
ter (snt nsw), sweet of love, the kings mother (mwt nsw), Abar, may she live.
Moreover, I had departed from her as a recruit (/oo) of twenty years when
I came with his Majesty to North-land. Then she came sailing north to see
me after a period of years. She found me appearing on the throne of Horus (gm.
n.s w .kw /r st Hr), after I received the diadems of R, and was wearing
the uraei on my head, all the gods being the protection of my body. She
was exceedingly joyful after seeing the beauty of His Majesty (wnn.s /.tw r wr
m-t m nfrw /m.f ), just as Isis saw her son Horus appearing on the throne of his
father Osiris (m m St s.s Hr .(w) /r st t.f Wsir) after he had been a youth
in the nest of Khemmis (m-t wnn.f m /wn m _nw -bt). The South and
the North and every foreign country were bowing to the ground for this
kings mother (mwt nsw), they being in great festival, both great and small,
as they acclaimed (nhm) this kings mother (mwt nsw), saying: Isis when Horus
received her was like the kings mother (w sp.n st Hr m mwt nsw) after she had
(re)joined her son. O king of Upper- and Lower- Egypt, Taharqa, may
you live for ever, beloved of the gods, you are going to live forever by the
command of your father Amun, the excellent god that loves him who loves
him, who knows him who is loyal to him, and who caused your mother
to (re)join you in peace that she may see the beauty he has made for you.
O mighty king, may you live, and be healthy, (even) as Horus lives for his
mother Isis (m n Hr n mwt.f St). May you appear on the throne of Horus
for ever and ever!
62
58
Vikentiev, La haute crue du Nil et laverse de lan 6 du roi Taharqa, pl. I, IIIIV.
59
Vikentiev, La haute crue du Nil et laverse de lan 6 du roi Taharqa, pl. II, VVI.
60
Leclant and Yoyotte, Nouveaux documents relatifs lan VI de Taharqa,
2837.
61
Although more succinct, another text also dated to Year 6 of Taharqa, stela
Kawa IV, bears ressemblance to Kawa V. Macadam, The temples of Kawa. T. I. The
Inscriptions, 1422, pl. 78. FHN I, 135145.
62
Stela of Taharqa on the High Nile in Year 6 (Kawa V, l. 1621): Macadam,
The temples of Kawa. T. II, pl. 910; FHN I, 153155.
62 jean revez
At rst sight, such phraseology as Horus appearing on the throne
of his father Osiris apparently shows that the preferred theological
pattern of royal succession during the 25th Nubian Dynasty was
the father-son transmission of the crown from Osiris to Horus,
following the traditional Egyptian model, a position proposed by
some.
63
The God Osiris is indeed mentioned in this stela although
only once and from time to time in other later Kushite sources.
64

However, this deity denitely plays second ddle to his sister-wife
Isis who is named no fewer than three times in our excerpt and
whose role in the royal Kushite discourse, especially in coronary
rites, far exceeds the one she played in traditional Pharaonic Egypt.
This fact has already caught the attention of several scholars who
have studied the close association between the goddess Isis and
Kushite queenship.
65

The need for Taharqa to summon his mother from Nubia in
order for her to acknowledge the beauty
66
of the newly-crowned
pharaoh is by no means unique to stela Kawa V; it is also attested
in the Tanite version of the text, albeit in a slightly altered form.
67

Likewise, in the Enthronement Stela of Anlamani (Kawa VIII

), the
kings mother Nasalsa was exceedingly joyful after she saw her son
His Majestys beauty, ( just) like Isis when she saw her son Horus
effulgent on earth;
68
and in the more fragmentary Inscription of
Irike-Amanote from Years 12 (Kawa IX)
69
the same imagery comes
63
This view is particularly held by Kahn who believes that the Kushite kings, like
their Egyptian counterparts, favored the patrilineal mode of succession. See The
Royal Succession in the 25th Dynasty, 157158.
64
See examples in Kahn, The Royal Succession in the 25th Dynasty.
