#Temple of Khnum

[didoofcarthage]

Upper Part of the Great Portico, Esna by Francis Bedford

English, dated March 15, 1862

albumen print mounted on card

Royal Collection Trust

[worldcomplete]

Egypt... the best of the River Nile

Egypt, a land of ancient wonders and modern marvels, beckons travellers with its rich tapestry of history, culture, and natural beauty. #Egypt #RiverNile #Tutankhamun #AncientHistory #History #Luxor #Aswan #RaII #Nile #Cruise #ValleyoftheKings #KingTut

Egypt Egypt, a land of ancient wonders and modern marvels, beckons travellers with its rich tapestry of history, culture, and natural beauty. Among its many jewels, Luxor and Aswan stand out as iconic destinations, offering a glimpse into the grandeur of bygone eras. These cities, situated along the life-giving River Nile, form the heart of many Nile cruises, tracing a route that has been…

[jontycrane]

Aswan

One of the hottest, driest, and sunniest cities in the world, Aswan with its 350,000 population made a nice change after the 20 million people in Cairo. It is the gateway to the Nile, home to the Aswan and High Dams, which after thousands of years changed the nature of the Nile, for good and bad. One of the most popular sights is the incredible Philae Temple, the last to be built by the ancient…

[egypt-ancient-and-modern]

 the god Khnum accompanied by Heqet, moulds Why in a relief from the birth temple at Dendera Temple Complex. 

[thepastisalreadywritten]

[exploreluxor]

Temple of Khnum

[past-future-journey-nile]

Ram's Horn, the god Khnum at Esna temple

[ekuroeil]

He's praying for the safety of your souls in the afterlife.

To find Ekuroeil Priest of Khnum on many textiles (T-shirts, hoodies, hats, bags, etc.) check out my shop : https://ekuroeil-design.myspreadshop.ch/

Pour retrouver Ekuroeil Priest of Khnum sur pleins de textiles (T-shirts, sweats à capuche, casquettes, sacs, etc.) faites un saut sur mon shop : https://ekuroeil-design.myspreadshop.ch/                  

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Hatshepsut

Kicking off this first post in what I hope to be a long series by saying that I am just a guy who likes obsessively researching things and I am absolutely not a historical expert, and in this case, not an Egyptologist. My perspectives and interpretations are my own. You are welcome to have other ones.

Hatshepsut is known as Egypt’s first and only female pharaoh, and is discussed as such throughout almost all material about them. I will be nonetheless using they/them pronouns to refer to them, but during their life they used both masculine and feminine pronouns. The tendency to project modern ideas onto historical figures is common. Especially in the case of people who exhibited signs of transmasculinity, it is common for their entire lives to be reduced to “women who cosplayed as men for power” which is problematic for obvious reasons. Cis men coveting masculinity for the pursuit of power in a patriarchal society is never a reason they are actually women, yet it is okay to do this with historical transmasculine people in the name of feminism? There is a clear double standard. So, I will be using gender neutral pronouns because we can’t really know if Hatshepsut was alive today whether they would identify as a woman, trans man, nonbinary or as none of those identities. I am simply going to be discussing the history and some of my interpretations.

In the context of ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was a living embodiment of the masculine god Horus. Hatshepsut embraced this role after coming to power, ascending from the position of queen regent alongside a child king once their former husband Thutmose II had passed, to “his majesty the king herself.” As their rule progressed, they were depicted as more and more masculine in statues and reliefs, using the same ceremonial fake beard as male pharaohs, muscles, and other masculine signifiers. They didn’t stop wearing makeup and jewelry when presenting as a male king though, which some historians take as evidence to support a female gender identity - it could mean that, but it could also just mean they liked to be fashionable and didn’t subscribe to restrictive gender roles!

Like kings before them, Hatshepsut emphasized their connection to the gods by telling a story to justify their rule. However, the story they told had to be exceptional - and it was. Hatshepsut’s throne name, Maatkare, translated to “truth is the soul of the sun god.” This demonstrated a connection to the sun god, Amun or Ra, and to Maat, the tradition of maintaining harmony in ancient Egypt. The story was that Amun had appeared to their mother who had conceived Hatshepsut for the purpose of being king, commanded by the god of creation Khnum, to “fashion [them] better than all gods” with “the great dignity of a king.” In carvings, Khnum created Hatshepsut as a little boy. This explanation for their lineage is especially interesting because it emphasizes their connection both to their mother’s bloodlines and to being the child of Amun, not ruling as just a queen regent, but as a king.

