EGYPT, ISRAEL, AND THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

PROBLEME .. DER AGYPTOLOGIEHER1\USGEGEBEN VON

WOLFGANG SCHENKELUND

ANTONIO LOPRIENOZWANZIGSTER BAND

EGYPT, ISRAEL, AND THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLDStudies in Honor if Donald B. Re4fordEDITED BY

GARY N. KNOPPERS

AND

ANTOINE HIRSCH

BRILLLEIDEN BOSTON 2004

This book is printed on acid-free paper On the cover: Detail of an offering scene, Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el Bahari. (Courtesy of Dr.Jadwiga Lipinska, photograph by G.Johnson)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Egypt, Israel, and the ancient Mediterranean world: studies in honor of Donald B. Redford / edited by Gary N. Knoppers and Antoine Hirsch. p. cm. ~ (Probleme der Agyptologie, ISSN 0169-9601 ; 20. Bd.) Includes index. ISBN 90-04-13844-7 (alk. paper) 1. Egypt~History~ To 332 B.C. 2. Palestine~History~To 70 A.D. 3. Egypt-Relations-Middle East. 4. Middle East-Relations~Egypt. I. Redford, Donald B. II. Knoppers, Gary N., 1956- III. Hirsch, Antoine. Iv. Series. DT83.E33 2004 930' .09822--dc22 2004043506

ISSN 0 \69-960 \ ISBN 9004 13844 7 Copyright 2004 by Koninklyke Brill NV, Ieiden, The Netherlands/ R. van der Molen All rights reserved. Jvo part qf this publicatirJt/ ma;y be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrievalsystfml, or transmitted in any.fimn or ~Y a'9-' means, electronic, medumiwl, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permissionfrom the publisher. Authorization to phot{)copy items for internal or pmonlll use is granted by Brill provided thllt the appropriate foes are paid direct!J to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, U5A. Fees are suiject to change.PRINTED IN TI-lE NETHERLANDS

CONTENTS Introduction Gary N. Knoppers PART ONE EGYPTOLOGY The Tombs of the Pyramid Builders-The Tomb of the Artisan Petety and His Curse Zahi Hawass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Egypt's Old Kingdom 'Empire' (?): A Case Study Focusing on South Sinai Sarah Parcak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Archaeometry at Mendes: 1990-2002 Larry A. Pavlish . . . . . . . . . . 'East is East and West is West': A Note on Coffin Decoration at Asyut Edward Bleiberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aspects of Egyptian Foreign Policy in the 18th Dynasty in Western Asia and Nubia James K. Hoffmeier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Double Entendre in the Stela of Suty and Hor Steven Blake Shubert . . . . . . . . . . .

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121 143

V\'hat Wenamun Could Have Bought: The Value of his Stolen Goods Ronald J. Leprohon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theological Responses to Amarna Jan Assmann . . . . . . . . . . Dead as a Duck: A Royal Offering Scene? Earl L. Ertman . . . . . . . . . . . . . Some Thoughts on Ritual Banquets at the Court of Akhenaten and in the Ancient Near East Lyn Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

167

179

193

203

VI

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Hatiay, Scribe du Temple d'Aton a Memphis Alain Zivie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Topsy-Turvy World Diane Flores . . . . . A Grafitto of Amen-Re in Luxor Temple Restored by the High Priest Menkheperre Peter J. Brand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. A Preliminary Reconstruction of the Temple and Settlement at Tell Tebilla (East Delta) Gregory Mumford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Two Images of Deified Ptolemies in the Temple Precinct of the Goddess Mut at South Karnak Richard A. Fazzini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Wooden Stela in the Royal Ontario Museum N. B. Millet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PART TWO ISRAELITES, CANAANITES, AND EGYPTIANS IN THE LEVANT New Kingdom Egyptian-Style and Egyptian Pottery in Canaan: Implications for Egyptian Rule in Canaan during the 19th and Early 20th Dynasties Ann E. Killebrew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Some Notes on Biblical and Egyptian Theology John Strange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Conception of Ham and His Sons in the Table of Nations (Gen 10:6-20) A. Malamat--Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Joseph Story~~Some Basic Observations John Van Seters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

