Hymns to Isis in Her Temple at Philae FRO NTIS PIE CE:Isis,theGreat,God's Mother,Ladyof Philae,Giver of Life. v ..... OUIS Publishedfor BrandeisUniversityPressby UniversityPressof New England HanoverandLondon UNIVERSITYPRESSOFNEWENGLAND BRANDEISUNIVERSITYDARTMOUTHC OLLEGE UNIVERSITYOFNEWHAMPSIIIHE UNIVERSITYOFRHODEISLAND TUFTSUNIVERSITY BROWNUNIVERSITY CLARKUNIVERSITY UNIVERSITYOFCONNEC TI C UT UNIVERSITYOFVERMONT 1988bythe Trustees of BrandeisUniversit y Allrights reserved.Except forbrief quotationincriticalarticles or reviews, thisbook,orpartsthereof,mustnotbereproducedinanyformwithout permissioninwritingfromthepublisher.Forfurtherinformationcontact University Pressof New England,Hanover,NH 03755. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LIBRARYOFCONGRES SC ATALOGING-IN-PUBI. I C ATIONDATA Zabkar, Louis V.(LouisVico),1914-HymnstoIsisinhertempleat Philae Bibliography:p. Includesindexes. I.Hymns,EgyptianEgyptPhilae.2.Isis(Egyptian deity)Prayer-books and devotions.3.Philae(Egypt )-Religion.I.Title. PJ1565Z33I 987493'186-40391 ISBN0-87451-395-2 543 2I GratefulacknowledgmentismadetoE.J.Brill,Leiden,TheNetherlands, for permission to quote part of the translation of chapters5 and25, (pp.7 5 and10lf. )fromApuleiusofMadauros,TheIsisBook,hy.J.Gwyn Griffiths. ThispublicationhasbeensupportedbytheNationalEndowmentforthe Humanities, afederalagencywhich supports the study of su(h fieldsashis-tory,philosophy,literature,andlanguages. Joannae uxori dilectissimae quae me perduxit ad templum CONTENTS PLATESANDFIGURESIX ABBREVIATEDREFERENCESXI PREFACEANDACKNOWLEDGMENTSXV Introduction1 ChapterI. HymnI1 7 Chapter 2.Hymn II27 Chapter 3.Hymn III39 Chapter 4- Hymn IV47 Chapter 5.Hymn V55 Chapter 6.Hymn VI77 Chapter 7.Hymn VII.103 Chapter 8.Hymn VIII1 1 5 Conclusion129 Epilogue:The PhilaeHymns to Isisand the Greek and Latin Isiac Aretalogies1 35 NOTES161 SELECTBIBLIOGRAPHY189 GENERALINDEX193 EGYPTIANINDEX2.00 GREEKINDEX2.02 LATININDEX203 VII PLATESANDFIGURES PLATES FRO N TIS PIE C E:Temple of Isis,Room VII,north wall,right,uppermost register. I.Temple of Isisbuilt byPtolemyIIPhiladelphus, after removalof the Second Pylonand the Hypostyle Hall 2.Second Pylon and doorway to the Hypostyle Hall 3.Temple of Isis,Room X,the entire north wall 4.Templeof Isis,Room X,the entire south walland parts of the east and west walls 5.Temple of Isis,Room VII,west half of the south wall,and the west wall 6.Temple of Isis,Room XII,east wall 7.Temple of Isis,Room XII, northwall 8.Temple of Isis,Room VII,north wall,west side, uppermost regIster 9.Temple of Isis,Room V,south wall,right jamb 10.Temple of Isis,Room VII,scene on the right, lowest register II.Templeof Isis,RoomX,north wall,middleregister, scene on the right,Hymn I 12.Temple of Isis,Room X,north wall, detail of pi.11 13.Temple of Isis,Room X,northwall,middleregister, scene on the left,Hymn II 14.Templeof Isis,Room X,north wall,lower register, scene on the right,Hymn III 15.Temple of Isis,Room X,north wall,lower register, scene on the left,Hymn IV 16.Temple of Isis,Room X,north wall,detail of pi.15 17.Temple of Isis,RoomX,south wall,westjamb of the inner doorway, Hymn V 18.Hypostyle Hall, west wall(fromLDIV,74C) 19.Temple of Isis,Room X, south wall, east jamb of the inner doorway,Hymn VI 20.Templeof Isis,Room X,north wall,part of the two lower registersand the base 21.Temple of Isis,Room VII,west wall,lowest register, Hymn VII IX .. \I 2 5 6 7 9 10 II 13 20 56 68 99 xPlatesand Figures 22.Templeof Isis,RoomVII,east wall,lowestregister, Hymn VIIIII6 23.Temple of Isis,RoomXII, east wall122 FIGURES FIG U REI. Philae,planof monuments inthe central part of the island4 FIGURE2.HymnI19 FIGURE3.HymnII29 FIG URE4.Hymn III41 FIGURE5.HymnIV49 FIGURE 6.Hymn V57 FIGURE 7.HymnVI79 FIGURE8.HymnVII105 FIGURE9.HymnVIII117 ABBREVIATEDREFERENCES AA AEO APAW ASAE ASAW BD BerlinPh(s). Bibl.Aegypt. Bibl.Or. BIFAO BJRLM Bonnet,RARG BSFE Chr.d'Eg. CT Dendara Edel, AG Edfou AgyptologischeAbhandlungen, Wiesbaden. A.H.Gardiner,Ancient Egyptian Onomastica,3 vols.(Oxford,r 947). Abhandlungen derPreussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,Berlin. Annales duServicedesantiquitesde I'Egypte,Cairo. Abhandlungen der Siichsischen Akademieder Wissenschaftenzu Leipzig,Phil.-hist.Kl.,Berlin. Book of the Dead. BerlinPhilaePhotograph(s). BibliothecaAegyptiaca,Brussels. BibliothecaOrientalis,Leiden. Bulletindel'Institut Franqais d'ArcheologieOrientale,Cairo. Bulletin of the JohnRylandsLibrary, Manchester. H. Bonnet,Reallexikon der agyptischenReligionsgeschichte (Berlin,1952). Bulletin delaSociete Franqaise d'Egyptologie,Paris. Chronique d'Egypte,Brussels. Coffin Texts. E.Chassinat and F.Daumas,Le temple deDendara,8vols.(Cairo, 1934-78). E.Edel,Altagyptische Grammatik (AnalectaOrientalia, vols.34and39, Rome,1955and1964). M. de Rochemonteix and E.Chassinat, Le temple d'Edfou,14 vols.(Cairo, 1897-1934); vol.IrevisedbyS. Cauville and D.Devauchelle . Xl xuAbbreviated References Erman, NG Esna Faulkner,Dictionary Gardiner,Grammar GM GO IFAO, Bibl.d'Etude JARCE JEA JEOL JNES JSSEA Junker,Grammatik derDenderatexte LD LdA Lefebvre,Grammaire MAS MDAIK NAWG OA A.Erman,Neuaegyptische Grammatik,2d ed.(Leipzig,1933). S.Sauneron,Le temple d'Esna,8vols. (Cairo,1959-82). For volume titles, see bibliography. R.o. Faulkner,AConciseDictionary of MiddleEgyptian(Oxford,1962). A.H. Gardiner,EgyptianGrammar Being anIntroductiontothe Study of Hieroglyphs,3d ed.(London,1957). Gottinger Miszellen,Gottingen. GottingerOrientforsch ungen, Wiesbaden. Institut Fran 1 \ 0 -... - .. - .. : ----.-::c__ , I , , , , I \ . ' . .':I , I. [ ,--o en o0 D , , , , , , , : , , .', ! , , ; I , , .. II" o X , , , ,X" 11" " -11111 ( OVitT " I 111 I"I 0, I o .0 0. "l' .'de OJ I 5PII< -n r. .. .... PM FIGURE1. " - '"

If no " , , , , , Philae,plan of monumentsinthecentralpart of theisland " - - - , ', , , , , , , , , .., ,,, ,,, ! .' ; , ".,' ... ;,, ,'. ..' "'... ,', ,' ,,, . ., ''::..>

'" no Philae,planofmonumentsinthecentralpartoftheisland.DrawingbyProf.G.loppolo; courtesyofCondotte MazziEstero,Dr.MassimoGrappelli,GeneralManager.Theirnum bersoftheroomsoftheTempleofIsisbuiltbyPtolemyIIhavebeenherereplacedbythe traditionalnumbers(seePMVI,p.230,without,however,thehypotheticaloutlinesof Rooms1IIand IV;on thelatter seeHaeny,BIFAO85,figs.2-5). GP PN PE PW AL M SP Gate of PtolemyII Portalof NectaneboI FirstPylon,east tower FirstPylon,westtower Altar of Taharqa Mammisi(Birth-House) SecondPylon KEY SPE SPW AM-AMV PSM H I-XII SecondPylon,easttower SecondPylon,westtower TempleofAmasis KioskofPsammetichusII HypostyleHall TempleofIsis Introduction 5 PLA TE2.SecondPylonand thedoorwayto the Hypostyle Hall hymns,especiallythoseofRoomsXandVII,aretheearliestexamplesofthe Ptolemaic hymnology. Ascan be seen from the commentaries, these hymns were copied and reused in a modified form, and often for a different cultic purpose, by thetheologiansoflatersanctuariesatPhilae,aswellasthoseofsomeother temples.The hymnsaregenuinelyEgyptian;theyare part of a religiousliterary tradition, that,at thislate period of Egyptian history,notwithstanding a foreign PLA TE3.Templeof Isis,Room X,the entirenorthwall 6 PLA T E4.Temple of Isis,Room X, the entire south walland parts of the east andwest walls ..... >= E o ~PLA TE7.Templeof Isis,Room XII,north wall PLA TE8.Isis,Lady of the Sacred Mound 12HymnstoIsisinHerTempleat Philae political domination and a new culture that it brought to Egypt, was stillremark-ablyvital.Not only the continuity of this tradition,but alsoaprogressive devel-opment oftheologicalideasandtheirapplicationtotheneedsofthecultand ritualofanewuniversaldeity,aredistinguishingmarksofthepriestlyliterary activity of the early Ptolemaic Period at Philae. One of the new features introduced in the decoration of the Temple of Isiswas an unusually strong prominence givento therepresentationof the deificationof Arsinoe II,the sister-wife of Ptolemy IIPhiladelphus.Arsinoe appearsinthere-liefsof thetemple fivetimes,eitheralone,asinRoom V(seepI.9),or together withIsis,asinRoomsI and VII(seepI.10)and twiceinRoomX;ineachcase she receivesdivine honors or offerings presented to her byher brother-husband, Ptolemy.Thisdeificationof Arsinoe,tothe discussionof whichI shallreturnin the commentary to Hymn VI, was undoubtedly achieved through a cooperation, or at least acompromise, of the Alexandrian court withthe highpriestlycircles of Philae. It istrue that there exist in Egyptian history some well-known examples of the deificationand cult of the queen;such names asTeti-Sheri,grandmother of Ah-mose, Ahmes-Nefertari, his wife, and Nefertari, chief wife of RamessesII,imme-diately come to mind. The fact remains, however, that the divine status of Arsinoe asaco-templar, or temple-sharing goddess, or synnaos theos,closelyassociated withorassimilatedtoIsis,wasemphasizedanddisplayedatPhilaeinanun-precedented manner. She isrepresented not only inthe Temple of Isis, but also in the two scenesof the north and south jambs of the Gate of Philadelphus,where herhusbandofferstoNephthysandArsinoetwobouquetsofflowers(north jamb), and to Isisand Arsinoe "the field." 7Was the deification of Arsinoe one of the principal motives that induced Ptolemy IIto lavish so much attention on Phi-lae?Thedeificationofthequeenalsomeantaposthumouslegitimationof the marriage of Ptolemy to his sister, atype of marriage that,thoughfamiliartothe Egyptians,must haveappearedtosomeof hisGreeksubjectsanunacceptable aberration.8 It was probably the latter that the court poet Theocritus had inmind when,inhisIdylXVIIafter praising PtolemyIIforhaving establishedshrines and sacrifices for his father Ptolemy I and his mother Berenicehejustifies Phil-adelphus'marriagetohissisterbyreferringtoZeusandHera:"Thuswasac-complished the sacred marriage of the immortals also,theywhomQueenRhea boretobetherulersof Olympus,and Iris,stillavirgin,withhandsmadepure withperfume,strewsasinglebed forthesleepof ZeusandHera.""PtolemyII may wellhave thought that the comparison of hisunion withArsinoetothat of Zeusand Herawould findareceptivegroundat Philae.AlthoughIsisruledas the sovereign deity of the island, there, too, she was inseparable from her brother-husband,Osiris,who occupiesaveryspecialpositioninthetextsandreliefsof the Temple of Isis, and who shares in the royal prerogatives of and expressions of devotionto hissister-wife,Isis.The story of Isisand Osiris wasknownnot only tomanyEgyptians,but alsoundoubtedlytomany of Ptolemy'SGreeksubjects, andtohaveintroducedtheimagesandcultof ArsinoeintotheTempleofIsis meant tohaveevokedintheirmindsyetanotherdivineprototypeofthemar-P LA TE9.Temple of Isis,Room V,southwall,rightjamb PLA TE10.Templeof Isis,Room VII,scene on the right,lowest register Introduction riage of Philadelphus and Arsinoe. Philae, which was fast becoming the most im-portant center of the worship of Isis and Osiris, was veryappropriately chosen as aplace where the deification of Arsinoe,10as wellassome very specialfunctions posthumously attributed to her, could be effectively represented. Asto the anonymous poet of the hymns translated hereoblivious, as it were, of thecompromiseof the Philae hierarchyand the Alexandriancourt bywhich Arsinoe was exalted to the rank of a