During their rule of 20 years, Egypt’s trade flourished and there was an immense period of construction during which countless buildings and statues were created, and temples renovated. Unfortunately after their death, extreme measures were taken by Thutmose III to erase all records of Hatshepsut from existence in order to preserve the line of male kings. These efforts were primarily successful, and much of their history has been lost to time. There are many things about Hatshepsut that we will never know.

[blueiscoool]

Ancient Ceiling Reliefs Uncovered in The Egyptian Temple of Esna

The reliefs were buried under millennia of dirt, soot, and bird droppings.

Conservation work on a 2,200-year-old temple in Egypt has uncovered 12 reliefs representing Babylonian zodiac signs, as well as depictions of stars and constellations that the ancients used to measure time.

The images were found carved into the ceiling of the Temple of Esna in Luxor, which was completed around 250 C.E. and dedicated to the Egyptian god of fertility Khnum. They were revealed by a restoration team, made up of archaeologists from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the University of Tübingen in Germany, which cleared away millennia of dirt and bird droppings from the temple’s surfaces to unveil the 12 astrological motifs that are unusual for a site of worship in Egypt.

“Representations of the zodiac are very rare in Egyptian temples,” said Christian Leitz, a professor at the University of Tübingen, who explained that the Babylonian zodiac was probably introduced to Egypt during Ptolemaic rule between 305 and 30 B.C.E.

“The zodiac was used to decorate private tombs and sarcophagi and was of great importance in astrological texts, such as horoscopes found inscribed on pottery sherds,” added Daniel von Recklinghausen, a Tübingen researcher. “However, it is rare in temple decoration. Apart from Esna, there are only two completely preserved versions left, both from Dendera.”

Zodiac signs aside, the restoration effort further unearthed a trove of other reliefs, including illustrations of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.

A host of deities and fantastical animals were also found, such as a snake with a ram’s head, a bird with a crocodile’s head, and yet another snake with four wings.

Additionally, researchers discovered some previously unknown inscriptions, which had been covered by soot and inadvertently preserved. Analysis is currently being carried out on these new finds.

Restoration on the Temple of Esna began in 2018, and has involved the cleaning and recoloring of the monument’s surfaces. Along the way, the team has logged finds including a colorful fresco made up of 46 depictions of Egyptian goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet, as well as painted inscriptions that detail royal titles and caption the constellations carved into the temple’s ceiling.

[talonabraxas]

Re ∆.∆∆ Also known as: Atum-Re, Chnum-Re, Pra, Ra, Re-Atum Talon Abraxas

Re, in ancient Egyptian religion, god of the sun and creator god. He was believed to travel across the sky in his solar bark and, during the night, to make his passage in another bark through the underworld, where, in order to be born again for the new day, he had to vanquish the evil serpent Apopis (Apepi). As one of the creator gods, he rose from the ocean of chaos on the primeval hill, creating himself and then in turn engendering eight other gods.

Karnak: avenue of sphinxes

Avenue of sphinxes leading to the main temple precinct at the ruins of the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, Egypt.

Originally most solar gods had falcon form and were assimilated to Horus. By the 4th dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 bce), however, Re had risen to his leading position. Many syncretisms were formed between Re and other gods, producing such names as Re-Harakhty, Amon-Re, Sebek-Re, and Khnum-Re. Aspects of other gods influenced Re himself; his falcon-headed appearance as Re-Harakhty originated through association with Horus. The influence of Re was spread from On (Heliopolis), which was the centre of his worship. From the 4th dynasty, kings held the title “Son of Re,” and “Re” later became part of the throne name they adopted at accession. As the father of Maat, Re was the ultimate source of right and justice in the cosmos.

[mothmiso]

Elephantine Island (2) (3) (4) (5) by Panegyrics of Granovetter

Via Flickr:

(1) Vulture of Aswan. (2) (3) (4) Temple of Khnum - dedicatory inscriptions, architectural fragment. (5) A gentle donkey near the shores of the Nile.     

