4517

1

WATANI English Section6 July 2003Writer: Erian / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 837 + 224 = 1061

History of the Egyptian PeopleSomething missing

At first glance, the history of Egypt appears to be a very well known andthoroughly researched topic. Yet on closer look, something seemsmissing. What is mostly accessible and widely covered is the history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The Egyptian people themselves get very littlecoverage. With this in mind, +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+, writer and avidscholar of Egyptology, proposed writing to ++Watani++ a series ofarticles that would focus on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the ‘official’ history of the rulers.This ‘people’s history’ will be recorded by tracing the ancientinscriptions on the walls of the temples and tombs. These inscriptionsoffer a wealth of information on the everyday life of the ancientEgyptians, wise sayings and proverbs, mythology—the science of thepre-science period, parents’ advice to their children, and so on.

The following is hence the first of a series which ++Watani++ will startprinting the first Sunday of every month. Mr Hanna begins by tracing theorigin of the people—he will show, through the slate stela of Narmer thatEgyptians are of both Hamite and Shemite origin—then, in followingarticles, will trace the beginnings and consequent development of thesepeople’s thought, religion, values, and traditions. In short, how theyfinally came to be what they are today: the modern-day Egyptians.

Tracing the rootsErian Labib Hanna

2

Like all nations that trace back their roots to ancient times, Egyptians canstudy the chain linking them back to their glorious past and learn aboutone of the world’s first great civilisations. In order to present a clearpicture of this past, I propose to start the first with Egyptology, then goon to Coptology, which covers the Christian era, and finally the Arabicperiod when the inhabitants of the Nile Valley adopted Arabic as theirlanguage.Readers are welcome to contribute any information or opinion on thistopic. In this way, we will write our history together, to give theupcoming generation a clearer picture of our fathers and forefathers.

+Pictorial record+The slate stela of Narmer refers to the unification of the two parts of thecountry—the south and the north. It also refers to our race, which is amixture of Hamite, from the south, and Shemite, which spread fromancient Syria to the Delta. The stela is usually regarded ascommemorating the victory of the southern king over the north, and theunification of the two lands under one ruler.Since Narmer appears here as king of both Upper and Lower Egypt, hehas been recognised as the semi-legendary Menes, the first Pharaoh (3200BC).

+Red and Black lands+The illustrations on the stela refer to some known facts.Narmer—depicted clubbing a submissive enemy—came from the southsice he is wearing the white crown, the ++hedjet++, which was to becomethe emblematic headgear of the Pharaoh as king of Upper Egypt or the‘Red Land’. After his victory he is shown wearing the ++deshret++, thered crown of the Delta or ‘Black Land’. He is preceded by his priest andfour standard-bearers carrying fetishes; his sandal bearer and the footwasher bring up the rear of the procession which is inspecting rows ofcorpses whose bound arms and severed heads proclaim them to be nativerebels.The central register of this highly organised design shows a circulardepression around which are disposed two serpo-padres and theirattendants.At the bottom of the stela the Pharaoh, depicted as a strong bull, breaksdown a township with a larger palace or temple and smaller houseswithin, and tramples upon a foreign rebel, probably a Libyan.The Pharaoh’s name is flanked by heads of Hathor, or possibly Bat, aprimaeval cow and mother goddess, at whose shrine this stela wasprobably dedicated.

3

+Mixed race+We know more about the race of the dwellers in the south from studyingthe face of Narmer. His features prove he was a Hamite, similar incountenance to the people of East Africa; whereas the appearance of thesubmissive king—the king of the North (the Delta)—shows that he isShemite, most probably originally from the country adjacent to the Eastof Egypt, ancient Syria. So we can reasonably conclude that the ancientEgyptians were a mixture of both races.

+ Sources of ancient Egyptian history+In the fifth century BC, the Greek historians Herodotus and Diodorusbegan writing their histories of Egypt. Their works were revised andcompleted by the Egyptian priest Manetho (323 - 245BC), who livedunder the first two Ptolomies. This great man wrote a chronicle of theEgyptian Pharaohs, dividing their history into 31 dynasties or royalfamilies from the time of Menes (c. 3200BC) until the reign of Alexanderthe Great (332BC). His works were partly preserved in the writings ofsome later historians, such as Josephus (70AD), Africanus (third centuryAD), Eusebus (fourth century AD), and much later by George the monk,known as Synecellus (eighth-ninth century AD). Temple records, kinglists and annals, tomb biographies of high officials, and letters from allperiods provided very valuable information for the understanding ofancient Egyptian history.

+The Chronicles+In the earlier periods, important events were recorded each year; later on,royal annals or chronicles were fully registered. Some of the morefamous king lists were as follows:• The so-called Palermo stone, the main piece of which is preserved in

Palermo Museum, with another piece in Cairo, dates back to the timeof the fifth dynasty. It contains royal annals of rulers from thepredynastic era (before the union of Upper and Lower Egypt) to themiddle of the fifth dynasty. Each year of a Pharaoh’s reign was givena title for identification, such as ‘the year of the smiting of theNortherners’, or references to the height of the inundation, religiousfeasts, victories over foreign powers, quarrying expeditions, buildingprojects or other important events.

• The Turin canon, a papyrus written in hieratic script in the reign ofRamses II.

• The Abydos king list, registered on the wall of the Ancestors' Hall ofthe temple of Seti I and Ramses II at Abydos.

• The Saqqara king list, featuring about 50 names of ancestors honouredby Ramses II, and now in the Egyptian Museum.

4

• The Karnak king list, dating from the time of Tuthmosis III (1490 –1436BC).

1

WATANI English Section3 August 2003Writer: Erian Hanna / copy editor: Samia/JennyWord count: 146 + 772

Tracing the people’s history

+++In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionally arisesover their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt. Thefirst episode of the series—compiled by +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+—wasprinted four weeks ago, and demonstrated—through the slate stela ofNarmer—that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite andShemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ established themselves on theNile banks and settled down to an agricultural life, it was natural that theyshould look around and try to understand their universe. In the presentepisode, Mr Hanna today looks at how the faith and beliefs of these peoplewas formed.+++

Understanding the universe

The spirit and the intellectErian Labib Hanna

In order to trace the roots of the ancient Egyptian religion to see if itemanated from the immediate environment or from peoples beyond theborders of Egypt, the story of creation as presented by the theologicalschools of Memphis, Heliopolis and other religious centres must beinvestigated.

+Settled life+

2

Before discussing the religion in detail, I would like to mention some placenames that reflect the way of life at the time. After the change from huntingto farming, people settled down in certain locations which later lent theirnames to prehistoric civilisations such as Deir Tasa, Fayoum al-Merimada,al-Badari al-Amra, al-Gerza and Naqada. From the material remains of thisfirst phase of prehistoric culture we are able to build up a picture of the earlyEgyptians. We can see how they gradually adapted to a settled agriculturalway of life which, at the end of the period towards 3600 BC, can havediffered little from the culture of the pagan tribes of the Upper Nile today.

+The hereafter+We will never know much about the intellectual and spiritual life of theseearly dwellers on the Nile. That they believed in a kind of hereafter for atleast some members of the community is evident from the many burials thathave been found on hut sites and in later cemeteries. The body is usuallycrouched on its side as through in sleep—waiting to wake up.

+The sun and the river+The sun and the river, which together were—for Egyptians—the dominatingcause of all existence, made a profound impression. They were two naturalforces with both creative and destruction powers. The life-giving rays of thesun that caused the crops to grow also caused them to shrivel and die. Theriver which invigorated the soil with its life-giving silt could destroywhatever lay in its path or, if it failed to rise sufficiently, bring famine. Thesun and the river, moreover, shared in the pattern of death and rebirth. Thesun died when it sank on the western horizon, only to be reborn in theeastern sky on the following morning. And the death of the land followed bythe germination or rebirth of the crops each year was directly connected withthe river’s annual flood. Rebirth was therefore a central feature of Egyptianscience. It was a natural sequence of death, and undoubtedly lay at the rootof the ancient Egyptian conviction of life after death.

+Creating himself+Some of the earliest myths tell of a time when Nun, the eternal ocean, filledthe universe. When the water subsided, much as the Nile flood subsidedeach year, it left pools and streams swarming with life. A primaeval hillappeared, and it was on this hill—according to the Heliopolis doctrine—thatAtum-Ra created himself out of himself. Atum was the creator who hadexisted at all time; Ra was the sun god. Atum-Ra was therefore both the sun

3

and the creator, who was believed to sail across the heavens each day in abarge not unlike the papyrus boats that travelled up and down the Nile.

+Heaven and earth+Atum-Ra had four children, all of whom he drew from himself. They wereShu and Tefnut, the gods of air and moisture, and Geb and Nut, the god ofthe earth and the goddess of the sky. Geb and Nut were at first bakedtogether as one, but on the sun god’s orders Shu, the atmosphere, camebetween them. He lifted the sky goddess to the heavens, leaving the Earthgod prone on the ground. Thus was described the watery void and theprimaeval hill, the separation of heaven and earth. When the sun god crossedthe heavens and cast his rays upon the earth, there was light. And when heentered the underworld at night there was darkness, and so he delegated hispower to Thoth, the moon good.

+Good and evil+Nut the sky goddess and Geb the earth god had four children. These were thefour gods of the nature cult: Osiris, Isis, Set and Nepthys. The HeliopolitanDoctrine, also called the Ennead (Nine Gods) therefore comprised the+Solar cult+—Atum-Ra, Shu (air), Tefnut (moisture), Geb (Earth) and Nut(sky), and the +Nature cult+—Geb(earth) and Nut(sky), Osiris, Isis, Set,and Nepthys. Osiris and Isis had a son, Horus. The myths has it that thestruggle between good and evil is demonstrated by the assassination ofOsiris by his jealous brother Set, and how Horus avenged the death of hisfather. The name Horus was later bestowed as one of the titles of the rulingPharaoh.

1

WATANI English Section7 September 2003Writer: Erian Hanna / copy editor: Samia/JennyWord count: 856 + 215


+++In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionally arisesover their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt. Thefirst episode of the series—compiled by +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancient Egyptianswere a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile and settleddown to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should look aroundand try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and the RiverNile, both of which dominated their environment and their very existence,and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’,were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritual andintellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—based inprinciple upon the conflict between good and evil and the concept of anafterlife—emerged. In this episode, Mr Hanna looks at how the Egyptiansprepared for the afterlife, and how commoners claimed their right toimmortality just as their rulers did.+++

The builders of the pyramidsErian labib Hanna

The guide to the Egyptian museum gives a brief outline of the ancientDynasties as follows:

2

The Early Dynastic Period: c. 3200 BCOld Kingdom: Third Dynasty: c. 2780 BC Fourth Dynasty: c. 2720 BC Sixth Dynasty: c. 2420 BCFirst Intermediate Period c. 2250 BCMiddle Kingdom (11th–13th dynasties: c. 2140-1785 BC)Second intermediate period: c.1785-1580 BCNew Kingdom: c.1580-1084 BC 26th Dynasty: 596 BCPersian conquest: 525 BCAlexander the Great: 332 BC

+The Old Kingdom+The achievement of the civilisation of the Old Kingdom has to be assesedfrom the funerary monuments around the great sites near Memphis—thearchitecture and sculpture that have survived in a ruinous condition at thecemeteries near Giza, Saqqara, Abu-Sir and Dahshur. The Step Pyramid atSaqqara is the first pyramid whose genius architect is Imhotep. At Dahshurand at Maidum, unusual shapes appeared amongst the pyramid erected. ThePyramid of Maidum, c.2630 BC, apparently stands upon a conical hill. TheBent Pyramid of Dahshur, c. 2000 BC, stands on the eastern edge of thedesert plateau. The Northern Pyramid at Dahshur is the first true pyramid,with its slope rising at a great angle of 43˚36'. Both pyramids were built bySeneferu, founder of the Fourth Dynasty. His son Cheops, or Khufu, builtone of the seven wonders of the ancient world—the Great Pyramid at Giza.

+Mighty monument+The climax of this development came early, with the building of thatpyramid. The vizier Hemon, a cousin of Cheops, was the Pharaoh’s Masterof Works and evidently responsible for this mighty monument, which wasbuilt to an astonishing degree of accuracy by the simplest of means. Theimpressive statue of Hemon from his tomb at Giza gives a brilliant portraitof this resourceful architect and engineer. Well over two million large blocksof limestone (about 2,300,00 blocks) were used in the construction of thepyramid, some of them weighing as much as 15 tons. The stone for the corewas hewn on the spot, but the facing blocks were of finer limestone andwere quarried at Tura on the other side of the river. The three great pyramidsat Giza belonged to Kufu, Khafra and Menkara; their names given by theGreeks were Kheops (Cheops), Khephren (Chefren) and Mykernius. AtAbusir there are three pyramids built by the Pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty:Nefer- in- Ka-re, Weser-re and Sahu-re.

3

+The pyramid texts+In the pyramid of Wenis at Saqqara we find Pyramid texts which wereincreased in number and were known in the Middle Kingdom as thesarcophagus texts (or coffin texts). They increased further in number in theNew Kingdom, and were then known as the Book of the Dead. The walls ofthe burial chamber and the vestibule of the pyramid of Wenis are coveredwith hieroglyphs in the vertical columns filled in with blue paint.

+The civilisation of the Old Kingdom+In the earliest dynasties it would appear that the king ruled the whole ofEgypt as his private estate as late as the Fourth Dynasty. The palace with itsadjoining official buildings was the Great House (the Per-as) whence theHebrew 'Pharaoh', a circumlocution later used for the king himself. Thegovernment of the country was conducted by chosen officials to whom theroyal authority had been delegated. Many of them were sons or nearrelatives of the Pharaoh, who sponsored their upbringing and education,granted them property during their lifetime and saw to the provision of theirtombs or funerary endowments after death. This highly centralised statebegan gradually to split up from the later years of the Fourth Dynasty, whenthe provinicial governorships and other offices came to be regarded ashereditary appointments. The resources of the state treasury were eroded bygifts of land, exemptions from taxation, often in perpetuity, and alienation ofincome or property, mostly for the benefit of the occupants of vast cities ofthe dead around the silent pyramids of their former rules. On the other hand,the provincial governors, now fast becoming feudal potentates, no longersought burial near the tomb of their overlord but made their own cemeteriesin the district capital, and clearly regarded themselves as little inferior to somany minor Pharaohs.

+The first revolution+Under the divine authority of the Pharaoh, Egypt during the Old Kingdomachieved a vigorous characteristic and self-assured culture, untroubled bydoubts and unfaltering in its belief that material success depended uponcompleting a practical education, doing right by the Pharaoh, respectingsuperiors, and exercising moderation in all things. By the end of the SixthDynasty people could no longer bear the tyranny of the feudal vassals—therulers of the provinces who acted as if they were Pharaohs. That was thesocial side of the revolution. The religious part was against the Pharaoh’sclaimed right of immortality. The people asked for their right in the afterlife.

4

The difference between the pyramids texts and the coffin texts isremarkable, and the victory of the popular religion (tjat of Osiris) over theofficial religion (of Ra), and that will be the topic of the next article.