223 233

257

267

287 303

309 345

359 361

lfzq, 11Jd, Qfh Lib: The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart in Exodus 4: 1-15:21 Seen Negatively in the Bible but Favorably in Egyptian Sources Nili Shupak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Judaeans (and Phoenicians) in Egypt in the Late Seventh to Sixth Centuries B.C. John S. Holladay, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ezra's Reform and Bilateral Citizenship in Athens and the Mediterranean World Baruch Halpern. . . . . . . . . Appendix: Intermarriage by family Egypt and Phoenicia in the Persian Period: Partners in Trade and Rebellion John ,~. Betlyon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "A traveler from an antique land": Sources, Context, and Dissemination of the Hagiography of Mary the Egyptian Paul B. Harvey Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald Bruce Redford---Bibliography Prepared by Susan Redford Index of Authors . . . . . . . . . . .

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439 453

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479 SO 1 51 7

INTRODUCTION Gary N. Knoppers It is a delight to witness the publication of a Festschrift to honor Donald Bruce Redford in advance of his seventieth birthday. This volume of essays on topics related to Don's interests in Egyptian history, Israelite history, and the contacts between Egypt and the rest of the ancient Mediterranean world during the later periods (New Kingdom onward) is a token of our gratitude to Don for all of his many contributions to our respective fields. I As a true generalist, Don represents a rare and vanishing breed in Egyptological and ancient Near Eastern studies. His intellectual interests are not limited to a single discipline, nor is his scholarship confined to work on a single civilization. Don's training is historical, philological, epigraphic, and archaeological in nature. In keeping with his wide-ranging education, Don's publications have had a substantial impact in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern history, archaeology, and biblical studies. 771e Career qf Donald B. Redford Before introducing the individual contributions of colleagues and former students to this collection, it seems appropriate to devote some space to honor the public career of the man to ,,,thorn this volume is dedicated. Don received his B.A., "M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. During the course of his training, Don also profited from his graduate studies at Brown University and from his work with Friedl Needler at the Royal Ontario "Museum. His dissertation, written under the direction of R.A. Caminos of Brown University and Ronald Williams of the University of Toronto, dealt with the chronology of the 18th Dynasty. This collection of seven studies was later published by the University of Toronto Press (1967) under theI In editing this volume, I want to acknowledge the helpful assistance of three graduate students in the History department at Penn State: Deirdre Fulton, Matthew Adams, and Eugene Shaw-Colyer.

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title, History and Chronology if the Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty.2 For over three decades (1965 to 1997) Don taught in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Toronto. Since 1997 Don has taught in the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. . While at the University of Toronto, Don directed a steady stream ofPh.D.s in Egyptology. Many of these students hold important positions at North American universities (e.g., the University of Toronto, Trinity University, Chicago House, the University of Chicago) and museums (e.g., the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Royal Ontario Museum). We are delighted that some of these former and current students were able to write essays for this .Festschrift and that one of these students is the work's co-editor. Since coming to Penn State seven years ago, Don has continued to attract a first-rate student clientele. A dedicated and versatile teacher, Don has volunteered to teach entry level courses, experimental courses, interdisciplinary thesis supervision, independent studies, graduate courses, language courses, and honors courses. He created a curriculum in Egyptology where practically none existed prior to his arrival. A number of our present ancient history graduate students and undergraduate majors in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies have come to Penn State to study with Don. In addition to exerting a positive influence on his students and colleagues, Don has exerted a positive influence on his field. Over the course of the past few decades, Don has developed a highly unified and productive research program in the areas of ancient history and archaeology. During this period, Don has become one of the most academically acclaimed and distinguished scholars of ancient Egypt in the world. He has won numerous academic awards and has been elected to a series of prestigious societal posts. He has been a trustee for the American Schools of Oriental Research, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a member of the board of governors for the Society for Mediterranean Studies, a member of the Near Eastern Seminar at Columbia University, a winner of Canada Council Killam awards, an editor of the Journal if the Society for the Study if Egyptian Antiquities, a president of the Toronto Oriental Club, a winner of major Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grants, and a president2 For details on Don Redford's publications, see the chapter by Susan Redford in this volume.

