Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Egypt Centre has
organised a whole host of online activities for both children and adults. One
of the most successful has been our courses, which have attracted an
international audience and helped raise the profile of the museum. So far, ten
courses have taken place, with topics ranging from the funerary artefacts of
the ancient Egyptians to the Amarna Period. In mid-January, the latest Egypt
Centre short course (five weeks) will commence, which is called In the
Service of the Gods: Priests and Priestesses in Ancient Egypt (fig. 1).
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| Fig. 1: Procession of Priests at Abydos |
Priests, priestesses, and other temple personnel played an
important role in ancient Egypt. While the King was seen as the High Priest and
the intermediary between the sacred and profane worlds, it was the priesthood
who were ultimately the ones who ensured the earth and heavens remained as the
gods created them. This was achieved through a series of rituals, such as the
Daily Temple Ritual, in which the priesthood performed ceremonies in the name
of the King. This course will examine the role of the priesthood, from the high
priests to the doorkeepers. Additionally, the office of the God’s Wife of Amun
and related titles will be explored.
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| Fig. 2: Stela of Pasherienimhotep |
Particular focus will be given to the objects in the Egypt
Centre collection that belonged to temple personnel, such as coffins, shabtis,
statues, and stelae. At the end of each session, we will have a case-study of some
of the individuals represented at the Egypt Centre. Pasherienimhotep, who is
attested on a wooden stela (W1041), was a priest at Edfu Temple around 150 BC.
The stela provides a long list of his titles, including Servant of Horus, Elder
of the Portal of Horus of Edfu, God’s Servant of Harpakhered, God’s Servant of
Amun of the Storehouse, Overseer of the Wab-priests of Sekhmet, Overseer
of Magicians of Serqet, Chief Lector Priest, Scribe of the Divine Book,
Overseer of the Priests of Horus of Edfu, and many more (fig. 2).
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| Fig. 3: Plaster cast of the Djedhor statue base |
Djedhor the Saviour was a well-known priest and “Guardian of
the gates of the Temple of Athribis”. He was even deified during his lifetime.
Djedhor is represented in the Egypt Centre through a plaster cast (W302) of a
statue base, the original of which is now one of the treasures of the Cairo
Museum (fig. 3). We will also look at the Chief Lector Priest Padiamenope, the
owner of the largest private tomb (TT 33) ever constructed in Egypt.
Padiamenope, is known for his stone shabtis, a fragment of which is now in the
Egypt Centre (W161).
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| Fig. 4: Coffin of Iwesenhesetmut |
Iwesenhesetmut was a Chantress of Amun who lived around 1000
BC. Her burial was evidently discovered over 200 years ago, with her burial
equipment now scattered in museums and private collections. The Egypt Centre
possesses her inner anthropoid coffin (W1982), which is brightly decorated with
a series of scenes depicting Iwesenhesetmut before the gods (fig. 4). While the
God’s Wives of Amun and Divine Adoratrices are some of the most well-known female
clergy, perhaps the most obscure holders of the latter title is Qedmerut. She
is only known from her shabti figures, which were excavated at the Ramesseum
during the 1890s. One of these shabtis (W1315) is now in the Egypt Centre
collection (fig. 5).
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| Fig. 5: Faience shabti of Qedmerut |
In order to be as accessible as possible, this 5-week course
will be run twice a week, with sessions taking place via Zoom:
- Sunday evenings 6–8pm (UK time) - Starting Sunday 16th
January
- Wednesday mornings 10am–noon (UK time) - Starting Wednesday 19th January
A week before the course starts, you will be emailed the Zoom link, which can be used for both sessions. Therefore, participants will have the option of attending either day, or both! This course costs £40, with fees going directly to supporting the Egypt Centre. In particular, the funds will be used to purchase a new writing case for the House of Life gallery. Registration is now open and can been be booked via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-service-of-the-gods-priests-and-priestesses-in-ancient-egypt-tickets-220912494217?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
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