the fear of being forgotten

�

Pultusk Academy of Humanities

ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA PULTUSKIENSIAVol. IV

Department of Archaeology and Anthropology

PUŁTUSK 2013

Studies

on Disasters, Catastrophes and the Ends of the World

in Sources

Edited by Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska,& Jadwiga Iwaszczuk

�

Scientific Editors: Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska, Jadwiga IwaszczukProof-reading in English by Jo B. Harper, Jan Darasz & Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska

DTP by Jadwiga IwaszczukGraphics by Jadwiga IwaszczukCover design by Jakub Affelski

Published with financial supportof the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education

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© Copyright 2013by the Pultusk Academy of Humanities, 2013

Publisher:Pultusk Academy of Humanities

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Preface..........................................................................................................................................7 Jelena anđelković Grašar, DraGana roGić, emiliJa nikolić, Viminacium,

Archaeological Park – Modern Code for Re-readingthe Past of the Roman City and Legionary Camp .................... 9

ewa auGustyn-lenDzion, Images of “Disasters” in the Space of the City – Urban Planning and Architecture .......................................................................15

taDeusz Baranowski, Catastrophic Environmental Change – Floods as the Causeof Disasters at the End of Early Middle Ages in Poland,the Case of Kalisz ......................................................................21

Piotr Briks, Eschatology without “End”. Eschatological Concepts of Ancient Israel ................ 25woJciech Józef Burszta, The Politics and Poetics of Fear: Living in Risk Society .................. 31João manuel loPes carDoso caBral, The 1755 “Lisbon Earthquake” .....................................37Piotr czerkwiński, Offences Worthy of Death ...........................................................................45Dorota czerwik, The Fear of Being Forgotten ...........................................................................55BarBara DąBrowska, The Geological Phenomena in the Pyramid Texts ..................................65DeJan Donev, The Changing of Bioethical Conscience – Precondition for Permanent

Global Peace and Sustainable Development ............................ 75aleksanDra Drzał-sierocka, The Epidemic of AIDS as a Catastrophe in the Context

of the Individual. Terminal Disease as a Liminal Situation .... 81właDysław Duczko, Disasters Seen through the Eyes of an Archaeologist ..............................87sherine elseBaie, A Study on the End of the World as Viewed by the Ancient Egyptians ....... 91marta fituła, Noto Antica – “Sicilian Pompeii” ........................................................................103massimiliano franci, Destruction of the Mankind. Relations between the Egyptian

and the Mesopotamian Myths: Influence or Literary Drift? .... 111anna Garczewska, When “the Old” meets “the New” – the Legal Perspective .......................... 117krzysztof Garczewski, The End of the Second World War from the German Perspective

– Catastrophe and Liberation ................................................... 125Jerzy Gąssowski, The End of the World in Anno Domini 1000 ................................................. 133eva katarina Glazer, DaniJel štruklec, Sea Peoples – Revisiting a Late Bronze Age

Catastrophe ...............................................................................135katarzyna Jarosz, Atlantis, Aliens and Pseudoarchaeology in Polish Popular Science Periodicals ....................................................................141kolfinna JónatansDóttir, When Óðinn Meets the Wolf: The Eschatological Role

of Wolves in Old Norse Mythology ........................................... 149Bożena Józefów-czerwińska, Is This the End of Knowledge Handed Down from Generation

to Generation within Traditional Culture? What Can Survivein Our Times? ............................................................................157

Pantelis komninos, Volcanic Activity on the Bronze Age Cyclades and Its Reflection in Aegean Frescoes ....................................................................163aGnieszka kowalska, kamil kuraszkiewicz, The End of a World Caused by Water. The Case of Old Kingdom Egypt ............................................... 173rosa lanteri, Eruptions, Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Ancient Mediterranean Sea:

the Sources and Archaeological Records .................................. 177

Contents

6

aDam łukaszewicz, The Last Days of Pompeii in a Forgotten Novelby Władysław Zambrzycki ........................................................ 185

krzysztof łukawski, The Extinction of the Piasts – Masovian Dukes. A Catastropheor an Opportunity for New Directions in Development? ......... 191

eDoarDo manarini, 10th Century Italy through the Voices of Atto of Vercelli and Liutprand of Cremona: True Political Catastrophe or Just a Perception? ................................................................195

feDerica manfreDi, No Names, No Memorial. The Migrants’ Invisible Deaths ....................... 201emiliJa nikolić, DraGana roGić, Jelena anđelković Grašar, Catastrophes as an Inevitable Result of Civilisations Flow: Relocation and Dislocation of Historical Physical Structures

at the Archaeological Site of Viminacium, Serbia .................... 205anDrzeJ niwiński, Catastrophes and the Ends of the World in Pharaonic Egypt ..................... 215Paweł f. nowakowski, The Siege of Prague 1420 – the Hussite End of the World ................. 221małGorzata okuPnik, The Material Catastrophe. The Fate of Families in the Memories

of the Polish Intelligentsia, Landed Gentryand Aristocracy .........................................................................229

Piero Pasini, 8 September, 1943, Italy. Death, Catastrophe or Disaster? ..................................239łukasz Pawełoszek, Rise of the God and Fall of the Pagan World. Destruction

of Mystery Cults and Ancient Thought during IncreasingPower of the Christianity in the 4th-6th Centuries CE.Devastation of Temples and Ideologies Basedon Ancient Texts and Archaeological Finds .............................245

