Summary Early Dynastic potmarks are closely connected to different aspects of wine production. However, the countrywide pattern of production and distribution is not yet explained. The present article attempts to fill this gap by applying network analysis as well as traditional Egyptological methods.
Summary There are few records of solar or lunar eclipses in the ancient world that can be used to date historical events. One possible example is found in the Chronicle of Prince Osorkon, connected to an uprising in year 15 of Takelot II. The meaning of this text has been contested throughout the history of its interpretation, but it most likely refers to a lunar eclipse that was barely seen, or one that was predicted but not seen. There are only a handful of eclipses between 900 and 700 BC which fit the date recorded in the Chronicle, which narrows down the accession of Takelot II to two astronomically best options, 857/6 BC and 771/0 BC. This could serve as a fixed point for the wider chronology of the 22 nd Dynasty and Third Intermediate Period in Egypt.
Summary This contribution examines the inversed hieratic inscriptions of pMMA 28.3.113 (26 th Dynasty), a small sheet of papyrus intended to be used in a ritual against Apophis. The papyrus displays a grid with six sections, each containing an Apophis snake with a hieratic caption written normally on the verso (standard right-to-left) but in mirror script on the recto (left-to-right). In this contribution, these inversed hieratic captions are compared to the other known examples of hieratic and demotic mirror inscriptions from ancient Egypt, namely hieratic inversions on a Middle Kingdom coffin from the Qubbet el-Hawa (Cairo JE 36418) and two demotic examples from the quarries of Wadi el-Nakhla (Deir el-Bersha; Nectanebo I) and Gebel Toukh (Ptolemais Hermiou; Ptolemaios II). These inversed inscriptions allow the observer to consider questions about how and to what extent hieratic and demotic graphemes changed their shape under the influence of an inversion, and to discuss the reasons for producing a hieratic or demotic mirror inscription. For pMMA 28.3.113, it is argued that the twofold and identical decoration of the recto and verso served to emphasize the figurative aspects of this papyrus so that the act of piercing Apophis would be visible on both sides and at the same spot. In this case, inversing the hieratic caption followed the basic rule of Egyptian art according to which caption and figure shared the same orientation, thus overriding the basic norm of the hieratic script’s right-to-left orientation.
Summary Excavations at the mortuary temple of Thutmose III have revealed papyrus fragments that were produced for, and then burnt during, the ritual known as ‘Overthrowing Apophis’ , through which the arch-enemy of the sun god Re was cursed. The article presents some of these New Kingdom fragments as well as a later but very similar piece (P. MMA 28.3.113), and compares them with the text of the ritual instructions from a 3 rd Century BC papyrus (P. Bremner-Rhind = BM EA 10188). The use and social context of the ritual is also discussed.
Abstract This article presents new examples of a phraseology which, although unusual, shows obvious analogies revealing its belonging to a common theme concerning the mobilization and fluvial movement of the population, metonymically identified with the cardinal points, to come to venerate and pay tribute to the king and certain divinities. In its formulation there are echoes of frequent expressions in various texts from all periods, which combined create an original way of manifesting the power of the divine and royal spheres over the territory.
