Funerary Stele of MDA-sSt (Medja Seshet)

- A funerary stele of MDA-sSt dating to the twenty first dynasty , the Third Intermediate

Period .
- Material : painted wood .
- Measurements : Height 43.5 cm .
Width 33 cm .
Thickness 5 cm .
- Provenance : Deir El-Bahri cachette .
- Current Location : Egyptian Museum in Cairo JE 29308 .

- The Owner of the stele is ( MDA-sSt ) and her name is literally translated to ( Book of Lotus )

but another translation is ( Lotus Amulet ) as the word ( mDA ) sometimes translated to

( Amulet ) . She bore the titles of Mistress of the house , the Singer to Imn-Ra and the Noble

Lady .

- The stele is a round topped stele decorated at its top with the winged sundisk and below it a

hieroglyphic text divided into two parts :
- The first is above the lady reads : “ Wsir nb(t) pr Hsyt n Imn-Ra nsw nTrw Spst MDA-sSt

mAa xrw “ and this indicates the titles of the lady : “ Wsir mistress of the house , singer to

Imn-Ra , king of the gods , the noble lady MDA-sSt , Justified . “
- The second is above the god Osiris reads : “ Dd mdw in Wsir nb (n ) nHH xnty imnty nfr m

AbDw “ and this indicates the titles of the god : “ words to be recited by Wsir , lord of eternity

xnty imnty , the good in Abydos . “ .

- The master scene in the stele shows MDA-sSt dressed in a transparent garment and a coloured

necklace ( wsx ) and a red headband and a lotus and an incense con upon her head , holding the

( anx ) sign in one of her hands and offering food , including onion and bread , to the god Osiris

who is shown in front of her in green coloured skin depicting resurrection , sitting on a throne in

a mummified form wearing the ( Atf ) crown and the bent beard recognized for dieties , holding

the ( wAs ) and the ( nxx ) sceptres and in front of him is shown the ( imy-wt ) which was one

of the funerary tools .

- Below the scene there is a hieroglyphic text reads : “ Dd mdw in Wsir xnty-imnty wnn-nfr HqA anxw nsw bity HqA Dt PtH-skr nb Styt di.f xt nb nfr wab ( n ) Wsir nb(t) pr Hsyt n Imn-Ra nsw nTrw MDA-sSt mAa xrw “ . And it is translated : “ words to be recited by Wsir xnty-imnty wnn-nfr , Ruler of the Living , King of Upper and Lower Egypt , Ruler of Eternity , PtH-skr , Lord of the Styt , he gives every good and pure thing ( to ) Wsir Mistress of the House , Singer to Imn-Ra , King of Gods , MDA-sSt , justified . “ .

Tekenu

The Tekenu is one of the funerary procession elements. It appeared since the OLD KINGDOM in tomb representations in many positions:

• A completely wrapped container so that any resemblance to a human figure is not apparent.

• A container with a human face just showing through a shroud and sitting upon a sledge.




• a human shape in a prone position on a sledge without shroud in a fetal position of a typical pre-dynastic burial.

• a human shape on a couch with only his head protrudes from a cocoon-like shroud

The Tekenu has not been completely explained but many conceptions discussed what the Tekenu is :

• An animal leathered container which contains the spare body parts that were left over during the mummification.
  
• A representation of the deceased as an embryo in a womb preparing to be reborn as a denotion for the resurrection.


• A shape for the deceased's ( KA ) and may be this role was played by the ( SEM ) priest so as to denote the resurrection when the priest enters the tomb and rise up from his crouching posture.


• A symbolic representaion of human sacrifice but this conception proved to be wrong as there's no trace for human sacrifice in the Ancient Egyptian civilization.
  

References

http://www.egyptology.com/reeder/enigma/tekenu1.html

Egyptian Mourners

Since the Old Kingdom, the Mourning representations always appeared in the funeral procession scenes as the deceased was accompanied on the way to his tomb by 2 female Mourners, one at his head and the other at his feet, represnting goddesses ( ISIS ) & ( NEPHTYS) bewailing the while searching for god's ( WSIR ) coffin { after his brother, god ( SET ) locked him in a coffin throwing it into nile } till they found it in BYBLOS.

Another conception suggests that Mourners were calling for the deceased in the OTHER WORLD to resurrect.

