Ibis-headed Nephthys at Denderah
Aug. 31st, 2010 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ikhet_sekhmetOhyes! I have found her:
That's from the New York Public Library's rich and marvellous Digital Gallery: it's a scan of the relevant page of Mariette's Dendérah. You can zoom in on the image, as I have here, and get more info under "Image Details" at the bottom.
The goddess appears in the 2nd room of the north Chapel of Osiris. I think the caption says: "Words spoken by Nephthys, sister of the god", and thenpossibly "mortuary-priest of the gods"? Cauville has: "she 'embraces the divine relic in her arms'." (vol 118, p 170)
Nephthys is sometimes identified with Seshat, as in Pyramid Text 616: "Nephthys has collected all your members for you in this her name of Seshat, Lady of Builders." Seshat is in turn often portrayed with Thoth. So I wonder if the ibis head is a way of showing this aspect of Nephthys: she's an architect, rebuilding Osiris' body like a house.
(This is exactly the kind of thing I get a bee in my bonnet about, and then can't stop until I've tracked it down. %) Only one other ibis-headed goddess has popped up in my searches, at Kom Ombo - if she's for real, I haven't got anywhere near her. (ETA: Of course, what set me off on the search in the first place is the possibly female Thoth at Hibis - an enthroned, falcon-headed figure which Cruz-Uribe (p 6) takes to be female.)
ETA: Here's that possible sighting of a female Thoth, from Hibis III, with Isis and Nephthys sitting behind her or him for comparison:
Here's the whole entry from Hibis I: "'Thoth-..., great one in the sanctuary, daughter of Nut.' El-Banna, BIFAO 85 (1985): 163, no. 2, reads Dḥwty Ḥr '3 m ḥwr-'3, apparently taking this as a male figure. Collation gives no clues for the sign after the quail chick. The next sign if a falcon which I take as he determinative of the goddess. 'Daughter' is written s3. Female, falcon-headed figure seated on throne. Davies, Hibis III, p. 5, took as a male figure. A female 'Thoth' is not known to this author. The line at the ankles for the bottom of her dress is not on the drawing."
__
Cauville, Sylvie. Le temple de Dendara: les chapelles osiriennes. Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1997.
Cruz-Uribe, Eugene. Hibis temple project, Vol 1: Translations, commentary, discussions and sign list. San Antonio, Texas, Van Siclen Books, 1988.
Davies, Norman de Garis. The Temple of Hibis in El Khārgeh oasis, pt.3. The decoration. Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition, New York, 1953.
Mariette, Auguste. Dendérah: description générale du grand temple de cette ville. Paris, A. Franck [and F. Vieweg], 1870-1880.
That's from the New York Public Library's rich and marvellous Digital Gallery: it's a scan of the relevant page of Mariette's Dendérah. You can zoom in on the image, as I have here, and get more info under "Image Details" at the bottom.
The goddess appears in the 2nd room of the north Chapel of Osiris. I think the caption says: "Words spoken by Nephthys, sister of the god", and then
Nephthys is sometimes identified with Seshat, as in Pyramid Text 616: "Nephthys has collected all your members for you in this her name of Seshat, Lady of Builders." Seshat is in turn often portrayed with Thoth. So I wonder if the ibis head is a way of showing this aspect of Nephthys: she's an architect, rebuilding Osiris' body like a house.
(This is exactly the kind of thing I get a bee in my bonnet about, and then can't stop until I've tracked it down. %) Only one other ibis-headed goddess has popped up in my searches, at Kom Ombo - if she's for real, I haven't got anywhere near her. (ETA: Of course, what set me off on the search in the first place is the possibly female Thoth at Hibis - an enthroned, falcon-headed figure which Cruz-Uribe (p 6) takes to be female.)
ETA: Here's that possible sighting of a female Thoth, from Hibis III, with Isis and Nephthys sitting behind her or him for comparison:
Here's the whole entry from Hibis I: "'Thoth-..., great one in the sanctuary, daughter of Nut.' El-Banna, BIFAO 85 (1985): 163, no. 2, reads Dḥwty Ḥr '3 m ḥwr-'3, apparently taking this as a male figure. Collation gives no clues for the sign after the quail chick. The next sign if a falcon which I take as he determinative of the goddess. 'Daughter' is written s3. Female, falcon-headed figure seated on throne. Davies, Hibis III, p. 5, took as a male figure. A female 'Thoth' is not known to this author. The line at the ankles for the bottom of her dress is not on the drawing."
__
Cauville, Sylvie. Le temple de Dendara: les chapelles osiriennes. Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1997.
Cruz-Uribe, Eugene. Hibis temple project, Vol 1: Translations, commentary, discussions and sign list. San Antonio, Texas, Van Siclen Books, 1988.
Davies, Norman de Garis. The Temple of Hibis in El Khārgeh oasis, pt.3. The decoration. Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition, New York, 1953.
Mariette, Auguste. Dendérah: description générale du grand temple de cette ville. Paris, A. Franck [and F. Vieweg], 1870-1880.