Joanna PoPielska-GrzyBowska, tm tmm – the End and Nothingness as Completion and Completeness. Ancient Egyptian Plays on Words ............ 255

anDrzeJ rozwałka, Fire in a Medieval and Early-Modern Town – a Local Disaster Only?The Example of Lublin .............................................................261

stefanos skarmintzos, kleisiaris nikolaos, Bakas sPyriDon, The Man-made Economic Disaster of Mid 12th Century BC and the Reconstruction(through Means of Experimental Archaeology)of the Military Technology that It Brought About ................... 267

rimantas sliužinskas, Multiculturalism in Klaipëda: Self-identity Attitudes in the Polish Community ..........................................................271szymon słomczyński, In the Grip of the Flu. Spanish Influenza Pandemic in Poland

(1918-1920): What Was It and How Was It Perceived? ........... 281leszek P. słuPecki, Ragnarök. Wizja końca świata w mitologii i mitografii nordyckiej ........... 287Joanna wawrzeniuk, Was Christianity an Ideological Disaster? – in the Context

of Funeral Rites of the Eastern Slavs .......................................299

55

Impensa monumenti supervacua est: memoria nostra durabit, si vita meruimus. Pliny the Younger, Letters IX 19.6

This paper aims to present Ancient Egyptian attitudes towards memory and necessity of commemoration after death.1 It is based on conclusions derived from research on Old Kingdom Tomb Inscriptions.

According to J. Assmann, every culture creates a connective structure that binds people together by providing a common area of experience, expectation and action.2 Such a community decides which experiences are fundamental to the identity of the group and must not be forgotten. The reminiscences stored within the community forms cultural memory. Assmann defines cultural memory as more differentiated and exclusive; not every member of the community is endowed with the legitimacy to influence the content of cultural memory which is intrinsically related to power and tradition. Therefore it covers a much longer period of time in comparison with communicative memory. Communicative memory is shared and conveyed within a social group and defined by common memories of personal interaction through verbal communication over a time span of 80 to 100 years (three-four generations). Because of the interactive nature of this kind of memory, social emotions such as hate, love, shame etc, play a central role in what is handed down from one to the next generation. Assman defines communicative memory as an unstructured type of memory because of the fact that everyone is allowed to be a part of the interaction in which autobiographical memories are being communicated.� Taking into account the communicative memory’s unstructured and individual nature, Assmann also adds that communicative memory can be perceived as a private interpretation of a person’s own past, and therefore, as a sort of relative memory.

In the ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom, the elements of the communicative memory were connected with the cultural memory. Cultural memory was maintained by the monumental architecture and writings.� Each temple or pyramid beside the religious function had to commemorate the importance and function of the pharaoh. At the time of the Old Kingdom the pharaoh was regarded as a god-king, which was demonstrated by the monumentalism of pyramid construction, the royal titles and the iconographic programme of royal funerary

The Fear of Being Forgotten

Dorota CzerwikWarsaw, Poland

1 For the subject of cultural and social memory see for example: J. AssmAnn, Das kulturelle Gedächtnis. Schrift, Erinnerung und politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen, München 2007 (hereinafter referred to as: AssmAnn, Das kulturelle Gedächtnis); idem, Religion und kulturelles Gedächtnis, München 2007; R.M. VAn.dyke, S.E. Alcock.(eds), Archaeologies of Memory, Oxford 2003.

2 AssmAnn, Das kulturelle Gedächtnis, p. 16.� Ibidem, p. 49.� For discussion about Egyptian’s view of the past, present and future, the linear and cyclical view of the

history, see: J. TAiT, Introduction – ‘…since the time of the Gods’, [in:] J. TAiT.(ed.), ‘Never had the liked occurred’: Egypt’s view of its past, London 2003, pp. 1-13; E.P. Uphill, The Ancient Egyptian View of World History, [in:] J. TAiT.(ed.), ‘Never had the liked occurred’: Egypt’s view of its past, London 2003, pp. 23-25; A. loprieno, Views of the Past in Egypt during the First Millennium BC, [in:] J. TAiT.(ed.), ‘Never had the liked occurred’: Egypt’s view of its past, London 2003, pp. 139-140.

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complexes. The destiny of the pharaoh was to guarantee maat, the justice and cosmic order which in turn was to ensure the stability and continuity of the state. His deeds and connection with ancestors and gods must be demonstrated and documented in order to last forever.5 In this case, the role of monuments was not only to remember the past and its connection with the present but also to establish a durable monument for the future which one may perceive as an illustration of prospective memory.6

Also, the tombs of public persons, such as noblemen was a means to commemorate their lives. The memory of the dead and the funerary cult are fundamental paradigms of social memory based on elements of both communicative and cultural memory. Each nobleman’s tomb had to present the person and show his good life, accomplishments, ritual knowledge and all things that made him worthy of remembrance. Moreover for the ancient Egyptians, the memory of ancestors preserved in stone, provided an additional function, the successful transition to the afterlife. It was strictly connected with Egyptian ideas about immorality, self-eternalisation and self-monumentalisation. Ancient Egyptians had a deep desire to overcome death and achieve eternity. The most dangerous thing that could have happened to the deceased was to be forgotten, having his name erased, having his tomb reused, being left without his mortuary cult and being sentenced to a second death.