1

WATANI English Section5 October 2003Writer: Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 885 + 235


+++In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionally arisesover their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt. Thefirst episode of the series—compiled by +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancient Egyptianswere a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile and settleddown to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should look aroundand try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and the RiverNile, both of which dominated their environment and their very existence,and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’,were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritual andintellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—based inprinciple upon the conflict between good and evil and the concept of anafterlife—emerged. Commoners claimed their right to immortality just astheir rulers did. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way tothe sarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later mutatedinto the Book of the Dead. In this episode, Mr Hanna describes the firstpopular revolution.+++

The First RevolutionErian Labib HannaPhoto courtesy of Thomas Foley

When pressure builds up inside a boiler, there is an eruption. That is

2

precisely what happened in Egypt at the close of the Old Kingdom. Thecommon people, suffering under a feudal system, found themselves deprivedof their right to resurrection in the afterlife, a privilege, or so it was ordainedin the pyramid texts, reserved only for the Pharaoh. The pyramid texts aremostly a collection of spells or magical incantations and chants, many ofwhich, although translated, are still somewhat obscure in meaning. Thepurpose of the texts was to secure the apotheosis of the Pharaoh and his wellbeing in the after lifeIt was believed that the magical potency of the inscribed word was sufficientto guarantee this afterlife. Many of the words used contained hieroglyphicsigns depicting humans or animals, and it was thought that a danger mightexist in having these potentially destructive elements so close to thedeceased in his tomb. Hence the scribe drew deliberately mutilated signswith, for example, amputated legs or arms in the case of humans, or else hesubstituted less harmful and inanimate signs for the dangerous ones.More than 700 spells are known, but in the pyramid of Wenis only 128 arerecorded.

+Blocked from view+In the poem entitled “The Admonitions of a Prophet” we are given moredetails about what happened in that popular revolution. The time at whichthis break-up of ordered government in Egypt is to be thought of as takingplace, is at the end of the Old Kingdom. At the conclusion of the SixthDynasty (circa 2500 BC) Egypt was abruptly blotted out of our sight, thesudden obscurity indicating that a great catastrophe overwhelmed thecountry.Furthermore, the few records passed down to us through the followingcenturies show that civilisation, formerly at such a high level,declined—exactly what one would expect from some of the contemporarydescriptions.The ruler whom the sage in the poem addresses is apparently an aged man,which is also perfectly in agreement with known facts. For the monarch withwhom the Old Kingdom disappears from the pages of history is none otherthan the second Phiops, who came to the throne at the age of six and who,according to Egyptian tradition, reigned for 93 years.

+Upheaval+The following extracts clarify what happened during the revolution.The first poem is concerned mainly with the general distress which signifiessocial disorder—robbery, murder, vandalism and famine. Officials are

3

expelled, the administration destroyed, foreign trade is at a standstill.Foreigners invade the country, and the rabble occupy the positions formerlyheld by the upper classes.

“A man goes to plough with his shield…Nay, but the Nile is in flood, yet noneploughs for him…“Nay, but poor men now possess fine things.He who once could not make sandals for himselfnow possesses riches…“Nay, but gold and lapis lazuli,silver and turquoise,carnelian, bronze and marble…are hung about the necks of slave-girls.“But noble ladies walk through the land,and mistresses of houses say,‘Would that we had something we might eat’…“Nay, but great and small say,‘I wish I were dead.’Little children say,‘He ought never to have caused me to live.’“Nay, but men feed on herbs and drink water.No fruit nor herbs any longer are found for the birds.”

The disasters described in the second poem far surpass those hithertocomplained of. Even the monarchy is now destroyed, and the masses arecompletely triumphant. It is pointed out over and over again how rich theyhave become, while the upper classes are sunk in misery.“Behold, the rich man sleeps thirty.He that once begged him for his dregsNow possesses strong beer.“Behold, the poor of the land have become rich;He that possessed something is now one that hath nothing.“Behold, noble ladies, great ladies,Who possessed goodly things;Their children are given to the beds.“Behold, he that had a lady to wife, her father protects him…Their cattle belong to plunderers”“Behold, a man is slain beside his brother.He leaves him in the lurch in order to rescue himself.”

4

From the third and fourth poems:

“The Delta weeps, the storehouse of the Pharaoh is for every one.”In the fifth poem the sage blames the Pharaoh, and laments over the fact thatmen desire to give birth. Strange to say, we find in the sixth poem adescription of the happy times the future holds in store. This shows theEgyptian’s optimistic side, the one who still expects his or her misery tocome to an end and who hopes for better days to come.

From the sixth poem:Here the poet Ipuwer repeats the words, “It is good.”“But it is good when ships sail upstream…”“But it is good when the net is drawn in and the birds are made fast.”“But it is good when rejoicing is in men’s mouths, and the magnates of thedistrict stand and look on at the jubilation in their houses, clad in fineraiment”

The next article will be on “The One God”, and how Egypt was ripe for lateraccepting Christianity. There will be more on the differences between theofficial religion and the popular religion.

1

WATANI English Section2 November 2003Writer: Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 972 + 256

Caption:From left: Anubis escorts the deceased person from the tomb. The heart isplaced on one side of the scales and the feather of Ma’at is placed on theother. If the dead person proves to be innocent, the god of wisdom writesdown his name, then Horus introduces him or her to Osiris to berewarded with a place in paradise and eternity. On top of the picture wefind the dead person standing before the local gods and goddesses toascertain whether he has committed any crimes.


+In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came tobe what they are today, and to refute the controversy thatoccasionally arises over their origins and the origin of theirtraditions, ++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history ofthe Egyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’history of the rulers of Egypt. The first episode of theseries—compiled by +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+ demonstrated,through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancient Egyptians were amixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’established themselves on the banks of the Nile and settled down toan agricultural life, it was natural that they should look around andtry to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and the RiverNile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’and ‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’spiritual and intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and eviland the concept of an afterlife—emerged. In the first popularrevolution, commoners claimed their right to immortality just astheir rulers did. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gaveway to the sarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—andlater mutated into the Book of the Dead. In this episode, Mr Hannashows that, despite the seemingly polytheistic nature of theEgyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god.+

2

The One GodErian Labib Hanna

From the attributes of God set forth in Egyptian texts of all periods, DrBrugsch, de Rouge and other eminent Egyptologists have come to theopinion that, from the earliest times, the dwellers in the Nile Valleyactually worshipped One God; albeit that he was nameless,incomprehensible, and eternal. In 1860 de Rouge wrote of “the unity of asupreme and self-existent being, his eternity, his ‘almightiness’,” and the“external reproduction thereby as God; the attributing of the creation ofthe world and of all living beings to the supreme God; the immortality ofthe soul completed by the dogma of punishments and rewards: such is thesublime and persistent base which, notwithstanding all deviations and allmythological embellishments, must secure for the beliefs of the ancientEgyptians a most honourable place among the religious of antiquity.”

+Infinite and eternal+Nine years later de Rouge refined this view, addressing the difficulty ofreconciling the belief in the unity of God with the polytheism which hadexisted in Egypt from earliest times.He repeated his conviction that the Egyptians believed in a self-existentGod who was one Being, who had created man, and who had endowedhim with an immortal soul. In fact, de Rouge amplified whatChampollion-Figeac (relying upon information supplied by his brother)wrote in 1839: “The Egyptian religion was a pure monotheism whichmanifested itself externally by a symbolic polytheism.” Pierret adopts theview that the texts show us that the Egyptians believed in one infinite andeternal God who was without a second, and he repeats Champollion’sdictum.

+The One and only+But the most recent supporter of the monotheistic theory is Brugsch, whohas collected a number of striking passages. From these passages we canselect the following:“God is one and alone, and none other existeth with Him.God is the One, the One who has made all things.

3

God is a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits,The great spirit of the Egyptians, the divine spirit.God is from the beginning.He hath existed from old, and was when nothing else had being.He existed when nothing else existed.He created after He had come into being.He is the Father of beginnings.God is the eternal One.He is eternal and infinite and endureth for ever and an age.God is hidden and no man knoweth His form.No man has been able to seek out His likeness;He is hidden to gods and men, andHe is a mystery unto His creatures.No man knoweth how to know Him:His name remaineth hidden,His name is mystery unto his children.His names are innumerable,They are manifold and none knoweth their number.God is truth and he liveth by truth, and He feedeth thereon.He is the King of truth, and He hath established the earth;Thereupon-God is life and through Him only man liveth.He giveth life to man,He breatheth the breath of life into his nostrils.God is father and mother,The father of fathers, and the mother of mothers.He begetteth, and was never begotten;He produceth, but was never produced;He begot himself and produced himself.He createth, but was never created;He is the maker of his own origin, and the fashioner of His own body—God Himself is existence,He endureth without increase or diminution,He multiplieth Himself millions of times, andHe is manifold in forms and numbers.God hath made the universe, andHe hath created all that therein is,He is the Creator of what is in this world, and of what was, of what is,and of what shall be.He is the creator of the heavens, and of the earth, and of the deep, and ofthe water, and of the mountains.God hath stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; what His heartconceived straightway came to pass, and when he hath spoken, it comethto pass and endureth forever.

4

God is the father of the gods; He fashioned men and formed the gods.God is merciful unto those who revere Him, and he heareth him thatcalleth upon Him.God knoweth him that acknowledgeth Him,He rewardeth him that serveth Him, and He protecteth him that followethHim.”

+The official religion+The pyramid texts repeat the doctrine of the official religion, with Ra (thecreator) being predominant. Concerning the pharaoh, we find such a textas this:“Soul to heaven, body to earth;the essence is in heaven, thy body to earth.”This text is found during the fifth and sixth dynasties, in the OldKingdom.

+The popular religion+In the coffin texts and ++The Book of the Dead++ we find this popularreligion is predominant, with Osiris taking the place of Ra:In the chapter of “Not dying a second time”, saith Osiris:“Homage to you, O ye lords of right and truth, and ye holy ones whostandbehind Osiris.”In order to avoid any misunderstanding concerning the One God, ancienttheologians confirmed that:“Ra is Osiris, and Osiris is Ra.” Ra is the creator and Osiris is the Judge.Here, the ordinary man as well as the pharaoh stands before Osiris, withhis heart placed in one pan of the scales so that Ma’at, goddess of justiceand truth, can weigh it against the feather (representing her virtues) in theother pan.The scholar of Egyptian religion E.A. Wallis Budge, keeper of Assyrianand Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum, expressed his admirationof our ancestors when he said: “An attempt has been made to illustratefrom native Egyptian sources the religious views of the wonderful peoplewho more 5,000 years ago proclaimed the resurrection of the spiritualbody and the immortality of the soul."The next article deals with the powers of darkness-Evil

1

WATANI English Section7 December 2003Translator: Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 1,092 + 269


+In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came tobe what they are today, and to refute the controversy thatoccasionally arises over their origins and the origin of theirtraditions, ++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history ofthe Egyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’history of the rulers of Egypt. The first episode of theseries—compiled by +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+—demonstrated,through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancient Egyptians were amixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’established themselves on the banks of the Nile and settled down toan agricultural life, it was natural that they should look around andtry to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and the RiverNile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’and ‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’spiritual and intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and eviland the concept of an afterlife—emerged. And in the first popularrevolution, commoners claimed their right to immortality just astheir rulers. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave wayto the sarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and latermutated into the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheisticnature of the Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god,and as, Mr Hanna shows in this episode, its afterlife ‘hell’ is verysimilar to that of the later Christian religion.+

2

The power of darknessErian Labib Hanna

In the Dover edition of the Book of the Dead (1976) we read thefollowing: The Egyptians imagined the existence of other powers whopresented opposition to the dead, and might be called his enemies. Likeso many of the ancient gods, these powers were originally certain forcesof nature which were believed to be opposed: darkness to light, and nightto day. With darkness and night were also associated the powers thatplayed any part at all in obscuring the light of the sun or preventing itfrom shining.When the Egyptians personified the powers of nature—that is to say,their gods—they usually gave them human forms and conceived them intheir own image, but when they personified opposing powers they gavethem the shapes of noxious animals and reptiles, such as snakes andscorpions. As time went on, the moral ideas of good and right wereattributed to the former, and evil and wickedness to the latter.

+Enemies of the dead+Although the deceased was identified with Horus or Ra, the victorywhich the god gained over Set only benefited the spiritual body whichdwelt in heaven, and did not preserve the natural body. The enemy of thiswas the worm, and from earliest times it seems that a huge worm orserpent was chosen by the Egyptians as the epitome of the powers whichwere hostile to the dead and also of the foe against whom the Sun godfought. Already, in the pyramid of Unas, a long piece of the text containsnothing but formulae to be recited to invoke protection of the deceasedfrom various types of snake and worm.These are exceedingly ancient; indeed, they may safely be said to formone of the oldest parts of the funeral literature of the Egyptians. In latereditions of the Book of the Dead and certain Coptic works the dread ofthe serpent and its being symbolic of physical and moral evil existsamong all generations, and their belief in a limbo filled with snakesaffected their imagination long after their conversion to Christianity.

+Pyramid texts+

3

The charms against serpents in the pyramid texts of the fifth and sixthdynasties (the Old Kingdom) have their equivalents in the 31st and 33rdchapters of the Book of the Dead, which are found on coffins of the 11thand 12th dynasties (the Middle Kingdom), and in the 18th dynasty (theNew Kingdom). We find vignettes in which the deceased is depicted inthe act of spearing a crocodile or killing serpents. In the Theban and theSaite versions are several small chapters, the recital of which drove awayreptiles. Of these the most important is the 39th chapter which preservedthe deceased from the attack of the great serpent Apef or Apep, who isdepicted with knives stuck in his folds. During the later dynasties aservice was performed daily in the temple of Amen-Ra at Thebes todeliver the Sun god from the assault of this fiend. On each occasion itwas accompanied by a ceremony in which a wax figure of Apep wasburnt in the fire and the wax melted so the power of Apep was destroyed.

+Heart-eater+The judgment in the Theban edition of the Book of the Dead reveals thebelief in the existence of a tri-formed monster, part crocodile, part lion,and part hippopotamus, whom the Egyptians called Am-met, i.e. the eaterof the dead, and who lived in Amenta. Her place is beside the scaleswhere the heart is weighed, and it is clear that she was waiting to devoursuch hearts as failed to balance the feather of Ma-at. In one papyrus she isdepicted crouching by the side of a lake. Other examples of evil were theinsect Apshai, confounded in other times with the tortoise which dies asRa lives; the crocodile Sobek, who afterwards became identified with Ra,the hippopotamus, the ass, etc.

+Devils of the underworld+The pyramid texts afford scant information about the fiends and devilswith which the later Egyptians peopled certain parts of Tuat (theunderworld).The underworld was divided into 12 parts, corresponding to the 12 hoursof the night, and this Book professed to afford to the deceased the meanswhereby he or she might pass through them successfully. In one of thesedivisions, which was under the rule of the god Seker, the entrance wasguarded by a serpent on four legs with a human head, and within were aserpent with serpentine heads, scorpions, vipers and winged monsters ofterrifying aspect. Their abode was a vast desert place, and seemingly thedarkness was so thick there that it could be felt. In other divisions we findserpents spitting fire, lions, crocodile-headed gods, a serpent that devoursthe dead, a huge crocodile, and many other reptiles of diverse shapes andforms.

