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Akhet - The Horizon
History of the Egyptian Religion, part VII
End of The New Kingdom,
The Third Intermediate, Dynasties 19 - 26
The Ramesside Period - The Books of the Underworld - Third Intermediate - High Priests at Thebes-Tanis -
Godīs Wife of Amun - The Nubian/Kushite Rulers - Neith & The Saite Period
| The Ramesside Period; Dynasties 19 - 20 After the death of Akhen-Aten the cult of Aten was abandoned. The priesthood of Amun returned to power, Amun of Thebes was reinstated as the state deity and the temples were reopened. The man behind this, general Horemheb, realizing the grip that the priesthood had held on the king before the Amarna period, appointed priests from the army, persons which he could rely on, thus avoiding the power they had put on Amenhotep III. At Karnak he also ordered a great extension of the southern wing, erected a 9th pylon and reliefs describing the Opet Festival, all for the glory of Amun. All through the Ramesside epoch, the state deity remained Amun at Thebes and the kings were still seen as the divine intermediary between the deity and people. Several pharaohs added to the great temple of Amun at Karnak and other locations. Seti I, also called Seti the Great, added the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, and at the great cult center of Osiris at Abydos he built the Temple of Seti I, the Osireion and the Temple to Ramesses I. The most remarkable of these buildings is his temple at Abydos, which quite unusually has seven different sanctuaries dedicated to himself as deified, to Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, Osiris, Isis and Horus. The son of Seti the Great, Ramesses II - added extensions at Karnak and Luxor. But between the 19th and the 21st Dynasty no additions have been recorded to Karnak. At Abu Simbel the temple is shared between the deified Ramesses II, Amun, Ptah and Harakhti.
The Books of the Underworld Beside the state cult of Amun-Re, other cults were also worshipped, just as it had always been. Concepts of the Afterlife still included the transformation into Osiris and during this period there were three different so called 'books' used by kings, to ensure their safe passage through the dangers of the underworld to resurrection. The Book of Amduat describes the sungodīs journey through the Underworld in twelve scenarios, or hours, starting at the Western Horizon, to his rebirth as Kehpri, the newborn sun. The Book of Gates is a dramatic descriptions of the twelve Gates through which the King has to pass. Often they are guarded by dangerous creatures which the king conquers by uttering their names. The most notable of these creatures is a huge, firespitting serpent which reappears at several occasions. The Book of Caverns. In this one the Underworld is pictured as a series of caverns, but there is only six of them. Here the emphasis seems to lie on reward and punishment, as the scenes show slain and decapitated bodies. Also here the kingīs rebirth depends on his ability to know the secret names of serpents and to identify guardian deities. For common people, the Book of Going Forth By Day (nowadays commonly called the Book of the Dead) still held sway as the funerary text most frequently used, at least by those who could afford to pay a scribe to make a copy for them. This one also hinted at most of what was written in the kingsī books.
The Third Intermediate, Dynasties 21 - 26The Time of the High Priests; Thebes - Tanis After the Ramesside period, a new centra of power, Tanis in the Delta, was established. The two centras kept peace however, as they were in fact two branches of the same family by marriage. In Thebes the high priest Herihor was the first of a ruling class of high priests of Amun, for a period of over a hundred years, while in Tanis subsequent dynasties reigned. Herihor erected the temple of Khonsu on the precints of Amun at Karnak, and even had his name written in the royal cartouche, which shows the degree of his political influence. These high priests ruled Thebes and southern Egypt as far as Assuan. At this period they were succeeded by sons or sons-in-law, and at one point the third ruler in Tanis (Pinedjem I) was the son of a high priest from Thebes. So at the same time as these ruling high priests controlled their own areas of influence, they were likewize careful to acknowledge the power of the Pharaohsī at Tanis. At Tanis temples were built to Amun, Mut and Khonsu, and extended to even into the 26th Dynasty and the kings here were buried inside the walls of the precinct of Amun.
Godīs Wife of Amun - Divine Adoratrice Interaction between the two cities was maintained due to the marriage relations; at Thebes the title of 'Godīs Wife of Amun', (see separate article on topic Women in ancient Egypt) was held by the kingīs daughter, who therefore became a celibate priestess, barred from marrying. Instead they adopted their successors, preferrably the daughter of the next king, to ensure the office stayed where the power was. The office now held great religious and political responsibility and was a means for the king to ensure this power. A title called 'Divine Adoratrice' (Gr) or 'duat netjer' (ancient Egyptian) also developed alongside of the title of Godīs Wife in the New Kingdom. It was held by the daughter of the high priest of Amun under Hatshepsut ( 1473-1458 b.c.) and under Thutmose III (1479-1425 b.c.) by the mother of the great royal spouse. At this time itīs power was much diminished and during the Third Intermediate it was held together with the title of godīs wife of Amun. So the priesthood of Amun was at least as powerful as it had been in the days preceding the cult of Aten. Some scholars are of the opinion that with the rule of the high priests of Amun at Thebes on one hand and the pharaohs ruling at Tanis on the other, the divine kingship was slowly usurped to the degree that the doors were opened for foreign rulers to enter. The Two Lands were not any longer held together by a strong God-King. The Nubian/Kushite Rulers (Dyn 25) The Kushite rulers used the Amun temples at Napata in the south of Egypt, which were theologically closely related, to legitimize their political positions and when the Theban families acknowledged them as pharaos it was done according to the 'will of Amun'. Kushite coronation ritual however drew upon Egyptian ritual and ceremonies. These rulers also collected ancient religious writings and reformed the cult of Amun
The Saite Period (Dyn 26; 664-525b.c.) The city of Sais saw a period of great power under the rulers of the 26th Dynasty. A new era of Egyptian nationalism was dawning, which showed itself in scuplture and painting, during this period looking back to Old and Middle Kingdom ideals. Similarly religion saw both a reinforcement of traditional values and new habits entering. Neith This was the time when the influence of Neith (Nit), the ancient local goddess of Sais, was rising to be felt nationwide. later she became incorporated into the Greek and Roman pantheon and associated with their Athena and Diana, probably due to her emblem of a shield with what resembles tow crossed arrows on it. More About Neith.
The 26th (Saite) Dynasty still kept its hold over Thebes thanks to a great lady by name Ankhesneferibre, daughter of Psammeticus II. She had been adopted by the Divine Adoratrice Nitocris and took up her office in 584 b.c. and held it for almost 60 years.
Other articles in this series:
1: Predynastic - Early Dynastic Period (ca 5000 - 2686 BC)
2: The Old Kingdom (ca 2686-2181 BC)
4: First Intermediate - Middle Kingdom (ca 2181 -1786 BC)
5: The New Kingdom (ca 1580 -1085 BC)
6: The Cult of Aten (ca 1350 - 1335 BC)
7: The End of The New Kingdom - Third Intermediate
8: The Late Period - Graeco-Roman Period
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