co-templar goddess and represented insome prominent places of the Temple of Isis;and oblivious of what the true intentions and purposesof PtolemyIImight havebeenheadamantly clung to oldtradi-tions.The dictionand thespirit of thehymnshecomposedrevealthat forhim therewasonlyone goddesswhomherecognizedasthesupremeanduniversal deity,Isis,who in her temple, her earthly royalresidence, was surrounded byan-cient godsand goddessesand inthe constant company of herbrother-husband, Osiris, and their son Horus. To this company of gods and goddesses Arsinoe was admitted, yet there could never havebeenany doubt inthepoet'smindthat,in spite of her close association with and assimilation to Isis,which some of there-liefsof thetempleclearlyconvey,Arsinoewasthereonlytoshare,andinare-duced measure, in the divine honors rendered primarily to Isis. It was for Isis,the queenof Heaven,earth,and theNetherworld,thathecomposedhishymns.It could not be otherwise; he belonged to his own world, and he sang praises to his goddess, just as his predecessors of old had done to other gods and goddesses.In hishymns there isnot asinglemention of Arsinoe. With Ptolemy II, the situation was quite different. Following a well-estahlished pattern, Ptolemy, like other foreignrulers before and after him, isrepresentedin thereliefsof the temple in the traditional Egyptian attire and attitudes;adorned withtheinsigniaofthenativepharaohs,heworshipsEgyptiangodsandgod-desses,presents them various offerings,recites allthe hymns to Isis,and receives inreturnassurancesof personaland politicalprivileges.The priesthood of Phi-lae,likethat of other Egyptiantemples,acceptedtheforeignrulerastheir own kingand endowedhim with the honorsand dutiesof theold pharaohsinrela-tionto the gods,the temple, and the land, which the newking,by divineorder, had to protect. Ptolemy II showed his benevolence and largess toward the temples, and that, in the eyesof the priesthood,rendered him fittobeaccepted asanew pharaoh,endowedwithallthespiritualauthorityandbenefitsthatthetemple could confer upon him. Thus the prayers for Ptolemy at the end of severalhymns werepart of aprotocol, an adaptation and continuation of the old tradition. Astothemerit of thehymns,itistoberememberedthatthelongtradition that thepoet had to followalsoimposed somerestrictionsuponhim.The liter-arymodels,phraseology,andstyleof theolder hymnswereallknowntohim; somespecimens,writtenonpapyrus, were probablydepositedinthetempleli-brary at Philae. He drew on this ancient lore, and, inspired byhis devotion to the goddess and hisbelief in her supreme power as wellas her providential care, and guided byhispoeticalinsight,he chose astructuralformand aphraseologyap-propriate to the ideas he wanted to express.His hymnsarerichinmythological allusionsandtheologicalsubtleties;theiranalysismakesitpossibletocompre-16HymnstoIsisinHerTempleat Philae hend the fundamental ideas of the Isistheology at Philae. Some of the hymns ex-celin poetical diction and vivid imagery.The restrictions of a long traditionim-posed upon the poet did not hamper his creative mind: on the contrary, he turned them to advantage. It is no exaggeration to say that, considering their theological significanceandpoeticalmerit,hisarethe finesthymnsthat havebeenwritten, inEgyptian or Greek,forIsis,the goddess of hispredilection. ChapterI Philae, Temple of Isis,Room X,north wall(seepIs.II-12 and fig.2;G.Benedite,Letemple dePhilae,Textes,pp.6 If.,tab\. II;BerlinPhilaePhotograph1031). Thehymnisarranged infiveverticallinesof text,eachcontaining astrophe. Thehorizontalline,surmountingthefiveverticallines,isveryprobablyarc-frain, Iwhichwastoberepeated after each strophe.Inthe followingtranslitera-tionitisindicatedonlyonce,at thebeginning;inthetranslationitisrepeated after eachstrophe. The verticalinscriptionbehindthekingreads:"The SonofRe,Ptolemy,has comebeforeyou,0Isis,theGreat,God'smother,kissingthegroundbefore your beautifulface;givehim your loveforever." 2 The king recitesthe hymn: H H o co .0 t) .-2 /0_ \:J (! (VV) III(")111 FIGURE2 , :7 I I I (, a@ \:J I I I (, H H -~"B o c > < ~E o o 0:::: '/5wn.t sstHwt-Hr' Mwt-ntr nbt pt4 Hnwt ' 15t-w'btitytnlrw s Ntt mwt-ntr nHr - . Ksn&tndty nit.f Di.f s&rsbiw 6 Ntt mwt-ntr nHr - . Mnw-Hr7 pro'/;w&fty,f" )Ir ns n-im" HymnI Ntt mwt-ntr nHr - . Hnsw-nht nhn-nsw '"nnh"dt .."""....-NbIi-Stihkshsswt ..-Ntt mwt-ntr nHr ' e - . Ksn&tsmn gsw-!Jrwpsdt' \ )Irnnnb Ntt mwt-ntr nHr - . Ksnht hw B5kt - - . Nbspstdt 21 Before giving thetranslation of thishymn, I would liketo discussapoint that pertains to the translation of allof the hymns. I have made no attempt to followa strictmetricsystem.I feelthat,at leastinsome instances,suchanapproachto Egyptianpoetrymaydistortthemeaningintendedbythepoet,asitcertainly wouldimpedethefreeflowof thought, diction,and imageryessentialcharac-teristics of any good poetry.What I have tried to do isto divide the hymns freely into "strophes" and "verses" according to rhythmical and semantic criteria, men-tioned by Barucq and Daumas, or "cadences asrhythmical units of phrasing," as discussedby J.L.Foster,althoughI feelthat,followingthe same criteria,asfar asthe structure of the poems isconcerned, in addition to Foster's "thought coup-lets,"other structuralforms,especiallytripletsandquatrainsandvariouscom-binations of forms,can more frequentlybe usefullyapplied, as G.Fecht hasalso demonstratedinanadmirablearticle.14 It isinsuchabroadersensethatthe wordsstrophe and verseare used inthis study. The translation of HymnI depends on the explanation of some ofitsunusual orthographicfeatures.Eachof the verticallywrittenstrophesbeginswithadif-ferentspellingof thesecondpersonfeminineindependentpronounntt (seepI. 12).Theformsatthebeginningofthesecondandfifthstrophearethemore usual Ptolemaic spellings of that pronoun, although they are not identicallywrit-tenhere. The spelling at the beginning of the first strophe differsfromthat of the secondandfifthinhavingam-signbeforethefirstt,nmtt,whichrepresentsa lateEgyptianspelling of that pronoun,mntt,withametathesisof thefirsttwo consonants,nmttformntt,thepronunciationofwhichbringsitclosetothe Coptic NTO. ISThe spelling of thepronoun atthebeginning of thethirdvertical line shows ann-signwritten within the "island" -sign,and it isa variationof the spelling of the pronoun at thebeginning of the firstverticalline.The spelling of the pronoun at the beginning of the fourth line isthe most unusual;it starts with a"crocodile" -signtobereadmsh,thefirstletterof which,m,standingforn, according to the consonantal principle, constitutes the first letter of the pronoun, mtt forntt;unless,more simply,onereadsthesignof thecrocodileasnty, 1(,of which the first letter n is part of ntt. 17The seated female figure at the beginning of the firstand third lines ispart of the spelling of ntt and at the same time serves as an ideogram formwt, inmwt-nlr. The same female figureat the beginning of the secondlineispart of the spelling of ntt,and the hand holding anofferingisthe well-known sign formwt, just as the star isfornlr.At the beginning of the fourth 22HymnstoIsisinHerTemple at Philae line,the seated female figure isagain part of the spelling of ntt, while themi-sign hasthevalueofmwt.18 Afterthebeginningof linefive,mwt-nJr appearsinits conventional form.19 TRANSLATION Praiseto youIsis-Hathor,zo God'smother,Lady of Heaven, Mistress of Abaton, Queen of the gods. Youare the divine mother of Horus/I The Mighty Bull,protector of hisfather, Who causes 22the rebelsto fall. Praiseto youIsis-Hathor, God's mother,Lady of Heaven, Mistress of Abaton, Queen of the gods. Youare the divinemother of Horus, Min-Horus, the hero who smiteshisenemy, And makesamassacre thereby. Praiseto youIsis-Hathor, God'smother,Lady of Heaven, Mistress of Abaton,Queen of the gods. Youare the divine mother of Horus, Khonsu-the-powerful,the royalchild of theLord of Eternity, Lord of Nubia,23ruler of theforeignlands. PraisetoyouIsis-Hathor, God's mother,Lady of Heaven, Mistress of Abaton, Queen of the gods. Youare the divinemother of Horus, The Mighty Bull,who establishes the temples of theEnnead, Andfashionseverydivineimage. Praiseto youIsis-Hathor, God's mother,Lady of Heaven, Mistress of Abaton,Queen of the gods. Youare the divine mother of Horus, The Mighty Bull who protects Egypt, Lord of theNome,24forever. Hymn! Praiseto youIsis-Hathor, God's mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress of Abaton,Queen of the gods. 23 In the legend engraved above the hymn, Isis "the Great, God's mother, Lady of Philae, Lady of Heaven, Mistress of the gods, Lady of the Southern Lands," speaks toPtolemy:"Ihavegivenyouthelifespanof Reinheaven;Ihavegivenyou Heaven(itself)with what isinit;I havegivenyou victory overthe south." 2)In theverticalinscriptionbehindtheenthronedIsis,thegoddessagainspeaksto Ptolemy:"0 mybeloved son, Son of Re,Ptolemy,I have givenyouthe southas farasKenset;Ta-Seti,bent downforever,belongstoyou." 26Theselastwords, which reiterate the giving of dominion over the south to Ptolemy IIbyIsis,paral-lelthose of the adjacent vertical inscription, which belongs to the left scene of the samemiddleregister,inwhichPtolemy'sdominionoverthenorthernlandsis stressed. This well-structured parallelism is also enhanced by the same number of phrases in the two median vertical inscriptions; "I have given you the south as far asKenset; Ta-Seti, bent down forever,belongs to you," corresponds exactly to "I havegivenyouthenorthasfarasHeaven;theGreat Green,bowing headfor-ever,belongsto you,"(seechap.2,n.9).Asto Ta-Setiinthe above inscription, although it may seem to be unconventionally written (a"bow" on a "standard"), it isindeed tobe soread;it can hardly bea second determinative toKnst.T3,in TI-Stl,can sometimes be omitted/7 sa retaining its fullvalue as a designationfor "Nubia."Thus,pace Winter/s bothwordsaretobereadintheabovephrase, KnstandTI-Stl,orKnstandSti.Besides,theperfectparallelismofthesame number of phrases also requires another word afterKnst.Astonn.k, translated here as"belongs to you," its explanation ismore problematic. Sethe translated it as"dir"("dasBogenlandsichdirbeugt,""dasMeerdirtributpflichtigi s t " ) / ~and Winter as"dir(?