65
Among the most important studies that have been published in the past decade
or two: Yellin, Egyptian religion and its ongoing impact on the formation of the
Napatan state, 254257; Kormysheva, Remarks on the Position of the Kings
Mother in Kush; Trk, The Kingdom of Kush, 224230; Lohwasser, Die kniglichen
Frauen im antiken Reich von Kusch, 274282, 310311, 324327; Dallibor, Taharqo Pharao
aus Kusch, 7071.
66
On the term nfrw, see Assmann, Liturgische Lieder an den Sonnengott, 114118.
67
Stela of Taharqa from Tanis (l. 1122): Leclant and Yoyotte, Nouveaux docu-
ments relatifs lan VI de Taharqa, 3135, pl. IIIII.
68
Enthronement Stela of Anlamani (Kawa VIII, l. 2224): Macadam, The
temples of Kawa. T. II, pl. 1516; FHN I, 223. Note also the emphasis layed on the
matrilinear line of descent as exemplied in line 26 of the same text: Take care of
my mother and establish (smn) her children on earth; contrast this to the similarly
coined phrase on the Philadelphia-Cairo statue of Osorkon II mentioned above in
footnote no. 51, where the kings children are the ones who should be established
(smn) in their positions.
69
Inscription of Irike-Amanote from Years 12 (Kawa IX, col. 8184): Macadam,
The temples of Kawa. T. II, pl. 20, 25; FHN II, 414.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 63
forth. Nonetheless, the emphasis put in stela Kawa V on the role
of the kings mother during the enthronization and her embodi-
ment as Isis, even for Kushite standards, is unequalled. Indeed,
she must travel a great distance to see her son on the throne (the
ceremony probably took place in Memphis), a fact that illustrates
the importance of the event.
70
The elation that gets hold of the kings mother Abar when she
sees her son Taharqa is reminiscent of the reaction of Isis when she
rejoices over Horus overcoming the four important challenges in
his life: Successful birth (in Chemmis); victory over Seth before the
divine tribunal; acceptance of the testament of Osiris, and more
importantly to our matter, accession to the throne. An account
of these four milestones is already given in a Ramesside Hymn
to Abydos, written on various objects coming from there.
71
In the
Kawa V stela, as in the Hymn to Abydos, the jubilation (/wt) of
Isis over Horus is set in opposition to her mourning over Osiris.
72
Interestingly enough, the kings mother personifying Isis is not
only subject to joy, but she herself is the object of jubilation, since
she is greeted by the whole population, Egyptian and foreign alike,
with a degree of enthusiasm reserved normally for the king or
the heir apparent, but not for the female members of the royal
family.
In this respect, one has only to compare our excerpt from stela
Kawa V and other parallels with a passage from the Sphinx stela
of Thutmosis IV to grasp the truly original nature of the Kushite
version of the Osirian Myth.
70
Note that the same literary device is used to enhance Taharqas status as heir
apparent, whom king Shabataka (Taharqas predecessor) summons from Nubia to
ght the Assyrians alongside with him: Now when His Majesty [Taharqa] was in
Bow-land (Nubia) as a recruit, a kings brother, sweet of love, up he came sailing
northwards to Thebes in the midst of the recruits for whom His Majesty, King
Shabata, justied, had sent to Bow-land, in order that he [Taharqa] might be there
with him [Shabataka], because he [Shabataka] loved him [Taharqa] more than all
his other brothers. Stela of Taharqa from Year 6 from Kawa (Kawa IV). Macadam,
The temples of Kawa. T. II, pl. 78, l. 79. FHN I, 138139. On the use of travel and
crossing of spatial boundaries as a literary genre, see Vinson, The Accents on Evil:
Ancient Egyptian Melodrama and the Problem of Genre, passim.
71
Clre, Un Hymne Abydos sur une stle indite dpoque Ramesside.
Bergman, Ich bin Isis, 142146. KRI I, 357, 10359, 2. This Hymn has also been
dealt with by Gobeil in his unpublished doctoral thesis, Modes et domaines dexpression
de la joie au quotidien en gypte ancienne, 266268.
72
Bergman, Ich bin Isis, 141.
64 jean revez
When his Majesty was an Inpu,
73
like the young Horus in Chemmis, his
goodness already like the protector of his father, he was seen like the god
himself. Through love of him, the army rejoiced (/ ), the royal children
and all the nobles (as well).
