The secrets under the isched tree

Mødedato: Onsdag d. 11. September 2024 kl. 19

Lokale: Meddeles senere

The secrets under the isched tree, v. Dr. Andreas Effland, M.A. Seminar für Ägyptologie und Koptologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

During the excavations carried out by French and British missions in Umm el-Qaab at Abydos towards the end of the19th and the beginning of the 20th century and again in the course of the recent excavations by the German Archaeological Institute, numerous fragments of very specific, inscribed pottery sherds were found. They are belonging to a small corpus of characteristic heart-shaped vessels.

These vessels – used during regenerative rituals in the direct vicinity of the god’s resting place – were dedicated by the high priest and the vizier, in the end coming to rest as votive objects in the “Tomb of Osiris”. The hieroglyphic text on this votive pottery was composed during the reign of Ramesses II, when the interest in Umm el-Qaab flourished. It is cast as a speech by the king himself, as having entered upon his kingly rule following his father, probably to announce his accession to the throne to the oldest royal ancestors at Abydos. In spite of the fragmentary state of preservation of the text, it contains precious information on the ceremonies conducted at the Osirian sacred site during the regenerative rituals of what is known as the Khoiak Festival.