Ancient Egyptian religion assumed that death was not only a passage to the afterlife but also a chance to live again. However, to exist in the netherworld one should provide the requirements for all the aspects of his soul and manifestation. Egyptians believed that preservation of the body after death was important so that the soul could see it as a vehicle for reanimation. Without a physical manifestation such as the corps (XAt), images of the deceased or his name preserved in the tomb, no aspect of the soul (kA, bA or Ax) could exist in the eternal life successfully. Upon death, Egyptians were the objects of a series of ceremonies performed by priests.7 First, the body was conveyed to the necropolis (zmA tA). The next phase was preparing the body in a place of embalming (spr r zH-nTr) and mummification (wp), then the procession to the tomb (jrt orst nfrt) and opening of the mouth ritual (wpt rA). The last was the mortuary service (prt-xrw) and putting the corpse into the burial chamber of the tomb. All these preparations were accompanied by variety of rites. The Opening of the Mouth ritual was followed by glorifications (sAxw) that transformed the dead into the desired state of being Ax. Ax was the effective spirit who claimed to have knowledge of all rituals and proclaimed the ascension to the great god. The Egyptians believed that one important result of becoming a spirit was that bA of a person was awakened or animated. This visible manifestation of a person in the physical world was able posthumously to leave the realm of the dead and travel on the earth and in the sky. Also the life-force, kA had to receive offerings of food and drink, spiritual essence of which it could still consume, in order to survive after death.8

Funerary cults depended on the perpetuation of a relative’s memory because all things required for him to live in the netherworld were supposed to be done by cult officials, his living family or the cult priests. If the deceased did not fulfil these requirements, he was

Dorota Czerwik

5 For the issue of kingship and king’s divinity see: P.J. FrAndsen, Aspects of Kingship in Ancient Egypt, [in:] N. Brisch.(ed.), Religion and Power. Divine Kingship in the Ancient World, Chicago 2008, pp. 47-48, 62-65 with further bibliography.

6 See also: AssmAnn, Religion und kulturelles Gedächtnis, p. 106.7 M. FiTzenreiTer, Grabdekoration und die Interpretation funerärer Rituale im Alten Reich, [in:] H. Willems.

(ed.), Social Aspects of Funerary Culture in the Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdoms. Proceedings of the International Symposium held at Leiden University 6-7 June 1996, OLA 103, Leuven 2001, pp. 67-140; J.A. Wilson, Funeral Services of the Egyptian Old Kingdom, JNES 3 (1944), pp. 201-218.

8 See: J. AssmAnn, Tod und Jenseits im Alten Ägypten, München 2003, pp. 116-156, 394-424; H. hAys, Funerary Rituals (Pharaonic Period), [in:] J. dielemAn, W. Wendrich.(eds), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles 2010.

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left for a second death. Therefore being remembered was of great importance in ancient Egypt.

The evidence of commemoration is visible in Old Kingdom tomb decoration programme. The owner of the tomb is presented with his names, occupations, titles and with his family members. All his titles and epithets are listed not only once but many times in different places of the chapel. Next to the scenes related to the afterlife destiny of the deceased are presentations of people performing rituals, offering bearers and presentations of the owner at the offering table or with the members of his family. The point of such a programme was to underline the significance of the deceased and his place in society. The idea was to commemorate his life, connections, his functions, achievements and above all his virtues. It was also the way to guarantee him continuous delivery of offerings and performance of rituals. The tomb itself was the most common gift to the king and was regarded as a reward for righteousness, morality and professional efficiency in life. This close relation to the king was often underlined in the tomb inscriptions.9

Not only reliefs were meant to perpetuate the life and achievements of the deceased; accompanying texts had the same purpose. All prayers, and offering formulas referred to the functions and role of the deceased. Moreover, there were other kinds of inscriptions connected with the owner’s introduction such as self-presentation, a statement of the magical and ritual skills of an effective spirit, an appeal to the living and a warning to visitors. Those texts were expanded and closely interrelated, until they formed an integrated presentation of the man, his credits and his destiny.

Self-Presentations

To analyse the present subject, it is important to understand the texts entitled “Passing from Life to Death”.10 These contained the collections of the deeds necessary to define the moral character of a man. The deceased claimed to fulfil all of them, but those claims seem to be quite conventional. The main intention of the texts was an affirmation of having done and spoken maat and having been honoured by the king and the god. Self-Presentation in this way was intended to underline the virtues of the nobleman and his high position in society. It should be emphasised that besides the admission of living in accordance with maat in the self-presentation, a nobleman stated not to have done any violence or harm to other people, especially when he held an office and had some power over people. One may link the idea of statements of good character, right action and some negative declarations with the Negative Confession from later times.11 In both texts the intention was to prove that deceased is worthy to have access to the next world. However, it seems that in the Old Kingdom declarations the main intention was to guarantee provisions of food and prayers from passers-by.

The owner of the tomb claimed:


9 J.P. Allen, Some Aspects of the Non-royal Afterlife in the Old Kingdom, [in:] The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference held in Prague May 31 – June 4, 2004, Prague 2006, pp. 9-17.