The signs of Mourning in Ancient Egypt were the same as in other parts of the Ancient Near EAST, such as female scattering dust on their heads and disheveled hair while dressing dresses torn open at the breast and beating their breasts.

Men rarely or never showed their sorrow and Blue was occasionally the prescribed colour for Mourning dress.

Osiris Bed

A royal funerary equipment from the New Kingdom consists of a wooden frame in the form of the god { WSIR } filled with silt and sown with seeds of barely.

It probably symbolized the resurrection of god { WSIR }, and may be the sowing of the seeds symbolized god's { SETH } initial defeat of god { WSIR } [ which probably derived from the observation of pigs, a symbol of god { SETH }, trumpling seed into the ground ] while the sprouting of the barely would have symbolized the resurrection of god { WSIR }.

The OSIRIS BED also symbolized the role of god { WSIR } as a fertility god.

Only 7 OSIRIS BEDS have been found and there is a number of ceramic bricks have a hollow figure of god { WSIR } carved into its upper surface, serving as a magical receptacle for soil and grain, which may be a later development of the OSIRIS BED.

The Egg Amulet

The Egg played an important role in the HERMOPOLITAN cosmogony, as it denotes that the primeval Egg was laid by a legendary bird { was mentioned in the Book of the Dead as ( The Great Cackler )}. It put that Egg on the primeval hill, then the OGDOAD hatched the Egg till it broke bringing out the principles arranging the universe together with light.

A conception supposes that the sun god ( RA) himself emerged from the Egg as a falcom and this is supported by chapter 77 in the BOOK of the Dead, also in the coffin texts of the Middle Kingdom a part of spell ran : " O' Ra who is in his egg".

Another conception addressed god ( PTAH ) as the creator of the primeval Egg as some representations showed him fashioning the Egg on the Potter's Wheel.

The Ancient Egyptian used the Egg as an amulet refering to life in its calm shape to possess the power residing in it. Also some coffins took the oval shape maybe as a hope of an eternal afterlife.


Refrences


Isabelle Franco , Mythes et Dieux.
TheMuseum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw.


Unfortunatly, i found no pictures for the primeval Egg in Egyptian reliefs. So please if you found any picture for that you can thankfully send it to me on my e-mail : nanotofita@yahoo.com

Djed Pillar

picture from : http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/

Djed Pillar is a fetish which was used by the ancient egyptians as a symbol for stability and duration.
The oldest appearance for the Djed Pillar till now appears in the decorations in the funerary complex of king Djoser ( third dynasty) in Saqqara. It was also used as an amulet at the end of the Old Kingdom and it also appeared among the decorations of the coffins specially during the New Kingdom.

the Djed Pillar among the decorations of the funerary complex of king Djoser

Egyptian Museum in cairo

Many conceits were conceived about the origin of that figure representing the Djed Pillar, it was related with the God Wsir in two conceits:
- The first was in the Pyramid Texts from the Old Kingdom which tells that the form of the Djed Pillar represented the Cedar which embraced the coffin of Wsir in Byblos.
- The second was mentioned in the Book of The Dead ( chapter 155 ), it tells that the form of the Djed Pillar represented the backbone of the God Wsir.

It was also imagined to be a very old representation of a coloumn used in the harvesting rites or may be an old representation of man's penis but gradually the ancient egyptians forgot this representation and kept on sanctifying the Djed Pillar after relating it with other gods.

The Djed Pillar was figured in many forms like the human figure holding the { WAS } or the { ANKH } signs or that figure in the osirian form, It was also figured sometimes with the Isis Knot { TYT } like the decorations on the outmost burial chapel of king { TUT ANKH AMUN }.

pictuer from: www.touregypt.net

As an amulet the Djed Pillar was used in nearly most rites specially that of gods { WSIR }, { SOKAR } and { PTAH }. Mostly known of these rites is the { Raising of the Djed } which is thought to be initiated in the harvesting festivals then turned to be an independent ritual and sometimes it was merged with the { SED } festival like that of king { Amunhotep III }.


Refrences


Rundle Clark, Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt.
Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt.
Manfred Lurker, Gods and Symbols in Ancient Egypt.
Wallis Budge, From Fetish to God.
Wallis Budge, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection