Egyptian Staff

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Wadjet is occasionally depicted as other animal headed beings or depicted as other animals such as a lion, mongoose, Ichneumonidae. Notably the depiction of the mongoose serves as an antithesis to that of the cobra as it is a natural predator. While the Icheumon probably serves as a depiction of Wedjat's role in seeing for Horus. Many bronze statues of Wadjet are argued to contain Icheumon remains however confirmation on this being forensic or a visual observation is unknown. [8] From left to right: Set, Horus and Anubis holding in their right hand a Was sceptre and in their left hand an a nkh cross. B) The Sceptre of Ptah Wadjet was closely associated in ancient Egyptian religion with the Eye of Ra, a powerful protective deity. [5] The hieroglyph for her eye is shown below; sometimes two are shown in the sky of religious images. Buto also contained a sanctuary of Horus, the child of the sun deity who would be interpreted to represent the pharaoh. Much later, Wadjet became associated with Isis as well as with many other deities. But does the Bible’s portrayal of these magicians fit what we know of them from Egyptian sources? Their roles as literary figures encourage one to ponder whether they represent bonafide Egyptian functionaries and whether their marvelous feats depict real or imagined Egyptian practices. After all, biblical narratives set in Egypt often evince a knowledge of Egyptian customs and beliefs: [1]

These three accounts of the water/Nile being likened to blood in Egyptian literature certainly bear on the blood plague in Egypt, especially since that plague, like the Egyptian accounts, shares in common a theme of destruction. The Red Water of the Bloody Nile This last fact naturally begs the question of whether it is accurate to label the actions of these figures “magical.” The answer to this question is both yes and no. Yes, in that lector-priests performed numerous spells and rituals that evoked the illocutionary power of ḥkꜣ ( ḥeka), a cosmic force perceived as efficacious, capable of manipulating reality in this world and the next. [6] Yet, no, because Ḥeka also was a deity in his own right, and so invoking his power also constitutes a form of prayer (Fig. 2). See Jan Quaeqebeur, “On the Egyptian Equivalent of Biblical Ḥarṭummîm,” in Sarah Israelit-Groll, ed., Pharaonic Egypt: the Bible, and Christianity (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1985), pp. 162-172, who also discusses the complex history of the term’s relation to the title ḥry-tp “chief.” It is possible that the Israelites did not consider the term ḥarṭummīm an Egyptian loanword any more than we today consider the word “magic” a loanword from Greek (or ultimately from Persian). Indeed, contrary to some interpreters, there is nothing foreign or pejorative about the term ḥarṭummīm in the Bible, even if it does appear in polemical contexts. Note, for example, that the ḥarṭummīm who battle Moses in Exod 7:11, and whom translators usually render as “magicians” or “dream interpreters” (e.g., Gen 41:8), are explicitly qualified as being “Egyptian,” suggesting that the word ḥarṭummīm by itself does not distinguish foreignness. Similarly, a passage of later date in Dan 4:6 gives Daniel the Aramaic title rab ḥarṭumayyāʾ, “chief of the ḥarṭummīm.” It is difficult to think that the biblical text would attribute to Daniel such a title if it denoted foreignness or illicitness. Indeed, it is composed respectively of the Was sceptre, the ankh cross and the djed pillar. Assembled together, these three symbols represent the powers and might of Ptah, the creator god. C) The Sekhem Sceptre In the sanctuaries, the image of the sovereign is omnipresent through parietal scenes and statues. In this iconography, the pharaoh is invariably represented as the equal of the gods. In the religious speech, he is however only their humble servant, a zealous servant who makes multiple offerings. This piety expresses the hope of a just return of service. Filled with goods, the gods must favorably activate the forces of nature for a common benefit to all Egyptians. The only human being admitted to dialogue with the gods on an equal level, Pharaoh is the supreme officiant; the first of the priests of the country. More widely, the pharaonic gesture covers all the fields of activity of the collective and ignores the separation of powers. Also, every member of the administration acts only in the name of the royal person, by delegation of power.The Hemhem crown is usually depicted on top of Nemes, Pschent, or Deshret crowns. It is an ornate, triple Atef with corkscrew sheep horns and usually two uraei. The depiction of this crown begins among New Kingdom rulers during the Early Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Here again a knowledge of Egyptian priestly praxis is informative. Many iconographic depictions of staffs in the form of serpents exist in Egypt: People Carrying Serpent Staffs At the end of this article, the Egyptian divine symbols of pharaohs will no longer hold any secrets for you. Still another interpretation, by E. A. Wallis Budge, is that the flail is what was used to thresh grain. [5]

In the early dynasties, ancient Egyptian kings had as many as three titles: the Horus, the Sedge and Bee ( nswt-bjtj), and the Two Ladies or Nebty ( nbtj) name. [6] The Golden Horus and the nomen and prenomen titles were added later. [7]

Conclusions

Hagen, Rose-Marie; Hagen, Rainer James, T.G.H. (1982). "A Wooden Figure of Wadjet with Two Painted Representations of Amasis". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 68: 156–165. doi: 10.2307/3821635. JSTOR 3821635– via JSTOR.

Tale of Ipuwer: The Tale of Ipuwer (ca. 1650-1550 B.C.E.), which laments the chaos that has engulfed Egypt, claims: “The river is blood. If one drinks of it, one rejects it and thirsts for water… Foreign tribes have come to Egypt” (2:10, 3:1). [12] As in the biblical text, the Egyptian story describes a bloody Nile and a defeat at the hand of foreigners. [13] I begin with the first plague—the turning of the Nile to blood—a wonder that the ḥarṭummīm easily replicate. [11] The event has three analogues in Egyptian texts. Detail from the coffin of Neb-Taui at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (ca. 1000 BCE). Found in Alexander Piankoff and N. Rambova, Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations: Mythological Papyri (Bollingen Series, 40/3: New York: Pantheon Books, 1957), p. 59. ḥʿ pỉ ỉr [ dšr]. See Jürgen Osing, Hieratische Papyri aus Tebtunis I (Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 17; Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1998), p. 253. I cut up the binder-snake/worm, which destroys the grain, I split it in two. I grasp its head in my rightWhether portrayed as failing to interpret dreams (Gen 41:8, 41:24), transforming staffs into serpents (Exod 7:11-13), or as exacerbating the plagues in an effort to prove their abilities (Exod 7:22, 8:3, 8:14, 9:11), the Egyptian magicians always serve as literary foils for God’s plan. Despite their uncanny abilities, they continually demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh. Traditionally crossed over the chest when held, they probably represented the ruler as a shepherd whose beneficence is formidably tempered with might. [2]