10 N. kloTh, Die (auto-)biographischen Inschriften des ägyptischen Alten Reiches: Untersuchungen zu Phraseologie und Entwicklung, SAK Beihefte 8, Hamburg 2002 (hereinafter referred to as: kloTh, Inschriften), pp. 54-127; M. lichTheim, Moral Value in Ancient Egypt, OBO 155, Freiburg-Göttingen 1997; eAdem, Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies, OBO 120, Freiburg 1992; H. Goedicke, The Egyptian Idea of Passing from Life to Death, Orientalia 24 (1955), pp. 225-239.

11 For the link between BD spell 125 and Old Kingdom Texts see: J. Gee, The requirements of ritual purity in ancient Egypt, PhD dissertation, Yale University 1998, pp. 61-243. Cf. also M.A. sTAdler, Judgment after Death, [in:] J. dielemAn, W. Wendrich (eds), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles 2010.

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hA(j.).n.(j) m spAt.(j) wr.k(j) sms.k(j) jr(j).n.(j) mAat mrrt nTr sHtp.n.(j) nTr m mrrt.f nb pr(j)t xrw n Axw snD.n.(j) [nj] jt.(j) jmA.n.(j) [nj] mwt.(j) ors.n.(j) jwt(j) zA.f zmA.n.(j) tA m jwt(j) mXnt.f nHm.n.(j) mAr m-a wsr rD(j).n.(j) Xrt jt n zA.f – “I have gone from my town, (and) I have descended from my nome, (after) I had achieved greatness and attained old age, I performed maat which the god loves, I propitiated the god with everything that he loves, by making the invocation offerings for the spirits, I respected my father, I was amiable to my mother, I buried the one who had no son, I ferried the one who had no ferry, I rescued the weak from the stronger, I gave the property of the father to the son.” (Mehu)12

Egyptians also declared “I am the one who speaks good and repeats good”, or “I have never, since my birth let anyone spend the night angry with me about something”, “I have never said an evil thing against anyone” or “I have never beat any man there so that he fell as a result of my action”.13

The idea of living with the harmony of the universe, according to maat was essential to the vision of proper life and worth being prolonged after death and to be reminisced – over by the living.

Statement of the Magical and Ritual Skills of an Effective Spirit and Affirmation of Performing Necessary Rituals

The concept of Ax related to the private person of the Old Kingdom appears in the first Dynasties as a title. In the time of Fifth and Sixth Dynasty the deceased started to be a more complicated being with mighty powers. In the tomb inscriptions from the end of Fifth Dynasty and later he claimed to be a well-equipped spirit, knowing all necessary spells and rituals and possessing forces.14

To supply offerings for the dead was essential because of the fear that without the offerings the Ax could leave the tomb and act against the living. To protect from this powerful spirit, Egyptians sealed the entrance to the burial chambers, painted them white and laid offerings in the shafts which could restrain the spirit.

Among the tomb inscriptions, noblemen asserted that they have achieved the state of Ax, and special powers and magical knowledge for instance: - jnk Xrj-HAbt jor r[x (j)xt nbt] HkAj[j] r rmTw nbw n zp StA HkA nb jor r.(j)

“I am a lector priest excellent of knowing all the magic spells more than the other people. Never was any trustworthy magic hidden from me.” (Merefnebef)15

- jnk Ax jor rx r.f jw.(j) rx.k(wj) sStA nbt n(j) mdw nTr Ax n.f m Xrt-nTr – “I am an effective spirit, excellent in knowing his spells. I know all the secrets of the god’s words because of which one may became an effective spirit in the necropolis.” (Idu Seneny)16

Dorota Czerwik

12 Z. hAWAss, An Inscribed Lintel in the Tomb of the Vizier Mehu at Saqqara, LingAeg 10 (2002), pp. 219-224.

13 Urk. I, pp. 132.16, 46.14, 219.7, 217.4. For more similar declarations see: kloTh, Inschriften, pp. 88-97, 104-107.

14 K. JAnsen-Winkeln, “Horizont” Und “Verklärtheit”: Zur Bedeutung der Wurzel Ax, SAK 23 (1996), pp. 201-215; D. czerWik, “Jnk Ax” – in the Light of the Tomb Inscriptions from the VI Dynasty, [in:] J. popielskA-GrzyBoWskA, O. Białostocka, J. iWAszczUk.(eds), Proceedings of the Third Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists. Egypt 2004. Perspectives of Research. Warsaw 12-14 May 2004, Pułtusk 2009, pp. 37-47.

15 K. Myśliwiec et al., Saqqara I. The Tomb of Merefnebef, Varsovie 2004 (hereinafter referred to as: Myśliwiec et al., Saqqara I), p. 76.

16 Urk. I, p. 116.8; T. säVe-söderBerGh, The Old Kingdom Cemetery at Hamra Dom (El-Qasr wa Es-Saiyad), Stockholm 1994, pp. 28-29.