[akhret]

Neith

𓈖𓏏𓋌𓁐     𓈖𓏏𓋋    𓈖𓏏𓌖     𓋋        𓈖𓏏𓋋𓆎     𓈖𓏏𓋌      𓈖𓏏𓋋𓆗
 𓋌     𓈖𓏏𓋋𓁐       𓏏𓏏𓋌

Meaning of her name

Her name possibly means:

"She belonging to Lower Egypt"

"terror", "fear", "terrible one"

Epithets

The father of fathers, mother of mothers

Enduring of love

The divine mother who protects Horus

Lady of the West

Neith who shines from the Akhet

Chief of the Nine Bows

Mighty of rage

Foremost of Per-netjer

Areas of worship

Esna. Ḥwt-Nt, or known as the Temple of Neith. Her and Khnum's temples were called Ḥwt-B3w , or the Temple of the Souls.

Temple of Neith at Satis

Offerings

Bow and arrows

Lapis lazuli

Turquoise

Jasper

Meat

Bread

Beer

Honey

Wine

Water

Spider web iconography

Knitting tools, yarn, fabrics

A loom

Information

Neith had emerged from the primordial waters, turning into a cow and then a *lates* fish. From there she brought thirty gods out of the primordial waters and raised the “High Mound” for her and her children. She possesses the power to control everything within the cosmos through thought, speech and names. She’s associated with weaving, with weaving being a symbol of the cosmic order and her divine wisdom. Her association with weaving, led her to being associated with making the bandages for the dead, but she herself had created the Duat for the deceased to pass through. She would enliven the dead and protect them during the passage through the underworld with her bow and arrows, which was a trademark symbol for the Great Goddess. Her symbol of the bow and arrows made her a goddess of hunting, later becoming war, and protector of her son, Re. She is the patroness of victorious weapons and would protect both the dead and alive from enemies or those who sought to harm the King and his heirs. Even when those she protected were harmed, you could seek her for her ability to heal.

Bibliography and more notes posted here

Image from:

[egypt-museum]

"The Complete Egyptian Religious Calendar for the year 2024: the most comprehensive publication of the lists of the festivities of the Egyptian Religious Tradition (dated for the year 2024). A practical application of the Egyptian Religious Calendar for the current age.

What’s new in this edition:

In this edition you will find, for the first time, the list of the Chronokratores and the Presiding Deities of the days of the year from the top frieze of the Outer Vestibule, also known as the Offering Hall, of the Temple of Horus at Edfu.

Contents:

- Preface - The Egyptian Religious Calendar - The Calendars of Ancient Egypt - The Civil Calendar - The presiding Deities and the Chronokratores of the days of the year - The Sothis-based Lunar Calendar - The Lunar months - The Deities of the days of the Lunar month, the names of the days of the Lunar month, and their presiding Deities - Favorable and adverse days - Sources - Egyptian Religious Calendar for the year 2024 - Notes - Bibliography

The sources used to reconstruct the Egyptian Religious Calendar and for the dating of the sacred festivities are:

– the “Cairo Calendar n. 86637” – the “Sallier papyrus IV” – the “Budge papyrus” – the list of the religious celebrations dated to the Middle Kingdom

And the lists of the sacred festivities from the Temples’ religious calendars:

– the religious calendar of King Thutmosis III from Ipet-Sut-Karnak – the Temple of King Thutmosis III at Elephantine – the Temple of King Ramses II at Abydos – the Temple of Millions of Years of King Ramses III at West Uaset-Thebes (“Medinet Habu”) �� the Temple of Horus at Edfu – the Temple of Hathor at Dendera – the Double Temple of Haroeris and Sobek at Ombos (“Kom Ombo”) – the Temple of Neith and Khnum at Esna"

— Egyptian Religious Calendar 2024: 424th-425th Great Year of Ra, by Luigi Tripani

[mid0o]

Quick question

Is it Temple of Khnum Esna? Or Temple of Hathor Dendara?

[thegodstheycall]

"[…] another Khnum/Khnum-Ra, bearing the epithet “Lord of the Field”, must be distinguished. The temple of this god, now destroyed, was situated in the middle of a field north of Esna (hence the deity’s name). This manifestation of Khnum is not a creator god, but rather acts as a god “who keeps creation alive”, “who measures the fields”, “who causes the vegetation to germinate”, and “who enlightens Egypt with his rays”—that is, he guarantees the continuation of creation."

-Esna by Jochen Hallof for the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology