Egypt Exploration Society

The Ḥeb-Sed Robe and the 'Ceremonial Robe' of Tut'ankhamūnAuthor(s): John LarsonSource: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 67 (1981), pp. 180-181Published by: Egypt Exploration SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3856619 .

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The Heb-sed robe and the 'ceremonial robe' of Tutankhamiin

IN JEA 55 (I969), 74, figs. i and 2, Cyril Aldred published a statue-fragment of a king, formerly in the magazines of the Luxor temple, which he suggests should be dated to the reign of Amenophis III. This sadly damaged statue is noteworthy because the surviving piece features an unusual knee-

length garment, which Aldred identifies with the Heb-sed robe.' y >o o ~~I should like to suggest a probable identification of the materials

>))YXOY/ ^^/ ~ which comprise the decoration of this garment as well as an alternative occasion for its use.

,Z? y'ZO,Y The decoration of the garment on the Luxor fragment consists

og,<< O%^4:OY ( of a repeated pattern of diamond shapes, or rhomboids, each inset

y/O,Y + y<OY >/ with a smaller lozenge of the same form. The larger diamonds AO\%O@/^^< O , are delineated by a network of parallel lines. The diagonals from

I/O\Y//x>,yOY lower left to upper right are unbroken stripes; the diagonals from upper left to lower right are a series of short segments broken at

t O c,(X /C'q ' regular intervals by the continuous double lines described above. There is no differentiated border at the hem. The pattern simply

FIG. i. The Luxor fragment (after Aldred, YEA 55 (I969), fig. 2) terminates at the lower edge of the garment where the carving

switches from the vertical plane to the horizontal. British Museum 37996, an ivory statuette of a king wearing the white crown, found at Abydos and dated to the Archaic Period, provides another example of this knee-length garment, with a diamond pattern in raised relief.2

A painted representation of this costume, firmly dated to the reign of Amenophis III, occurs in the tomb of Surer, Theban Tomb n. 48, on the right side of the left back wall in the First Hall.3 The seated figure of Amenophis III wears a close-fitting robe which envelops his body down to the knees. The fabric of the garment is decorated with a pattern of blue diamonds, each of which contains a smaller red diamond.4 That the pattern consists of diamonds rather than squares can be seen clearly in the part of the garment which stretches across the torso of the king The costume is complemented by an item describe as 'a sporran( ?)' which 'protrudes from the lap of the king, marked and coloured like the tail of a bird'.4 In referring to this scene, Save-S6derbergh expresses doubts that the event which is depicted here is one of the jubilees of Amenophis III.6 Though the Luxor fragment appar- ently does not preserve any colour, the painted figure from the tomb of Surer indicates that the incised lines and the lozenges probably represent elements of the garment that were of different colours.

The so-called 'coronation pectoral' from the tomb of Tut<ankhamuin offers yet another parallel for this knee-length garment of the king.7 The figure of the young king is shown standing between enthroned images of Sekhmet and Ptah.8 The diminutive size of the figure (approx. 7 cm) prohibited a more detailed working of the pattern of the king's garment, so a simplified network of gold and lapis-lazuli-coloured glass was employed by the jeweller to represent the diamond pattern. The featherwork noted on the costume of Amenophis III in the tomb of Surer is here represented by an

I See also E. Hornung and Elisabeth Staehelin, Studien zum Sedfest (Aegyptiaca Helvetica I (I974)), 75. 2 S. R. K. Glanville, JEA 17 (193I), 65-6, pl. ix, and especially fig. 2, p. 65. 3 PM I, i, 2nd edn., 90 (48), plan, 4. 4 Siive-S6derbergh, Four Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs (Private Tombs at Thebes i), 38. 5 Op. cit. pl. xxxi. 6 Op. cit. 36 n. 5. 7 Helen Murray and Mary Nuttall, A Handlist to Howard Carter's Catalogue of Objects in Tutrankhamuzn's

Tomb (Tutcankhamuin's Tomb Series I), 267 q. 8 C. Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs, pl. 99.

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imbricated 'rishi' design of turquoise, red, and dark-blue glass which forms a projection from the lower front of the ceremonial robe.

Since it has been established that Tutcankhamiun was a child at the time of his accession, and no one would suggest that he lived to celebrate a Heb-sed, it must be assumed that this garment is also associated with some other occasion, such as the king's coronation.' The similarity of this ceremonial robe to the Heb-sed robe is striking and certainly not unexpected, since the Heb-sed, with its

rejuvenating significance, must have commemorated at some point the king's coronation with its associated paraphernalia.2

A 'ceremonial robe' of Tutcankhamun (Handlist, 2id) may be an extant example of this type of

garment, which was worn by the kings of Egypt at some point during both their coronation, and their

jubilee celebrations.3 The network pattern of blue and green faience beads on the Tutankhamn robe illustrates rather nicely the double parallel incised lines on the Luxor statue-fragment and the raised relief diamonds on the Abydos ivory statuette. Tutankhamiin's gold sequins are represented by the smaller inset lozenge shapes in the other examples. A quick check of Carter's Handlist and itis index has failed to turn up any reference to the survival of te featherwork component to this costume. Carter was clearly of the opinion that this ceremonial robe and the other garments found in Tutankhamiin's 'painted box' (Handlist, 2) were those of a child, and were probably worn by the

king after his accession.4 The incised pattern shown on knee-length garments of the king, thought to represent either coro-

nation or Heb-sed robes, probably represent beadwork patterns sewn on to the fabric of the garment, an example of which has survived among the objects found in the tomb of Tut'ankhamin. In the light of this information, the Luxor fragment believed by Aldred to represent a Heb-sed statue of Ameno-

phis III could as easily be a coronation figure of Tutcankhamiin, who contributed to the decoration of the Luxor temple only a generation later than his ancestor. There is certainly not enough remaining to decide between the two. JOHN LARSON

'Love' in the love songs MRWT in the Egyptian love songs may designate not only the emotion of love but also the beloved

person. In many cases it is difficult to know whether mrwt bears a concrete or an abstract sense, but sometimes the concrete sense, 'beloved', is clearly intended.