4

From the descriptions which accompany the scenes, it is evident that theunderworld was regarded by the Egyptians of the 18th dynasty from amoral as well as from the physical point of view. Apep, the emblem ofevil, was here punished and overcome, and here dwelt the souls of thewicked and the righteous, who received the punishment or rewards metedout to them by the decree of Ra and his company of gods.

+Hellfire +The chief instruments of punishment employed by the gods were beatingsand fire, which devoured the souls and bodies of the enemies of Ra. Theliterature of the Copts shows how long the belief in a hell of fire andtorturing fiends survived. In the life of Abba Shenuti a man is told thatthe “executions of Amenti (Am-met) will not show compassion upon thewretched soul.” In the history of Pisentios, a Coptic Bishop of the seventhcentury, a series of details which reflect the Tuat of the ancient Egyptiansin a remarkable manner are depicted. The bishop having taken up hisabode in a tomb filled with mummies, they told him stories of beingdelivered to merciless tormentors who tortured them in a place wherethere were multitudes of savage beasts; and, when they had been cast intothe place of outer darkness, they saw a ditch more than 200 feet deepfilled with reptiles, each of which had seven heads, and all their bodieswere covered as it were with scorpions. It may appear that the oldheathen ideas of the Egyptian Tuat were applied to the construction of theCoptic Hell.The next article will present the Negative Confession.

1

WATANI English Section4 January 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 278 + 716


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series—compiled by +MrErian Labib Hanna+—demonstrated, through the slate stela ofNarmer, that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite andShemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ established themselves onthe banks of the Nile and settled down to an agricultural life, it wasnatural that they should look around and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, were hencethe sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritual and intellectual lifewas built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—based in principleupon the conflict between good and evil and the concept of anafterlife—emerged. And in the first popular revolution, commonersclaimed their right to immortality just as their rulers. The pyramidtexts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to the sarcophagustexts—pertaining to the commoners—and later mutated into theBook of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature of theEgyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, its afterlife‘hell’ was very similar to that of the later Christian religion, and as,Mr Hanna shows in this episode, a very high value was placed on itsmorals.

The Negative confessionErian Labib Hanna

2

The Egyptians believed that man consisted of a body, soul, intelligence, adouble a sekhem (power), a shadow, a spiritual body and a heart. Theword ++ka++ means “image”. The ++ka++ seems to have been the“ghost” of a person, as we should say today, and it has been defined onhis abstract personality, to which after death, the Egyptians gave amaterial form. It was a subordinate part of the human being during life,but after death it become active; and to it the offerings brought to thetomb by the relatives of the dead were dedicated—it was believed that itreturned to the body and had a share in its re-vivification. The ++khat++indicated a body which has obtained a degree of knowledge and glorywhereby it henceforth became lasting and incorruptible. The bodybecame a ++sahu++ (pronounced sakhu)—or spiritual body—which hasthe power of associating with the soul and of holding converse with it. Inthis form it can ascend into heaven and dwell with the gods.

+Judgement Day+

The ‘Papyrus of Ani’ depicts the Trial on Judgement Day, when Ani hasto address severally the forty-two who are seated in a row in the middleof The Hall of Double Right and Truth. On the right, at the end of thehall, are four small vignettes in which are depicted two seated figures ofthe goddess of justice Maat, with a feather, emblematic of Right andTruth, on the head, and sceptres and emblems of life in the right and lefthands. Also depicted is Osiris seated, wearing the ++atef++ crown andholding in his hands the crook and flail. Before him, by the side of analtar of offerings stands Ani, with both hands raised in adoration. In onescale of a balance, Ani’s heart—symbolising his conscience—is placed,and a feather—emblematic of Right and Truth—is placed in the other.Beside the balance is the tri-formed monster Amemit, ready to eat Ani’sheart if he is found guilty. Thoth, ibis-headed is shown seated on a pylon-shaped pedestal pointing a large feather of Maat.

The deceased should utter certain words to separate himself from his sin,and to be able to see god, the lord of mankind. It is to be noted that Godwith capital ‘g’ denotes the Creator, and the great gods—with small‘g’—were created by the Creator who was always referred to as “NTR-AA” i.e. the great god.)

+The Negative confession+

3

The confession presented in 42 sentences. They explain the Egyptianmorality and they exceed the ten commandments.

Ani says: “Hail, those whose strides are long, who comest forth fromAnnu, I have not done iniquity”.

“Hail, thou who art embraced by flame, who comest forth from Rheraba,I have not sobbed with violence.

“Hail, Fentin, who comest from Rhemennu, I have not stolen”

“Hail, Devourer of the shade, who comest forth from Qernet, I have doneno murder; I have done no harm.

Ani continues to deny that he had defrauded offerings, minishedoblations, plundered the god, spoken any lies, snatched away food,caused pain, or committed fornication. He had not transgressed, causedany shedding of tears, dealt deceitfully, acted guilefully, been aneavesdropper, set his lips in motion [against any man], burned with rage,nor been angry and wrathful except for a just cause. Aniconfirms—twice—that he had never defiled the wife of any man, therepetition denoting that the crime was doublefold against the woman andher husband. He denies he ever polluted himself, caused terror, workedgrief, acted with insolence, stirred up strife, judged hastily, multipliedwords exceedingly, spoke scornfully, stole, filched the food of the infant,or did any harm or ill. He vows he never cursed the king, cursed God,defrauded the offerings of the gods, plundered the offerings to the blesseddead, slaughtered with evil intent the cattle of the god, nor sinned againstthe gods of his native town. Ani asserts his commitment to a cleanenvironment when he declares that he never fouled the water nor laidwaste the ploughed land. He stresses that he had not stopped his earsagainst the words of Right and Truth.

In the next article, the morality behind the negative confession will betackled.

1

WATANI English Section1 February 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 280 + 590

Egyptology 8


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series which is compiledby +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela ofNarmer, that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite andShemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ established themselves onthe banks of the Nile and settled down to an agricultural life, it wasnatural that they should look around and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, were hencethe sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritual and intellectual lifewas built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—based in principleupon the conflict between good and evil and the concept of anafterlife—emerged. And in the first popular revolution, commonersclaimed their right to immortality just as their rulers did. Thepyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic natureof the Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, a veryhigh value was placed on its morals and as, Mr Hanna shows in thisepisode, it had a lot in common with the Christian faith whichfollowed.

The morality behind the Negative Confessions

2

Erian Labib Hanna

Ms Jill Kamel who has lived in Egypt and studied its history thoroughlysaid: “The ethics of the instruction literature appeared in religious texts inthe Middle Kingdom in the form of the ‘Negative Confession’.” In fact,nothing can better illustrate the ancient Egyptian morality than this set ofnegations.

+Right and Truth +The ancient Egyptian enjoyed social justice during the periods of theGreat Pharaohs before being defeated and consequently subjugated byforeigners. In the afterlife, there was “Right and Truth” symbolised by thebalance in the Hall of Double Right and Truth. Osiris stands with thecrook and flail implementing Fair Judgement. The heart—symbolisingconscience—is weighed in the balance against the feather of Maat, thegoddess of justice. Justice is immediately implemented by the tri-formedmonster Amemit who stands by ready to devour the wrongdoer’s heart.

+Honouring good+The Negative Confession revealed the values and manners of the peopleat that time. They showed respect to their gods as in the confession “Ihave never cursed God”, their Pharaoh and their fellowmen and womenas in “I have done no harm” and “I have not snatched any food”. Theyhonoured love, justice, good manners and family bonds. They hated evil,deceitful behaviour, violence, robbery, and harm to others. Theconfessions include “I have not caused the shedding of tears”; “I have notdealt deceitfully”; “I have not transgressed”; “I have not actedguilefully”; “I have not set my lips in motion [against any man]”; and “Ihave not been angry and wrathful except for a just cause”. They did notallow destruction of ploughed land. They abhorred lies, defiling the wivesof others, or committing fornication.On the personal level, the ancient Egyptians declared their refusal of anybad conduct in such sentences as “I have not polluted myself”, “I havenot burned with rage”, “I have not judged hastily”, “I have not workedgrief”, or “I have not stopped my ears against the words of Right andTruth”.

+Equal before God+On Judgement Day, equality was applied to all. There were only thedeeds and the balance. There was no difference between the king and thepoorest man. All stood before The Judge, the heart on the pan of the

3

scales and the “Maat” feather on the other pan. Even the famous code oflaws of Hammurabi, who lived in about 1880 BC, did not regard thatequality; the nobles were given special privileges.The ancient Egyptians knew the ++sahu++—prorounced sakhu—orspiritual body, and believed that the soul—the Ba—if good, went toheaven.

+Parallel beliefs+Again, the resemblance to subsequent Christian values is very obvious.Christians believe in the One Creator, and so did the ancient Egyptians,even if each theological school gave him a different name: Ptah, Ra,Khunum, Amun, or any other; he was still the Great God ++Neter-Aha++. The Egyptians believed in Judgement Day and in reward andpunishment, and so do the Christians. The Egyptian ++sahu++ is all toosimilar to the spiritual body mentioned by St Paul. Christianity thoughadded the concept of the Redemption of souls.With this in mind, it may be easy to understand why Egyptians embracedChristianity so readily, and why so many of them willingly died asmartyrs of their faith.Just as man possesses a ‘biological clock’ that adjusts the body functions,it appears very plausible that man also possesses some sort of ‘spiritualcompass’ that directs the soul towards the Heavens.The next article will review ancient Egyptian culture.

1

WATANI English Section7 March 2004Writer: Erian Hanna / copy editor: Samia/JennyWord count: 671 + 284Pictures: Handbook to the Bible. PP 291 (A worshipper from Egypt; 153 (Fowlingscene); 161 (cattle).

Egyptology 9


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series which is compiled by +Mr Erian LabibHanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancientEgyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once thefirst ‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile andsettled down to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should lookaround and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritualand intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and evil andthe concept of an afterlife—emerged. And in the first popularrevolution, commoners claimed their right to immortality just as theirrulers did. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature ofthe Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, a very highvalue was placed on its morals and it had a lot in common with theChristian faith which followed. In this episode, Mr Hanna casts light onthe people’s culture.

2

The people’s cultureErian Labib Hanna

For a better understanding of the ancient Egyptians, their culture needs to beexplored. This includes their literature, wisdom and wise sayings, theircustoms and way of living, their prayers—which mirror their belief in theGreat Creator and Eternity, their philosophy—part of which pertains toreligion and the soul, and part of which pertains to social relations includingfamily bonds, legislation and jurisprudence. The intellectual literati includedphysicians, architects, landed noblemen, craftsmen such as artists andsculptors, and peasant farmers and labourers.

+No passive people+As the history of the people, their beliefs and thoughts are traced, it becomesevident that this was no passive people, in the sense that they were notdriven like cattle by their rulers—even their national rulers, the pharaohs.Rather, they took an active role in shaping their thought, their socialbehaviour, the way of they brought up their children, their popular religionwhich compelled their pharaohs to stand before Osiris as the Judge onJudgement Day. It is fit to be reminded of the phrase that ‘Ra is Osiris andOsiris is Ra’, which means that the One Creator was also the Judge.

+Doubt+Following is an interesting example of their poetry. In “Songs of theBanquets” there runs a note of doubt about the ‘afterlife’. The lines run:“None comes from thence that he may tell us how they fare, that he may tellus what they need, that he may set our heart at rest? Until we also go to theplace whither they are gone.”Is that not similar to what Shakespeare expressed in Hamlet’s monologue:“To be or not to be, That is the question”? Shakespeare’s poem was writtenabout 3,600 years after that song. Hamlet bore the ‘life of suffering’ and didnot commit suicide to put an end to his torture. Perhaps this was because hewas not sure what kind of life there was after death. No one had returned totell about it.

3

+Wisdom+++Ancient Egyptian Poetry and Prose++ by Adolf Erman quotes a papyrusof the 22nd Dynasty (now in Cairo) written by the scribe Ani. This book is alate imitation of the old books of wisdom, and resembles them in the respectthat in it, as in them, a father is propounding his teaching to his son:• Follow my words.• Be prudent in speech.• Be reticent.• Boast not of thy strength.• Found a family.• Be pious.• Be discreet on visits.• Beware of the harlot.• Be reserved in thy conduct.• The true piety is piety towards parents.• Be not a drunk, and• Lead an honest life.• Be mindful of death.• Cautious in social intercourse.• Possessions do not make for happiness.• Be respectful.• Be cautious in speech.• Relations with God.• Be grateful to thy mother.• Eat not bread if another is suffering want.• [On paying visits] Go not freely to a man in his house, but enter in only

when thou art bidden.• Keep thyself far from tumults.• Treat thy wife well.• Be careful of women. Go not after a woman, in order that she may not

steal thy heart away.• [Behaviour towards superiors] Answer not a superior who is enraged; get

out of his way.• Say what is sweet. When he saith what is bitter to anyone, and make calm

his heart.• Stand well with the authorities.

+Heritage+

4

Inherited values and morals constitute a people’s heritage. Heritage meansMorality, Religion, Family Ties, Beliefs, Philosophy, Hopes, Spiritual Life,National Dignity, and common warm emotions that keep the link throughoutthe ages strong, consistent, and cohesive.The Family has given Egyptians cohesion and has preserved their culture.Social ties are the great factor behind their strength before the rulers whoalways tried to annihilate their character or at least deface it. The EgyptianCharacter stands behind Egyptian Nationalism.

The next article will examine prayers and their meanings.

1

WATANI English Section4 April 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 843 + 282

Egyptology 10


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series which is compiled by +Mr Erian LabibHanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancientEgyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once thefirst ‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile andsettled down to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should lookaround and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritualand intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and evil andthe concept of an afterlife—emerged. And in the first popularrevolution, commoners claimed their right to immortality just as theirrulers did. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature ofthe Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, a very highvalue was placed on its morals and as, Mr Hanna shows in this episode,it had a lot in common with the Christian faith and prayers whichfollowed.

2

Prayers and their meanings

The oldest prayer to have survived is a prayer to the sun god in the PyramidsTexts. It addresses the Great God Neter-aha.“May you wake in peace, O purified, in peaceMay you wake in peace, O Horus of the East, in peaceMay you wake in peace, O soul of the East, in peaceMay you sleep in the Night-bark,May you wake in the Day-bark,For you are he who oversees the godsThere is no god who oversees you.” (U.573)

+One as many+The effort to unify the sun-worshipping cults by creating a composite deity,alongside evidence of the development of local cults, evinces a movementtowards both unity and plurality in the Old Kingdom. There was One God,++The Great One++, but there were also many other gods. This should notbe regarded as contradictory. To establish a politico-religious system theruling power encouraged local religious identity, and, by promoting a god-king who commanded and possessed divine authority, limited thejurisdiction of the local priests and justified central dominance. “Unity is thepurpose, plurality the method,” as Jill Kamil writes in ++The AncientEgyptians++, p. 46.