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of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. But it is through research and publication, rather than through awards and editorships, that Don has had his greatest influence on the field. I will begin by mentioning some ofDon's work in epigraphy and archaeology and then move on to discuss some of his influential publications in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian history. Don began his archaeological field training during the mid-1960s in the British School's Jerusalem excavations headed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon. Since then he has been involved in a variety of projects. He served as a director of the joint SUNY Binghamton/Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities to the Temple of Osiris expedition in Luxor from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 onward, Don directed the Akhenaten Temple Prqject, co-sponsored by the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Toronto. In 1998 the base for this project was moved to the Pennsylvania State University. During the 1970s Don became involved in an assortment of additional ventures. In 1975 he was appointed as the director of the East Karnak expedition in Luxor, Egypt, co-sponsored by the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Toronto. From 1977 through 1985 Don was the epigrapher for the Tell el-Maskhuta excavations sponsored by the American Schools of Oriental Research. Tel Megiddo is another site at which Don has worked. He served as an epigrapher in the excavations at Megiddo cosponsored by Tel Aviv University and Penn State University in 1994. Participation in archaeological excavations is not an end in itself, but plays a larger role reconstructing the ancient past and in training future generations of Egyptologists. Don's leadership in running summer field schools in Egypt has afforded generations of students an opportunity to study and experience firsthand one of the world's richest ancient cultures. Given Don's keen interest in matters archaeological, it is no accident that many of the essays in this volume address the material remains from ancient Egypt. In Egypt, no less than in the Levant, official publication of the archaeological work carried out is extremely important. Excavation reports constitute the most important public record of archaeological campaigns for posterity. Because field directors run such operations, their direct involvement in publishing the finds is critical to the success of the excavations. One of Don's achievements has bcen to bring the work of his archaeological teams to official publication soon aftcr the completion of their work in the field. TIle AkJlenaten Temple Prqject, L TIle

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Initial Discoveries was published in 1977, while the second installment of this series, The Akhenaten Temple Prqject, II: Rwd-Mnw and Inscriptions, appeared in 1988. Both the third installment, The Akhenaten Temple Prqject, III: The Excavation if Kom el-Ahmar and Environs, and the fourth, The Akhenaten Temple Prqject, IV: The Tomb if Re'a (T T 201), were published in 1994. In recent decades Don has continued his research in the Luxor area by becoming the co-director of the Theban Tomb Survey. This work--of which Susan Redford is co-director~will continue for some years to come. Since moving to the hills of central Pennsylvania, Don has also established an Egyptian field school at Penn State. 3 This field school operates in alternating years at Tel Mendes and Tel Kedwa in the Delta region of Lower Egypt. Redford's forthcoming (edited) book, The Excavations at A1endes 1. The Royal Necropolis and the T emenos Walls, draws on the first years of his excavations at Tel Mendes to elucidate a tumultuous period in Egyptian history. In addition to providing a much-needed material analysis of this urban site~its public structures, inscriptions, and tombs~-this book provides pioneering insight into the destruction of the city by Persian forces in 343 BeE. A second edited volume, The Excavations at Mendes II: The Old Kingdom Temple, detailing the results of the more recent excavations, is nearly complete. The expert analysis of material remains and the reconstruction of their relation to literary remains is one impressive accomplishment of Professor Redford's work, but another is his research control over Egyptian history in its various phases. In other words, Redford is not only an excellent archaeologist but also an accomplished historian. Reviewers of his books have pointed to his mastery over his subject matter, his rigorous methodology, and his ability to tackle major historical problems as consistent traits of his scholarship. Space constraints do not allow the author to discuss each of the twelve books and approximately eighty articles written by Don. In what follows, I would like to mention a selection of his books. Don's versatility becomes quickly apparent, when one considers two of his works. In his A Stuqy if the Biblical Story if Joseph (1970), Don employs the tools of source criticism, form criticism, and redaction criticism to explore the original

3 The unstinting efforts of Professor Wilma Stem, the (then) Associate Head of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, should be mentioned in this context. She attended to the many details of moving this project from conception to reality in the university approval process.

