False Doors, Soul Houses & Letters

"Ancestor worship was an important part of household religion and the belief that the dead could not only be communicated with, but could also use their power to both help and hurt living beings, was an ingrained part of the ancient Egyptian belief system.

False doors were a specific type of funerary decoration often found in the tombs of the Egyptian elite during the Old Kingdom... False doors were carved from a single piece of limestone and took the form of a narrow doorway surrounded by inscribed door jambs and surmounted by a lintel. The tomb’s occupant was usually represented seated at a table laden with food offerings: vegetables, fruits, bread, wine, beer, and meats—everything a soul would need to sustain itself in the afterlife. The family members and friends of the deceased could also be immortalized on the false door. These carvings were not portraits, however, but idealized representations. Both men and women were shown in the prime of their life: strong, healthy, vigorous, and fertile.

....they crafted and fired small models of houses complete with courtyards. They filled the

courtyards with models of bread and vegetables, grain bins and pots filled with beer. Then they placed these objects, collectively known as soul houses, on top of the graves of their family and friends. The soul houses became imbued with magic and through them, food offerings could pass between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead.

Egyptians wrote letters to the dead. These were most commonly written with ink on clay bowls and placed outside the grave of an ancestor. The letters, several of which are preserved in museum collections in both Egypt and beyond, show the daily concerns of people who lived thousands of years ago. They worried about disease, about the safe birth of a newborn, about enemies—worldly and ethereal—who might be plotting against the family."

AtlasObscura

Nekhbet

"Nekhbet (Nekhebet, Nechbet) was the patron of Upper Egypt, appearing as one of the “Two ladies” in the Nebty name of the pharaoh (with her counterpart Wadjet). 

She was often called “Hedjet” (White Crown) in reference to the crown of Upper Egypt and regularly appears as a heraldic device representing Upper Egypt. She was also a protector of royal children and, in later periods, of all young children and expectant mothers.

References in the Pyramid Texts (from the Fifth Dynasty) confirm that Nekhbet was also considered to be a creator goddess with the epithet “Father of Fathers, Mother of Mothers, who has existed from the beginning, and is Creator of this World”. 

She was represented on the king’s Nemes headdress as a vulture or a snake and from the Fourth Dynasty vulture headdress for great royal wife.

 

Like most Egyptian deities, Nekhbet also had a darker side. She was associated with the “Eye of Ra”, along with a great number of goddesses, and was often depicted hovering above the pharaoh in battle offering him protection and threatening his enemies."

 

AncientEgyptOnline

Horus Hotepsekhemwi: The Two Powers Are At Peace

"Horus Hotepsekhemwi, the successor of Horus Qa'a, is the first king of the 2nd Dynasty. 

His name meaning 'the two powers are at peace', it is often postulated that he brought peace to Egypt at a time when the country was divided. The name "Hetepsekhemwy" means 'The Two Powers are at Peace', with "The Two Powers" referring to Horus and Seth. As to his Nebty name, it was 'The Two Mistresses are at Peace', with "The Two Mistresses" referring to Nekhbet, the vulture-goddess of Nekheb (EI-Kab) and Wadjet, the cobra-goddess of Pe, and Buto who were the patron-goddesses of the South and the North respectively.

 

It was also during this period that the cult of the Sun-god was established, although the name of Re at this stage only appeared in the Horus name of Hetepsekhemwy's successor.

 

His reign’s exact length is unknown; the Turin canon suggests an improbable 95 years.

Entrance to Hotepsekhemwi's tomb

While the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho reports that the authority of “Boëthôs” lasted for 38 years.  

He also appears to have founded a new royal estate named “The star of Horus rises” (or “Horus, the rising star”).

 

For his burial, Hotepsekhemwi chose to break with some 1st Dynasty funerary traditions. Although he did bury or re-bury his predecessor at Umm el-Qa’ab, he chose Saqqara, close to the capital of Memphis and close to the tombs of the high officials that served the kings of the 1st Dynasty, as the location for his own burial. The structure of the tomb believed to have been his, no longer consists of a series of pits dug into the ground, but of a series of underground galleries connected by corridors and leading to the burial chamber."