}" 30 ("dir [?]in Verneigung"; Winter translated only the first inscription); no explanation is offered for the spelling of nn.k by either scholar. Is it possible to seeinthis spelling aremnant of arare Old Egyptian spelling of the preposition n asnn before a noun? 3 1Since, however, no examples of sucha writ-ingwithasuffixareknown,thissuggestionremainsquestionable.Bethat asit may, it seems certain that nn.k in this legend isused predicatively, and with some emphasis on thepossessor. COMMENTARY The theme that this hymn emphasizes inthe firstline of each strophe isthe di-vinemotherhoodof Isis.Her sonHorus,describedasperforminganumberof significant roles characteristic of a god-king, isassociated with her inher exalted positionas"Lady of Heaven,and Queen of the gods."Asson of Isis,heis"the royal child of Osiris," the latter referred to as "Lord of Eternity (nb dt}";as such, Horusis"Lordof Nubiaandrulerofforeignlands";thatis,heisthekingof southernand northern lands.Inhisroleasa"MightyBull,"Horusperformsa triplefunction:heisavenger of hisfather,theprotector of Egypt,and,inaspe-Hymns toIsisinHer Temple at Philae cialway,of the firstUpper Egyptian nome, in whichPhilae issituated;heisalso thebuilder of temples and fashionerof divineimages.Asafightinghero,Horus isalso called Min-Horus, and Khonsu-Nakht (Khonsu-the-powerful). These epi-thetsandidentificationsofHoruswithotherdeitiescomplementeachother. HorusasKhonsu-NakhtisnotidentifiedherewithKhonsuasthemoon-god, oracle-god, benevolent healer, and so on, but with one of Khonsu'sancient roles asaviolent,aggressive,killer god,aWsb-bulland "a raginglion,great of roar-ing.nll Such a characterization complements that of "the Mighty Bull,"and that of Min-Horus;ineach of theserolesHorus isdescribeddestroying hisownand his father's enemies.Horus identified with Min does not appear here somuchin thecapacityof agodoffertilityandprocreationasintheroleofMinasare-doubtablegod,conquerorof hostileforces,asheisdescribedinsomeMiddle Kingdomhymns,whichrefertohimas"Min-Horus,thepowerful... who overthrowshisenemies,whoavengeshisfather,andstrikesthedisaffectedof heart" \.1phrases almost identical with those occurring in our first hymn. Having been incorporated into the Osirian cycle,Min became son of Isisand Osiris,an-otherHorus,Min-Horus,andassuchhecouldappropriatelybeaddressedas protector and avengerof hisfather.The roleof Horus as"MightyBullwho es-tablishesthetemplesof theEnneadandfashionseverydivineimage"issignifi-cant initself,andalsoasapoint of specialrelationshipbetweenHorusandthe living king, Ptolemy IIPhiladelphus. The idea of a god asa builder, craftsman, or sculptor occurs in references to Ptah, Amun, and other deities.It probably origi-nated in the assumption that a creator-god who brought into being other deities could also produce the images of those deities, as stated inthe document of Mem-phiteTheologyof Ptah,who"hadcreatedthegods,.... hadsetthegodsin theircultplaces,... hadfoundedtheirshrines,hadperfectedtheirbodiesac-cording as they desired;then the gods entered into their bodies made of allkinds of wood, allkinds of stone, allkinds of clay ... inwhichtheymanifested them-selves." 14Suchan association of ideasthat is,reference to the creation of gods and of theirimagesoccurs elsewhere,forexample,inahymntoAmun-Rein the temple of Hibis, in which this god isaddressed as "the Eldest of the Primaeval Ones, who created the gods, the builder of builders, the nurse ofu n ~ e s , the fash-ioner who created fashioners,... who magnifies his cult-statue inorder to extol his perfection; it is according to his desire that he has built his image; it isthrough his(own)graciousnessthat hehasrenderedhimself gracious." 1.1Shorterrefer-ences to agod asa fashioner or builder are foundfrequentlyinthe hymns; thus, Amun-Reinthewell-knownLeidenPapyrusI350isreferredtoas"onewho fashionedhis(own)images(or:statues)," 36 and inatext at Edfu,Ptahissaidto be "fashioner of fashioners,builder of builders, Ta-tenen, creator of the gods." 17 Thus, ina general way,acreator-god can be said to have created allother gods, tohavefashionedtheir images,and to havefoundedthetemplesandshrinesin whichtheirimagesdwell.InthisHymn I,theroleof thecreator-godasbuilder and sculptor isattributed toHorus, son of Isis. Afurtherobservationtobemade about thisroleof Horus concernstherela-tionshipbetween himand the living king,PtolemyII.Inthemiddle sceneof the lowest register of the west wall of the same Room X,theking, offering to Osiris Hymn! andthewingedIsisthelinenplacedonthehieroglyphofanantelope lying on her back,Hisreferredto as"the perfect god who keepssafethe shores (of Egypt),whobuildsthe templesas(ithappened)ontheFirstOccasion,who provides them withsustenance of the land(ntr nfr swd3idbw ir gsw-prw mi sp tpy btm sn mdf3wnw t3)." 39The idea iscertainly wellknown fromolder texts;41) it istobenoticed,however,that inthisinscription the wordsir gsw-prw,"who builds the temples," correspond to smn gsw-prw,"who establishes the temples," attributed inHymn I to Horus, with the further qualification that Horus "estab-lishesthetemplesof theEnnead."Itmaynot bepurelycoincidentalthat inthe templebuiltbyPtolemyII,theHalloftheEnnead psdt)isadjacentto Room X, in which this hymn isrecorded.In the middle scene of the middle regis-ter of the same west wall of Room X, the king,shown offering to Osiris and Isis the unguent fromPunt, issaid to be "the perfect god, the living image of Reand theheir of Osiris-Onnophris(ntrnfr snn nRCiwc nWnn-nfr)."41Thus the king not only performs the same functionof abuilder of temples asHorus docs, but, asthe living image of Re,heisalsoidentified withHorus, sonof Osiris;as the hymn to Osiris in Room V clearly puts it,the king isHorus himself.4l Inthis Hymn I,Horus issaid tobe"Lord of Nubia and ruler of foreignlands"that is, southern and northern lands,the same lands over whichPtolemyIIclaimedhis dominion,asisclearfromthetwoverticalinscriptionsseparating HymnI and HymnII,discussedearlier.Itishardlynecessarytopointoutthattheepithet "the MightyBull,"or "Horus, theMighty Bull(Hrk3isfrequentlyat-tributedtotheEgyptianking,andalthoughit isnot giventoPtolemyIIinthe inscriptionsof RoomX,itisfound elsewhereassociated withhisname.44 Thus Isis,mother of Horus, isalsomother of the king, not onlybecause she addresses himas"my belovedson,"or "my son,Horus,mybeloved," 4.1butbecausehis royalfunctionand character are coextensive with those of Horus, her son,who long ago had becomethemythicalprototype of theEgyptianking,withwhom thePtolemiestendedtoidentifythemselves.Attheverysummitofthiscom-plex theological edificegraphicallyrepresented very simplybyfivecolumns of praisessurmountedbya"lintel"of invocationstandsIsis,inherpreeminent positionasthemotherof hersonHorusandof heradoptedsonKing-Horus. ThelatterisemphaticallystatedbythegoddessinalegendinRoomXII(see pI.7):"To youI havegiventheinheritance of Horus of Pe."46 The inheritance, imy(t)-pr(lit.:what isinthehouse),atermderivedfromthecivillaw,isdeter-minedbythe tie of apapyrus roll,indicating thejuridicalcharacter of awritten document by means of which the transfer of property, in this case the royalinheri-tance,islegallyeffectedfromHorus,thegodofthepredynasticcenterofPe-Buto,to the king Ptolemy II. Osirisplaysaverysubordinateroleinthishymn;itistheMotherandSon who rule. Chapter2 Philae, Temple of Isis,Room X, north wall(see pl.13and fig.3; G.Benedite,Le temple dePhilae,Textes,p.62, tabl.II';Berlin PhilaePhotograph1032). Asinthe case of Hymn I,Hymn IIisarranged infiveverticallines, eachcom-prising astrophe.The horizontal linesurmounting allfiveverticallinesisprob-ablyarefraintoberepeated after each strophe(seechap.I, n.I).Here,too,in thetransliterationit isindicated only once;inthetranslationitisrepeatedafter each strophe inan attempt to show the effect this repetition may have had on the recitation of the whole hymn. The verticalinscriptionbehind theking announces:"TheKingof Upper and LowerEgypt,Usikare-meramun,hascomebeforeyou,thathemayadoreyour beautifulface,0Isis;givehim Upper and Lower Egypt(in)peace,without any disturbance, forever." 1The king recites the hymn: PLA TEl 3.Temple of Isis,Room X,north wall,middleregister,scene on the left, Hymn11 o \ ;I ". I t) ---. I .. (, (\ FIGURE3 t, ("\ ' ...... _-::7 ILJ mEI-Hisn),Sais,Pe,Dep.Thissecondgeographic list,too,endswithanepiclesis,in whichIsisisaskedtoprotect her son,herecalledSonof Re,Ptolemy.Thisisa summary of the generalcontent of Hymn VII.A deeper analysisof itsstructure and phraseology, however, reveals some remarkable features, whichI willbriefly discuss. 1.First of all,there ishere another example of the adaptation of ancient texts to the theological and ritual needs of the cult of a new sovereign deity,whichhas been stressedinseveralinstances inthe discussionof thesehymns.Inthe caseof Hymn VII,it isthe first,the shorter geographic list that establishes the linkwith the old literary tradition.Inspite of itsshortness,thislist callstomindthelong "list of goddesses" contained inthe three versions of the hymn or litany of "Vic-toriousThebes"toAmun(seenn.16,20,23).Init,Isisisindeedmentioned threetimes,asIsisof Coptos,Abydos,andAkhmim,who,togetherwithother goddesses, praises and propitiates Amun; it is,however,Hathor, withher seven-teen epithets that represent various places of her worship throughout Egypt, who HymnVII10 / I .0 I 0 t) "";I ........ I c .... ) o II 00 ) ..,.,$ : )

I , I FIGUR E9 III III II I III -:::::::::-Ii}.. 11\._-o II ot) I I I () I' I0Q ..... \:) t> :) 0 e @ / .c

I I I -LlJ) III .. -() Ul o III ... , () ( o I, oinHeavenbefore Re. Adorationto you inthe night-barque, Jubilationtoyouinthe day-barque, Youwho gavebirth to allthe gods. I ? Son of Re,Ptolemy, has come before you,Lady of Life, On this day on which you have gloriously appeared, Totie onto youthe Uraeus-Diadem, Tofastenonto you the MightyOne, IX Usikare-meramun, your sonHorus. May your Kabeinpeace,0Lady of life, On this day on which youhave gloriouslyappeared, Youwhom the gods have propitiated after (her)rage. I'! o beloved of Rewho are inhisbarque, Repelling Apopiswiththe effectiveness of yourutterance, 211Behold,Ptolemy has come before you, That, purified,"1he may adore your beauty. The evilsof thepast year 22that had adhered tohim havebeendrivenoff, Hisevilsof thisyear/1 theyare done awaywith, Hisbackisturned tothem; He has presented propitiatory offeringsonaccount of them, Andhisfaceisturned totheLady: How welcome are youagain.24 He hasnot done anything abominable toward the god of histown,"' He hasnot committedany evil; Nothing willbecounted against him among theassessorsand the scribesof the Two Lands, Those who inflict injuriesasyearlyshare,26 Who driveand haul the herdsto the god's slaughtering-block. D He isprotected fromthis year, From itsinimical spells, which accompany(it).2K Inpeace, inpeace, 0Happy New Year, He willfullysatisfy your Kawithofferings,(0 Isis). Hisfaceis(permeated)withLife.2'1 120HymnstoIsisinHer Temple at Philae Isis'reassurances to the king are engraved in two short columns, one above her scepter,the other belowher leftarm:dl.n.(l)n.kt3wnb b3swt nb,"Ihave given youallflatlands and allforeignlands," and dl.n.