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- jnk Ax jor apr jw.(j) rx.kwj StA nb mnx n(j) nTr aA – “I am an excellent and equipped spirit and I know all the potent secrets of the great god.” (Kagemeny)17

- jw jr(w) n.(j) (j)xt nbt Ax(t) Spss(t) m jrt n jmAxw n(j) nswt jw jr(w) n.(j) (j)xt nbt Ax(t) Spss(t) m wnwt Xrj-HAbt n jmAxw xr nTr aA – “All the effective and ennobling rituals have been performed for me as is usually performed for one honoured by the king. All the effective and ennobling rituals have been performed for me, through the offices of the lector priest, for honoured by the great god.” (Hetepniptah)18

- jw jgr jrw n.j (j)xt nbt Ax(t) Spss(t) (...) [jrt n] jor jmj n Axw m wnwt Xrj-HAbt jor rx (j)xt mAa(j) mAaj jw.(j) jgr jbz.k(wj) [Hr] sStA n(j) nTr nb jw.(j) jgr rx.k(wj) (j)xt nbt Axt Ax njj ntj xp(jj) r Xrt-nTr m jmAxw nj nTr aA xr nswt jw.(j) jgr rx.k(wj) (j)xt nbt jart.f (njj) n nTr aA (...) jnk Ax Spss apr r [Ax nb (j)xt nb.f] – “All the effective and ennobling rituals have been performed for me (...) [which are done for] the excellent one who is among the effective spirits, through the offices of the excellent lector priest who knows the rituals truly, truly. Also, I am initiated in the secrets of every god. I know all the rituals through which the effective spirit who has gone to the necropolis becomes effective as honoured by the great god before the king. I know all the rituals through which he ascends to the great god, (...) I am an effective spirit, ennoble and equipped with everything more than [the other spirits].” (Merefnebef)19

The Requests Referring to the Good Burial

The standard Htp Dj nswt formula, referred to the offerings that the kings may give and that Anubis may give during every festival. They reflect the system of redistributions of offerings and official food provision. Besides the standard demands to providing offerings, several further wishes were written:- ors.t(j).f m Xrt-nTr m zmjt jmntt – “that he be buried in the necropolis in the western

desert”,- zmA.f tA – “that he joined the land”,- Dj jmntt awj.s r.f – “that the west may extend her hand to him”,- DAj.f Saj r swt.f n(j)t jmAxw – “that he cross the sand to his place of being honoured”,- swDA.t(j) m Htp r jz.f n Xrt-nTr – “that he be conducted to his tomb in peace”,- prt r tp-Dw n(j) Xrt-nTr m-xt nmj S j.sAx(w) jn Xrj-HAbt jrj n.f (j)xt jn wtj xr Jnpw – “that he may

climb the hill of the necropolis, after having crossed the lake, after the sAxw ritual has been performed by lector priest, after the things have been done for him by the embalmer before Anubis”.20

Some of those requests referred to the life after death:- xp.f Hr wAwt nfrt xpp.t(j) jmAxw(w) Hr.sn – “that he may travel on the beautiful roads on

which travel the honoured ones”,- sSm.t(j) Hr wAwt Dsrt xpp.t(j) jmAxw(w) Hr.s – “that he be conducted upon the splendid roads,

on which travel the honoured ones”,- sSm.tj.f jn kAw.f – “that he be conducted by his kas”,- Sms.tj.f jn kAw.f – “that he may be followed by his kas”,- nDr.t(j).f jn jtw jn kAw.f tpj nb(w) jmAxw(w) – “that he be embraced by fathers and his kas

foremost of all honoured”,


17 Urk. I, pp. 194-196; E. edel, Untersuchungen zur Phraseologie der ägyptischen Inschriften des Alten Reiches, MDAIK 13 (1944), pp. 59-68.

18 H. AlTenmüller, Das Grab des Hetepniptah (G 2430) auf dem Westfriedhof von Giza, SAK 9 (1981), p. 44, Abb. 8.

19 Myśliwiec et al., Saqqara I, pp. 72-73, pl. XIV.20 G. lApp, Die Opferformel des Alten Reiches unter Berücksichtigungen einiger späterer Formen, SDAIK 21,

Mainz am Rhein 1986 (hereinafter referred to as: lApp, Opferformel), pp. 39-86; H. AlTenmüller, Die Texte zum Begräbnisritual in den Pyramiden des Alten Reiches, Wiesbaden 1972, pp. 745-765.

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- jar.tj.f n nTr aA – “that he ascends to the great god”,- Szp.tj a.f jn nTr aA – “that his hand be taken by the great god”,- DjA.t(j) bjA m Htp nfr wrt – “that he may reach the firmament in a state of very great

peace”.21

Appeal to the Living with the Offering Request

The appeal to the living had developed from the text of the offering formula. It consisted of the address to the living, request for making an offering and motivation (being favoured by the king or god).22

Orders for performing rituals or accomplishing offerings could have either a direct or indirect form, for example:- j anxw tp(j)w tA swA(j).t(j).sn Hr jz pn st(j) n.(j) mw jnk Hrj-sStA pr(j) n.(j) prt-xrw m ntt m-xt.Tn jnk

mrjj rmT n zp Hw(j).t(j) m-bAH sr nb Dr msw.t.(j) n zp jT(j).(j) (j)xt rmT nb m awA jnk jrj Hzzt rmT nb – “O living ones, you who are upon the earth, they who shall pass by this tomb, pour water for me, (because) I am privy to secrets. Let there come forth for me an invocation offering of that which is in your possession. I was beloved of the people. Never, since my birth was I beaten in the presence of any official. Never did I take the property of any man by force. I was one who did what is praised by all men.” (Nedjemib)23