In the Cairo love songs5 te youth wishes he were his beloved's seal-ring: 'I would see ty'-s mrwt

(°o^<==^ fi8) her love [= her] every day' (1. 2I). The female determinative as well as the meaning of the sentence point to the concrete meaning here. Similarly t;y-s mrwt (te- ) i-didi rwd'i should be translated: 'It is her love [= the beloved one] that makes me steadfast' (1. I3). In 1. i the female determinative is lacking but the concrete sense fits well: mrwt (^ ei ) n snt hr tf; hr rwi, 'My sister's love [= my beloved sister] is over there, on the other side' (sc. of the river). In P. Harris 500, 7, 5,6 the girl says, iw i hn kwi n-k r [thus read, for n] mn t;y'k mrwt (m z eSA), 'I have come near you to see your love [= you]'. In this text d (not distinguished from Z) is used so freely that the presence of this determinative does not have much weight in deciding the sense of

I Op. cit. pl. 99 and p. 220, nos. 99, I00. 2 C. Aldred, YEA 55 (I969), 75-6. 3 H. Carter and A. C. Mace, The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen Discovered by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and

Howard Carter, I, pl. xxxiv a and b. 4 Op. cit. 171. 5 G. Posener, FIFAO I8 (1972), pls. 75-9 (I266+Cairo Cat. 252I8). 6 W. M. Muller, Die Liebespoesie der alten Aegypter (Leipzig, I899), pls. 2-I5.

imbricated 'rishi' design of turquoise, red, and dark-blue glass which forms a projection from the lower front of the ceremonial robe.

Since it has been established that Tutcankhamiun was a child at the time of his accession, and no one would suggest that he lived to celebrate a Heb-sed, it must be assumed that this garment is also associated with some other occasion, such as the king's coronation.' The similarity of this ceremonial robe to the Heb-sed robe is striking and certainly not unexpected, since the Heb-sed, with its

rejuvenating significance, must have commemorated at some point the king's coronation with its associated paraphernalia.2

A 'ceremonial robe' of Tutcankhamun (Handlist, 2id) may be an extant example of this type of

garment, which was worn by the kings of Egypt at some point during both their coronation, and their

jubilee celebrations.3 The network pattern of blue and green faience beads on the Tutankhamn robe illustrates rather nicely the double parallel incised lines on the Luxor statue-fragment and the raised relief diamonds on the Abydos ivory statuette. Tutankhamiin's gold sequins are represented by the smaller inset lozenge shapes in the other examples. A quick check of Carter's Handlist and itis index has failed to turn up any reference to the survival of te featherwork component to this costume. Carter was clearly of the opinion that this ceremonial robe and the other garments found in Tutankhamiin's 'painted box' (Handlist, 2) were those of a child, and were probably worn by the

king after his accession.4 The incised pattern shown on knee-length garments of the king, thought to represent either coro-

nation or Heb-sed robes, probably represent beadwork patterns sewn on to the fabric of the garment, an example of which has survived among the objects found in the tomb of Tut'ankhamin. In the light of this information, the Luxor fragment believed by Aldred to represent a Heb-sed statue of Ameno-

phis III could as easily be a coronation figure of Tutcankhamiin, who contributed to the decoration of the Luxor temple only a generation later than his ancestor. There is certainly not enough remaining to decide between the two. JOHN LARSON

'Love' in the love songs MRWT in the Egyptian love songs may designate not only the emotion of love but also the beloved

person. In many cases it is difficult to know whether mrwt bears a concrete or an abstract sense, but sometimes the concrete sense, 'beloved', is clearly intended.

In the Cairo love songs5 te youth wishes he were his beloved's seal-ring: 'I would see ty'-s mrwt

(°o^<==^ fi8) her love [= her] every day' (1. 2I). The female determinative as well as the meaning of the sentence point to the concrete meaning here. Similarly t;y-s mrwt (te- ) i-didi rwd'i should be translated: 'It is her love [= the beloved one] that makes me steadfast' (1. I3). In 1. i the female determinative is lacking but the concrete sense fits well: mrwt (^ ei ) n snt hr tf; hr rwi, 'My sister's love [= my beloved sister] is over there, on the other side' (sc. of the river). In P. Harris 500, 7, 5,6 the girl says, iw i hn kwi n-k r [thus read, for n] mn t;y'k mrwt (m z eSA), 'I have come near you to see your love [= you]'. In this text d (not distinguished from Z) is used so freely that the presence of this determinative does not have much weight in deciding the sense of

I Op. cit. pl. 99 and p. 220, nos. 99, I00. 2 C. Aldred, YEA 55 (I969), 75-6. 3 H. Carter and A. C. Mace, The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen Discovered by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and

Howard Carter, I, pl. xxxiv a and b. 4 Op. cit. 171. 5 G. Posener, FIFAO I8 (1972), pls. 75-9 (I266+Cairo Cat. 252I8). 6 W. M. Muller, Die Liebespoesie der alten Aegypter (Leipzig, I899), pls. 2-I5.

i8i i8i

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