74
Once again, massive exultation in favor of the pharaoh-to-be works
as a mode of collective recognition of the legitimacy of the crown
prince who is equated to Horus in Chemmis, and as protector
of his father, destined to succeed his dead father on the throne
of the living. In this case, the identication of the heir apparent
with Harendotes (Hr-n_-t.f ) emphasizes the paternal liation as
the basis of his legitimation,
75
or as C. Zivie wrote, compares the
young prince destined to succeed his father with Horus destined to
revenge his father, Osiris.
76
The same is not true of the collective
demonstration of joy roused by the presence of the kings mother
(who is associated with Isis) at the royal investiture, as described in
stela Kawa V, which stresses rather the importance of the maternal
line of the transmission of power.
Interestingly enough, the association of Isis with Nubian queens is
displayed not only in texts, but in iconography as well. In the tomb
of queen Nefrukekashta in El-Kurru, a gilded silver amulet
77
was
found showing a goddess suckling the queen, an act that confers
divinity to its recipient.
78
Although the deitys identity has yet to
be ascertained, most scholars have considered her to be Isis.
79
In
Ancient Egypt proper, milk and nursing are traditionally associated
with the pharaoh, not with his spouse or mother.
Going back to stela Kawa V, the scenes that are engraved at the
top of the monument show the queen mother Abar shaking the
sistrum; she holds the mwt nsw kings mother title, linking her up
once again to Isis, mother of Horus. This is true of numerous reliefs
73
On this term, see Vandersleyen, Inepou: Un terme dsignant le roi avant quil
ne soit roi.
74
Urk. IV 1541, 15.
75
As opposed, say to Horsaisis (Hr-s-St) which emphasizes the maternal liation.
Cf. Forgeau, Horus enfant, quel nom, quel champ daction?, 20.
76
Zivie, Giza au deuxime millnaire, 134, note j. See Gobeil, Modes et domaines dex-
pression de la joie au quotidien en gypte ancienne, 283 and note 1044.
77
Wenig, Africa in Antiquity II. The arts of Ancient Nubia and the Sudan. The Catalogue,
181.
78
Yellin, Egyptian religion and its ongoing impact on the formation of the
Napatan state, 255257.
79
Cf. Lohwasser, Die kniglichen Frauen im antiken Reich von Kusch, 274, note 461, for
the point of view of various authors.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 65
carved on later Napatan royal stelae and reliefs.
80
Evidence of this
connection does exist in Ancient Egypt, but to a lesser degree; in
addition, the queen mother is more often than not associated there
with Hathor in this role.
81
Finally, Abar in the stela Kawa V also holds the snt nsw title.
Indeed, not only do kings mothers play a major role in Ancient
Nubia, but so do kings sisters:
a) In the stela of year 8 and 10 of King Taharqa (Kawa VI), it
is clearly stated that the kingship should be transmitted down
to the descendants of the sister of king Alara, known as the
rst Kushite ruler;
82
b) At no other time in history do so many female members of
the royal family hold the title snt nsw, kings sister;
c) In the Enthronement stela of King Aspalta, the king traces
his origins back to seven generations; only female members
of the line are mentioned; without exception, each of them
is snt nsw, kings sister. It is from among the kings sisters that
the kings mother is chosen.
83
In Ancient Egypt proper, there is no royal document that explicitly
states the genealogy of kings over more than one generation. In
almost all cases, only the dead father of the pharaoh is mentioned.
The female side of the line seems subordinate to the male one.
84

Although royal women did play a major part there under specic
circumstances, the notion of a royal heiress whose role would be
pivotal in determining the choice of the heir apparent has been
rejected.
85
In any case, kings sisters in Ancient Egypt are far less
documented than kings mothers and kings daughters, an observa-
tion that speaks for their more modest role than in Nubia.
80
Cf. Lohwasser, Die Handlungen der Kuschitischen Knigin im Gtterkult,
for a list of the main documents.
81
Troy, Patterns of Queenship in ancient Egyptian myth and history, 5368.
82
Kawa VI, lines 2223. Macadam, The temples of Kawa. T. II, 36, pl. 12; FHN,
I, 173.
