Egyptian Staff

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Calligraphic representation of the Udjat Eye, symbol of healing and vision of the invisible. B) The Maat's feather From the Nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ꜥꜣ on its own, was used as regularly as ḥm, "Majesty". [18] The term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler presiding in that building, particularly by the time of the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-third Dynasty. [ citation needed] The sceptre of Sekhem takes its name from the goddess Sekhmet. This lion-headed warrior goddess alone is a symbol of power. Feared by all, in Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet is at the head of the divine Egyptian army. She is often depicted as Ra's instrument of vengeance. Indeed, Ra is said to have created Sekhmet with the aim of slowing down the incessant conflicts of mankind. Other notable epithets are nswt, translated to "king"; ḥm, "Majesty"; jty for "monarch or sovereign"; nb for "lord"; [18] [note 2] and ḥqꜣ for "ruler".

The flail later was closely related to the heqa-scepter (the crook and flail), but in early representations the king was also depicted solely with the flail, as shown in a late pre-dynastic knife handle that is now in the Metropolitan museum, and on the Narmer Macehead. [27] The Uraeus Tale of Ipuwer: The Tale of Ipuwer (ca. 1650-1550 B.C.E.), which laments the chaos that has engulfed Egypt, claims: “The river is blood. If one drinks of it, one rejects it and thirsts for water… Foreign tribes have come to Egypt” (2:10, 3:1). [12] As in the biblical text, the Egyptian story describes a bloody Nile and a defeat at the hand of foreigners. [13] Also attested are many depictions of a threshing festival rite, known as the “Driving of the Calves,” in which the king (or less often a priestess) carries two halves of a serpent staff in each hand (Fig. 6). [21] Scott B. Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers: The Punning Language of Dreams in the Ancient Near East (American Oriental Series, 89; New Haven, CT, 2007), pp. 128-140.

17-Feather Of Maat

The hardening (lit. making heavy) of pharaoh’s heart tendentiously alludes to the Egyptian belief that pharaoh’s heart must be weighed against the feather of truth, maat( mꜣʿ t) to grant him entry to the afterlife. [4] Main article: Regalia of the Pharaoh Scepters and staves Beaded scepter of Khasekhemwy, c. 2890-2680 BC, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston From a literary perspective, the bloody Nile marks an ironic reversal in which it is the Egyptian priests who experience, rather than execute, the destruction. More practically, from the vantage of Egyptian ritual praxis, the plague put a stop to the priests’ many protection and purification rites by tainting the water they used to perform them as evil and impure. Example 2: Staffs into Serpents James, T.G.H. (1982). "A Wooden Figure of Wadjet with Two Painted Representations of Amasis". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 68: 156–165. doi: 10.2307/3821635. JSTOR 3821635– via JSTOR. Thus, we may see the devouring of the ḥarṭummīm’s staffs by Aaron’s “staff of God” (Exod 4:20) as depicting the destruction of their authority and absorption of their power. [29] Superpositioning and Control of the Ḥarṭummīm

a b c d e f Bianchi, Robert Steven (2022). "A Bronze Reliquary for an Ichneumon Dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess Wadjet". Arts. 11 (1): 21. doi: 10.3390/arts11010021. ISSN 2076-0752. Strikingly, this is precisely what occurs after Aaron’s contest involving the serpents. Not only do the ḥarṭummīm abet the Israelite cause by conjuring more bloody water and more frogs, the Egyptian people give the Israelites gifts of silver and gold, and of clothing before they depart (Exod 12:35-36). In essence, the Egyptians have become allies who assist Moses in his mission. The Finger of God: The Finger of Thoth or Seth I begin with the first plague—the turning of the Nile to blood—a wonder that the ḥarṭummīm easily replicate. [11] The event has three analogues in Egyptian texts. A Demon of Bastet: A ritual text that identifies one of seven demons of the goddess Bastet (here a manifestation of Sekhmet) as “The one who is in the Nile-flood who makes blood” (924-889 BCE). [14] As Thomas Schneider observes: “This could be understood as a demon who creates carnage in the Nile, and thus turns the Nile into blood (Exod 7:17-20).” [15] James, T. G. H. “A Wooden Figure of Wadjet with Two Painted Representations of Amasis.” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 68 (1982): 156–65. https://doi.org/10.2307/3821635.

The “New” Egyptian Spear

Mark, Joshua (2 September 2009). "Pharaoh – World History Encyclopedia". World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021 . Retrieved 20 December 2017. Therefore, it is more useful to examine the acts of the ḥarṭummīm from the perspective of Egyptian priestly rituals and the portrayals of priests in Egyptian literary texts. Indeed, when approached in this way, a number of striking parallels emerge. I shall restrict myself to two primary examples, the plague of blood and the transformation of the staffs into serpents. [10] Fig. 4. Lector-priests, here called ḥekaʾu, i.e., “magicians,” carrying sacred scrolls from the House of Life. Festival Hall of Osorkon II (ca. 9th c. BCE). Found in Edouard Naville, The Festival-Hall of Osorkon II in the Great Temple of Bubastis, 1887-1889 (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1892), Plate III. Example 1: Plague of Blood Congress says 'Sengol' not power transfer symbol, BJP alleges insult to culture". Hindustan Times . Retrieved 27 May 2023. Since artisans, and not priests, produced these items, one might gather that they were not perceived as possessing performative powers unless handled by experts in ḥeka. On the other hand, as the stela of the chief artist Iritisen makes clear (ca. 2000 BCE, Louvre Museum C 14), the making of artistic items such as amulets, statues, and wall reliefs was regarded a secret knowledge that required knowledge of ḥeka.