+Prayers of the oppressed+Part of the philosophy of these down-to-earth ancient people pertained toreligion—the soul, the afterlife, and the Great Creator, while part pertainedto social relations such as the family—man, wife and children. Their prayersillustrated their spiritual life and relationship to the Great God, and affirmedtheir belonging to God.The ++Prayers of One Unjustly Persecuted++ include long laudations of thegod, and end by entreating his assistance against a powerful personal enemywho has maliciously deprived the subject of his post. The god was believedto resist this enemy. He was the “Righteous judge that taketh no bribe. Thouhelpest the needy but extendest not thine hand to the powerful.” The prayers

3

plead: “Comfort the wretched, O vizier, let him be in favour with Horus ofthe Palace.” It might be supposed that this man, whose verses schoolboyswere set to copy alongside poems dating from the time of Rameses II, was awell known man of letters who had fallen into disfavour.

+Writing exercises+As Adolf Erman wrote in ++Ancient Egyptian Poetry and Prose++, theseshort poems are preserved for the most part in the form of school writingexercises, and many of the cares and aspirations which they lay before thegods are in accord with their origin. In the first place are those addressed tothe celestial colleague and patron of the scribes, Thoth. P305. The ++Prayerto Thoth++ says:“Come to me Thoth, thou lordly ibis, thou god, for whom yearnethHermopolis. Letter-writer of the nine gods, great one in Unu … come to methat thou mayest lead me, that thou mayest make me cunning in the calling.Fairer is thy calling than all callings; it maketh men great.“Come to me and care for me. I am a servant of thine house. So themultitude of men say: ‘Great things are they that Thoth hath done.’ So willthey come with their children in order to brand them for thy office.“A goodly calling, O strong deliverer, and happy is he that followethit.”

+Helpful, kind gods+Similar prayers were directed to Osiris, Ra the sun-god, and to Amun.People prayed to seek help from the gods and from the Creator, who haddifferent names in the different theological schools. A few sentences fromsuch prayers demonstrate the deep respect of the people to the One God andhis company. It is clear that the kings in general were ‘fair and just’, so thepeople enjoyed social justice during their lifetime, and expected justice onJudgement Day in the afterlife. They prayed to helpful, kind and just godswho were created by the One Creator and to the Creator himself.The people prayed to Osiris: “Thou art the father and mother of mankind,They live in thy breath and they eat of the flesh of thy body. Primordial godis thy name.”And to Ra: “Thou sole and only one, Harakhti, like whom there is no other.Who protecteth millions and delivereth hundreds of thousands. The saviourof him that crieth unto him, the lord of Heliopolis …Punish me not for my many sins. I am one that knoweth not himself.”

+The poor overcomes+

4

And to Amun they prayed: “Amun changeth himself into the vizier—that is,he is also the chief justice—in order to cause the poor man to overcome. It isfound that the poor man is justified, and that the poor passeth by the rich …my lord is my protector. Thou Amun, art the lord of him that is silent, onewho cometh at the voice of the poor. If I call upon thee when I am indistress, thou comest that thou may deliver me. Thou givest breath to himthat is wretched and thou deliverest me that am in bondage.”

The next article will deal with the ancient centres of learning.

1

WATANI English Section2 May 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 281 + 749

Egyptology 11


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to counteract the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series compiled by +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancient Egyptianswere a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile and settleddown to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should look aroundand try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and the RiverNile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritualand intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and evil andthe concept of an afterlife—emerged. In the first popular revolution,commoners claimed their right to immortality just as their rulers did.The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature ofthe Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, a very highvalue was placed on its morals and, it had a lot in common with theChristian faith which followed. In this episode Mr Hanna reviews theancient centres of learning.

2

Centres of LearningErian Labib Hanna

The temples of Heliopolis, Sais and Memphis were centres of learning fromearliest times, with medicine among the subjects taught. Titles such as Chiefof Dental Physicians (Hesi-Ra), Palace Eye Expert, Physician of the Belly,One Comprehending Fluids and Guardian of the Anus (Iri), or ChiefOcculist of the Royal Court (Wah-Dwa), support Herodotus’s observationthat there were specialists in ancient Egypt in the various branches ofmedicine.The Ministry of Health, if one can call it that, comprised the Chiefs ofPhysicians and their assistants. These were not specialists and held the titleInspector of Physicians. The titles “Chief Physician of Upper Egypt” (Ibi) or“Greater Physician of Upper and Lower Egypt” indicate that there waswithin the medical profession a liaison between the various provinces andthe central court.

+Third or fourth hand +Medical papyri, of which there are more than a score, are clear indication ofthe advancement in medical knowledge from very early times.Through texts dating from the Middle and New Kingdoms it has beenestablished that these copies—sometimes third or fourth hand—of very earlytexts existed. Archaic grammar and obsolete words point to their antiquity,as do certain references to the Old Kingdom. The Berlin Medical Papyrus,for example, which is known as the Mother and Child Papyrus, bears astatement to say that it had been found underneath a statue near Giza in thetime of the Pharaoh Den of the First Dynasty, and that it had been brought tothe Pharaoh Sened, who was of the Second Dynasty, “because of itsexcellence”. The text was signed by “The Scribe of the Sacred Writings, theChief of the Excellent Physicians, Neterhotep, who prepared the book”, thatis, he copied it from the original manuscript.

+No witch doctors+The London medical payrus bears a statement that it was “brought as amarvel to the Majesty of Pharaoh Khufu”. The Edwin Smith SurgicalPapyrus, believed to be the earliest of all, might have been a copy of the

3

original manuscript of Djer, the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty, whosebook on anatomy survived, according to Manetho, until Graeco-Romantimes. This dealt with 48 carefully arranged surgical cases of wounds andfractures, detailing a dispassionate examination of the patient andprescribing cures. No ailment was ascribed to the activity of a demoniacpower, and there was very little magic; the ancient Egyptians were not witchdoctors who gave incantations but physicians who prescribed healingremedies and operations. Although some of the cures might be consideredrather fanciful—such as the extract of the hair of a black calf to preventgreying—others became famous for their virtue in later times.

+The doctor’s tomb+This was a society where educated men sought methods to prolong life.Beliefs in the potency of spells or exorcism undoubtedly existed, especiallyamong the lower classes, along with a belief in magical charms andtalismans, but magico-religious medicine as such only flourished in latertimes.Medical and surgical papyri were undoubtedly compiled at different periods,each adding to the limited knowledge of predecessors. By the Sixth Dynastythere appears to have been a firmly established medical tradition. Muralreliefs provide further evidence of medical practice. Sesa’s tomb at Saqqara,dating from the Fifth Dynasty, is known as the Doctor’s Tomb.

+Mummification +The highly specialised profession of mummification was not perfected untilthe New Kingdom. Mummification of bodies was performed by priests, asagainst medicine which was practised by scholars. In the early dynasticperiod, bodies of the dead placed in the tombs were found to perish morequickly than those protected by warm sand. Since a lifelike appearance wasdeemed essential for continued existence in the after life, artificial means ofpreservation had to be sought.Early efforts in the Second Dynasty to accomplish this included modellingthe features of the face, the genitals and the breasts in clay. This gave anuncannily lifelike appearance. Subsequently, linen strips dipped in resinousmaterial were moulded on to the shrunken body, the individual fingerscarefully wrapped, the body cavities stuffed with linen. Later, the intestinesand vital organs were removed, wrapped in linen strips and immersed in anatron solution. This development led to the preservation of the viscera infour canopic jars placed in a box. The earliest found of these belonged to themother of the Pharaoh Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid.

4

In the next article, the art and sculpture of the ancient Egyptians will bereviewed.

1

WATANI English Section6 June 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 858 + 269

Egyptology 12/173


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series which is compiledby +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela ofNarmer, that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite andShemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ established themselves onthe banks of the Nile and settled down to an agricultural life, it wasnatural that they should look around and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, were hencethe sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritual and intellectual lifewas built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—based in principleupon the conflict between good and evil and the concept of anafterlife—emerged. And in the first popular revolution, commonersclaimed their right to immortality just as their rulers did. Thepyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic natureof the Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and hada lot in common with the Christian faith which followed. A very highvalue was placed on its morals, and it supported a high culture ofliterature and arts.

2

Art and sculpture of the Egyptians

Ancient Egypt has handed down to us a heritage of monuments andantiquities which, because of their artistic merits, have been regardedwith esteem and appreciation by art connoisseurs the world over. Theyalso reveal the religious beliefs and thoughts of their originators, reflecttheir nature and feelings, and give an idea about their manners and moralsas well as their political and economic activities. Egyptian art wasdestined to survive for thousands of years, during which it was subject tovarious impulses and social changes.

+Early on+Remains of a Neolithic culture in Egypt have been discovered atMerimda Beni-Salama, Wadi Hof, Fayoum and Deir Tasa. Althoughthese have common features, they differ in many aspects and details. InUpper Egypt, the Badarians inherited the culture of Deir Tasa. They usedcopper to make beads and pins. The Badarian culture was followed bythose of Naqaada I and Naqaada II, each of which had its own characterand peculiarities.The industrial arts made a great advance. Flint working attained an apexnever reached elsewhere. In their variety of form and material, the stonevases show a great efficiency of technical dexterity and artistic ability ofconsiderable merit. Metalworking was much improved, and copper toolsand weapons increased in number, type, and size.In early times, painting was very much confined to the inner and outersurfaces of certain types of pottery of Naqaada I and Naqaada II, and wascarried out in a concise style and on a small scale. The decoration on thepottery of Naqaada is of an ornamental character with straight or almoststraight lines in white, together forming, for the most part, geometricaldesigns of different forms, and sometimes showing representations ofanimals, or of men hunting or performing rites.

+Part of a team+Mural decoration and sculpture, largely required to fulfil funerarypurposes, developed into a highly active industry. Although the sharp,clear outlines of the murals were chiselled with extraordinary delicacyand many of the statues are clearly the work of skilled hands, those thatfashioned them were artisans rather than artists and were part of a team.Unfinished tombs provide evidence of the method of mural decoration. Achief artist prepared each surface by separating the different registerswith the aid of cords dipped in red paint and subdividing these further

3

into rows or squares. The sections were then filled with figures of men,animals and hieroglyphic characters, each now representing a singleactivity. It seems probable that there was a common stock of themes fromwhich a nobleman took his choice, for similar scenes are represented indifferent tombs with a reduction or increase in the number of individualsand the addition of such details as might please the artist.At first the Egyptian sculptors began to fashion figures made of Nile mudor clay. The sculptors kept on modelling the clay until they reached ahigh degree of excellence, as is evidenced by a pottery figure of theBadarian period. A statue of ivory has also come down to us, but thecraftsmanship does not rank with the artistic standard apparent in thepottery figure owing to lack of experience on the part of sculptor in thenew material. It is worthy of praise that, in using ivory for its beauty andcompactness, he introduced an innovation in figure making that wascompatible with the progress and wealth attained by the community atthat time and that satisfied the desires of the wealthy and the proud.

+The portrait sculptor +Portrait sculptors were the greatest of the artists in the age of the OldKingdom. The powerful and lifelike portraits of Khafre and Menkaure,the earliest in the history of art, show fidelity in portraiture and masteryof materials. Khafre had 23 cult statues in his valley temple, only five ofwhich have been found. One of these, carved of diorite, is quite unique.The sculptors frequently gave a striking effect to the faces, especiallythose made of wood, by inserting pieces of quartz in the eye sockets witha copper stud, which served also as the pupil.All statues show a stress on the faithful reproduction of characteristics.For example, the statue of Khnum-hotep, a dwarf, modelled in refineddetail with sturdy legs and corpulent body, is without doubt a masterpieceof realism. There were certain conventional poses: hands to sides, stridingforward or seated, and a strict canon of proportions. Standing figureswere 19 units high, while the seated figures were 15 units; the feet werethe same length as the height of the head and neck, and the distancebetween the knees and the soles of the feet was twice as long as the feet.Drawing to scale, the artist could accurately enlarge a statue, or a scene.Although the statues in the tombs were fashioned to house the ++Ka++(spiritual double) of the deceased, it should be mentioned that statuarywas not yet a mechanical art, nor was portrait sculpture subjected to themass production of funerary workshops apparent in later periods.

The next article will tackle ancient Egyptian society and Egypt in theBible.

1

WATANI English Section4 July 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 565 + 282

Egyptology 13/177


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series which is compiled by +Mr Erian LabibHanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancientEgyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once thefirst ‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile andsettled down to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should lookaround and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritualand intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and evil andthe concept of an afterlife—emerged. And in the first popularrevolution, commoners claimed their right to immortality just as theirrulers did. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature ofthe Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and had a lotin common with the Christian faith which followed. A very high valuewas placed on its morals, and it supported a high culture of literatureand arts.

2

Society in Ancient EgyptErian Habib Hanna

The apex of the social pyramid was the pharaoh. The main function of thepharaoh was to preserve +maat+, the proper order of things. In order tofulfil this function, the pharaoh was also the priest who presented theprescribed offerings to the gods, one of whom was usually the Chief of theGods. The pharaoh’s power was maintained by constantly increasingnumber of government bureaucrats. Admission to this elite group wasobtained through +education+, which, for the Ancient Egyptian, meantbeing trained as a scribe. Despite the autocratic nature of Egyptiangovernment, scribal training seems to have been accessible to young boysfrom every class of society, thus providing a measure of democracy andfreedom of opportunity.

+The landed gentry+There was also a class of landed gentry. The bureaucrats, the army and thelandowners together formed the middle section of this pyramidal Egyptiansociety. The base of the pyramid – the largest segment of Egyptian society –was composed of the working class: servants, farmers and craftsmen. Theywere subject, as well, to being called upon to do forced labour in conjunctionwith royal projects, although we should probably not imagine that they werethe oppressed builders of the pyramids and temples lamented in the in thepropagandistic stories of the Biblical Exodus or History of Herodotus.Most Agricultural land belonged to the domains of the crown, the wealthylandowners or the temples, and was cultivated by tenant farmers and serfs.Grants of land were, however, given to individuals for loyal service and topromote economic development. Agricultural taxes were assessed inpharaoh on the basis of the harvest.

+The family+The Egyptians valued the stability of their pyramidal social system, andthere are literary protests against the social upheaval that resulted fromfamine or invasion. It was horrifying to find maidservants wearing thejewellery of their noblewomen and the noblewomen reduced to wearingrags.In pharaonic times as now, Egyptians placed great value on establishing afamily. Although no special legal act or ritual ceremony seems to have been

3

associated with marriage, the man was urged to take a woman to be hiscompanion and the mistress of his house, and the mother of his children.Most marriages seem to have been monogamous, although a man mighthave several wives in succession.