83
Lohwasser, Die Auswahl des Knigs in Kusch, 9394, 99.
84
There are naturally exceptions, as shown by the case of early 11th Dynasty
pharaohs. See Postel, Protocole des souverains gyptiens et dogme monarchique au dbut du
Moyen Empire, 89109.
85
Robins, A critical examination of the theory that the right to the throne of
Ancient Egypt passed through the female line in the 18th dynasty.
66 jean revez
All in all, it thus comes as no surprise that Isis, who more than
any other deities can play an active role as mother and sister to the
king, personies the two family relationships that come regularly
to the fore in Ancient Kush.
Conclusion
The usual prism of the royal succession pattern in Ancient Egypt
is the Osiris-Horus father-son relationship. This paradigm is pre-
sented in most cases, when the transfer of royal power goes on
smoothly and according to customs. Whether in fact the pharaoh
is the biological son of his dead predecessor matters probably less
than the notion that the newly established pharaoh gains power
by respecting norm and tradition. When however the succession
of power, far from being serene, is marked by rivalry and chaos,
Horus (as the personication of the pharaoh) denes himself in
relation to Seth, whom he wishes desperately to distance himself
from, as in the case of Ramesses IV in the Abydene Stela Cairo
JE 48831. As far as the way the Osirian Myth is shown in the stela
of Taharqa on the High Nile in Year 6, the stress is put on the
Isis-Horus mother-son relationship. This point of view stems from
the important role played by the kings mothers and kings sisters
during the Kushite dynasty, two kinship ties that Isis incarnates, as
mother of Horus and sister of Osiris.
As we have already seen earlier in the first part of our paper,
these two latter cases are by no means unique in terms of the vari-
ous ways the Osirian Myth can be projected to serve pragmatic or
ritualistic ends. However, whereas the narrative text in Pap. Chester
Beatty I, for instance, is entirely built on the mythological discourse,
myth is only alluded to in the case of the Great Abydene Stela of
Ramesses IV and the Stela of Taharqa on the High Nile in Year
6.
86
In the end, whether the Osirian Myth expresses various histori-
cal or structural realities, the core theme of this myth remains the
transmission of royal power, a fact alone that illustrates just how
central kingship was to the Egyptian worldview. One would expect
such a myth to evolve according to political or cultural changes in
the mode of transfer of the highest ofce in the land.
86
Loprieno, Le Pharaon reconstruit. La gure du roi dans la littrature gyptienne
au Ier millnaire avant J.-C., 6.
looking at history through the prism of mythology 67
On a more preposterous note, one could compare the protago-
nists in the Osirian Myth to actors playing in a weekly television
drama series. Although the main roles feature during an entire
season, the spotlight may be put on the relationship between two
or more of these characters in any given episode, depending on
the story line. At those occasions, familiar traits of leading actors
can be accentuated or new distinguishing features of some of the
peoples character can be unveiled.
Abbreviations
ACF Annuaire du Collge de France
AIPHOS Annuaire de lInstitut de Philologie et dHistoire orientales et
slaves
BzS Beitrge zur Sudanforschung
EAO gypte, Afrique & Orient
FHN Eide, T., et al., eds., Fontes Historiae Nubiorum: textual sources
for the history of the middle Nile region between the eighth century
BC and the sixth century AD. 4 vols. Bergen: University of
Bergen, Dept. of Classics, 19942000.
KRI Kitchen, K.A. Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical and Biograph-
ical. Oxford: Blackwell, 19751990.
MittSAG Mitteilungen der Sudanarchaeologischen Gesellschaft
PM I:1 Porter, B. and R.L.B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography
of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings.
Vol. I:1. The Theban Necropolis: Private Tombs. 2nd edition.
Oxford: Grifth Institute, 1970.
PM V Porter, B. and R.L.B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. Vol. V.
Upper Egypt: Sites. 2nd edition. Oxford: Grifth Institute,
1962.
Urk. IV Sethe, K. Urkunden der 18. Dynastie. Urkunden des gyp-
tischen Altertums, 4. Issued in 22 parts. Leipzig: J.C.
Hinrichs, 19061958.
ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlndischen Geseltschaft
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