CHAPTER 2 – THE PHARAOH SMITES THE ENEMY – THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISUAL CONCEPTION AND ITS
2.4. T RANSCENDENTAL ASSISTANCE : ENDOWED WITH THE POWER OF THE GODS
The different forms of transcendental presence that appeared among the iconographic elements of the PStE are discussed widely with interpretation and identification in section 2.1., and are collected via the following grouping terms to emphasize the visual development of the scene, which became filled with increasing transcendental content during the historical periods of Egyptian art. In reviewing the discussed object material, the deities assisting the king that are highlighted in the PStE scene are listed below in tabular form, quoting the objects that probably represent their first appearances, and giving the related periods (Table 1a. Deities and symbols in theriomorphic form; Table 1b. Deities in anthropomorphic form). The various roles of the deities are connected to cosmogony, creation, war, fertility and protection, and their presence is also of supportive and apotropaic significance. The gods train the king for war and endow him with the aura of “fear”, “awe”, and “dread” as an aid to defeating the enemy. 260
Animal Theriomorphic deity or
symbol
Object Period
falcon standing on serekh Horus Narmer palette Early Dynastic Period
hovering vulture Nekhbet pectoral of Amenemhet
III
Middle Kingdom
lion royalty (?) alabaster palette of Zer
(Djer) Early Dynastic Period
hovering falcon Horus of Beḥdet stone marker of Khufu,
Wadi Maghara Old Kingdom
fish (catfish) laid along the extended leg of the kneeling enemy
uncertain
(in this rendering)261 wall relief of Mentuhotep
II at Gebelein First Intermediate Period
crouching griffin Montu parade axe of Queen
Ahhotep New Kingdom
Table 1a. Deities and symbols in theriomorphic form.
258 The comparison of the Opet Festival (rebirth) with the Valley Festival (funeral) regarding the form of the renewal through life or death, see Fukaya 2007: 95–124.
259 Bell 1997: 174.
260 Hoffmeier 1983: 65–66.
261 For the explanation, see footnote 100.
53 Table 1b. Deities in anthropomorphic form.
Anthropomorphic deity Object Period Comments
goddess holding the
was-sceptre stone marker of Djoser, Wadi
Maghara Old Kingdom first occurrence
ibis-headed Thoth holding a
was-sceptre and ankh stone marker of Khufu, Wadi
Maghara Old Kingdom -
Amenhotep III, Memphis New Kingdom - Nubian gods Konosso rock inscription of
Thutmose IV New Kingdom first occurrence of
foreign gods
Anukis of Elephantine stela of Amenhotep III from
Mahatta New Kingdom -
Harmachis holding a sceptre
and a curved scimitar stela of Ramesses II, Nahr
el-Kalb Ramesside Period, New
Kingdom -
Seth wall relief from Temple of
Atum (?), Tell el-Rataba Ramesside Period, New
Kingdom -
Amun-Re left entrance wall relief, Abu
Simbel Ramesside Period, New
Kingdom -
standing goddess in a tall double-feathered headdress with tall horns and sun disk in a long garment and holding a
Re-Harakhty right entrance wall relief,
Abu Simbel Ramesside Period, New
Kingdom -
standing goddess in a tall double-feathered headdress with tall horns and sun disk and a small bird head in a headdress with two tall horns and sun disk in a long garment and shouldering a plant stalk (?) in her left, while raising her right hand
right entrance wall relief,
Abu Simbel Ramesside Period, New
Kingdom -
exterior relief of Ramesses
III on the West Wall, Karnak Ramesside Period, New
Kingdom -
winged Ma’at wearing the
ma’at-feather on her head wall relief of Herihor on the West Wall of the Court, Temple of Khonsu, Karnak
Third Intermediate
Period -
54 Symbols expressing the transcendental presence surrounding the smiting king emphasize the complexity of the scene. The elements of the ceremonial garments, royal insignia and weapons of the king are excluded here (Table 2. Appearance of the related symbols in the smiting scene).