(l)n.k nsyt nW n(form)pt,"I have givenyou the kingship of Re inheaven." COMMENTARY Following thepattern of the preceding hymns, after aninitiallegend,thepoet continues withan invocation,whichconsistsof sixversescomposed oftwotri-plets,inwhichhepraisesIsisasthefirstbornofhermother,Nut,asacelestial goddessmighty withRe,whom sheaccompaniesinhisday- andnight-barque, and as the mother of all the gods. As to the epithet of Isis "the eldest inthe womb of her mother Nut,"it istoberecalled that inthe hymn to OsirisinRoomVof the Templeof Isisat Philae,itisOsiriswhoenjoystheprivilegesof primogeni-ture,beingcalled"theeldestfirstbornofGeb." .1UAsinsimilarcasesforex-ample, the reference in Hymn IV to Isis as "Lady of Heaven, earth, and the Nether-world" (see chap. 4, Translation), and in Room VII to Osiris as "Lord of Heaven, earth,and theNetherworld".11suchstatementsdonot contradict eachother; expressedinsuperlativeterms,theyareoftenfoundinreligioushymns,espe-ciallythosethataccompanyaritualaction,andtheysimplystressthepreemi-nence of aparticular god or a goddess at what may have appeared to bethe cul-minating point of their eulogy. Isis'associationwiththesun-barque,whichistwicereferredtointhishymn andisalsomentioned inHymns V,VI,and VII,appears to havebeenafavorite theme of the poet.It seems that he wanted to stress that,asthe celestialgoddess associatedwiththe divinebarque,IsisreplacedHathor, who had occupiedthat position from earliest times, as was discussed in the commentary on Hymn VI.It isnot improbable that the sacred barque of Isis, which was, or was to be,placed on thepedestalinthe centralroom of the Sanctuary of her temple, suggestedto thepoet that,residing inher Sanctuary,the goddesswasindeedpresentamong her devotees and was even closer to them inher festiveprocessionalappearances outside her Sanctuary, but that she also played a cosmic role in the celestial sphere bytraveling inthe sun-barque and governing its course, appearing sometimes as itsexclusivepossessor,atruesun-goddess.Itissignificantthatthepoettwice stressesthisroleof the goddess inthe sun-barque asaprelude totheideascon-tained inthefollowingstrophes,ideas that haverarelybeen soclearlyexpressed inthe ritualhymns of thetemple, and that callforabrief commentary. 1.Asiswellknown, on some festiveoccasions the goddess left the Sanctuary and was carried in her sacred barque to another part of the temple. The words of the hymn, which mention twice, in close succession, "this beautiful day on which you have gloriously appeared," are particularly apt to be understood inthe sense of the processional appearance of the goddess outside the Sanctuary. Such phrases as"this beautifulday(hrw pn nfr)," 32or "(this)beautifulfeast(p3bhnfr),"on which gods and goddesses appeared infestiveprocessions, are alsoreferredto as HymnVIIII2I prt,"comingforth,"orbew,"appearinginglory"; l.lintheGreektextofthe Canopus decree they are called egOOeLmKat 7TavYJyvpels.l4 Festivalprocessions werepart of variousannualfeastsand were especiallyassociatedwiththecele-brationoftheNewYear,"thebeautifulfeastoftheBeginningoftheYear," !' whenthe smallshrine or tabernacle of the maindeity,accompaniedbythoseof hisretinue, hisEnnead, were carried in solemn procession firstto aroomwithin thetemplecalled"thePurePlace(Weht),"andthentotheroofofthetemple, where, in a kiosk, some special ceremonies were performed, which culminated in the"Union withthe Sun(bnmitn)." 36It isprobable that attheNewYearcele-bration at Philae the procession with the sacred barque went to Weht, the room of the temple usually referred to asthe Court, but that it never proceeded to the ter-raceof thetemple,aswas the caseat Edfu and Dendera.17 WithregardtothefestivitiesassociatedwiththeNewYear,thecontrastbe-tweenthetwophrasesofthehymn,rnpttn,"thisyear,"andrnptnfr(t),"the beautiful(i.e.,new)year," isof special significance.Rnpt tnrefers to the passing year, to the last day and hours of the old year,38as wellasto the fiveintervening epagomenal days preceding New Year's Day. This period of transition was a time inwhich, according to the Egyptian conception of the world, the inimicaldeities released their demonic powers, which could inflict serious injuries upon the land anditspeopleanddisturbtheorder of theuniverse Amongotherirate and dangerous deities,it was especially Sakhmet (seepI.23) 4(Jwho, throughher demonic messengers, sometimes referred to as"the sevenarrows of Sakhmet," 'II was capable of inflicting disasters upon mankind, which, at the verybeginning of its existence, she almost exterminated. Potent incantation spells had to berecited toprotectapersonfromhunger,disease,pestilence,andotherevils 42thatsin-istermessengersof thegoddessattemptedtospreadabout.Theseincantations are wellknownfromthe EdwinSmith Papyrusandother documents."!Inaddi-tiontotheincantationspells,recoursewasmadetoamuletsandstatuettesof Sakhmet,inordertopropitiatethegoddessbymeansofsympatheticmagic:'! Especiallyeffectivewerethelitanies,bywhichthegoddess,addressedbyher own and various other names, could be placated and inducedto desistfromre-leasing herperilousmessengersand tobebenevolent towardtheking,theland, and the people he represented.45 In this period of transition and anxiety, physical and moral contaminations of the passing year, which were still adhering to a per-son, had, in the words of Hymn VIII,to be "driven off" or "done away with" and propitiatory sacrifices offered, inorder to commence the New Yearproperly and safely.Individuals could, and undoubtedly often did, engage inmagicalpractices combined with incantatory recitations that were meant to protect themfromthe evilsof thedangeroustransitionsof theyearandtheseasons.4(,Afragmentary RamesseumPapyruscontainsremnantsof the words "(to bespokenby)aman onthedayof theNewYear,"toprotect him"from thefollowers(imyw-bt)of Sakhmet." 47However,inthesolemnyearlyfestivities,suchasthoseassociated with the New Year celebration recorded in the temple of Philae aswellasinother Egyptiantemples,itwasthekingwho,astheonlyintermediarybetweenthe deityand the people,stood before the goddess inanattitude of adoration,recit-ingthetextsthat weretoprotect himand,implicitly,thelandandthepeople, ..... X E o o ~HymnVIII from the potential evils of the passing year and were to render him fitto welcome the New Yearinpeace, with the assurance of arenewedlifeand stability.Ason other solemn occasions 48when he officiated in hiscapacityasthe supreme pon-tiff,theking,approachingthemostsignificantpointoftherecitationofthe hymn,statesthat he hascome tothe goddessinthestate of purity;hethende-clareshimself innocent of anyguilt byassuringthe goddessthat alltheevilsof thepassing yearhavebeen"done away with,"and that hehas alsoofferedpro-pitiatory sacrifices for them(seesec.2).Inthe following strophe hereiterateshis declaration of innocence by making a public negative confession and specifies, in termsreminiscent of SpellI25of theBook of theDead,that hehascommitted noevilagainstthelocalgod,andthatnothingwillbeimputedtohimbefore theassessorsofthe JudgmentHall,whoallotharshpunishmentstothetrans-gressorsthis, too, expressed interms that recall the punishment of the damned intheBookoftheDead(seenn.26,27).Thuspurifiedfromtheevilsofthe passing year and the fiveepagomenal daysand renderedinnocent bythepower of the spoken and written words of the confession, theking becamerituallyand morally fit to welcome the New Year, to receive from the goddess the reassurance and confirmation of hisdivine prerogatives,forwhich, ingratitude, hewillpro-videabundantofferingstothegoddess.Fromherwordstotheking"Ihave givenyouallflatlands and allforeignlands, I have givenyou thekingship of Re in Heaven"it appears that the king's universal power and allthat it implies have indeedbeenconfirmed.The kingship,thepeople,and thelandhavebeensaved oncemorefrompotentialdisasters;theharmonyoftheworldhasbeenre-established.But it wasnot onlythekingand thoseherepresentedwhoneeded protection;thegoddessherself,notwithstandingherunlimiteddivinepower, wasnot immune to the attacks of evilforces;to protect her fromthem, theking tied to her forehead the mighty uraeus-diadem, which would guard her fromany possibleassaultof thedemonicpowersandbecomeapotentmagicprotection against thedangersof thepassing,aswellasthecoming y e a r . 4 ~ Thusboththe kingand the goddessappear inatwofoldrole:theking,who throughhiscom-munication with the deitymaintains the cosmic and socialorder inexistence,is himself inneedof protection;the goddess,whoreceiveshisadorationandsup-plication,grantshimextraordinaryprerogativesandconfirmshiminhisroyal power, isalsoinneed of protection against inimicalforcesreleasedinperiods of transition, and she isto be safeguarded from them by the potent amulets that the king appends to her living image.5o 2.The negativeconfession inHymn VIIIisan abbreviatedformof thenega-tive confession or Declaration of Innocence contained in Spell125of the Book of theDead,theoriginof whichhasbeendiscussedrecentlybyseveralscholars. " AccordingtoGrieshammer,twoliterarycomponentsaretobedistinguishedin thenegativeconfession:oneistheoathtakenbythepriestsattheinitiationof their temple service, which, though recorded inalate Greekpapyrus fromOxy-rhynchus/1 probably goesback to a much earlier period; the other component is represented by the textsrecorded at the entrances of the enclosure wall, or some specificroomsofthetemplesofthePtolemaicPeriod,whichcontainsomede-HymnstoIsisinHerTemple at Philae tailedadmonitionstothe priestsfortheexerciseof theirsacredoffice.Withre-gard to this it should be mentioned that the earliest examples of what seems to be anegativeconfessionmadebythekinginhistransitustothenextworldarc found inthe Pyramid Texts, as first suggested by K. Sethe, then described inmore detailand explicitly associated with posthumous judgment byH. Junker;to this J.Leclant added some new remarks based on his work inthe Pyramid of PepiI. \ I Itisinteresting that in one of these texts, Spell467, whichisan "ascension" text, thekingmakesabrief negativeconfession,addressinghimselftothelocalgod withthewords:"I belong not to earth,I belong toHeaven;0youlocalgodof mine,maymyKabebesideyou .... Ihavenot opposedtheKing;I havenot sinnedagainstBastet;Ihavenotcommittedanywrongasawera-official."As Sethe, Junker, and Griffiths observed, the statement "0 you local god of mine .... I havenot opposed theKing"comesfromaprivatefunerarytext(Privattoten-text)expressedinthefirstpersonand wassubsequentlyinsertedintotheroyal ritualof thePyramid Texts.This would seemto indicate that alreadyinthe Old Kingdomthe ideaof confessionconnectedwithposthumousjudgment wasnot restrictedtotheking.Furtherdevelopmentoftheideatookplaceduringthe First Intermediate Period, Middle and New kingdoms. 