+Women+Both men and women could own property, which they might purchase orinherit, and could leave it to the heirs of their choice. Then, at least fromlater periods of Egyptian history, we have evidence of legal documentswhich were drawn up detailing the wife’s property, which was to be returnedto her in case of divorce, and requiring the husband to provide sustenancefor the children and the determination of the marriage.Women, although they seem not to have been among the literate five to tenper cent of society, had independent legal status, and could enter intocontracts. They could not, however, occupy positions in the governmentalbureaucracy, which required scribal training. But women did participate inthe religious life of the temples as sacred singers and dancers, and even, inlater periods, rose to be powerful priestesses at the head of the religioushierarchy. At least in certain historical periods, a man’s right to occupy anoffice was inherited through his mother’s family. Matrilineal inheritanceestablished legitimacy.

The next article will tackle family ties in the Egyptian society

1

WATANI English Section1 August 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: SamiaWord count: 295 + 539

Egyptology 14/181


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series which is compiled by +Mr Erian LabibHanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancientEgyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once thefirst ‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nile andsettled down to an agricultural life, it was natural that they should lookaround and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritualand intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the conflict between good and evil andthe concept of an afterlife—emerged. And in the first popularrevolution, commoners claimed their right to immortality just as theirrulers did. The pyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature ofthe Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and had a lotin common with the Christian faith which followed. A very high valuewas placed on its morals, and it supported a high culture of literatureand arts. The society was close-knit and enjoyed harmonious relations,especially within the family unit.

2

Family Ties

The Egyptian was in all periods of his history a lover of his home andfamily, and the relations between parents and their children were usually ofthe most affectionate character. His world was the village where his homewas, and his kinsfolk were the only inhabitants of it that counted in his sight.

+Lord and lady+The Egyptian loved his home more than his country. The master of thehouse—the father and bread-winner—was the most important person in it,but his wife, who bore him children and brought them up was almost moreimportant. She provided for the continuance of his family and preserved hisname among the living and safeguarded his property.The wise and prudent mother in Ancient Egypt ruled from inside her house,and her influence was very great, and the more attention she gave to thewell-being of her husband and the management of his property and hischildren, the greater was his power. There is no reason to doubt that womenin Egypt held property in their own names and held money invested inbusiness.

+Marry, young man+To found a family and establish a house was held to be the duty of everyright-minded man, and the first step towards its fulfillment was +marriage+.The scribe Ani wrote: “Marry a wife whilst thou art a young man, and shewill give thee thy son. If thou begetest a son whilst thou art young, thou wiltbe able to train him to become a proper man.”How a marriage was “arranged” or brought about in the early period is notknown, but we are justified in assuming that the method employed was thesame then as it is now. After negotiations, an evening was fixed for thewedding, and the bride was brought to the bridegroom’s house and handedover to the bridegroom. The marriage festival followed the marriage-night,and rejoicing went on for days. Friends and kinsfolk of the bride and thebridegroom were entertained on a scale commensurate with the socialposition of the parents; animals were slaughtered and the poor were fed, andacrobatic performances and singing and dancing amused the guests. Whether

3

any religious ceremony was performed to consecrate the marriage is notknown, but it is likely; nothing has yet been found that can be regarded as aMarriage Office.

+Child’s play+The children of rich and poor alike went about naked during the earliestyears of their existence. The children of the rich and well-to-do folk playedwith balls made of rags, dolls made of wood and rags, and figures ofanimals, birds, etc., with movable legs and heads; peasants children playedwith each other, and made friends with cows, goats and pigeons. Even whenquite young they helped their elders to tend the cattle and drive them to thecanals or water channels to drink, and to keep the goats from straying.Boys were sent to school when they were about four years of age, and theperiod of their education lasted for ten or twelve years; there is no evidencethat schools for girls existed, and it is not probable that they did.The next article will tackle childhood in the Egyptian civilisation.

1

WATANI English Section5 September 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 293 + 704

Egyptology 15/186


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to be whatthey are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionally arises overtheir origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ is printing amonthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—as opposed to thewidely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt. The first episode ofthe series which is compiled by +Erian Labib Hanna+ demonstrated,through the slate stela of Narmer, that ancient Egyptians were a mixtureof both Hamite and Shemite races.Once the first ‘Egyptians’ established themselves on the banks of the Nileand settled down to an agricultural life, it was natural that they shouldlook around and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun andthe River Nile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, were hence the sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritualand intellectual life was built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—basedin principle upon the conflict between good and evil and the concept ofan afterlife—emerged. And in the first popular revolution, commonersclaimed their right to immortality just as their rulers did. The pyramidtexts—pertaining to the pharaohs—gave way to the sarcophagustexts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolved into the Book ofthe Dead.Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature of the Egyptians’ religion, itwas in fact a religion of one god, and had much in common with theChristian faith which followed. A very high value was placed on itsmorals, and it supported a high culture of literature and arts. The societywas close-knit and enjoyed harmonious relations, especially within thefamily unit.

2

Childhood in Ancient EgyptErian Labib Hanna

The circumstances of their natural environment enabled the Egyptians tolive in stability and look forward to a secure future, and children weretherefore accorded great care and sympathy. They were the delight of theeyes of their parents, who would do their best to bring them up properly.The home was the cradle and first field of education. There the childrenlearnt their first lessons about life and the stability and cohesion of thefamily unit, which deeply affected the formation of the child’s mentalityin the right manner.

+Good parenting+Statues and drawings show us how much parents loved their children andtook care of them. We see the father seating his child on his lap orsympathetically taking him by hand, or else kissing him. As for themother, she is represented tenderly suckling her baby or combing herchild’s hair with love and care. It gave the parents great happiness to seetheir children playing. Indeed it filled them with joy, especially whenthey accompanied them while hunting and fishing.However much the parents pampered their children and howeverenamoured of them they were; the children, for their part, loved themvery much and respected them as well. Their books are filled with advicegiven by the philosophers in this respect. The philosopher Ptah-Hotepsays: “How marvellous is the obedience of the son who comes andlistens. Obedience is the best thing in the world. It is marvellous that thechild obeys his father and thus makes him very happy.”The Egyptians also called for loving the mother, having compassion forher and holding her in great reverence, and furthermore they alwaysreminded the children of her favour and the importance of her beingpleased with them. The philosopher Ani advised his son: “Double thebread you give your mother and carry her as she carried you. She had aheavy load in you. When you were born after nine months, she carriedyou yet again about her neck, and for three years her breast was in yourmouth; she was not disgusted and she put you to school when you hadbeen taught how to write.”

+Work and play+

3

Housekeeping and taking care of children were the main task of themother, since she laid the basis for bringing up her child physically andmorally. She concerned herself with his health, playing with himlovingly, teaching him the first words and looking after him until he wentto school.Parents in Ancient Egypt cared for the health of their children by keepingthem clean and protecting them from disease. The father had a role inbringing up his child, teaching him moral principles and good behaviourand sending him to school. Yet entertainment was not neglected. Thechild enjoyed plenty of time to play, which obviously affected thedevelopment of his understanding. We have found many kinds of dollsand toys which the parents gave to their children. Some were moved bythreads, like the ‘dancing dwarf’ statuettes, others were small ivory frogsor small wooden crocodiles with moving jaws, while others were in theform of dolls and small dummies made of terra-cotta pottery or wood andusually provided with moving arms and legs.The growing child shared with his friends collective games which hadcertain rules and were of great educational value in developing both bodyand mind. As the child grew up and became a boy, he had games suitableto his age, like the 'senet game' and 'snakes and ladders' which is still apopular game today.

+Education starts at home+As the child’s body was given care, his spirit and mind received similarattention. He usually learnt reading and writing at the hands of his parentsbefore going to school, which proves that education started at home andamong the family. Parents were very careful to encourage their childrento learn and read, and, according to the following quotation, advised themthat one of the best occupations was that of a clerk: “The clerk is the onlyone who manages the business of all people, and [the one] who hatesknowledge becomes unfortunate.”

The next article will deal with social justice in ancient Egypt.

1

WATANI English Section3 October 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 298 + 636

Egyptology 16/190


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series which is compiledby +Mr Erian Labib Hanna+ demonstrated, through the slate stela ofNarmer, that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite andShemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ established themselves onthe banks of the Nile and settled down to an agricultural life, it wasnatural that they should look around and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, were hencethe sources upon which the inhabitants’ spiritual and intellectual lifewas built. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion—based in principleupon the conflict between good and evil and the concept of anafterlife—emerged. And in the first popular revolution, commonersclaimed their right to immortality just as their rulers did. Thepyramid texts—pertaining to the kings—gave way to thesarcophagus texts—pertaining to the commoners—and later evolvedinto the Book of the Dead. Despite the seemingly polytheistic natureof the Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and hada lot in common with the Christian faith which followed. A very highvalue was placed on its morals, and it supported a high culture ofliterature and arts. The society was close-knit and enjoyedharmonious relations, especially within the family unit. Social justicereigned.

2

Social Justice in ancient EgyptErian Labib Hanna

The ancient Egyptians believed that there was once a Golden Age whichthey called “The First Time”, when the principals of justice reigned overthe land. What was actually meant by this phrase, often repeated inancient Egyptian texts, is not known. It implies the beginning of an eventand was often taken to mean “The Beginning” or Creation. The Egyptianpriest Manetho, who wrote the history of Egypt in Graeco-Roman times,saw it as the pre-historic period which was filled by dynasties of gods anddemi-gods. “The First Time” might, however, simply be recapitulationsthat reflect the Egyptians’ pride in their own culture, a confirmation thatorder once existed. A Golden Age when “Maat (Justice) came fromheaven and joined those who lived on earth” may refer to the OldKingdom civilisation, the purest period of Egypt’s ancient history.

+Two cults+Previous articles in this series referred to the One Creator, the “GreatOne-neter hah”, and the many local gods, which demonstrated both unityand plurality in the ancient Egyptian religion. This was repeated in thesacred writings of The Pyramid Texts, The Sarcophagus Texts and TheBook of the Dead. Worth noting is that the ancient theologians found nocontradiction between Unity and Plurality, but tried to reconcile thedifferent interpretations.There were actually two parallel religions—the official religion, or the Racult, and the popular religion, or The Osiris cult. In order to reach acompromise between them, the Book of the Dead cites Ra as theCreator—according to the Sun doctrine in ‘Oan’—and Osiris as the Judgein the ‘Trial’ on Judgement Day. And since, according to The Book of theDead “Ra is Osiris, and Osiris is Ra’, the Creator is then also the Judge.In addition, throughout ancient Egyptian history Maat, the goddess ofJustice, Truth and Right, was always present. Even in the temples thepriests used to raise the statue of Maat as a ritual at the end of prayers, aclear indication that there was Justice—Social Justice.

+Rights restored+Ancient Egyptian literature abounds with examples of social Justice in. Inthe complaint of the Eloquent Peasant, the peasant’s full rights were

3

restored and the evil administrator was punished for his wrongdoing. Inthe Negative Confession justice was preserved by everyone, whetherordinary people or officials.Even in the higher occupations justice was prevalent, as in the case of thepromotion of Uni in the Old Kingdom.Uni was a man of humble birth who began his career as a minor officialunder the Pharaoh Teti and rose to the position of ‘Favoured Courtier’under Pepi. In ancient Egypt a man who proved capable in performingone task was considered equally fit for others. Many persons of obscureorigin or even base servitude rose to high honour and died governors ofprovinces or ministers of the pharaoh. Ti, the vigorous nobleman of thefifth dynasty who served under three pharaohs, was not of royal blood,yet his marriage to the princess Nefer-Hotep-s gave him special positionand his children ranked with royalty.

+Christianity +The present series has so far covered the main features of the history ofthe Egyptians throughout the ancient eras which preceded Christianity,and will henceforth move on to the Christian—the Coptic—period. Manyquestions pertaining to this period beg answers, such as, “Why were theEgyptians among the first to embrace Christianity, and why were there somany Egyptian martyrs?” Future articles will refer as well to somedifferences between beliefs in Pharaonic Egypt and the Coptic Period,and ideas that were partly similar and partly different. This will all bewithin the context of the history of the ordinary people of Egypt, who inspite of much suffering still preserve the wisdom and perseverance oftheir great-grandfathers.

1

WATANI English Section7 November 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 220 + 935

Egyptology 17/195


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series demonstrated that ancient Egyptians werea mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’settled down on the banks of the Nile to an agricultural life, it wasnatural that they should look around and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed thebasis of their spiritual and intellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion—based in principle upon the concept of an afterlife and theconflict between good and evil—emerged. Despite the seeminglypolytheistic nature of the Egyptians’ religion, it was in fact a religion ofone god, and had a lot in common with the Christian faith whichfollowed. As the present article reveals, Egypt figured highly in theBible and its history often crossed paths with that of the Hebrews.

Egypt and the BibleErian Labib Hanna

2

Egypt’s first major role in the Bible is as a haven from famine for thepatriarchs (Genesis 12:1; 42-47). Since Egypt had the Nile, she couldprosper independently of the Mediterranean rains which were vital to Syriaand Palestine.

+Famine-relief+Many others besides the Hebrew founding fathers sought famine-relief inEgypt. Back in the Old Kingdom, starving foreigners appear in sculpturedscenes, while a thousand years later (about 1230 BC) Edomite tribesman areadmitted to the pools of Pithom, ‘to keep them alive, and to keep their cattlealive, through the great provisions of Pharaoh’. Egypt maintained frontierguards and officials on her eastern border, visitors sometimes being escortedinto the land (like Sinuhe in the story of Sinuhe) or out of it (like Abrahamin Genesis 12:20).

+Pharaoh’s dream+The pharaohs of Abraham’s and Joseph’s time probably belonged to theXIIth and XIIIth/XVth dynasties (Middle Kingdom and after), when manyforeigners found employment in Egypt at various levels, from slaves to highstewards (like Joseph under Potiphar, Genesis 39:1-4). And like Joseph(Genesis 41:45), many of his non-Egyptian contemporaries were givenEgyptian second names. In all walks of life, amongst high and low, dreamswere considered meaningful—so much so, that learned scribes wrotetextbooks to help interpret them. The motif of seven cows occurs not only inPharaoh’s dream (Genesis 14:18 ff), but also in Spell 148 of the Book of theDead, which concerned food in the hereafter.

+Land registers+On the economic plane, the Egyptian authorities kept detailed registers ofland-holdings, and measured off standing crops on the eve of harvest for taxpurposes. With such a system, the measures Joseph proposed could readilyhave been carried out (Genesis 41: 34–35, 48–49, 47; 23 ff). In addition, theDelta was a preferred area for pasturing cattle (Genesis 46:34), a fact evidentfrom inscriptions of about 1600 BCThe fine linen garments worn by Joseph as a high official (Genesis 41:42)are familiar from countless Egyptian paintings, while the mummificationand coffins of Egypt (Genesis 50: 2 – 3, 26) as well as the tombs (Exodus14:11) are proverbial.