- [mrrw nswt Jnpw pw] Xrj-HAbt jw.t(j).f(j) r jz pn n Dt r jr(t) (j)xt xft [zXA pf n(j) Hmt] Xrj-HAbt jr(w) n.(j) apr xft jrt a.f – “Every lector priest who will enter into this tomb for eternity to perform for me the rituals according to this writing of skills of priests, the one who will equip me according to his ability, he is beloved of the king, beloved of Anubis.” (Hetepniptah)24

Threats to Passers-by

Threat formulas to the visitors who may commit an evil against mortuary property (e.g. steal an item, damage, remove a name or commit sacrilege – entering the tomb being impure) were written. In those texts, the nobleman claims to act in such situation as a powerful spirit. He may be effective in the netherworld “to litigate in the council of the great god”, but he also is able to “seize his neck like a bird”, “to suppress their survivors and their surviving landed property”, “to bring the end of this act” and make that “his ka shall not exist”. For example:- j Smw [anxw] jr rmTw nbw jr.t(j).sn [(j)xt Dw] r jz pn r prt-xrw r Hmw-kA jw.(j) r jrt n.f pHw(j) Hr.s

r-gs.s[n] nj djj n.(j) snD jm.f r mAA tpjw sn tA snD.sn n Ax(w) msw.t(j).sn [m tA p]n r-Dr.f – “Oh! Passing ones, living ones! As for all the people who shall do an evil thing against this tomb, against the invocation offering of round loaf of bread, beer, tall loaf of bread, against ka-servant, I will bring for him the end of this in their presence. The fear will not be cast in me in this (case), so that the survivors may see (it) and may fear the effective spirits which shall revive in this entire land.” (Merefnebef)25

Dorota Czerwik

21 lApp, Opferformel, pp. 51-58. For example inscriptions of Mererj, Mehu, Merjib, Ankhmerire, Herimeru, Hezi, Khnumenti (G 2374), Tjetu (G 2001), Jjniher, Irenakhti, Geref/Jtji.

22 J.S. GArnoT, L’appel aux vivants dans les textes funéraires égyptiens des origines à la fin de l’Ancien Empire, Le Caire 1938; N. sTrUdWick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, Atlanta 2005, pp. 217-238; E. edel, Untersuchungen zur Phraseologie der ägyptischen Inschriften des Alten Reiches, MDAIK 12 (1943), pp. 3-30.

23 Urk. I, p. 75.8-16; A. mArieTTe, Les Mastabas de l’Ancien Empire, Paris 1889 (reprint 1976), p. 417, E14.24 Urk. I, p. 187.4-6; A. BAdAWy, The Tomb of Nyhetep-Ptah at Giza and Ankhmahor at Saqqara, Berkeley

1978, p. 7; H. AlTenmüller, Das Grab des Hetepniptah (G 2430) auf dem Westefriedhof von Giza, SAK 9 (1981), pp. 44, Abb. 8.

25 Myśliwiec et al., Saqqara I, pp. 76-79, pl. XXXVIIIa, drawing 4.

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- jr z nb ao.t(j).f(j) r jz pn wnm.n.f bwwt njwt bwt Ax nk.n.f Hmwt jw.(j) [r] wDa Hna.f m DADAt nTr aA jnk Ax jor r Ax(w) nb(w) jnk Ax apr r Ax(w) nb(w) – “As for any man who shall enter this tomb, after he has eaten the abominations which the effective spirit abominates, (after) he has had intercourse with woman, I will be judged with him in the presence of the great god, (because) I am the spirit excellent more than the other spirits. I am the spirit equipped more than the other spirits.” (Hezi)26

Those threats were not without reason. We know that acts of sacrilege did happen. There are many examples of reusing the tombs or removing the name of the person. One of the examples comes from the tomb of Merefnebef, where his sons’ names and figures were erased except the figures named Merefnebef or Fefi.27 The tomb of Ihy from Saqqara was reused by the king’s daughter Idut Seshseshed.28 The former was a vizier under Unis, and it is very curious that the tomb of a vizier was reallocated to a young princess. Why did he lose his tomb after it was fully built and decorated? Kanawati thinks that it must have been a punishment. The other example came from the tomb of another vizier of Teti and high official Ankhmahor, where names and figures of his son Ishfi were chiseled out. Ankhmahor had a number of sons, all named Ishefi and probably more than one designated as the eldest, which may indicate that they were brothers from different mothers. Interesting is that Room VII belonging to Ishefi the Elder was never finished. As Kanawati suggests maybe because of the disgrace of his namesake brother.29

Another case concern the tomb of vizier Hesi. He held a scribe and judicial titles and then was promoted to vizier. His promotion appears to have taken place late in his career as these titles are inscribed only on the pillars and architrave of the portico, but not within the chapel. His titles and biographical inscriptions emphasise his closeness to the king Teti. The name and figure of the tomb owner have been carefully chiseled out inside and outside the chapel and only in one place, above the entrance doorway inside the offering room, was left intact. It is uncertain whether it was missed by mistake or on purpose. The idea that this erasure was a punishment seems to be convincing, as the tomb of vizier Hesi was reused by a man named Seshemnefer who held only two titles, those of sole companion and lector priest. More importantly, he inscribed his name and titles on one side of each of the two portico pillars and stated that this tomb was a boon from the king. Kanawati suggested that the reason for erasing the names or images of the tomb owner, or members of his family at the beginning of the Sixth Dynasty could be the result of the punishment for participation in the conspiracy against the ruler, but in the light of modern research and examples of such treatment from many other tombs of the Old Kingdom one may suggest another explanation. It is more convincing that the damages are the result of family disagreements and reusing the tomb was apparently the effect of practical reasons.30