54Especially inthe latter, it iswellsymbolized by the scene of the "Weighing of the heart," or psychostasia, a mostimportantand,asitwere,indispensablesceneintheBookoftheDead papyriandothermediainwhichitwas depicted.s, Theideaof confessionand posthumous judgment persisted asauniversalbelief to theveryend of Egyptian religioushistory, including the Graeco-Roman Period. Thisideaof confessionandjudgment couldtakeonadifferentaspect.Ina "change of perspective," as Griffiths 56was firstto call it inhis study of the initia-tion into mysteries described by Apuleius inMetamorphosesXI,posthumous or eschatologicaljudgment istransferredtotheworld of theliving.Thistransfer-encemayhave occurred firstinthe New Kingdomtemples, withthe centralrole playedbytheking-priest.It isinthesetemplesthatinnumerousinstancesthe kingappearsintheroleofthesupremepontiff,andthatthelegendsthatac-companythereliefsrefertohisconditionofpuritywhenenteringthetemple toperformthedivineritual.TheserepresentationsoftheearlyandlateNew Kingdomtemples,whichcontinuedthroughallsubsequentperiodsincluding thePtolemaic-Roman,constituteanuninterruptedtraditionofthefunctionof theking asthehighpriest performing thetempleritualbeforethedeitiesof the temple. The king's statement in approaching the naos S7of the Sanctuary"Iam aHigh Priest (hm-nlr),the son of a High Priest"5Hisan emphatic confirmation of the supremepriestlyfunctionof the king,whichheinheritedfromhisprede-cessors.Thetextsthataccompanythereliefsofthekingactinginhispriestly functioneitherrefertohisstateofpuritywiththebriefindirectformulaeen-gravedaboveor alongsidehisfigure"Let everyonewhoentersthistemplebe pure" S9or theystresshisritualfitnesstoapproachthedeitywithsomewhat longer,reassuring statements"I am pure, ... I havecome toperformwhat is tobeperformed;I havenot cometoperformwhat isnot tobeperformed,"as recorded,forexample,intheBerlinPapyrusofthedailytempleritualorina damagedtext at Philae.60 Certainly,theking'spriestlyfunctionwas,fromearly HymnVIII I25 times,delegated to thepriests,who intheperformance of theritualactedinthe capacityof "royalpriests,"ascanbeseenclearlyfromsuchstatementsas"In-deed,IamaHighPriest;itistheKingwhohascommandedmetoseethe god."I>'However,there can be no doubt that inallinstances itwas the king who performedtheritual,whoalone couldex officiocommunicate directlywiththe deity,and that thepriestsweremeresubstitutesforhim.More specificallyper-tainingtoourdiscussionarethetextsinwhichtheking,intheexerciseofhis priestlyfunction,immediately before "removing the sealand opening thedoor" of thenaos of the Sanctuary"to seethe god,"makesapositive confession.The wordsfromthetempleofAbydos 62"Ihavecompletelycastoutallevilthat pertained to me .... I am pure"recallthe statement of Hymn Vlll"The past evilsof the yearthat adhered tohim havebeen drivenoff;the evilsof this(pass-ing)year,theyare done awaywith,"just asthe words of the samehymn"He has not done anything abominable toward his city(or local)god"calltomind Spell467 of the Pyramid Texts, in which the king inhisascensionand inconnec-tion with the posthumous judgment makes anegative confessionbefore hislocal god. Another important feature of these texts is the stress on purity; inHymn VIII theking,before making hisnegativeconfession,issaidtohavecomebefore the goddess ina state of purity, which recalls thereferencestotheking inapproach-ing the temple, and especially Spell125 of the BDinwhichthe deceased,inmost cases after having recited the negative confession, emphatically asserts hispurity. What isnoticeable about Hymn VIII isthat the claim to purity, the negative con-fession,judgment (not explicitlymentioned, but implied),therewards of confir-mationof theroyalprerogatives,andtherenewaloflife,areallappliedtothe living king. Thus it is hardly possible to accept Grieshammer's statement that the negativeconfessionrepresents"UbernahmeeinesdiesseitigenRitusindas .len-seits." 6,Theperspectiveisentirelydifferent:thetransferencewasmadefrom "Jenseits"to"Diesseits." Astothepriestlyoathstakenat theinitiationof their templeserviceandthe detailed admonitions pertaining to the exercise of their office,allthat canbesaid isthat oncetheroyalpriestlyfunctionshadbeendelegatedtothepriests,new andpracticalexperiencesdemandedthat the"code of ethics"beexpandedand applied to the multiple needs of the temple and the safeguarding of itsintegrity."'1 It isthrough this gradual process of expansionthat the longer, detailedtexts ad-dressedto thepriestsandpertaining tothe exercise of their sacredservicecame into existence. The close similarity of some statements about thepriestlyoathof theOxyrhynchusPapyrusandthepriestlyadmonitionstothenegativeconfes-sion of Spell125of theBDindicatesthat the latter servedasaveryappropriate source inthe process of composition and expansion of the priestly texts, andthat thereading or recitingof thesetextswasinasenseananticipationof thepost-humous judgmentthat is,a reminder to the priests of the obligations of a good lifeandoftheproperexerciseoftheirspecialdutiesinthetempleservice,as Merkelbach clearly perceived. The negative confession of the living king was alsoincludedinthe celebration of the solemnritualsat Edfu and has beendiscussedbyAlliot, hlandfairman."" Itsappearance inHymnVIIIrepresentsitsearliest occurrenceinthetemplerit-126Hymns toIsisinHerTemple at Philae ualof thePtolemaicPeriodandshowsthatitwasanintegralpart of theNew Yearcelebration.Also,ifmyinterpretation of thehymniscorrect,itseemsthat the negative confession was associated with a statement that expiatory sacrifices were,or had tobe,offered inorder to propitiate the deityand to obtainforthe king thestatus of fullritualandmoralpurity.Thisseemstobeconfirmedhya variantreadingof theotherwisebadlydamagedtext ofHymnVIII h7recorded also on the north wall of the Court of the Temple of Isisat Philae. h XThis variant reading, after the words "Behold Ptolemy has come before you that he may adore your beauty," continues,sfb sw m(sdbw 1;3wtyw?)skm.n.f st-db3w.f n rnpt tn, "Purify him from(the past evils),forhe has made hiscomplete payment (lit.:he hascompletedhispayment)forthisyear."Thisisanimportantvariant.First, because it complements and explains the following statement, iw ir.n.f I;tpw,"he haspresented(propitiatory)offerings,"containedboth inthe text of HymnVIII inRoomVII,and,inanincompleteform,inthat of theCourt.Also,it offersa newexampleof theformationof abstract nounsbymeansofaprefixedst,st-db3w,"payment,compensation,"whichistobeaddedtoMeeks'collectionof suchnouns.69 Thus it would seem that according to the hymns translated and discussed here, twoimportantriteswereperformedintheTempleofIsisatPhilaeduringthe prolonged period of the New Year festivities:the rite of the consecration and rec-onsecrationof thetemple,whichwasdealtwithintheCommentarytoHymn VI,and the rite of expiation and propitiation performed bythe king astheinter-mediarybetween the deity and his people inorder to assure himself and hisland of the divine protection inthe New Year,asI have discussedhereinHymnVIII. Without going intoanydetailedstudyof other textsof RoomVII,itmayhe usefulto add that even abrief survey of some of the ritualtexts of that roomre-vealssomestatementsand phraseselsewhereassociatedwiththeriteof theRe-newalandConfirmationoftheRoyalPower,which,asisknownfromother sources, was annually celebrated in the Ptolemaic temples at the time of the New Yearfestivities.70 Thus,forexample,theprayersforthekingthataccompany these ritual texts ask that he may be protected fromallevils; 7 1other texts refer to hisuniversalkingshipandpromisehiminnumerablejubilees.72Inamorepar-ticular way,inan offering text to Osiris/' reference ismade to the papyrus plant, which,togetherwithvariousother amulets,wasusedintheceremoniesofthe ConfirmationoftheRoyalPowerasameansofprotectionoftheking,and whichin some Ptolemaic texts was offered toReas "the papyrus of the Beautiful (New) Year (w3d n rnpt nfrt)." 74In this offering text to Osiris, the god isasked to acceptMaat,whichthekingofferstohim"asReacceptsthepapyrusofthe BeautifulYear,"toprotect theking againsthisenemies,tohearhisprayers,to make safe hisbody from all evils, to give him strength inHeaven withRe,power on earthwithGeb,toallot himmillionsand hundreds of thousands of yearsof jubilees on thethrone of Horus, at the head of allhissubjects.Itistruethatthe mostsignificantstatementoftheriteof theConfirmationoftheRoyalPower, smniwCt,"conferring,establishing,orconfirminginheritance," 7 1although knownfromother texts of Philae/6 does not occur inthe texts of RoomVII;the HymnVIII127 tenor, however, of the references suggests seeing in them an allusion to the rite of theConfirmationof theRoyalPower,which,thoughnot explicitlymentioned, may alsohavebeen celebrated at Philaeat the time of theNew Year. Whathasbeensaidintheprecedingchaptersaboutthereeditedversions of the hymns of the Temple of Isis is also true of another hymn to the goddess from thetime of Ptolemy IVfound inthe temple of Assuan,whichisagainareedited version of Philae Hymn VIII.Here, too, some parts of the text can, as they stand, besomewhatbettertranslated/7 However,withouttheknowledgeofPhilae HymnVIII,anevenbettertranslationwouldnothaverevealedthestructural composition, the inner character of the hymn, and its originalritual significance, whichwaseithermisunderstoodbythescribewhoreediteditor,moreprob-ably,radicallybut somewhatmistakenlyalteredbyhimandusedasaproces-sional hymn. CONCLUSION The significance of these early Ptolemaic hymns to Isisfor the study of Isiac the-ology and worship, for thehistory of the literary transmission and the editing of thehymnicandritualtextsintheEgyptiantemples,andforthehistoryoflate Egyptianreligionclearlyemergesfromthetranslationsandcommentariesin this work. It hasalreadybeenobservedthat HymnVIII,inamodifiedandabbreviated form,was recorded on the north wallof the Court of the Temple of Isis,where it wasappliedtoadifferentritualpurpose.It hasalsobeennotedthat areedited versionofHymnVIoftheSanctuarywasrecordedintheMammisiatPhilae; that areeditedversionof Hymn VIIIand amajor part of thetext of HymnVII arefoundinthetempleof Assuan;andthat areeditedversionofHymnVhas beenrecorded in the temple of Dakka, again for a different cui ticpurpose.From these and other examples of the later reinterpretation of earlier hymns of PhilaL:it seemstofollowthat,unlessthetextsofPhilaearestudiedandeditedintheir proper chronological order, the fundamental ideas of the Isiac theology of Philae, aswellastheirreinterpretationand application tovariousritualpurposes,can-not be properly understood. More specifically, with regard to the development of the worship of Isisat Phi-lae,ithasbeenrepeatedlystressedthatsomeoftheepithetsandphrasesthat characterizehernatureanddefineherpreeminentpositiontherewereknown fromearlier hymnic texts,where they were attributed to other deities, especially toHathor, whouptothetime of Nectanebo I wasthemost prominent deityat Philae. Through a process of syncretism and literary eclecticism, the most signifi-cant attributesandfunctionsof Hathor,aswellasthoseof some otherleading Egyptiandeities,weretransferred to and concentrated onIsis,inorder tostress her role as the creator of the world, the mother of allthe gods, the beneficent and providential mother of mankind, to stress her royalrole as the sister-wife of Osi-risand asthe divinemother of Horus the Child,but alwaysasthepredominant member of this divine triad. Asthe universaland sovereign goddess and the true mistress of the land, she resided in her temple at Philae,built forher byPtolemy II,whereshewasjoinedbyherbrother-husband,Osiris,andthechildHorus. But,althoughtheysharedinher sovereigntyandprerogatives,andOsiriseven tookprecedence whenrepresented withhissister-wife,therecouldbenodoubt that, at any moment of the cult and ritual, Isis was the truly sovereign deity. Other godsandgoddessesworshippedinher templepreservedtheirindividualityand retainedsome of their epithets,but it wasonly,asit were,byherheneplacitum that theywereadmitted to her residence to participate inthe divinehonorsren-deredtoher.Toproclaimthisnewsovereign,universaldeitytotheentireland 12.9 130HymnstoIsisinHer Temple at Philae and tostateclearlythatIsiswastheembodiment of therenownednorthernas wellassoutherngoddesses,and that thusherprimacyatPhilaewastheculmi-natingpoint of an uninterrupted older religioustraditionthesearethepoints that thepoet intended to stress inhishymns. Inan attempt to analyze the mainfeaturesthat characterize Isisat Philae,her roleasthecreator-goddessshouldbementionedfirst.InHymnIVsheisde-scribed as"Lady of Heaven, Earth, and the Netherworld," who brought theuni-verse into existence "through what her heart conceived and her hands created," a statement in which acenturies-old terminology,which combined some elements fromtheMemphiteTheologywiththoseof theBerlinHymntoPtah,wasap-plied to her.It istrue that, in a text that accompanies the offering of theMaat to Osiris on the south wallof Room VII,Osiris, too, issaidtobe "Lord of Heaven, Earth, and the Netherworld" (seechap. 