 

TheAncientEgyptSite/ Egyptopeia

Qa'a: The Raised Arm

"Qa'a (literal meaning: "his arm is raised") was the last king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for 33 years. Manetho calls Qa'a Biénechês and gives him a reign of 26 years

Tomb stele of Qa'a

according to the version preserved by Sextus Julius Africanus.

 

A fragment of a bowl found at Saqqara mentions Horus Qa’a’s second Heb-Sed which, if the festival was celebrated the first time during his 30th and the second time during his 33rd year in power, would indicate a reign of at least 33 years.

 

Egyptologists have also discovered the stelae of two of Qa'a's officials, Merka and Sabef. These stelae have more complex inscriptions then earlier hieroglyphics, and may have signaled in increasing sophistication in the use of this writing.

 

Evidence shows that after his death, a dynastic war between different royal houses began over the newly empty throne. In the tomb of the high official Merka, a stone vessel with the name of a king Sneferka was found. It is unclear whether "Sneferka" was an alternate name of Qa'a or if he was a separate, ephemeral ruler. Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and Toby Wilkinson point to a further mysterious ruler named "Horus Bird", whose name was found on vessel fragments dating to the end of the first dynasty. It is postulated that Sneferka and Horus Bird fought for power and that Hotepsekhemwy ended the fight and finally ascended the throne of Egypt, thus starting the Second Dynasty."

TourEgypt/wiki

Semerkhet: Divine Guardian of the Two Ladies

"Semerkhet became known through a tragic legend handed down by the historian Manetho, who reported that a calamity of some sort occurred during Semerkhet's reign. The archaeological records seem to support the view that Semerkhet had a difficult time as king and some early archaeologists questioned the legitimacy of Semerkhet's succession to the Egyptian throne. 

Tomb stela of Semerkh

Semerkhet's serekh name is commonly translated as "companion of the divine community" or "thoughtful friend". The latter translation is questioned by many scholars, since the hieroglyph khet (Gardiner-sign F32) normally was the symbol for "body" or "divine community". Egyptologists such as Toby Wilkinson, Bernhard Grdseloff, and Jochem Kahl read Iry-Netjer, meaning "divine guardian". During the Old Kingdom period, this word is written with uniliteral signs of a netjer flag (Gardiner-sign R8) and a human eye (Gardiner-sign D4) nearby the ideogram of the man. Some contemporary ivory tags show the Nebty name written with the single eye symbol only. Thus, the scholars also read Semerkhet's throne name as Iry (meaning "guardian") and the Nebty name as Iry-Nebty (meaning "guardian of the Two Ladies"). It seems that he felt connected with the 'Two Ladies', a title referring to the goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet, the patron deities of the Ancient Egyptians who were worshiped by all after the unification of its two parts, Lower Egypt, and Upper Egypt. 

Virtually nothing is known about Semerkhet's family. His parents are unknown, but it is thought that one of his predecessors, king Den, might have been his father. Possibly, Semerkhet was born to queen Betrest. On the Cairo Stone she is described as his mother, but definite evidence for that view has not yet been found. It would be expected that Semerkhet had sons and daughters, but their names have not been preserved in the historical record. A candidate as a

Pottery shard inscribed with Semerkhet's serekh name

possible member of his family line is his immediate successor, king Qa'a.

Semerkhet had time to build a much bigger tomb than his predecessor Anedjib and his name appears in numerous inscriptions on vessels of schist, alabaster, breccia, and marble. His name is also preserved on ivory tags and earthen jar seals. Objects bearing Semerkhet’s name and titles come from Abydos and Sakkara. Semerkhet was interred in Tomb U of the royal necropolis at Umm el-Qa’ab, near Abydos."

wiki/AncientEgyptOnline

Anedjib: Safe of Heart

"Anedjib, "Safe of Heart", more correctly Adjib and also known as

Hor-Anedjib, Hor-Adjib and Enezib, is the Horus name. The Egyptian historian Manetho named him "Miebîdós" and credited him with a reign of 26 years, whilst the Royal Canon of Turin credited him with an implausible reign of 74 years. Egyptologists and historians now consider both records to be exaggerations.