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5

Israelite historical setting for this weU-knmVll tale. If Don's skills in biblical studies are apparent in his A Study qf the Biblical Story qfJoseph, his acute skills in historical investigation are apparent in his AkJzenaten, the Heretic King (1984). In this work, Don draws on a variety of kinds of evidence (art, inscriptions, archaeological remains) to draw an incisive portrait of this most enigmatic Egyptian king and his fascinating reign. Don's Pharaonic King-Lists, Annals and Day-Books (1986), which has not received the attention it deserves, manifests a combination of historical and literary interests. This work explores the nature and range of sources employed in ancient Egyptian historiography. Although Don has published in both biblical and Egyptological studies, he does not view Canaanite, Israelite, and Egyptian societies as parallel universes, untainted by contacts with each other. Two of his works merit discussion in this context. The first is a work co-edited by John Wevers, entitled Studies on the Ancient Palestinian World (1972), while the second is his more famous Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (1992). Both of these works illumine the complex Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian period connections among a variety of societies in the ancient Mediterranean world. In the context of this introduction, it may be useful to call attention to some ofDon's more recent publications and scholarly projects. The O>ifOrd Encyclopedia oj' Ancient Egypt, VOLL 1-3 (2001) of which Don was editor-in-chief, represents a major interdisciplinary attempt to synthesize what has been learned about the ancient past through art history, archaeology, historical geography, anthropology, and epigraphy for a broader scholarly audience. Seven years in the making and unprecedented in its scope, this highly successful work has been greeted with much critical acclaim, including the Dartmouth award, the highest award a reference work can receive in the United States. Oxford University Press has also recently published a volume edited by Don on ancient Egyptian religion, The Ancient Gods Speak: A Guide to Egyptian Religion Oargely culled from the O~ford EncycloJ)edia qfAncient Egypt). Two new scholarly monographs are forthcoming. His From Slave to Pharaoh: TIe Nubian Experience qf Ancient Egypt (The Johns Hopkins University Press) addresses a neglected, but highly complex and important aspect of ancient Egyptian social and diplomatic history. This work, covering tl1e relations between Egypt and Nubia from the Old Kingdom to 593 BCE and beyond, is nearing publication. His Ciry qf the Ram-Man: TIe Story qf Ancient Mendes draws heavily upon ongoing excavations to reconstruct the history of this one-time Egyptian capital city and its

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diplomatic and commercial relations with other sites in the ancient Mediterranean world. Yet another project recently completed (and published) is a fresh translation, edition, and analysis of the annals of one of Egypt's most famous monarchs, 7he Wars in Syria and Palestine qf7hutmosis III (CHANE 16; Leiden: Brill, 2003). Don's research productivity thus continues unabated. We wish him as much success in these current projects as he has enjoyed with past projects over the course of the past four decades. 7he Essays in this Volume Given the intercultural nature of Don Redford's research program, it seems appropriate that the chapters in this Festschrift are focused on Egyptian history (especially the New Kingdom onward), archaeology, Israelite history, biblical studies, and the contacts between Egypt and other societies in the ancient Mediterranean world.

EgyptologyIn his contribution, "The Tombs of the Pyramid Builders: The Tomb of the Artisan Petety (PUz) and His Curse," Zahi Hawass, Director of the Ministry of Culture, Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, publishes some of the intriguing results of his excavations, begun in 1990, of the upper cemetery in Giza. Hawass argues that the tombs contain the burials of workmen who moved the stones in the construction of the pyramids. The author's work focuses on one particularly interesting burial, the tomb of Petety, evincing three distinct architectural phases: an unfinished rock-cut burial chamber and large funerary chapel, a small mastaba faced with limestone, and a court with nine burial shafts. A study of the tomb's pottery indicates that the tomb should be dated to the 4th or 5th Dynasties of the Old Kingdom period. The sepulcher's excavation is important in a number of respects and adds significantly to the information previously available about the religious customs, burial practices, and economic status of artisans during this era. The article by Sarah Parcak of Cambridge University also deals with the Old Kingdom period, but Parcak is interested in larger historical questions. Her contribution entitled "Egypt's Old Kingdom 'Empire' (?): A Case Study Focusing on South Sinai" revisits the scholarly debate about whether Old Kingdom Egypt constituted an empire by drawing