4,Commentary). That agreeswithwhat wassaidinthecommentary toHymn IIabout theuniversalpower ofthisgod. Thisproblem of apparent contradictionintheapplicationof thesametermsto morethan one deityislargelyamatter of emphasis observed elsewhereinthese hymns. The same Hymn IV,in which Isis' exclusive dominion over the universe is soclearlyasserted,contains inthe precedinglinesastatement inwhicheachof themembersof thedivinetriadrulesinone of thespheresof thetripartiteuni-verse:IsisinHeaven,Osirisinthe Netherworld,their sonHorusinthelandof Egypt.Yetthe theologian neverforgot that it wasIsiswhom hewantedto extol above all other deities, and that it was she who in her Sanctuary reigned supreme. The royalstatus of Isisisher second important characteristic.Her sovereignty had itsorigin inthe Egyptian concept of kingship; she isthe sister-wife of Osiris, withwhomalreadyintheOldKingdomthedeceasedkingwasidentified,and sheisthemother of Horus,whoisembodiedinthelivingking.Bothideasre-peatedlyoccurinthehymnstoIsis,especiallyHymnsI andII,althoughOsiris appearsinthemasthe god not only of the dead,but of thelivingaswell.Isisis the "First RoyalSpouse of Onnophris," the"First Elect One of Onnophris," the "Great RoyalSpouseofOnnophris";sheisthe"DivinemotherofHorus,"or simply "God's mother (mwt-n1r),"and inHymn VIIshe isthe "Divine mother of Kamutef,"identifiedhere withMin-Horus.Asthemother ofHorus,shestands ina veryspecialrelationship with the living King Ptolemy II,who isthe embodi-ment of Horus and her adoptive son. This tradition of the close connection of Isis withthekingshipwascontinuedbyseveralPtolemaicqueenswhoidentified themselves withIsis(e.g.,Berenike II,Cleopatra VII).I TheepithetofIsisasGod'smother(mwt-n1r)bringsustothediscussionof another important attribute of hers; inHymn VIIIshe isone "who gavebirthto allthe gods(mst n1rw nbw)." This attribute,mst n1rw,was originally givento a group of sky goddesses such asMethyer, Ihet, Nut, Neith, andHathor 2andwas laterappliedalsotoIsis.ShethusappearedasaMother-goddess,auniversal mother, originator of alllife.Some of Isis' epithets inthe hymns are extensions of thisrole;thussheis"LadyofHeaven,Mistressofthegods,Mistressof allthe gods,"asinHymnsIIandIV;sheisthe"Ruler of godsandgoddesses,"asin Hymn V;sheisthe "Queen of the gods,"as inHymn I;inahymnintheMalll-misi(House of Divine Birth) at Philae, she is called "Queen of the gods of Heaven, ConclusionI.3I Ruler of the gods of earth, Falcon-goddess(or Kite-goddess[dryt])of the gods of the Netherworld.".l Inahymn of thetime of Tiberiusat Philae,sheissaidtohe "Ruler inHeaven, Queen on earth" (seechap.5,Commentary, sec.I).[sidorus, inhymnIat Medinet Madi,callsher/3cHril\f;ux0ewv,"Queen ofthegods," I andApuleius,inhisMetamorphosesXI,saysthattheEgyptiansandAfricans who know her best callher by her true name, Reginam Isidem,"Queen [sis." \ IsisasMother-goddessoriginator of alllife,whoassuchhasnomotherand no father, isin Hymn VIII said to be "the eldest in the womb of her mother Nut," adistinction of primogeniture attributedalso to Osiris inahymninRoomV of the Temple of Isis,where he isreferredto as"the eldest, firstbornof Geh."As[ havealreadymentioned(seechap.4,Commentary; chap.8,Commentary), this change of emphasis must beborne in mind when reading these hymns,which,in thisrespect,arenot differentfrommanyotherEgyptianreligioustexts.What-ever can heighten Isis'prestige isattributed to her,regardless of thefactthat the same distinction hasbeenbestowed upon another deityandthefactthat itmay contradict what hasbeensaid about her elsewhere. Anotherfeaturethat characterizesIsisasthenewsovereigngoddess of Philae isherroleasabellicose goddess.InHymn V sheisdescribedasapowerfuland raging deitywho attacksher enemies and those of herbrother-hushand,Osiris, andperformsamassacreagainstSethandhisassociates.Thoughthisdescrip-tionispart of a purelymythological context, forthe subsequent development of the theme of Isis'bellicosity it was of far-reaching consequence, asisexplained in thecommentary to Hymn V and brieflysummarized herebelow. Isis'associationwiththe sun-god,Re,isevident throughout thesehymns,es-peciallyinHymnsV,VI,andVIII.Astheuraeus-diademofthesun-god,"the CoiledOne onhishead,"orasananthropomorphicdeity,thegoddesstravels withReinhisbarqueand protectshimfromhisenemies;withthepotencyof her utterance she slays Apopis "in aninstant"(seechap.5, Translation; chap.8, Translation).Here, too, in her relationship to Re,the same "multiple approach" or changeof emphasiscanagainbeobserved.[nHymnVsheisreferredtoas "thefemaleHorus,belovedof theGreatHorus,"andas"greatRoyalSpouse, unitedwithRe,"whichseemstoindicatethatsheisalsospouseofRe,asshe certainlyisat Edfu, halthoughthephrase"greatRoyalSpouse"inthesehymns consistentlyreferstoIsisasthespouseofOsiris. ? Thestatementahoutlsisas "greatRoyalSpouse,unitedwithRe"hastwomeanings:thegoddessisunited withReas hisuraeus and as hisspouse.Isisisassociated withthe sun-godinyet another way.Shenot only travelswith him in hisbarque andprotects himfrom hisenemies,but she "governs the divinebarque" (seechap.7, Translation); even more, asalater hymn at Philae says, she is"the sun-goddess inthe circuit of the sun-disc"(seechap.3, Commentary, sec.I); sheherself isRat,"the femaleRe." Isisisnot only "the femaleRe,"but also"the femaleHorus," or "theHOrLlS-goddess"(seechap.5,Translation),a paralleltoHorus asusedof theking;this seemsto beconfirmed bytheapplication of thistermtothe queensHatshepsut, Nitocris,Berenike,andCleopatraIll. xThisappellationofthegoddessagain stresses herroyal status and power. Several of the titles and functions of Isis, especially those that refer to her asso-132HymnstoIsisinHerTemple at Philae ciationwiththe sun-godher epithet ashisuraeus,the prominent positionshe occupies in the sun-barque, "the barque of millions"(see chap.7, Translation)-were transferred to her fromHathor, who up to the time of Nectaneho I was the most prominent deity at Philae. Hathor retained her popularity and importance at Philae to the very end; she remained an independent goddess, and was often juxta-posed to Isis and identified with her. However, by assuming some of Hathor's most prominent attributesandtitles,Isistook overthesupremacyof thisgoddessat Philae;she appeared asanew Hathor. Isis'relationshipto other goddessesiswelldescribedinHymnVII,where she isassociatedwithsomefamouscult centers,suchasHeliopolis,Memphis,and Thebes,andwithsomeotherslesswellknown,Ta-ankhinMiddleEgyptand Biggeh inthe Southallof which were fromearlier times domains of renowned Egyptian goddesses, especiallyHathor, Mut, and the First Cataract deities.Not onlywasshe established inthecult centersof other goddesses,hut throughher identificationwithsomeoftheleadingones,suchasMenbyt,Edjo,Nekhhet, Hathor, and Neith, she assumed their multiple attributes and functions,thus ap-pearing asthe universal goddess of the land. At the end of this process of assimi-lationandidentification,shebecamethe"Unique One,"subsuming inherper-sontheentirefemalepantheon.AlthoughNephthysisnotmentionedinthe hymns,Isiswasassociatedwithherinthereliefsof thelintelsof thedoorways (seechap.6,Commentary,sec.r)andinotherreliefsofthetemple.Inoneof these,Nephthyswassubstituted forIsisasthemother of thekingperhapsan allusion to Pyramid Text II 54a ("Isis conceives me, Nephthys begets me")"ap-plied here to the living king, Ptolemy II.Inthe same relief of the lintel of RoomI, Hathor, too, appears in the role of the mother of the living king, whichprohahly goesback toan early tradition inwhichHathor wasthemother of Horus. ill Asthecreatorandrulerof theuniverse,IsisisalsoagoddessoftheNcthcr-world,asisclearlystatedinHymnIV.SheisalsoassociatedwiththeNcthcr-world under a different aspect; as issaid of her inHymn VI,either astheuraCllS of the sun-god or asan anthropomorphic deity in his night-barque, she travcrses the Netherworld and there meets her husband-brother, Osiris (see chap. 6, Trans-lation).However,theassociationofIsiswiththeNetherworldisnot otherwise stressedinthesehymns.It seemsthat themainpurposeof thetheologian-poct was to emphasize those roles and functions of the goddess that make her appcar as the supreme living and ruling deity in her new center of worship. Wellawarc of thefactthatIsis,thoughanancientgoddess,hadjoinedthecircleofthemost important goddesses relatively late, he made her, through a rapid syncretistic and eclecticprocess,apart and aprotagonist of someof themajortheologicalsys-tems of the Egyptian religion:she isa Mother-goddess, the sole creator of alllife; sheisacreator-goddesssimilartotheprimevalcreator-godoftheMemphitc Theology;sheisapreeminentmemberof theHeliopolitantheologicalsystem; sheisintimatelyconnected withthedivinekingship;sheistheleadingdeityof the Osirian triad and the supreme deity of theKamutef theme;she istheuniver-sal goddess, the one embodying the many.Allthe attributes,roles,and functions that inmuchearliertimeshad beenassignedto other godsandgoddesseshave nowbeentransferredtoher,to show her sovereignanduniquepositionamong Conclusion the deities of Philae.It isagreat merit of the poet that hewasable so effortlessly to intertwine thesemultiple and complex featuresof the goddess andtoexpress theminasimple and appealing hymnic form. InanaddresstothegoddessatthebeginningofHymnVI,Ptolemy/Ide-scribesIsisasadeitywhose Kaissupported bythe godtleb("Youto whoseKa tlebstretcheshimselfup")that is,asagoddessof skywhosedivineimageis supported by tleb, a god (Himmelstrager),usually represented bythe king, often seeninthe temples of the Graeco-Roman Period inaposture of uplifting the sky, therebyassuringthemaindeityof thetempleof thestabilityof thecosmicand social order. Isis,supported in her celestial abode bytleb, isurgedbyPtolemy to descendandmaketheSanctuaryaplaceofherlivingpresence.Withthisrc-markable image,we leavethetranscendentalworld of Isisandenter thesecond sphereof herrealm:herdominionon earthandhernuminouspresenceinthe temple. The hymns and the legends of the Sanctuary repeatedlyrefer to the goddess as "Lady of Philae and Biggeh," as "Lady of the Southern Lands," "Lady of the Two Sanctuaries (i.e.,the Two Lands)," as"Lady of Upper andLower Egypt,"asolle whorepelstheenemies(theNubiansandothers)"fromtheShoresofHorus" (seechap.6,BuildingInscriptions);one who givesPtolemythevictoryoverthe northandsouthtitlesandfunctionsthat indicateherdominionovertheland of Egyptand overtheworld.Herbellicosenature,whichinthelatertextsand monuments at Philae no longer has a purely mythological character, as inHymll V, but takes on a"historical" connotation,assurestheking of thevictoryoverthe actualor potential enemies of the land,itspeople,and the templeveryappro-priately so at Philae,acrucialfrontier of Egypt constantly exposed to thethreats of the southerners. Not onlydoestheking'svictorydependon her,but hiselectionandhisvery destinyare decidedbyher.The power that the goddess exerts overtheking