Adjib was possibly married to a woman named Betrest. On the Palermo Stone she is described as the mother of Adjib's successor.

 

According to archaeological records, Adjib introduced a new royal title which he thought to use as some kind of complement to the

Seal of Adjib

Nisut-Bity-title: the Nebuy-title, written with the doubled sign of a falcon on a short standard. It means "The two lords" and refers to the divine state patrons Horus and Seth. It also symbolically points to Lower- and Upper Egypt. Adjib is thought to have legitimized his role as Egyptian king with the use of this title.

 

All Hebsed pictures of Adjib show the notation Qesen ("calamity") written on the stairways of the Hebsed pavilion. Possibly the end of Adjib's reign was a violent one.

 

Adjib's burial site was excavated at Abydos and is known as "Tomb X". It measures 16.4 x 9.0 metres and is the smallest of all royal tombs in this area. Adjib's tomb has its entrance at the eastern side and a staircase leads down inside. The burial chamber is surrounded by 64 subsidiary tombs and simply divided by a cut-off wall into two rooms."

 

Phouka/Wiki

Persian King Cambyses and the Apis Bull

"An Apis bull died during Cambyses’ time in Egypt. The precise timing of its death and the ceremonies for its burial are not entirely clear, but it was given a full and proper burial under Cambyses’ authority, as attested by the inscription on its sarcophagus:

Horus, Uniter of the Two Lands, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mesutire, Son of Re, Cambyses—may he live forever! He has made a fine monument for his father Apis-Osiris with a great granite sarcophagus, dedicated by the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mesutire, Son of Re, Cambyses—may he live forever, in perpetuity and prosperity, full of health and joy, as King of Upper and Lower Egypt eternally!

Translation by Amélie Kuhrt, The Persian Empire (London: Routledge, 2007) 4.13

The cult of the Apis bull was closely connected to kingship in Egypt and this inscription shows Cambyses fully engaged in his role as Egyptian pharaoh. He associates himself with the royal falcon god Horus and shows filial deference to both the sun god Re and to the spirit of the dead Apis bull. Whatever Cambyses may have personally believed, he was making sure that his public behavior was irreproachable as a king of Egypt.

Which makes it strange to turn back to the Greek sources and find a dramatically different account of Cambyses and the Apis bull:

When Cambyses returned to Memphis [after an unsuccessful military campaign in the south], Apis (whom the Greeks call Epaphus) appeared in Egypt. When Apis appears, the Egyptians at once don their best clothes and hold a celebration. Seeing this, Cambyses was convinced that they were celebrating his misfortunes, so he summoned the rulers of Memphis. When they came before him he demanded to know why the Egyptians were behaving in this way, which they had not done before, just when he was returning having lost so much of his army. They answered that a god had appeared, one who only came to them after long stretches of time, and that it was the custom for all Egyptians to rejoice on such an occasion. Cambyses replied that they were lying

and he put them to death for it.

He next summoned the priests, who told him the same thing. He replied that if a tame god had come to Egypt, he would know about it. He then ordered the priests to bring Apis before him, so they fetched him. Apis, or Epaphus, is a calf born of a cow which then cannot become pregnant again. The Egyptians say that a ray of light from heaven strikes the cow, and this is how Apis is conceived. The calf called Apis has these signs: he is black with a white triangular mark between his eyes and the shape of an eagle on his back, the hairs of his tail are double, and there is a beetle-shaped mark under his tongue.

When the priests led Apis in, Cambyses—who was a little disturbed in the head—drew his dagger and stabbed Apis, aiming for the belly but hitting the thigh. Laughing, he said to the priests: “Are these your gods, fools, of flesh and blood who can feel the bite of iron? This is a fitting god for Egyptians, but I will teach you to make a laughingstock of me!” Saying this, he ordered the priests whipped and any other Egyptians celebrating to be killed. So the festival ended and the priests were punished. Apis lay in the temple wasting away from the blow to his thigh. When he had died of the wound, the priests buried him in secret without Cambyses’ knowledge.

– Herodotus, Histories 3.27-29

How did Cambyses go from a king properly honoring Apis to a tyrant mocking and killing him? 

The answer is: Egyptian resistance." 

Co-G