INTRODUCTION

7

upon recent theories of empire building (Hobson, Mommsen, Schumpeter, Hobsbawm, et al.), historical and pictoral records, and the results of recent excavations in the South Sinai. Parcak argues that one can assert the existence of an Old Kingdom ideological and economic empire. Such an imperial domain was conceptualized and portrayed in royal iconography and sculpture as Pharaoh's domination of foreign lands and realized through Egypt's military expeditions abroad to populated, neighboring, foreign regions (in Sinai and elsewhere) to retrieve various economic resources, subdue local resistance, and expand trade. Parcak's paper focuses on the Old Kingdom exploitation of the South Sinai and its inhabitants as part of an economic empire that extended beyond the cultural boundaries of Egypt. The extensive and informative essay by Larry Pavlish, "Archaeometry at Mendes: 1990-2002," deals with a variety of periods at Tel Mendes, located in the northeastern Nile Delta, approximately 144 kilometers north of Cairo. Pavlish, who works at the Archaeometry Laboratory, IsoTrace Radiocarbon Facility of the University of Toronto, argues that Mendes is simultaneously one of the bestpreserved and one of the most-threatened sites in the Nile Delta. Pavlish's intensive research involves geoarchaeology (coring programs, geomorphological studies), archaeobotany (field samplings, flotation procedures, analyses of slag distributions), and geophysical surveys (employing remote sensing techniques) at each of the regions and sub-regions that make up the northern Korn of Tel el Rub'a. The results of his research support the view that the northern portions of Mendes are older than its southern sections. Among his suggestions is the theory that human occupation at the site was centered on a series of relic levees that sequentially moved to the south over a 5,000 year time-span. Section profile analyses show that the area was abandoned on at least nyo occasions fiJr periods probably not in excess of a century. The later abandonment predates the building of the great sand mound, while the earlier one may have occurred between 500 and 1,000 years earlier. The coring program indicates that the Hill of Bones (Korn el Adhem) was an applique on the outer harbor landscape and that it was constructed at about the same time as the Temple of Amasis (that is, around 530 B.C.). Attending to the relationship between text and archaeological context, a major point emphasized in the teachings and writings of Don Redford, is carefully applied in the essay of Edward Bleiberg of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. His work, "'East is East and West is

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West': A Note on Coffin Decoration at Asyut," engages a series of enigmatic features of the back panel of a richly-decorated and inscribed Middle Kingdom coffin from Asyut dating to either late Dynasty 11 or early Dynasty 12. Bleiberg observes that standard coffins and Asyut coffins both demonstrate clear associations with the sky, the earth, and the compass points. Nevertheless, the scribe in this case wrote the name of the falcon god Horus-Sopdu, Lord of the East, in place of the expected falcon god Ha, Lord of the West, on this panel that was otherwise decorated as if it were the back (west or right) side of a coffin. Bleiberg argues that the key to understanding this and other puzzling features of the coffin's decoration resides in the recognition of the geographical location of Asyut (south of the river) and of the particular layout of its associated cemetery (farther south, in the mountains, facing the river). Since the entrance to the tombs at Asyut would be from the north and not from the east (as in the Memphis necropolis), the course of the sun from east to west would not be from the front to the back of the tomb (as in the Memphis necropolis). Although they were probably aware of Memphite traditions, the scribes at Asyut adjusted the inscriptions and decorations on locally-made coffins to accommodate the local situation. In the history of the modern study of ancient Egypt's relations with the Levant, one of the most fascinating and difficult areas of study has been the Hyksos era, the beginning of the New Kingdom, and the concomitant Middle Bronze-Late Bronze Age transition in Canaan. In his essay, "Aspects of Egyptian Foreign Policy in the 18th Dynasty in Western Asia and Nubia," James Hoffmeier of Trinity International University argues that Egypt's shifting diplomatic and military ventures in Western Asia can best be analyzed by comparing and contrasting them with Egypt's ventures in Nubia. Hoffmeier traces a pattern of aggressive Egyptian foreign interventions in Nubia. Troops, impressive fortifications, and a direct administrative presence were employed to protect Egypt's vital economic interests. In contrast, Egyptian foreign policy in the Levant from the time of Ahmose to Harshest followed earlier Middle Kingdom models. The Kadesh rebellion prompted Tuthmosis III to adopt a more aggressive policy, involving regular shows of military force, tighter control over local princes, the establishment of diplomatic treaties, and the creation of marriage alliances as needed. The failures of Amarna period diplomacy led to a further tightening of control through the establishment of Late Bronze Age

