“semitisches pantheon”. eine “männliche tyche” - MOSAIKjournal.com

308| ALEXANDRA MIRONOVA
One further point might be relevant. The scenes of the ritual
zSS wAD carved on the wall of the tomb of Fetekti resemble the
later pictorial motif of the pilgrimage of the deceased from the
necropolis to Abydos (the place of Osiris’ burial) and backwards. 145
This semantic parallel is supported by the suggestion of H. Altenmüller
that the Old Kingdom versions of the Abydos pilgrimage
refer to the ideas of the conception of the deceased and his rebirth
in the afterlife; the texts and subjects of the voyage scenes are reminiscent
of the myth of Isis conceiving Horus from Osiris, and the
scenes of navigation thus bear a sexual character 146, as the scenes of
zSS wAD.
It is quite possible that the motif of the Abydos pilgrimage
was a metaphor for the navigation of the deceased in the afterworld
and his final arrival in the Field of Reeds (sxt Htp) or the Fields of
Offerings (sxt iArw). 147 These fields took place in the abode of Osiris
and probably located in the northern or the western part of the
afterworld. 148 There the deceased, on passing the judgment by Osiris,
hoped to find peace and reunite with his dead relatives. 149
As for the scene of zSS wAD from the Karnak temple, it is located
in the area adjacent to the VI th pylon and the Bark Sanctuary.
As noted earlier, on the gate of the pylon there is a relief image of
Thutmose III worshipping Amun-Re at “the ninth hour of the
day”. According to the Book of the Day and Night, this hour refers
to the arrival of the Sun Boat into the Fields of Offerings 150 – perhaps
that is why the Bark Sanctuary was built among the so-called
Halls of Offerings decorated with the scenes of offerings to various
gods of Karnak. Thus the rite zSS wAD pictured in the area of the
VI th pylon clearly had symbolic links both with the daylight hours
and the Fields of Offerings. It seems that the scene of the sailing in
the thicket of reeds during zSS wAD mirrored in someway the sailing
of the sun-god and the deceased to the Fields of Offerings or the
Field of Reeds. If we draw a parallel between the ritual zSS wAD and
145 On this motif see BRÖCKELMANN (2004).
146 ALTENMÜLLER (1998) 761–764.
147 ALTENMÜLLER (1975) 46.
148 Cf. FRANKFORT (1958) 120.
149 Book of the Dead, Chapter 110.
150 PIANKOFF (1942) 20–21.