and thepalaceisstrongly emphasized inthehymnsandrepresentsthecontinuation of an old tradition especially well attested in the Eighteenth Dynasty.But she not onlyrulesthe palace;inmore lyricalterms, adorned withthetitles of the queens of old, she is said to be "the fragrance of the Palace, Mistress of joy,Lady of charm who fillsthe Palace with her beauty"; she is"great of love,Mistress of women," a goddess of loveand beauty (seechap.3, Translation; chap. 7, Translation). Her second center of power on earth isher temple, her earthly residence wherc she reigns supreme. There she descends daily from her celestialabode tojoinher imagesand imbue them withher divinepresence. There,together withthemale and female deities of her entourage, she receives daily and festiveofferings byher son,thelivingHorus,Ptolemy;theresheisjoinedbytheking'swifeandsister, thedeifiedArsinoe,whosharesinthegoddess'sroleastheDivineAdorerand theHighPriestessof thetemple.The land belongstoIsis,andsherulesitfrom her temple, where, ever since the day of its consecration, she maintains dailycon-tactwithherpeoplethroughheradoptiveson,theking,uponwhomshehas conferredtheroyalinheritanceofherownsonHorus(seechap.I,Commen-tary).There,leadingtheprocessionoftheoffering-bearers(seechap.6,Com-mentary, sec.2),theking presents to the sovereign goddess,unfailingly,thepro-134 Hymns toIsisinHer Temple at Philae duce of the "Young Hapy," 11the ever renewing inundation, withallother riches of theland,and then hepurifies her Sanctuary withthe sacredplants,lotusand papyrus. There, too, at the New Year'sfestivities,the king performs specialcere-moniesof appeasement of the goddessand inapenitentialspirit makesanega-tiveconfessionrejectingalltransgressionsthat hemayhavecommittedarare (andprobablythefirstPtolemaic)exampleoftheanticipatedeschatologyap-pliedtothelivingkingsothat,purified,withhisvitalityrenewed,hemayhe rituallyand morally fitto welcome the New Year,to bereconfirmedinhisroyal power,to receivenew benefitsforhimself,hispeople,and the land(seechap.x, Translation). Thus,whiledwelling inHeaven,her divineabode,as"Lady ofHeaven,Mis-tressof allthegods,"thegoddessisalsonuminouslypresentinhertempleon earth.Her Sanctuary,towhichshedailydescendstouniteherselfwithherim-agesandinwhichshereignsasthesovereignqueenoftheland,islikeanother Heavenon earth.Indeeditseemsthat,asOtto vonSimsonobservedinanen-tirelydifferentand yet analogous context,"Heaven and earthwereclosetoone another inthose days,they were asone inthe sanctuary." 12 EPILOGUE The Philae Hymns to Isisand the Greek and LatinIsiac Aretalogies Tothememory of Fram;oisDaumas, great scholar and dearfriend Almostonehundredandfiftyyearsago,ErnestCurtiusdiscoveredonthe Greek island of Androsahymnof praises to Isis,an aretalogy,"einwunderlich mystischesspates Gedicht,"asheput it. IInthe long span of time that followed, more such hymns,2 in verse and prose, came to light, so that today sixaretalogies proper,andabout tenother textscloselyrelatedtothem,areknown. IBytheir styleandcontenttheseconstituteaspecificliterarygenreinwhichthevirtues and the powers of Isisasa universal goddess were praised and proclaimed to the entire Greek world.Although they can be dated fromthe second centuryH.C.to the third century A.D., the aretalogies appear to be variants of a basic Greektext, theM-text,4socalledbecauseitmayhaveoriginatedinMemphis,thecityto whichtheintroductorylinesoftheKymeandAndrosaretalogiesrefer. \This basicGreektext istobedatedat leasttothesecondcenturyB.C.,ifnot tothe timesof thefirstPtolemies.6 Thusitisunderstandablethat,inthediscussionof the mutualrelationship of the variant aretalogies,theirrelationshiptotheEgyp-tiansourcesastheirpossibleprototypeshasbeendebated.Theprincipalissue hasbeenwhetherthebasictext,theM-text,isaGreektranslationofanEgyp-tiandocumentwritteninhieroglyphs,or whetheritisanoriginalGreekcom-position.R.Harder/ thestrongest proponent of theideaof aGreektranslation ofanEgyptiandocument,wascriticizedbyA.D.Nockand,especially,A. -J. Festugiere,9 whostatedthatstylisticallyandthematicallythebasictextofthe aretalogies was an originalGreekcomposition. III D.Muller,inhisdetailed study of the epithets and functionsattrihuted toIsis intheGreekaretalogies,searchedforcorrespondingEgyptianequivalentsand concluded that, of about fifty-sixshorter or longer phrasesreferring toIsis,nine are, informand content, of Egyptian origin; seven are Egyptianhut expressedin a grecized form; twenty-four are of Greek origin; and sixteen are of anuncertain, possiblyGreekderivation. I IThus,accordingtoMuller,thehasicGreektext couldnotbederivedfromanEgyptianarchetype.ItsauthoreitheranEgyp-tianeducatedinGreekcultureandlanguageoraGreekwellinformedahout Egyptianreligionwishing topropagate the cult of Isisamong theGreeks,hor-(35 HymnstoIsisinHerTemple at Philae rowedfromtheEgyptianIsiacand other textstheideasandphrasesacceptable totheGreeks,eliminatedthosethat mayhaveappearedalienor incomprehen-sibletothem,andaddedtohistextaconsiderablenumberoftypicallyGreek features.Theresultofallthiswasastronglyhellenizedcomposition:Isisap-peared toher Greek devoteesasaGreek,not an Egyptian, goddess. II JanBergmanreactedtoMuller'sconclusionsbytryingtoprovethatbehind eachstatementof thearetalogiesthereliesacorrespondingEgyptianthought, and that thestyle,aswellasthethemes,cannotbeproperlyunderstoodunless they are placed in a Memphite context of the royal ideology and associated with thecoronation ritual,inwhichIsisplayeda prominent role. U Muller,whileacknowledgingsomenew insightsbroughttothiscontroversy byBergman,rejected,14as didsome other reviewers,15 Bergman's strong empha-sis on the role played by Isis in the royal cult of Memphis and reiterated his thesis thatthearetalogiesareacombinationofEgyptianandpredominantlyGreek ideasandphraseology;according tohim,thebasicaretalogyofMemphisisin severalinstances aninterpretatio graecaof Egyptian religiousideas. In1975, J.GwynGriffithspublishedApuleiusof Madauros,TheIsis-Book (Metamorphoses,BookXI),whichcontainstwoLatinaretalogies,hisEnglish translationsofwhicharequotedbelow.Inthisbook,Griffithsassembledand evaluatedaveritabletreasureof aretalogicalreferencesandbrought theircom-parative studyupto date. Alsoin1975,YvesGrandjeanpublishedthemostrecentlydiscoveredIsiac aretalogy, that of Maronea, a hymn in prose, which he dated on palaeographical grounds to the second part of the second century B.C. 16Thus, according to Grand-jean,thearetalogyofMaroneaistheoldestandalsoappearstobethemost originaloftheIsiacaretalogies.Grandjeanpresentedthetextoftheneware-talogylinebylineanddiscussedeachof thethemesinthelightof theliterary, epigraphical,papyrological,numismatic,andarchaeologicalevidence.17 More specifically, he stated that among the features in which the aretalogy of Maronea differsfromotheraretalogiesistheabsenceofthefirst-personstyle,theIch-Pradikation,thegoddessbeingaddressedbytheauthorof thearetalogyinter-changeably in the second and third person; 18that Isisisnot said to be the daugh-ter of Kronos and Rhea, Greek equivalents forGeb and Nut,IYbut the daughter of Earth; 20that Isisisreferredtoasthespousenot of Osiris,but of Sera pis/ I a referencefoundinnootheraretalogy.22Grandjeanconsidersthearetalogyof Maronea to be also a trueinterpretatio graecaof the basic traditional text, from which, however,the author frequentlydeparted,especiallyat the end of hisun-finishedcomposition,wherehestressedtheroleofAthensandEleusisinthe Greek world and the identification of Isis with Demeter. 2.lIntent on composing a trulyGreekaretalogyand writingfortheGreekdevoteesof Isisfarawayfrom her homeland, he,too, suppressed allthat might have appeared alien to hiscon-temporaries and presented to the worshipers of the goddess a thoroughly hellen-ized Isis.24 Toward the end of his book, Grandjean made a very subtle remark:if, inhisintenttomakehisaretalogyatrulyGreekcomposition,theauthorwas inducedtochangethebasictext evenmoreradicallythantheauthorsof other aretalogies did, it means that the basic text, in spite of its strongly hellenized tenor, Epilogue 1)7 was still felt to be a foreign product in a Greek land. This would confirm, if there was any need forit,the thesis of the Egyptian origin of theIsiac aretalogies.21 Beforediscussingindetailthemainpoint of thisepilogue,whichiswhat the Philae hymns to Isiscontribute to thislong controversyabout the origin of,and theEgyptianor Greekpreponderancein,theIsiacaretalogies,I thinkituseful first to familiarize the nonspecialized reader with the translations of the fourrep-resentative aretalogical texts that will be referred to in the following pages. These texts are:the first of the four hymns composed by Isidorus inthe early part of the firstcentury B.C.forthetemple of Isis-Hermouthisat Medinet Madiinthefay-yum;thearetalogyof Kyme(Cyme,on thecoast of AeolisinAsiaMinor);the aretalogy of Maronea (on the south coast of Thrace); and two aretalogies inApu-leius'Metamorphoses,BookXI,chapters5and25.Someofthecomparative studywiththeEgyptianhymnstoIsisisanticipatedinthecommentariesthat followeachtranslationexcept that of thearetalogy of Kyme.TheKymearetal-ogy,the standard aretalogy for such study, isthen compared insome detailwith thePhilae hymns to Isis. 1.In hymn Iof Isidorus, written in hexameter and in the second-person style, Isisisaddressedboth asalocalgoddessIsis-Hermouthis/" and astheuniversal goddess identified with the leading Greek and Near Eastern goddesses; she isthe Isis of many names and many forms, as she again appears in the aretalogy of Apu-leius(seesec.4)andintheinvocationsandhymntoherintheOxyrhynchus Papyrus1380;27itisonlytheEgyptianswhoknowhertruename,"Thiouis," "The Only One." 28 Giver of wealth, Queen of the gods,29Hermouthis, SovereignLady Ruler of all,'o Good Fortune, Isisof great name, Deo 31most high,Discoverer of alllife ; Manifold works were your concern sothat you might give Sustenance to mankind and good ruleto all; And you laid down the laws that justice might exist, And you gave skills that lifemight be becoming, And you discovered the flowerynature of allfruits. Because of you heavenand the whole earth wereestablished, And the blasts of the winds and the sweet-shining sun. Through your power allthe courses of the Nile are filled Inthe early autumn season,and most vehement waters are poured Over the entire land, that the produce may grow unfailingly. Allmortals who liveon theboundless earth, Thracians, Hellenes,and allthat are barbarians, Callyouby your beautiful name, greatly honored among all, Each in hisown tongue, each in hisown land. The Syrians callyou Astarte,Artemis,Anaia,ll And theLycian tribescall you Leto,the Sovereign, The Thracians call you alsoMother of the gods; The Hellenes call you Hera of the Great Throne and Aphrodite, Hymns toIsisinHerTemple at Philae And good Hestia and Rhea and Demeter; But the Egyptians callyou Thiouis, because youalone are all Other goddessesnamed by the racesof men. Mistress, I shall not cease your great power to sing, Immortal Savior, of many names, Isismost great, Youwho save from war citiesand alltheir citizens, Men,(their)wives,possessions,and dear children. Allwho are held inprison,destinedto die, And allwho are troubled by long painful sleeplessness, II