We know that Egyptians believed that the representations had some kind of magical meaning. The writing was more than a means of communication, since hieroglyphs had the power to create what was recorded. The written references to food offerings ensured that those provisions would be provided for the deceased, and the written reference to a person’s name ensured individual’s eternal existence in the afterlife. Changing the name on the tomb’s wall or on the statue would change the identity of the object or tomb: destroying the representation had the same value as destroying the person or thing. One may notice


26 D.P. silVermAn, The Threat-Formula and Biographical Text in the Tomb of Hezi at Saqqara, JARCE 37 (2000), pp. 10-11, fig. 3b.

27 Myśliwiec et al., Saqqara I, pp. 51-52.28 N. kAnAWATi, Conspiracies in the Egyptian Palace, London 2003, pp. 28-29, fig. 2.8.29 Ibidem, pp. 51-53, fig. 2.27.30 Cf. K. Myśliwiec, Father’s and Eldest Son’s Overlapping Feet and Iconographic Message, [in:] Z. hAWAss,

P. der. mAnUeliAn, R.B. hUssein. (eds), Perspectives on Ancient Egypt. Studies in Honor of Edward Brovarski, Le Caire 2010, pp. 305-320.

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many examples of such understanding in Pyramid Text or later texts.31 In some contexts, signs of animals that might bite, sting, or consume funerary offerings were considered to be dangerous. The hieroglyphic signs that represented the dangerous creatures were deliberately defaced using knives, or shown cut in two to make them powerless and not being able to act against people.32 Names in Egyptian culture have an immense power, and can be a means of control. Later in the Book of the Dead those travelling to the underworld to confront the demons that guard the gates are obligated to tell them: “Make a way for me, for I know you, I know your name,” before continuing on their journey to the afterlife.

There are two modern terms being used by scholars to describe deliberately destruction of texts and images: “iconoclasm” and “damnatio memoriae”. “Iconoclasm” comes from Byzantine times and means “breaking the images” (εἰκών – image, κλάω – to break).�� It is the motivation of such deed (political, religious, magical or economic) that makes it iconoclastic. It concerns destruction of not only the images but also buildings, graves, monuments, books, religious equipment, status signifiers and even the cities.��

Iconoclasm as a phenomenon could be defined as a motivated obliteration of any presence of power given by an icon recognised in semiotic sense as a sign of any kind, symbolising a certain entity. Such act is aimed to annihilate the past, present and future power and influence of this icon.

The other modern term for destruction of images and texts, referring rather to sanction against memory, is “damnatio memoriae” known from times of Ancient Rome. This term refers to the official sanctions of Roman law undertaken as a punishment for criminals acting against the state.35 In modern perception this term has changed and is used by scholars, often incorrectly to describe all iconoclastic acts.

Damnatio memoriae are known also from ancient Greece and Rome.36 In Greece, the most significant act of sanctions against memory was undertaken to punish Herostratus, who set fire to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and proudly claimed credit in an attempt to immortalise his name. To dissuade those of a similar mind, the Ephesian authorities not

Dorota Czerwik

31 Significant illustration of Egyptian faith that written or pictured objects came into existence came from the temple of Tuthmosis III from Deir el-Bahari. The temple was destroyed some time after the reign of Ramesses IX, and was used as a stone-quarry as well as the temple of Mentuhotep-Nebhepetre. On the blocks from the temple is noticed destruction of the images of gods or chiseling out the eye of Amun. All figures of Month, Horus, Seth or Thoth remain faceless. Only few faces of Amun-Re and Amun-Kamutef were left intact or broken in a natural way. The explanation proposed by J. Lipińska was that the people engaged in re-cutting the reliefs destroyed the faces of gods not to face gods themselves or not be seen by the gods. In a few cases only the eye of Amun was erased, evidently to not be able to watch workers. However, faces of the king are left intact.

32 Similar understanding of the value of representations is known from the Near East as is seen for example in mutilated and buried votive statues excavated at Khafajah cf. N. mAy, Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East, [in:] N. mAy (ed.), Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, Chicago 2012 (hereinafter referred to as: mAy, Iconoclasm), p. 2.

�� The original meaning of this expression applied to theological movement from the 8th-9th century that prohibited the cult of icons and representations of God and Saints and provided deliberate destruction of religious icons and symbols. Further understanding of this term included any abolition of images, symbols or monuments for religious or political motives. The most known examples of iconoclasm are: destructions of deities’ representations and texts of other religions during Christianisation, demolitions during Reformation, during Revolutions (French, Russian, Chinese Cultural Revolution, fall of the Communism) or Muslim devastations of Hindu and Buddha temples.

�� See discussion of the modern meaning of this term and its reference to antiquity: mAy, Iconoclasm, pp. 1-3.

35 M. dyJAkoWskA, ‘Damnatio memoriae’ jako środek walki z opozycją polityczną, Zeszyty Prawnicze UKSW 11.4 (2011), pp. 137-139.