3

+Hebrew slaves+Four centuries later, many Hebrews had become slaves in the brickfields ofNew Kingdom Egypt producing materials for the great building projects ofthat era. Their labours culminated in work on the cities of Pithom andRaamses (Exodus 1: 11), the latter being the famous East Delta residence ofPi-Ramesse, built by Ramses II. In contemporary papyri, we read of Apiru(people who include the Hebrews) who drag stone for the great pylongateways of the temples of Ramses II; of men ‘making their quota daily’;and of officials having neither men nor straw to produce bricks (see Exodus5: 7). Conditions in Exodus 5 are echoed in Egyptian documents of that day.Excavation of the village of workmen who cut the royal tombs in WesternThebes has yielded ‘work sheets’ scribbled on potsherds (pottery fragmentswhich were the ancient equivalent of memo-pads). These record in detaildays worked and days ‘idle’, sometimes giving specific reasons for theabsenteeism of individuals: ‘his wife is ill’, or ‘brewing beer with the boss’,or even ‘stung by a scorpion’. Most interesting are the entries for a man‘offering to his God’, or for the whole gang having several days off for alocal religious festival. A relevant comparison is in Exodus 5: 1–5, whereMoses seeks leave for the Hebrews, but Pharaoh is unwilling to concedefurther public holidays or to recognise Moses’ God.

+Moses and the exodus+That a princess in an East Delta harem could care deeply about a foreignchild (Exodus 2) is not surprising in the cosmopolitan society of NewKingdom Egypt. We know that youngsters from Canaan were brought up inharems elsewhere. Foreigners were at every level of society, from the mostinsignificant slave to the cupbearer at the pharaoh’s right hand; a Moses wasno anomaly here. The magicians and wise men of Exodus (7: 11; 8: 7; 18; 9:11) were the chief lector priests and learned scribes. The Egyptiansthemselves told entertaining stories about the reputed exploits of such men.

+Later periods+Egypt reappears in biblical history at the time of David and Solomon.Solomon married a daughter of a pharaoh who conquered Gezer and gave itto him as a dowry (1 Kings 9: 16). That pharaoh was most likely to havebeen Siamun, who reigned about 970 BC and who probably raided theterritory of the Philistines and South West Palestine, to judge from a brokentriumphal relief found at Tanis, the capital of his dynasty (biblical Zoan).

4

The literary layout of Proverbs—largely a ‘wisdom-book ofSolomon—shows affinity with other such works of the biblical Near East, anumber of them being Egyptian. However, the often-repeated claim thatProverbs derives in part directly from an Egyptian work by Amenemope iswithout adequate foundation.Siamun’s line was soon replaced by a new ruler and a new dynasty. This wasSheshonq I, the biblical ‘Shishak’, founder of the XXIInd dynasty (1 Kings11: 40; 14: 25). The new pharaoh saw Solomon’s Israel as a political andcommercial rival.

+Ages of decline+Thereafter, Egypt’s real power swiftly sank. The Hebrew prophets rebukedtheir kings for relying on Egyptian support (see Isaiah 30, 31; Jeremiah 46).Egypt was no match for Assyria or Babylon, and with the rise of the PersianEmpire it became a ‘lowly kingdom’ (Ezekiel 29: 1), losing any effectivenational independence for ages to come.The next article will tackle some similarities between ancient Egyptian andChristian beliefs.

1

WATANI English Section5 December 2004Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 215 + 589

Egyptology 18/199


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to be whatthey are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionally arises overtheir origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ is printing amonthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—as opposed to thewidely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt. The first episode ofthe series demonstrated that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of bothHamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ settled down to anagricultural life on the banks of the Nile, it was natural that they shouldlook around them and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sunand the River Nile, both of which dominated their environment and theirvery existence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’and ‘rebirth’, formed the basis of their spiritual and intellectual life. Thusthe ancient Egyptian religion emerged, based in principle upon theconcept of an afterlife and the conflict between good and evil. Despite theseemingly polytheistic nature of the Egyptian religion, it was in fact areligion of one god, and had much in common with the Christian faithwhich followed. Egypt figured highly in the Bible and its history oftencrossed paths with that of the Hebrews.

Similar beliefsErian Labib Hanna

2

Egyptologist Wallis Budge said in his introduction to the Book of theDead in 1895, “…an attempt has been made to illustrate from nativeEgyptian sources the religious views of the wonderful people who morethan five thousand years ago proclaimed the resurrection of a spiritualbody and the immortality of the soul.” He thus referred to two points ofsimilarity between the ancient Egyptian religion and Christianity: aspiritual body and the immortality of the soul.

+The Doctrine of eternal life+That the Egyptians believed in a future life is indisputable, and thedoctrine of the eternal existence, the leading feature of their religion, isenunciated with the utmost clarity in all its historical periods. There is nodoubt that from first to last the Egyptians firmly believed that besides thesoul ++(ba)++ there was some other element of the person that wouldrise again.The physical body ++(khat)++ does not lie inoperative in the tomb, forby the prayers and ceremonies on the day of burial it is endowed with thepower of changing into a ++sahu++, or spiritual body. In closeconnection with the natural and spiritual bodies stood the heart++(ab)++, or rather that part of it which was the seat of the power of lifeand the foundation of good and evil thoughts. In addition to the naturaland spiritual bodies, man also had an abstract individuality or personalitywith an absolutely independent existence. It could freely move from placeto place, separating itself from, or unifying itself to the body at will, andalso enjoying life with the gods in heaven.This was the ++ka++, a word which at times conveys the meaning of itsCoptic equivalent ++kw++: an image, genius, double, character,disposition, and mental attributes. The funeral offerings of meat, cakes,wine, ale, unguents, etc, were intended for the ++ka++. The ++ka++seems to be identical with the ++sekhem++, or image, when it dwelt inthe man’s statue. The following is a specimen of the ++ka++’s petitionfor food written in the Eighteenth Dynasty: “May the gods grant that I go into and come forth from my tomb, maythe majesty refresh its shade, may I drink water from my cisterneveryday.”

+Body, soul, spirit+In connection with the ++ka++ and ++ba++ must be mentioned theshadow, ++khaibit++, which the Egyptians regarded as part of the humanabstract. Another important and apparently eternal part of man wasintelligence or ++khu++ which, judging from the meaning of the word,may be defined as a ‘shining’ or translucent, intangible casing or covering

3

of the body, frequently depicted in the form of a mummy. For want of abetter word, ++rhu++ has often been translated ‘shining one’, ‘glorious’,‘intelligence’ and the like, but in certain cases it may be tolerably wellrendered by ‘spirit’. The Pyramid Texts show us that the ++rhu++ of thegods lived in heaven, and thither wended the ++ka++ of a person assoon as the prayers said over the body enabled it to do so.Finally the name, ++ren++, of a man was believed to exist in heaven.Thus, as we have seen, the whole man consisted of a natural body, aspiritual body, a heart, a double, a shadow, an intangible ethereal casingor spirit, a form, and a name. And very clearly, man never absolutelydied, but went on to live an afterlife.In Christianity, the resurrection of Christ is the evident proof of theafterlife.The next article will examine the ancient Egyptians’ notion of god.

1

WATANI English Section2 January 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 215 + 595

Egyptology 19/203


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series demonstrated thatancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races.Once the first ‘Egyptians’ settled down to an agricultural life on thebanks of the Nile, it was natural that they should look around themand try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and theirvery existence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed the basis of their spiritual andintellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion emerged, based inprinciple upon the concept of an afterlife and the conflict betweengood and evil. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature of theEgyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and had muchin common with the Christian faith which followed. Egypt figuredhighly in the Bible and its history often crossed paths with that of theHebrews.

The Egyptians’ God

The ancient Egyptians expressed their ‘doubt’ about the afterlife in thepoem called “Songs at Banquets” in these lines: “None comes from

2

thence that he may tell us what they need, that he may set our heart atease.” This is an inquiry by Man, who constantly meditates in an attemptto obtain an answer. Whereas Christianity deals with a ‘fact’, that of theResurrection of Christ—the gospels were written by eyewitnesses whocertified this cornerstone in Christian belief, ancient Egyptiansbelieved—with no evidence—that death was and is not the end for ahuman being.

+Firsts+For Christians, Paradise was lost because of the sin of Adam and wasrestored by Christ. “The doctrine of the Redeemer was introduced byChristianity. We have new words first used by Christians: [Jesus, ourRedeemer—Christians believe that Christ is the salvation of theworld—salvation—ransom—redemption—Adam and the inheritedsin—deliverance from sin—redeemed from sin.] The Triad wasconcerned with ancient Egyptian local gods such as Osiris, Isis, andHorus; Amun, Mut, and Khonsu; and so on, but the Holy Trinity (Father,Son and the Holy Spirit) was introduced by Christianity. There was nomention of the creation of Satan—the ancient Egyptians believed thatEvil came from man.

+The One Creator+The ancient Egyptians believed in the co-existence of Monotheism andPolytheism. They had the conception of ‘Neter–Aha’ which means theGreat God, and bore a great similarity to the Christian belief in God. Thefollowing passage written by Jacques Joseph Figeac Champollion in1839, clarifies that the Egyptian religion was a pure monotheism whichremarkably manifested itself with polytheism. “God is one and alone, theOne who hath made all things … none other existeth with him … God isa spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of theEgyptians, the divine spirit... God is from the beginning, He hath existedfrom old and was when nothing else had being. He created and came intobeing. He is the Father of beginnings... God is the eternal One, He iseternal and infinite and endureth for ever and age... God is hidden and noman knows His form. No man hath been able to seek out His likeness; Heis a mystery unto his creatures. No man knoweth how to know Him... Hisname remains hidden … a mystery unto his children. His names areinnumerable they are manifold and none knoweth their number... God istruth and He liveth by truth and feedeth thereon. He is the king of truth,and he hath established the earth thereupon... God is life and through Himonly man liveth. He giveth life to man, He breatheth the breath of life intohis nostrils... God is father and mother, the father of fathers, and themother of mothers. He begetteth, but was never begotten; He produceth

3

but was never produced, He begat himself, and produced himself. Hecreateth, but was never created. God Himself is existence, He endurethwithout increase or diminution… God hath made the universe, He hathcreated all that therein is; He is the creator of the heavens and of theearth; He fashioned men and formed the gods. God is merciful unto thosewho rever Him, and He heareth him that calleth upon Him. God knowethhim that acknowledgeth Him, He rewardeth him that serveth Him, and Heprotecteth him that followeth Him.”Is this any different from what a Christian may write about God?The next article will present the Egyptian heaven.

1

WATANI English Section6 February 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 216 + 702

Egyptology 20/208


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series demonstrated thatancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races.Once the first ‘Egyptians’ settled down to an agricultural life on thebanks of the Nile, it was natural that they should look around themand try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and theirvery existence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed the basis of their spiritual andintellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion emerged, based inprinciple upon the concept of life after death, and the conflictbetween good and evil. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature ofthe Egyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and hadmuch in common with the Christian faith which followed. Egyptfigured highly in the Bible and its history often crossed paths withthat of the Hebrews.

The Egyptian Heaven

2

+The Egyptian Heaven+ For the ancient Egyptians, the place of the deceased was in heaven, bythe side of the god, in the most holy place. There the dead soul receivedthe ++urerit++ crown from the gods—from the great company of thegods of Annu. “He thirsts not, nor hungers, nor is he sad; he eats thebread of Ra and drinks.”However, side by side with the passages which speak of the spiritualenjoyments of the deceased, there are others which seem to imply that theEgyptians believed in the corporeal existence—or at least in the capacityfor corporeal enjoyment—in the future state.

+The Egyptian underworld+The Egyptian heaven was situated in the sky, which the Egyptiansbelieved to be like an iron ceiling, either flat or vaulted, and tocorrespond in the extent and shape with earth beneath it. Within the twobowed female figures which represent the day and the night sky is a thirdfigure which is bent round a circle; the space enclosed by it, according toDr first name? Brugsch, represents the ++Tuat++ (pronounced‘++Duat++’) or Egyptian underworld, wherein dwelt the gods of thedead and the departed soul.The souls of the dead made their way to their abode in the ‘other world’by a ladder, according to a very ancient view, or through a gap in themountains of Abydos called ++Peka++. Of the conditions of those whofailed to secure a life of beatitude with gods in the ++Sekhet-Aaru++ ofthe ++Tuat++, the pyramid texts say nothing.

+The Christian Heaven+Heaven is the dwelling place of God, the perfect unseen world. In theEpistle to the Philippians, St Paul conceived of earthly friendships ascontinuing on into eternity. He expected his happiness to come to arapturous climax in greeting his beloved friends in the upper kingdom atthe feet of Jesus—his own offering to the Lord, saved forever because hehimself had brought them to Jesus.Paul’s goal was that he might attain resurrection from the dead. This wasthe secret of Paul’s life. He had had a glimpse of the glory of Heaven (2Corinthians 12:4) and was determined that for himself he would, by thegrace of Christ, get there, with as many others as he could possiblypersuade to come along. This chapter is one of the fullest of St Paul’sstatements of his own personal hope of heaven.

+New Heaven and New Earth (Rev 21:1-8)+

3

This chapter describes not a new social order in this present world, butthe Eternal Home of the Redeemed, the “Father’s House of ManyMansions”. This is one of the most precious chapters in all the Bible.The First Heaven and Earth had passed away (2 Peter 3:10), the Heavenwith a great noise or explosion, and the Earth and its works burned up.What amount of change this entailed in the physical universe, we do notknow. Nor do we know whether it will be this earth made over andrenewed by fire, or an entirely different earth.And nor can we now comprehend to what extent, with our glorified,incorruptible, spiritual bodies, we may be confined to any material planetor star, or be free to roam in the limitless spheres of space. How wewould love to know. Some day we shall.

+The kingdom of God+The two expressions “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven”represent exactly the same idea. Perhaps the Lord’s Prayer comes closestto an exact definition when it equates the coming of God’s kingdom withdoing His will. Where God’s will is done with perfect submission, there,according to the New Testament, is His kingdom revealed.In Jesus, the kingdom of God became a living reality. His miracles, andespecially His exorcisms, testified to the fact that God’s sovereign rule isupon man. (Mathew 12:28). His preaching, with its unique note ofauthority, is evidence of the kingdom’s arrival (Mark 1:27; Mathew11:5). Because “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you”, he tells hisdisciples (Luke 17:21), the kingdom’s blessings—forgiveness, salvationand eternal life—are theirs to enjoy, not only for the future but in thepresent.

1

WATANI English Section6 March 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 235 + 545

Egyptology 21/212


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions,++Watani++ is printing a monthly series on the history of theEgyptian people—as opposed to the widely known ‘official’ history ofthe rulers of Egypt. The first episode of the series demonstrated thatancient Egyptians were a mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races.Once the first ‘Egyptians’ settled down to an agricultural life on thebanks of the Nile, it was natural that they should look around themand try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and theirvery existence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed the basis of their spiritual andintellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptian religion emerged, based inprinciple upon the concept of an afterlife and the conflict betweengood and evil. Despite the seemingly polytheistic nature of theEgyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, and had muchin common with the Christian faith which followed. Egypt figuredseveral times in the Bible and its history often crossed paths with thatof the Hebrews. When St Mark preached Christianity to theEgyptians they were ready—heart and soul—to accept and embraceit.