And allmen wandering inaforeignland, Andallthose who sailthe seain great storm, Whenmenperishand ships are destroyed: Alltheseare saved when they invoke your presence. Hear myprayers, you, whose name has great power, Bemercifulto me,relieveme fromallpain. lsidorus wrote(this). It isclear that thiscompositionofIsidoruscanbecalleda"hymn"onlyina broader sense;it probably was not meant to be recited aspart of a dailyritualor at somereligiousfestival,aswasthecasewiththehymnstoIsisatPhilae.All four hymns of Isidorus, three to Isis and the fourth to the deifiedAmenemhet Ill, were carved on the antae of the temple of Isis-Hermouthis as an expression of Isi-dorus'personal devotion to them. Attheendof Isidorus'hymn,noinvocationismadetothegoddessforthe benefit of the king, as in the Philae hymns,but Isidorus asks for specialblessings forhimselfandforallthoseindistress.Thisdeity-and-manrelationshipisan extensionof theconcept of thedeity-and-the-kingrelationshipof theEgyptian temples,althoughwemaysafelyassumethat inthemtheking actedalsointhe roleof an intermediary between the deity and hispeople.On the other hand,in hymn3Isidorushighlypraisesthereigningking(PtolemyIXSoterIl),14who standsunder veryspecialprotection of thegoddess,andhededicateshisentire hymn4tothegloryandmiraculousdeedsofthedeifiedAmenemhetJlI(Por-ramanres),the firstbuilder of the Twelfth Dynasty temple at Medinet Madi. \) It has been said that Isidorus' hymn glorifies Isisnot only asthe universalgod-dess,but asthelocalgoddessIsis-Hermouthisaswell;inthelatter capacity she formedadivinetriadwithSokonopisandAnchoes/6 anditisunderstandable that inthis respect Isidorus' hymn differsfromthe M-Text and other aretalogies writtenfortheGreeksoutsideEgypt,wheresuchlocalEgyptianfeatures,in-comprehensibleandunsuitableforthe"missionary"purpose of thearetalogics, had to be eliminated. Fraser is correct when he says that, although lsidorus' hymn has a good deal of vocabulary in common with the aretalogy, it would be "incor-rect to regard Isidorus' hymns asforming a chronological link between a normal hymn and the aretalogy," .1 7but, what isapparently his main reason for this state-mentthat is,that "the aretalogies of comparable date havethe fullydeveloped I-formula"doesnotseemtohold,sincethearetalogyofMaronea,whichis probably older than those of Andros and Kyme'X (the two mentioned byfraser), Epilogue 139 isnot expressedintheI-formula,but inthesecond- and third-personstyle.Re-ferring to Isidorus' "new ten-line 39polyonymus [sic]or myrionymus lsic](many-name)section inwhich he equates his goddess to allgreat goddesses andclaims allaremerelyformsof her whomhecalls'the One,'"Vanderlipmentionsthat Harder considers this section "traditionally Egyptian," 40and that van Groningen "gives several close parallels from Egyptian hymns of praise." 41This is,to a large extent, correct. When, however, on the basis of this and some other veryinsuffi-cient"evidence,"shestatesthattheM-textinitsoriginis"atranslationfrom another language,"which would "tend to substantiateHarder'stheorythatthe prototypewasan Egyptiantext," 42sherepeatsasheerhypothesisunacceptahle intheforminwhichshepresentedit.B.A.vanGroningenindeedreferred 'il to some Egyptianparallels inwhichagod or goddessisequated withanumher of deities or associated with various cult places where they manifest themselves in di-verse formsor aspects;forinstance, he mentions an example fromthe "Myth of theEyeof the Sun,"inwhichNekhbet, Mut, and especiallyHathor,associated with their cult places, are only the manifestations of Tefenet (Tefnut), the daugh-ter of the sun-god; 44van Groningen alsorefersto the Great Hymn to Osiris,41 in whichthis god inhismany names and different aspectsissaid tobeworshipped inhischief cult centers,beginning with BusirisinLowerEgyptand ending with Abydos inUpper Egypt. Closer to the times of the aretalogies isvanGroningen's reference to the Hathor of Dendera,46 in which this goddess "who residesinDcn-dera" isAmunet (thefemaleAmun)in Thebes, Menbyt inHeliopolis,Renpet in Memphis,Ruler inAbydos,Seshat inHermopolis,BastetinBubastis,Neithin Sais,andsoon.One immediatelyrealizesthat,withtheexceptionof theGreat Hymn toOsiris,thesereferencescitedbyvanGroningenareconsiderablylater than the hymns to Isis at Philae. In the commentary to Hymn VII, I have also men-tioned some other hymns, such asthe litany or hymn of "Victorious Thebes"to Amun and ahymn toHathor fromthePapyrusBremner-Rhind of asomewhat earlier date than Hymn VII(see chap. 7, Commentary, sec.2),whichcouldhave beenknowntothe priestlypoet at Philae.How theancient compilers,authors, andeditorsproceededwhentheywerepreparingnewhymnstotheirfavorite deitiesislittleknown;templelibrariesandarchivesmusthavebeenimpor-tant centers of literary activitiesintransmitting the old textsand adapting them tonewrequirements.But wedoknow now that,about themiddleof thethird centuryB.C.,therestoodengravedonthewallsof theTempleofIsisatPhilae hymnsaddressed tothisgoddess,and that papyrus copiesof thesehymnsmust havebeenkept inthetemplelibrary.Thus,ifoneissearchingforanEgyptian source that might have influenced or inspired Isidorus when composing the "poly-onymous section" of his hymnI, one may include, among other possihilities, the textofHymnVIIatPhilae,accessibleinoneformoranothertohimand(or through)an Egyptian Isiac theologian or interpreter whom hecould havemet in theFayyumor anywhereelse.So,too,HymnIVat Philae,whichspeaksof the roleofIsisintheinundationoftheNileandinprovidingsustenanceforthe people, may have influenced lines10- I3 of Isidorus' hymn 1. The association of Isiswithsomeprominent cult centersand her assimilationtotheleadingEgyp-tiangoddesseswhichthepoetofHymnVIIatPhilaemayhimselfhavepat-140HymnstoIsisinHerTempleat Philae ternedonolderEgyptianhymnsof thesame or comparabletenorcouldwell havestimulatedIsidorusinhiselaborationandextensionofIsis'epithetsand functions;interminglingthesewiththeidentificationofIsiswithDemeterand other Greek as well as Near Eastern goddesses, he also added some purely Greek features to his composition and gave it a Greek poetic and quasi-epic form. Thus he succeeded in representing Isisasa universal and provident goddess, appealing toboth the localpopulation of the Fayyum and the Greek visitorsfromabroad. AsfarastheEgyptianinfluenceonlsidorus'hymn 1isconcerned,Vanderlip's statementthat"wecanconcludethatIsidorus'polyonymus[sic]sectionwas influenceddirectlyby Egyptian hymns, possiblytemple-hymns," \1maybedose tothetruth,although,understandably,shecouldnotproveit.AsHerodotus (II,176)mentioned, there was veryprobablyatemple ofIsisatMemphis,' x but we do not know of any hymns to Isisfrom there.Nor do weknow of any hymns fromthe"Iseum,"thefamoustemple of Isisat Behbeit El-HagarintheDelta,'" which, though in astate of total collapse, asfar asmy own inspectionand those ofothershavebeenabletodetermine,isnotlikelytoyieldanyhymnsifthe templeissomedayreerected.Thus,inthepresentstateof ourknowledge,we maybejustified inassuming that theEgyptianinfluencethat mayhavebeenex-erted on Isidorus' hymns came fromthe south, fromPhilaethis is,however, no morethanahypothesis.WhatEgyptiantextortextstrulywerehissourceof inspiration we may never know. 2.The aretalogy of Kyme,the only complete versionof theM-text )l'andthus thestandardforstudy purposes,willbecompared laterinsomedetailwiththe phraseology of thehymns toIsisat Philae;herethe translationandafewnotes will suffice.After a brief introduction, in which we are told that "this was copied fromthestelainMemphisthatstandsbeforethetempleofHephaestus,"the aretalogyfollows: pI am Isis,theruler of every land 3 band I was taught by Hermes, and with HermesI devised letters,both the sacred and the demotic, that allmight not bewrittenwiththesame. 4I gavelawsto mankind and ordained what noone canchange. 5I am the eldest daughter of Kronos. 6I am the wifeand sister of KingOsiris. 7I am the one who discovered corn formankind. 8I am themother of King Horus. 9I am the one who risesintheDog-star. 10I am the one called goddess(theos)bywomen. 11For me wasbuilt the city of Bubastis. 12I separated the earth fromthe Heaven. 13I showed the paths of the stars.51 14I regulatedthe course of the sun and the moon. 15I devisedthe activitiesof seamanship. S2 16I made what isright strong. 17I brought together woman and man. Epilogue I4 I 18I assignedto womentobring intolight their infantsinthetenthl11onth. 19I ordained that parents should belovedby children. 20Iimposedpunishmentuponthoseunkindlydisposedtoward(their ) parents. 21I withmybrother Osirisput anend to cannibalism. 22I taught men the initiation intomysteries. 23I instructed (them)to revereimages of thegods. 24I established the temples(lit.sacred precincts,temene)of the gods. 25I abolished the rulesof the tyrants. 26Iput an end to murders. 27I compelled women tobe lovedby men. 28I made the right stronger than goldand silver. 29I ordained that the true should be considered good. 30I devisedmarriage contracts. 3 II assignedto Greeksand barbarians(their)languages. 32I made the good and the bad to be distinguishedbynature. 33I madethat nothing should bemore fearfulthan an oath. 34I havedeliveredhimwhounjustlyplots against othersintothehands of the one against whom he plotted.53 35I imposeretribution upon those who doinjustice. 36I decreedthat mercy be shown to suppliants. 37I honor those who justly defend themselves. 38With me the right has power. 39I am themistressof riversand windsand sea. 40No one ishonored without my consent (gnome). 4 II am the Mistress of war. 42I am the Mistress of the thunderbolt. 43I calm the sea and make it surge. 44I am inthe rays of the sun. 45I attend the sun initsjourney. 46What I decree,that isalsoaccomplished. 47Allyieldtome. 48I set freethose who are in bonds. 49I amtheMistress of seamanship. 50I make the navigable unnavigable, whenever I so decide. 5 II foundedenclosure-walls of the cities. 52I am called the Lawgiver(thesmophoros). 53Ibrought up islands out of the depths into the light. 54I am the Mistress of rain. 55I conquer Destiny. 56Destinyobeysme.54 57Hail,0Egypt,that nourishedme. 3.The aretalogy of Maronea 55is a composition inprose oratoire, comparable toahymne enprose,asY.Grandjeanputit. 56Intheintroductiontheauthor asks Isisto help him compose an encomium, or a eulogy, 17inher honor, ingrati-HymnstoIsisinHerTemple at Philae tude for her miraculous healing of his eyes.58 In contrast to the sequence of praises of the goddessasitisfoundinsomemoretraditionalaretalogies,hebeginshis eulogybydescribing the origin of the goddess (apxiJV TiJv 7TPWTYJV(rov TOVyi-:- ll.14-15) and continues: Earth,theysay,isthemother of all,fromherwhowasfirst(to be)you wereborn(asher)daughter. YoutookSerapisas(your)companion,andafteryou(thus)in-stitutedlegitimate theworldshoneoutbeforeyour faces,illuminated byHeliosand Selene.60 Thusyouaretwo,and(yet)youarecalledthemanybymen; Lifeindeedknows youalone to be the gods.6 1 How would it not be hard to master the subject of a eulogy when onemust begin the praise by(first)recallingmanygods? 6! WithHermesshediscoveredwritings,thesacredonesofthese fortheinitiated,andthedemotic forall(others). 6! Sheestablished Justice,sothat eachone of us,just as