The so-called chapitres supplémentaires, BD 162 to 167, Pleyte, have been composed during the last phase of the history of the Book of the Dead. The group of spells 163, 164, and 165 was first introduced into this corpus as an addition to it, while BD 162 seems to be considered the conclusive chapter of this ensemble. Furthermore, their originality lies in the main role played by the Theban theology and, on a lexical level, in the attempt to give them a Nubian background. Stylistically, they show some features of Late Egyptian, while the rest of the corpus is written in classical Middle Egyptian.
Book of the Dead spell 23 aimed to allow the deceased to recover the use of his mouth: therefore, the deceased invokes, among other deities, the “god of the city” as his personal god. However, some copies of the Book of the Dead from the 26th dynasty onwards replace or add to this expression the name of the god Amon. All these papyri clearly or supposedly come from Thebes based on prosopographical and onomastic criteria. This article lists hence these different attestations, seeking to explain this phenomenon, to examine if it extends to other Egyptian cities and to investigate the concept of local gods more generally.
The subject of this article is a wooden stela (AAd6) kept in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. By iconographical and typological criteria, this object is datable to the 22nd Dynasty and probably comes from the Theban area. The stela displays several particularities, among others, one of the longest genealogies preserved on this object type. Alongside a careful investigation of the different iconographical elements and a new translation of the text, this contribution looks into the onomastic and the prosopographical material, examining different titles such as “ḥnk-nw.w-priest in southern Heliopolis” or “wab-priest in chief of the estate of Mut, the great one, the mistress of Isheru.” This study not only reconstitutes the family tree but also connects this object with three others, that are datable to a timeframe from the 21st Dynasty to the beginning of the 26th Dynasty. An excursus focusing on the painting sequence of the text and depictions contributes to a better understanding of the creation of wooden stelae in the Third intermediate Period.
The study of expressions of filiation has already been the subject of several articles, which were limited to periods prior to the Third Intermediate Period. The aim of this article is to evaluate these expressions within the specific framework of the Books of the Dead from the 21st and 22nd Dynasties. These periods are marked by a significant increase in the variety of expressions employed, whereas the New Kingdom manuscripts expressed filiation according to a more uniform and rigid scheme. Similarly to what happens with titles and despite the diversity of expressions, one observes a progressive decrease in the mention of filiation which almost disappears from funerary papyri, while long genealogies on temple statues are developing. This contribution attempts to understand the motivations behind the use of these expressions and more generally to grasp their purpose in expressing the identity of the deceased.
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