36 See: H.I. FloWer, The Art of Forgetting. Disgrace and oblivion in Roman political culture, Chapel Hill 2006, pp. 18-40; E.R. VArner, Mutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial Portraiture, Leiden 2004.

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only executed him, but attempted to condemn him to a legacy of obscurity by forbidding mention of his name under penalty of death.

Early memory sanctions were employed by political families in an effort to preserve their social standing or limit the embarrassment caused by a disgraced relative. During the Late Republic however, this turned into punitive measures used against political rivals. By the imperial period, emperors imposed post mortem disgrace in attempts to control opponents, but they could also become subject to such posthumous sanctions themselves. Such a decision meant that the name of the damned was scratched (often conspicuously) from inscriptions, his face chiselled from statues and the statues themselves often abused as if real persons. Frescoes of his likeness were painted over, his wax masks banned from being paraded in funerals, coins with his image defaced, his writings sometimes destroyed and his wills often annulled. The practice of efface images flourished under Christianity as well, the Byzantine Church was known to remove heretics from patriarchal diptychs, and unpopular popes in the Roman-Catholic Church were removed from the records by their successors.

Also data from Near-East culture shows that removing the name or inscription or usurpations were an actual threat.37

In Ancient Egypt on the political level such campaign was undertaken by Tuthmosis III against the engravings and statuary of Hatshepsut as a crowned king of Egypt after he ascended the throne. However, images depicting her as a queen were left unharmed, so this was an action to remove a memory of her as a king, not a person, perhaps in an effort to underline their own legitimacy. A similar attack but from religious reasons was carried out when Akhenaten tried to institute his own brand of monotheism, against the names and images of gods. Later, after the failure of his revolution Akhenaten’s cartouches were mutilated by his successors. As we can see, rulers and gods were also vulnerable to such erasures. The other problem concerns the reuse by the Egyptians of stone blocks from older buildings. But in those situations all the decorations were removed or the exposed surface of the used block was prepared for new decorations. This is not the case of deliberate act of sanctions against the memory of a king, but simply the practical act of reusing old materials or things. The same process was carried in case of usurpation of tombs or coffins. If the person who reuses the tomb left in some place image or names of the former owner, we may think that his aim was not to erase the owner from the memory of people, but simply just use his beautiful funeral equipment.38

In the case of Old Kingdom acts of removing the name and images had major significance. They could actually eradicate the memory of the person from the history and what is more important they believed that they could influence their destiny in the other world. The erasing images as an act of obliterating the memory of a man was perceived not figuratively, but as real and literal. The mortuary cult was secured not only by the family obligations or organisation of the cult in the phyle system, but also through the texts of the appeal to the living, an address to passers-by for offerings or prayers. The deceased, who became an Ax in the necropolis, promised rewards to those who offered to him. The condition of deceased in the realm of dead was presented in inscriptions of the afterlife wishes. He was considered as a potent spirit, beloved of the god, who knew the rituals required to live in the other-world. The consequence of lacking the ritual knowledge and mortuary cult of the deceased offered no hope for afterlife instead a condemnation to oblivion.

To have hope for life beyond death one should live up to the moral demands of maat or at least claim in his tomb inscription that he did. Because according the verses of the Tale of Eloquent Peasant:


37 N.N. mAy, Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, Chicago 2012.38 For examples from the ancient Near East see: P. BrAnd, Reuse and Restoration, [in:] J. dielemAn, W. Wendrich

(eds), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles 2010, and idem, Usurpation of Monuments, [in:] ibidem, with further references.

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“For maat will endure into eternity.And go down to the tomb with him who performs it.He will be buried, and the earth will embrace him,But his name will never vanish upon the earth,For he will be remembered because of his goodness.”

This procedure is known nowadays as well. We know many examples of removing or destroying images, statues, street names, buildings made by former political rulers (or in the past – kings or Caesars), removing them and memory of their sphere of action as form of repressive practice. It is the case of new rulers or party-leaders’ official acts, as well as the spontaneous acts of people against the unpopular public persons, rulers and leaders.39

In our time, in the age of information removing simply the name and image as in Ancient Egypt does not equal condemnation to damnatio memoriae; it is rather the act of showing that support is taken away. This shows that the particular individuals do not deserve to be honoured and respected, but History will remember them anyway.

39 After the collapse of the Soviet Union and abandonment of any officially sanctioned ideology, most of the places renamed after Communist personalities and leaders, including entire cities such as Leningrad, were restored to pre-union names, or given a different non-socialist name. Additionally, statues of communist heroes like Lenin were for the most part removed and/or destroyed. There is a photograph from 1937 of Stalin, Molotov and Nikolai Yezhov at the shore of the Moskwa-Wolga-Channel. After Yezhov was tried and executed in 1940 and he vanished between 1939-1991 from this image. He was the head of NKVD and was in charge of the Great Purge, but after removing him from power, his trial as an “enemy of the people” and execution all evidence of his existence was quietly censored from State records and publications. The same process we could observe very recently in Egypt where Cairo court ordered that images of the ousted Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, and his wife, Suzanne, as well as their names, be removed from all “public squares, streets, libraries and other public institutions around the country.”

Dorota Czerwik

the fear of being forgotten

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