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II "residencies." In other words, the Egyptian leadership may have attempted over the course of time to implement a foreign policy in Western Asia more akin to their well-established foreign policy in Nubia. In the detailed and nuanced study of Steven Blake Shubert of the University of Toronto, "Double E.ntendre in the Stela of Suty and Hor," the author provides a new study of this 18th Dynasty stela (BM 826) known to Egyptologists since the nineteenth century. This artifact is well-known, because it contains material generally considered to anticipate (in concepts, phraseology, and imagery) the Great Hymn to the Aten. Shubert proposes to investigate the import of the solar hymns in the larger context of the stela. He argues that the relationship between Suty and Hor is the central organizing principle of the stela, "which represents two men who wished to be remembered for eternity together as two halves of a greater whole." The article takes issue with the common supposition that Suty and Hor were necessarily twin brothers. The author argues that the use of ambiguous . ""b . termmoIogy (e.g., .In, " a l " " two, rother, "" twIn, ""half.- b rot.}ler, " equ, "nephew," "uncle") suggests a form of kinship that was deliberately left undefined. In Shubert's analysis, the different iconographic and literary elements of the stela, although intentionally arranged to present a duality of natures, affirm that this duality is ultimately a unity. In "What Wenamun Could Have Bought: The Value of His Stolen Goods," Ronald Leprohon of the University of Toronto takes issue with the recent assertion that Wenamun's stolen goods were of little value. Leprohon investigates what worth the precious golden and silver goods might have had at the time in which the story was written. One means to calculate their value is to convert the gold and silver into other commodities of the time, such as cereals, wages, meat, and wood. In each case, vVenamun's stolen goods turn out to be of enormous value. This raises a larger interpretive issue. Considering that the ancient Egyptian audience would also know the approximate worth of the pilfered goods, the entire incident takes on a larger significance. \Yenamun's tremendous loss at the beginning of the story creates a dramatic tension that informs the rest of the tale. Over the past decades, Don Redford andJan Assmann (of the University of Heidelberg) have shared a tremendous interest in the reign and reforms of Akhenaten in the New Kingdom period. Both have written extensively on this fascinating and important time in Egyptian

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history. In his chapter, "Theological Responses to Amarna," Assmann explores two main issues in New Kingdom historical discourse. The first deals with the Ba theology of Amun, which interprets the cosmos as the "body of a hidden god who animates it from within." The second issue involves the kind of personal piety that interprets not only cosmic life, but also individual life, including history and destiny, "as emanating from god's will who in this aspect acts as judge andsaviour."

In his essay, "Dead as a Duck: A Royal Offering Scene?," Erl Ertman of the University of Akron studies in detail a fragment of a limestone relief, which Ertman dates to the Amarna period. Based on a comparative analysis, Ertman argues that this neglected relief, a talatat block containing a dead duck and parts of other birds, was part of a larger royal offering scene. The author believes that the relief stems in all likelihood from Akhetaten. The Amarna period is also the subject ofLyn Green's contribution, "Some Thoughts on Ritual Banquets at the Court of Akhenaten and in the Ancient Near East." Green (of the Royal Ontario Museum) explores the different uses to which ritual and ceremonial meals were put in the ancient Mediterranean world, pointing out that the social implications of similar actions could vary radically depending on the context. The Amarna period is highly unusual both for its explicit representations of the royal family eating and drinking and for its representations of the royal family dining in the company of subordinates. Green's interest in such activities is tied to the documented use of reversion offerings in royal banquets in other ancient societies. The authorized consumption of food offerings made to the deities by specified personnel was one way in which power relationships were institutionalized. In this case, the redistribution of offerings may have involved offerings from the altars of the Aten as well as those from the tables of that other god worshiped at Akhetaten: the king. If so, the double role of the king as intermediary for the Aten and as provider for his subjects would be institutionally ratified. Just as the Aten could be accessed through the king, so the god rewarded his subjects through his "son's" (re)distribution of temple largesse. At the beginning of his essay, Alain Zivie ofle Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris and la mission archeologique fran