2

Christianity comes to Egypt

When the pharaohs—as the mighty force in religion, being the sons ofRa—lost their esteem as protectors of the country, the priests encouragedthe people to resort to their local gods as their protectors. Hence scholarsnoticed mummification of animals, which were symbols of local gods,spreading at a time when the kings lost their glory, and especially afterthe occupation of the country by the Persians.Previous articles of this series referred to formal religion and popularreligion. Formal religion dealt with Ra and the place of the pharaohs inheaven after death. Popular religion dealt with Osiris and the place ofordinary people in heaven after death. They dealt with the negativeconfession; the trial on Judgement Day; reward and punishment; the oneCreator and the one Judge.

+Innate belief+After the collapse of the royal dynastic families, the Egyptians lost faithin the ability of their national rulers to help or even protect them. Theyalso lost their faith in the local gods and goddesses, yet they clung to theirinnate belief in the Great Creator and the Judge on Judgement Day.They must have heard about an account of a Man (not an ordinary man).God Himself became a Man, to give mankind a concrete, definite,tangible idea of what kind of person to think of when we think of God.God is like Jesus. Jesus was God incarnate in human form.His appearance on Earth is the central event of all history. The OldTestament set the stage for it. The New Testament described it. As aMan, He lived the most strangely beautiful life ever known. He was kind,tender, gentle, patient; the most sympathetic man that ever lived. Heloved people. He hated to see them in trouble. He loved to help. Heworked miracles, and fed hungry people. Multitudes—weary, pain-riddenand heartsick—came to Him and found forgiveness, healing and relief.That is the kind of man Jesus was. That is the kind of person God is.

+Jesus Christ the son of Man+Then He died on the Cross to take away the sin of the world, to becomethe Redeemer and Saviour of men. He rose from the dead; is alive nownot merely as a historical character but as a living person. The Bible isbuilt around this story of Christ and His promise of life eternal to thosewho accept Him. This God appealed to the Egyptians, and personified all

3

they cared for. The concept of the eternal life—so basic toChristianity—reverberated with all the intonations all the Egyptians’view of the afterlife.When St Mark preached the gospel about A.D 61, people would haveheard about Christ in Palestine and His miracles. They listened to theword of God, accepted it, and later proved their readiness to die for it.Egyptians embraced Christianity. The Holy Trinity took its place asSupreme Being. There was no more a ‘Triad’, but only ‘Holy Trinity’.Christ, the centre and heart of the Bible, became the centre and heart ofEgyptians’ lives. Their eternal destiny was His hands. Their acceptanceor rejection of Him determined for each of them eternal glory or eternalruin; heaven or hell to one or the other.

1

WATANI International3 April 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 246 + 757

Egyptology 22/216


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to be whatthey are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionally arises overtheir origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ is printing amonthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—as opposed to thewidely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt. The first episode ofthe series demonstrated that ancient Egyptians were a mixture of bothHamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’ settled down to anagricultural life on the banks of the Nile, it was natural that they should lookaround them and try to understand their universe. The life-giving sun and theRiver Nile, both of which dominated their environment and their veryexistence, and both of which in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and‘rebirth’, formed the basis of their spiritual and intellectual life. Thus theancient Egyptian religion emerged, based in principle upon the concept of anafterlife and the conflict between good and evil. Despite the seeminglypolytheistic nature of the Egyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of onegod, and had much in common with the Christian faith which followed.Egypt figured several times in the Bible and its history often crossed pathswith that of the Hebrews. When St Mark preached Christianity to theEgyptians they were ready—heart and soul—to accept and embrace it. TheCoptic language was an extension of the ancient Egyptian one.

The languageFrom Egyptian to Coptic

2

Coptic, as written in the Coptic script from about the third century ADonwards, is the language of ancient Egypt in its last form. It was so calledbecause it was spoken by the Copts, the Christian descendants of the ancientEgyptians, in whose churches it is read, although not widely understood, upto the present day. The word Qibti, or ‘Copt’—taken from the Egyptian‘Hekaptah’—was first used by the invading Arabs to mean a ‘nativeEgyptian’. After the Arab conquest in 640 AD Coptic was graduallysuperseded by Arabic, and it died out as a spoken language in the sixteenthcentury.

+Dialects+Coptic is written in the Greek alphabet supplemented by seven specialcharacters derived from the hieroglyphic signs. The importance of Coptic ina philological sense is due to its being the only form of Egyptian in whichthe vowels are regularly written. It must not be forgotten, however, thatCoptic represents a far later stage than even the most vulgar examples of lateEgyptian, and the word order owes more to Greek than to Egyptian.Of the many Coptic dialects the most important are the Akhimimic whichwas the old dialect of Upper Egypt, the Sahidic which was the dialect ofThebes, and the Bahiric which was originally the dialect of Western Delta.Later, after the removal of the Patriarchate to Cairo in the 11th century, theBahiric became the literary idiom of the whole of Egypt.

+The Egyptian language+The language of the ancient Egyptians is revealed in their hieroglyphicwritings. The earliest inscriptions go back as far as the first dynasty, whichcan in no case be placed later than 3000 BC, while some authorities favour adate many hundreds of years earlier. The same script lived far into theChristian era, even though by this time its use was only official or religious.The last known hieroglyphs were written at Philae in 394 AD; the next lastgive the names of the Roman emperors Diocletian (295 AD) and Decius(ruled 249–251).Thus the use of the earliest form of Egyptian writing, although at the lastconfined to a narrow circle of learned priests, covered a period of three toeven four thousand years. The language is related not only to the Semitic tongues (Hebrew, Arabic,Aramaic and Babylonian among them) but also to the languages of EastAfrica (Galla and Somalia, etc.)

+Stages of the language+

3

1. Old Egyptian: the language of dynasties one to eight, about 3180 to 2240BC.2. Middle Egyptian, possibly the vernacular of dynasties nine to eleven,about 2240 - 1900 BC3. Late Egyptian: the vernacular of dynasties 18 to 24, about 1573 to 715BC. This was exhibited chiefly in business documents and letters, but also instories and other literary composition and to some extent also on officialmonuments from the 19th dynasty onwards.It is important to note that hieratic, written as cursive writing, was the formemployed by priests. This was nothing more than hieroglyphs in thesummary and rounded forms resulting from the rapid manipulation of a reedpen, in contrast to the angular and precise shapes arising from the use of thechisel.4. Demotic: this term is loosely applied to the language used in books anddocuments in the script known as demotic from the 25th dynasty to lateRoman times (715 BC to AD 470).5. Coptic: using the Greek script with additional letters, as mentioned above.

+Decorative scripts+The decorative character of the hieroglyphic script and its close connectionwith pictorial art made it a natural and handy medium of ornamentation.Hence in temples and tombs there is hardly a wall that does not bearhieroglyphic inscriptions, and even the common objects of daily life, such astoiletery utensils, boxes, jewels and weapons often display the names andtitles of their owners or the cartouche of the pharaoh under whom they weremade.

+Religious literature+1. ++The Pyramid Texts++: the oldest body of religious texts, being a largecollection of spells found on the walls of the chambers inside the pyramidsof five kings of the fifth and sixth dynasties.2. ++The Coffin Texts++: composed on behalf of non-royal personages, andcomprising incantations affording protection against hunger, thirst, and themanifold dangers of the netherworld, as well as incantations by virtue ofwhich the deceased could retain the enjoyment of former pastimes and joinin the society of relatives and friends.3. ++The Book of the Dead++: not really a book, but a heterogeneousassemblage of funerary spells of various dates.

1

WATANI English Section1 May 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 240 + 667

Egyptology 23/220


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series demonstrated that ancient Egyptians werea mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’settled down to an agricultural life on the banks of the Nile, it wasnatural that they should look around them and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed thebasis of their spiritual and intellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion emerged, based in principle upon the concept of an afterlife andthe conflict between good and evil. Despite the seemingly polytheisticnature of the Egyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, andhad much in common with the Christian faith which followed. Egyptfigured several times in the Bible and its history often crossed pathswith that of the Hebrews. When St Mark preached Christianity to theEgyptians they were ready—heart and soul—to accept and embrace it,and to die for it.

2

Persecutions

In Egypt, as in the rest of the Roman Empire, Christians were persecutedduring the first three centuries following the inception of Christianity.The Egyptians, or Copts as they later came to be known, acceptedChristianity so very rapidly that there is no wonder the Romans werecompelled to crack down in an attempt to suppress the growth of a religionwhich openly defied the divinity of the emperor.

+Double count persecution+In the midst of the tumult of execution and torture, the Egyptian churchflourished beyond recognition until it assumed its definitive form in thecourse of the second century. In other words, the third century saw theCoptic Church with a great hierarchy ranging from the Patriarch inAlexandria down to modest priests and the monks who lived out in theEastern and the Western Deserts. The rise of this great hierarchyconterminously???? with the Roman persecutions resulted in theidentification of the Coptic people with their own church of Alexandria.This tradition persisted and even became more prominent when, in asubsequent age and for other reasons, the Byzantines resuscitatedpersecutions against Copts. In those early days, Christians were obliged toassemble in the catacombs or in isolated burial grounds to worship theirGod. Thousands of them gave up their lives for the faith, especially duringthe reign of Diocletian which lasted from 284 to 305 AD.

+The Greeks+It is worth noting that the Greeks were different from the Romans in the waythey ruled the occupied Egypt. The Romans were violent and bloody,whereas the Greeks were the descendants of a democratic people whosephilosophers were tolerant and wise. Plato referred to his famous division ofthe three classes: the +guardians+ who sprung from among the wisephilosophers; the +army+—the raging???? class; and the ragtag andbobtail—the +mob+.The Greek rulers—the Ptolemies—imitated the previous Egyptianrulers—the pharaohs—and established many religious edifices as temples to

3

Egyptian cults, such as the temple on Philae Island dedicated to Isis, andEdfu temple dedicated to Horus.The Greeks kept valuable resources in Egypt for Egyptians to make use of.The Romans, however, used Egypt as a breadbasket and took Egyptian grainto Rome. The peasants worked hard and cultivated their land solely to findthe harvest demanded by the Romans.

+Disloyalty to Rome+There was no conflict between Greeks and Egyptians in the matter ofreligion. The rulers respected the ancient Egyptian religion and gods. Thetriad of Osiris, Isis and Horus were given similar Greek names in order toshow the people that both the Egyptians and the Greeks worshipped thesame gods. With the Romans, it was different. On 21 April 249, the Romangovernment celebrated a special occasion to mark 2000 years since thefounding of Rome. They did not celebrate this occasion as their own, butwanted the Egyptians to express their loyalty to their pagan gods, which theChristians in Egypt refused to do. The Emperor Decius asked the people toshow their submission to these gods, and his reign was marked withpersecutions. The same happened under the rule of Valerian. However, thegreatest persecutions happened under Diocletian.

+Calendar of the martyrs+As a result of the bloodshed, the Coptic Church started its calendar on thedate when Diocletian came to the throne. Thus keeping the memory of themartyrs. It was called the age of martyrdom. We have to bear in mind thatpersecution at that time was inflicted by pagans against Christians. In thenext article we will see that persecution was inflicted by Christians againstthe Egyptians due to the difference in their creeds.The Egyptians had always been interested in a new life, after death andwelcomed Christian teaching about the resurrection. The good news of thehistorical Jesus as the crucified and risen Saviour proved particularlyacceptable to a people whose hopes were hitherto placed in the mythologicalman-god Osiris, who had been slain by the power of evil.

1

WATANI English Section5 June 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 241 + 611

Egyptology 24/225


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series demonstrated that ancient Egyptians werea mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’settled down to an agricultural life on the banks of the Nile, it wasnatural that they should look around them and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed thebasis of their spiritual and intellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion emerged, based in principle upon the concept of an afterlife andthe conflict between good and evil. Despite the seemingly polytheisticnature of the Egyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, andhad much in common with the Christian faith which followed. Egyptfigured several times in the Bible and its history often crossed pathswith that of the Hebrews. When St Mark preached Christianity to theEgyptians they were ready—heart and soul—to accept and embrace it,defend it and die for it.

Christians vs Christians

2

When looking at the history of Christianity in Egypt, it should not beforgotten that ancient Alexandria was a centre of cosmopolitan learning:Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew, and Roman. The Egyptian-born scholars studiedGreek, Jewish and Roman philosophies in addition to the Egyptianphilosophy inherited from their ancestors. This emphasised the One Creatorand the One Judge, and it was not unlike the Christian ideas aboutresurrection and the afterlife. “Christians vs. Christians” covers thedifferences between the concepts adopted by the Coptic Church and otherchurches.

+The Arian heresy+As Eusebius of Caesarea was to say during the debates that culminated atNicaea: “Nothing is from God’s ++ousia++ (His Being), but all thingscoming into being are his will; each one exists just as it came into being.”This concept of the relation of God and the Word—to which Eusebius andhis master, the emperor Constantine, were sympathetic—is known to Churchhistorians as the ‘Arian heresy’. The Orthodox reply has been that the Worddoes not stem from God’s ++orbitrium++ (his will) as such but from hisvery being. The Word, exactly, is not arbitrary, since there could never havebeen another Word. Indeed the very notion that it is made by God’s will andreason is absurd—the Word is God’s will and reason ++(Oxford History ofWestern Philosophy, p48)++ The Bible says: “No one has seen the Father,nor has any adequate account of him: only the Word declares him.”The Coptic Church played a leading part in defending the Christian faith.Thanks to Pope Athanasius of Alexandria, the first Ecumenical Council,which was held in Nicaea in A.D. 325, condemned Ariarism—leading to thefirst schism in Christianity.

+Coptic churches+Coptic church buildings possess a distinct character of their own. They areinstantly recognisable from among any number of surrounding buildings, forhowever much they may vary in size, form, style, outward aspect or anything else,they all bear an unmistakable stamp. In all of them one finds the general andidentical features of ‘the House of God’, and as such they perfectly resemble oneother. The description of a Coptic church in general is at the same time the generaldescription of a particular Coptic church. Whether a stately basilica of majesticdimensions or a poor village church, a glorious mediaeval cathedral or a hastilyerected chapel, they are all the same. All are equally permeated with the elevatedprinciple: “A church is a house of prayer, where the God of love dwells in themidst of the children of man.”

3

It is but a natural consequence of their vivid faith that those material buildingsshould have possessed in their minds a higher meaning than a mere meeting-place,a grand monument or something of that kind. Very early on it obtained a distinctspiritual meaning that found its origin in the purpose for which it was destined, viz:to serve as an abode for the very God of Heaven.

+Monasticism+The most outstanding trait of Egyptian Christianity was the unusual predominanceof monasticism over the ordinary secular clergy. In Egypt, life is so narrowlypacked together, and the cultivable land is squeezed on both sides of the Nile byrocky hills, not usually exceeding a few kilometres wide and often reduced to afew hundred metres. At every hour and in every place every inhabitant hascontinually before his eyes the perspective of the desert. All those men endowedwith a particular vocation calling them towards God were strongly drawn to retireto that desert, which was so near and yet so inaccessible and where, in theirsolitude, they feel the presence of the Almighty God.

