Through the Eras

Religionibis necropolis at Saqqara, there are necropolises for catsat Bubastis; rams at Elephantine; crocodiles, snakes, falcons,and ibises at Kom Ombo; and ibises and falconsat Abydos. Other animals that were buried include sheep,dogs, baboons, jackals, fish of several species, shrews,scorpions, and scarab beetles. The main difference betweentemple animals and animals of the same species isthere was only one temple animal at a time; the templeanimal received a cult, while these animals did not, andthe mortuary services for the temple animals were muchmore elaborate.MUMMIES AS VOTIVE OFFERINGS. The reason forthe mummification and burial of such enormous numbersof animals in ancient Egypt is related to their associationwith the gods. People who visited the varioustemples during festival periods were anxious to make anoffering to the god in an attempt to earn his blessing.One acceptable votive offering was the mummified remainsof an animal associated with the god. A prayerinscribed on a jar containing an Ibis mummy askedThoth to be benevolent towards the woman who hadembalmed his sacred animal. Of course, most such offeringstook place during festivals. In order to ensure aplentiful supply of animals for pilgrims, the priests werenot adverse to hastening the death of an animal. At thispoint, the extent of this practice is uncertain. The onepopulation of animal mummy that has been systematicallystudied is cats. An examination of their mummiesat the British Museum reveals that the majority of themdied either at two or four months old, or between nineand twelve months. The average lifespan of a cat shouldhave been around twelve years. In addition, a commoncause of death among the cats was a dislocation of thecervical vertebrae, which could be the result of violentlytwisting the head of an animal until its neck broke.Other cat mummies show evidence of head trauma froma blow. Apparently the sacredness of these animals tothe gods did not prevent the priests from doing whatwas necessary to supply a pilgrim with a mummified animal.PRIVATE ANIMALS. The third type of sacred animalswere members of the same species as the temple animalwhich were kept in private homes as representativesof the gods. For example, snakes, cats, or dogs were oftenkept in homes and buried at their deaths. This practiceis analogous to the construction of household shrinesto allow for domestic worship.SOURCESJaromir Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt (Philadelphia: Universityof Pennsylvania Press, 1993).H. te Velde, “A Few Remarks upon the Religious Significanceof Animals in ancient Egypt,” in Numen 27(1980): 76–82.THE KINGDIVINE STATUS. The king of Egypt was the onlyliving person who possessed the status of a netjer (“god”).He could be called “the good god,” the “great god,” orsimply “god.” Because of the king’s special status, hecould serve as the link between the world of the godsand men. The king was the only mortal who could directlyapproach the gods. The temples throughout Egyptshow only the king performing the rituals. This was apolite fiction, because in reality the king commissionedthe priests to act in his stead. The king’s “divinity” (forlack of a better word—”netjer-hood” would be more appropriate,but is too cumbersome), however, is differentfrom that of the gods. The king’s divinity was an acquiredstatus, bestowed when he ascended the throne.Beginning with his coronation, and extending throughouthis reign, the king participated in rituals designed toreinforce and strengthen his divine status.DESCRIPTIONS. The Egyptians had many ways ofdescribing the king’s unique nature. He could be calleda god, the son of a god, the image of a god, or he wasdescribed as like a god. For example, one text describesMerneptah (r. 1213–1204 B.C.E.) as “the good god thatlives on Maat … son of Kheperi [a form of the sun], descendantof the Bull of Heliopolis [probably a referenceto Amun, Re, or Atum], … born of Isis.” A text describesRedjedef (r. 2560–2555 B.C.E.), the third king of theFourth Dynasty and the successor of Khufu, as the firstking to be called the Son of Re. From this point on, everyking has a “Son of Re” name, usually his birth name,which was one of the king’s two names enclosed in a cartouche(an oval or oblong figure enclosing the king’snames). This king’s status as the son of a god is explainedin the text called Khufu and the Magicians, where the firstallusion to the myth of the king’s divine birth are found.The text contains references to Ruddedet, the wife of apriest of Re, who was impregnated by Re himself. Shegave birth to triplets who grew up to be the first threekings of the Fifth Dynasty (2500–2350 B.C.E.). Later, inthe Eighteenth Dynasty, Hatshepsut (r. 1478–1458B.C.E.) had a set of reliefs carved in her temple at Deir elBahri depicting the myth of her divine birth. The mythrelates that the god Amun, in the guise of her fatherThuthmosis I, visited her mother one night. As a resultof their union, Hatshepsut was conceived. The myth ofthe divine birth of the king was not confined to only Re224 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)