Symbol Object Period
Wepwawet-standard including shedshed and uraeus
ivory label of Den Early Dynastic Period ma’at-feather held by the enemy stone marker of Sekhem-khet,
Wadi Maghara Old Kingdom
enemy’s hand stone marker of Sekhem-khet,
Wadi Maghara Old Kingdom
hes-vessel of purification stone marker of Ny-user-ra, Wadi Maghara
Old Kingdom winged disc accompanied by uraei Stone marker of Pepy I, Wadi
Maghara Old Kingdom
papyrus stalk with blossom
surmounted by uraeus arm guard of Thutmose IV, Tell
el-Amarna New Kingdom
shen-ring relief from the tomb of Thutmose
IV, Thebes New Kingdom
djed-pillar stela of Amenhotep III, Mahatta New Kingdom sun disk of Aten with rays wall relief of Amenhotep IV
(Akhenaten) on Pylon IX, Karnak
Amarna Period, New Kingdom ka-staff of the king right entrance wall relief of
Ramesses II, Abu Simbel Ramesside Period, New Kingdom composite inscribed standard
holding with human arms the ma’at-feather and the ka-staff of the king
right and left entrance wall reliefs
of Ramesses II, Abu Simbel Ramesside Period, New Kingdom
Table 2. Appearance of the related symbols in smiting scenes.
The smiting motif is not found exclusively in the royal iconography related to the repertoire of the pharaoh, and can be detected in later periods of Egyptian art. Animals,262 supernatural creatures and deities are also known to assume the smiting motif in mythological scenes, expressing victory over the symbolic enemy.
Vignettes depicting the theme of the “cat is slaying the Apophis serpent with a knife in front of the ished-tree” illustrate the papyri of the “Book of the Dead of Ani” (Spell 17).263 The “Book of the Dead of Hunefer” (Spell 17) depicts a similar scene.264 In a wall painting from the tomb of Inherkha (TT359), from the reigns of Ramesses III and IV at Deir el-Medina, the cat, with
262 A rabbit smites a snake on an ostracon. For the object, see Brunner-Traut 1956: 93, fig. 28.
263 The document is dated to circa 1250 B.C., from Thebes (EA10470,10, British Museum), see Tarasenko 2016:
4, 20–21, 100, figs. 5, 5A.
264 The document is dated to circa1180 B.C., perhaps from Memphis (EA9901,8, British Museum), see Tarasenko 2016: 3, 91–92, 99–100, fig. 4.
55 straight elongated ears, is smiting a serpent with a long-bladed knife stealing blood, holding the serpent in its left paw while the right is trampling on the head of the snake, in front of the ished-tree.265 The relationship between the cat and the Sun god is close and bidirectional, and the cat is closely related to the sun god Ra, as he could manifest himself in a form of a cat. According to the cosmogonic interpretation of the iconographic theme, Ra in the form of the cat is killing Apophis, his eternal foe, embodied by the serpent.266
In a wall-painting depicting a scene from the Book of Amduat from the tomb of Thutmose III (KV34) in the Valley of the Kings, the cat-headed anthropomorphic demon (mds-ḥr), as the indigenous supernatural creature from the 7th hour of the Amduat, is using a ḫpš to smite three headless enemies with their arms bound behind their backs.267
Tutu, the composite sphinx-god worshipped as the protector of ordinary people in the Late Period, has apotropaic features to ward off demonic forces. A limestone stela268 of unknown provenance depicts the god, with its right hand holding a double axe, smiting a small enemy figure grasped by his hairlock together with a spear. There are traces of red painting on the wings and neck of the god.
A statue found in the Temple of Opet in Karnak, from the Ptolemaic Period, represents the rare scene of the falcon-headed god Horus smiting with a mace-axe the god Seth, who is represented as a donkey with long ears, standing with his arms tied to his body.269