1

WATANI English Section3 July 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 240 + 439

Egyptology 25/229



2

The great SchismErian Labib Hanna

The church was founded, not as an institution of authority to force the nameand teaching of Christ upon the world, but only as a witness-bearer to Christ.Christ Himself, not the church, is the transforming power in human life.Even so, the church—founded during the Roman Empire—graduallydeveloped a form of government like the political world in which it existed,becoming a vast autonomous organisation, ruled from the top.Emperor Theodosius (AD 378-398) made Christianity the state religion ofthe Roman Empire, and made church membership compulsory. This was theworst calamity that ever befell the church. The forced conversion filled theChurch with ‘irreverent people’.

+The imperial Church+The military spirit of imperial Rome had entered the church. The churchchanged its nature, entered the Great Apostasy, and became a politicalorganisation in the spirit and pattern of the Roman Empire. Conflicts withheathen philosophies ensued, interpreting Christ in terms of their ownthinking. So, no sooner had Christianity made its appearance than it beganits process of amalgamation with Greek and Oriental Philosophies; and therearose many sects: Gnosticism, Manichaeism, Montanism, Monarchianism,Arianism, Appolinianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, and Monophysites.From the second to the sixth centuries the church was rent withcontroversies. Arianism as a heresy was condemned by the Council ofNicaea in 325. The Council of Ephesus was called in 431 to settle theNestorian Controversy. Nestorianism caused the greatest schism, resulting inhuge controversies between the Monophyites—the Coptic Churchincluded—and the Diophsites. The Coptic Church was persecuted by theByzantine rulers as the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) could not settle thematter of the Nature of Christ.

+The Coptic Faith+The Coptic Church is nearly like the Greek and Russian churches in ordersand faith. It differs from Catholicism on the issues of the emanation of theHoly Spirit, and the reservation of the sacrament.

3

Since the dawn of Christianity, Copts acknowledged seven canonicalsacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Orders, Matrimonyand Unction of the sick.Coptic Holy Mass is still celebrated in Coptic churches. According totradition, it was orally transmitted by St Mark, and finally recorded by StCyril the Great in the third century. It was considered the greatest, the oldestand most complete Mass text. As religious literature, it is regarded assupreme. Coptic Mass and the works of the Coptic fathers are the chiefelements in the spiritual heritage of the Copts.Candidates for ordination to the priesthood must be married men—marriageis forbidden after ordination. If the candidate wishes to remain celibate, hemust first become a monk and then seek ordination.

1

WATANI English Section7 August 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 240 + 680

Egyptology 26/234



2

Egyptology

Church as symbol

Symbolism in the Coptic Church is an artistic commemoration of divineredemption and the doctrine of Revelation. One of the best knownecclesiologists formulates this as follows: “The true significance of aChristian Church starts with Jesus and returns to Him, with Him it begins,and with Him it ends.” The leading idea of this science of symbolism maytherefore be defined in that the material church built by the hands of man isbut a symbol of the spiritual church founded by the Redeemer. +The church door+Symbolism meets us on the very threshold of the church and points to thedoor as a symbol of the Blessed Saviour, who said of himself: “I am thedoor. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.”Where the door in its spiritual aspect is emblematic of Christ, in its materialaspect it is the emblem of safety against outside attacks and—whenopen—of invitation to all on earth to enter its portals.

+The stones+The main constituents of the church edifice are the stones. The church is thehouse of the Lord, strongly built and resting on the foundation of Apostlesand Prophets, whilst Christ Himself is the cornerstone, preserving all inproper strength and shape.The apostles are the foundations also; but they are not the first or principalones, for they again rest on a first, on a divine foundation: the holymountain, the immovable rock, which is Jesus Christ. This is the reason whya bishop or his representative, when laying the ‘first stone’ of a new church,blesses it with great solemnity.

+The vaulted roof+The vaulted roof has undergone many changes in keeping with the form orthe purpose of the structure. The leading principles of the various meaningswere always the representation of a more sublime existence. In very early

3

days the roof of the basilica was a simple wooden one, resting simply on tiebeams. These, the binding and supporting parts were held to be symbolic ofthe holy doctors of the church, who in word and example showed themselvesthe powerful protectors of the Church of God.The entire vaulting, considered from the interior and as a complete whole,was looked upon as symbolising the highest heaven. This idea was moreespecially attached to the roofing of the sanctuary, where the Holy Sacrificeof the Mass was offered, while the vaulting of the nave was considered therepresent the firmament.

+The pulpit+The proper place of the pulpit—the chair of truth—is on the right or Gospel-side, in logical consequence of the symbolic meaning attached to thatposition. Its decoration is based on the view that it symbolises the mountainon which the Saviour taught the multitude. Hence it represents the Sermonon the Mount, the four Evangelists, and the three theological virtues as themain argument of all preaching.

+Symbolism of the Cross+The leading principle is that the Church by preference adores in theCrucified Saviour the conqueror of death, as it is written: “Christ has reignedfrom the wood (of the Cross)”.It is, moreover, important to know that a great distinction has always beenmaintained between the historical and the liturgical representations of theCross, the latter being more in harmony with the mind of the Church. Thisexplains the ultra-realistic character, in so far as the painful contortion andshrinking of the muscles, the face bathed in blood, untrimmed roughness ofthe Cross and so on are concerned.

+Fish and eggs+A +fish+ is the mystic symbol of the first Christians.The +lamb+ dates from the era of the catacombs when Christians werehiding from persecution, and is the symbol of Christ, the ‘Lamb of God’ thattakes away the sin of the world.+Ostrich eggs+ are held by the Coptic Church as symbols of resurrection,and many are arranged in front and at the high end of the screens. In anothermeaning, they symbolise the Church—as an ostrich egg watched ever-closely and incessantly by the ostrich—watched over by Christ.

1

WATANI English Section4 September 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 240 + 770

Egyptology 27/238



Egyptology

2

Clothes in ancient Egypt

One way of knowing more about everyday life in ancient Egypt is toconsider the clothes people wore, and thus learn about weaving and textiles.Likewise their furniture give an idea about their woodworking skills, andtheir jewellery about gold, gold mines and semi-precious stones. Theirbuildings—mainly their houses—tell about their architecture, and theirmusic and art give a clearer picture of their domestic life.

+Linen and wool+Egyptians knew how to use linen from ancient times—it was already knownat the time of the First Dynasty (3000 BC). The yarn was spun with spindlesand woven into cloth on a loom; the ancient Egyptians in the Pharaonicperiod were most skilful in weaving linen, especially in fabricatingtransparent textiles. Wool must also have been woven, but was not used inabundance—probably because it was not durable and was perhapsconsidered ceremonially unclean.Scholars state that cotton fabrics were not produced in Egypt until severalcenturies after the Arab conquest (641 AD), although the cotton plantexisted and was known as “trees of wool”. Silk did not come to ancientEgypt before its importation from China began in Ptolemaic time (300BC). Its use spread in the fifth century AD, although it was only used on asmall scale.

+Tapestries and leopard skins+Tapestries—Copati textiles—were abundant in the Coptic era. The weaverswere extremely skilful and capable in the art of using fabric dyes. Indigo,saffron, pomegranate rind, the Henna plant and other roots grown in Egyptprovided natural dyes. Women were generally involved in the spinning andweaving industry, using looms that are still used in the countryside.In the “Ra-Hotep tomb at Medum” there are illustrations of complete longcostumes of leopard skins for festivals and ceremonies. In another tombthere are “short kilts” with leopard skin knotted at shoulder as a dress forfestivals and ceremonies.

+Tunics+

3

In the “Tomb of Ti” at Saqquara—Old Kingdom—there are inscriptions ofwomen carrying provisions wearing long tight tunics held by braces. In theCairo Museum—Old Kingdom—we see the statue of the lady Nefert, wifeof the high priest—Ra-Hotep—wearing a white cloak over her tunic.A scene on the Middle Kingdom sarcophagus of Princess Kawit in theEgyptian Museum shows a servant with a long wide kilt made of thick stuffpouring drink for a lady of distinction wearing a long tunic.From the Tomb of Djehuti-hotep at Bershah, also from the Middle Kingdom,is a scene of a noble wearing a long robe of transparent linen over a shortkilt: on his shoulders is a short cape. In another scene Djehuti-hotep isdepicted wearing a long striped dress. In the Middle Kingdom Tomb ofMeket-Ra at Thebes, now in the Egyptian Museum is an offering bearer in adecorated tunic held at the shoulders by two braces. In the Middle KingdomTomb of Nakht at Assiut, now in the Egyptian Museum, a maiden carryingofferings is shown wearing a one-brace tunic with a net kilt ornamented withbeads.

+Men’s robes+The New Kingdom tomb of the vizier Ramose in the Valley of the Noblescontains a scene in which Ramose is wearing a simple wide shirt with shortsleeves; there is also another kind of shirt in the same tomb. In anotherTheban tomb an offering-bearer wears a wide shirt knotted at the neck, whilea nobleman wears a loose shirt and a double kilt. Elsewhere is a manwearing a kilt elongated at the back over the short kilt described earlier.In the Southern chapel of Abu Simbel Ramses II wears long, straight robe,while in the Egyptian Museum is a wooden statuette of Hori from the NewKingdom showing the outer kilt as shorter and spreading to allow the longinner kilt to be visible. A man’s long straight robe from the same period isnow on display in the Copenhagen Museum. There are front and back viewsof a New Kingdom statue showing the outer kilt contracted like a belt.Several scene show people enjoying themselves in their luxury attire. A NewKingdom pharaoh with his long belt ribbons flying in the air can be seen inthe Berlin Museum.

+Royal attire+In the Egyptian Museum can be seen both the front and back views of a NewKingdom statuette showing a lady in a long pleated robe. It covers her rightarm, and is knotted at the breast and bordered with a fringe. In the Louvre,and dating from the Late Period, is a queen clad in a long robe with a featherdecoration.

1

WATANI English Section2 October 2005Written by Erian Hanna / copy editor: Jenny/SamiaWord count: 256 + 790

Egyptology 28/242


In an attempt to trace how modern-day Egyptians finally came to bewhat they are today, and to refute the controversy that occasionallyarises over their origins and the origin of their traditions, ++Watani++ isprinting a monthly series on the history of the Egyptian people—asopposed to the widely known ‘official’ history of the rulers of Egypt.The first episode of the series demonstrated that ancient Egyptians werea mixture of both Hamite and Shemite races. Once the first ‘Egyptians’settled down to an agricultural life on the banks of the Nile, it wasnatural that they should look around them and try to understand theiruniverse. The life-giving sun and the River Nile, both of whichdominated their environment and their very existence, and both ofwhich in essence embodied cycles of ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, formed thebasis of their spiritual and intellectual life. Thus the ancient Egyptianreligion emerged, based in principle upon the concept of an afterlife andthe conflict between good and evil. Despite the seemingly polytheisticnature of the Egyptian religion, it was in fact a religion of one god, andhad much in common with the Christian faith which followed. Egyptfigured several times in the Bible and its history often crossed pathswith that of the Hebrews. When St Mark preached Christianity to theEgyptians they were ready—heart and soul—to accept and embrace it,and to die for it. Their culture continued uninterrupted in the same lineas their ancestors—albeit coloured with Christian overtones.

2

Woodwork

A visit to the Coptic Museum will help us learn more about everyday life inthe Middle Ages. Coptic carpenters, like their ancestors who lived in thePharaonic era, carried out their work with considerable taste and skill.Indigenous wood such as sycamore, acacia and palm were commonly usedin the Pharaonic period and continued to be used in Coptic woodwork. Forfiner wood the Copts would import wood—cedar from Lebanon; ebony fromPunt and the area south of Sudan; teak from India, and pine and walnut fromEurope and western Asia.

+Woodworking+Wood was used in making beds, chairs, sofas, containers, seats, doors,windows and other objects in the home. It was also used for making coffins.We find a great variety of these in both ancient Egyptian tombs andChristian tombs. Some of the coffins are painted and decorated, others arenot. The craftsman who decorated the coffins were no doubt using models,which over the years would have become worn and battered so that theiriconographical detail was almost unrecognisable.One of the most interesting woodworking techniques was ++mashrabiya++,which was used in windows by both Copts and Muslims in the Middle Ages.This was composed of numerous small pieces of carved wood coupledwithout nails, and so arranged as to form geometric patterns and crosses, orCoptic and Arabic inscriptions.The pieces were assembled without nails or glue and enough space wasallowed for expansion and contraction, thus countering changes intemperature. Presumably this type of art, which we call arabesque, wasinspired from the carved wooden panels which date back to the thirdcentury.

+Shipbuilding+Egyptians were accomplished sailors, and shipbuilding was one of the mostimportant and oldest industries, the result of the need to travel both withinthe country, along the Nile, and across the Mediterranean and down the RedSea. The tomb of Ti contains two building scenes, Ti presiding over themboth, inspecting every stage of the work as it is carried out. One shows theentire shipbuilding process, from the early stage of shaping and sawing the

3

wooden planks to the last stages of completion, with workmen milling overthe curving hulls as they carve, hammer, saw and drill.Seafaring vessels usually had a curved prow and high stern, each decoratedin the form of a papyrus bud. The centre of the ship often had an awning. Allhinges, nails and bolts were made of copper, as were the workmen’s tools.One of the oldest surviving texts mentions that during the reign of theFourth-Dynasty ruler Seneferu a fleet of 40 ships sailed to Lebanon andreturned to Egypt laden with timber. The text mentions that the ships were100 cubits (178 feet) in length. The nobleman Uni, ordered by royalcommand to transport alabaster, constructed a ship 60 cubits in length and30 cubits in width and recorded in his tomb that it was “assembled in sevendays”.

+Solar boats+The so-called Solar Boat of Khufu, discovered in 1954 in a rock-hewn tombto the south of the Great Pyramid, is a magnificent barge 143 feet longconstructed of cedar from Lebanon. It had been completely dismantled to fitinto the tomb, but careful reassembly disclosed a flat-bottomed boat with amassive, curving hull rising to elegant prow and stern posts. Poles on thedeck proved to be the supporting palm-shaped columns of a large roofedcabin. Steering oars, each 16.5 feet long, were also found, together with coilsof rope. This was the first royal barge ever discovered—other boat pitsdating from earlier dynasties had proved to be empty. Examination of thevessel indicated that this boat actually sailed, and the planks met in pairs onthe inside. The term ‘Solar Boat’—coined when it was first discovered in thebelief that it had served a funerary purpose, to take the departed pharaohacross the sky to join the heavenly gods—is somewhat misleading. Suchships probably served the king during his lifetime in his capacity as ruler ofUpper and Lower Egypt, and were buried with him as part of his funeraryequipment after his death. Another pit is known to exist to the south of theGreat Pyramid: not yet excavated, it is believed to contain a second vessel.

+Carpentry+Carpentry was a highly developed industry. Carpenters used hammers andmallets, saws with teeth slanting towards the handle indicating that theywere pulled not pushed, and bow-drills for making holes. Furniture wasoften overlaid with gold and silver. Leather-production, too, had long beenmastered and the curving of hides produced soft, fine-quality skins. Thesewere dyed in various colours and used to cover stools, chairs, beds andcushions as well as to fashion sandals.