Latest news with #TheJournalofEgyptianArchaeology
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious artifacts from King Tut's tomb might have been used in 'awakening Osiris' ritual
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An Egyptologist believes he has identified evidence that a rite known as the "Awakening of Osiris" was performed in Tutankhamun's burial chamber. According to Nicholas Brown, a postdoctoral associate in Egyptology at Yale University, this is the earliest evidence for the use of the rite on a pharaoh. "The whole burial chamber seems to be set up to recreate a funerary rite known from later times called 'the Awakening of Osiris,'" Brown, who described the findings in a paper published Feb. 22 in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, told Live Science in an email. Osiris was an ancient Egyptian god of the underworld, who, according to mythology, was brought back to life after he was murdered by his brother Seth. At one point in the story, his son Horus waves a staff at Osiris and commands him to awaken. The rite recreates this story in some ways. While reexamining excavation records of Tutankhamun's tomb, Brown noticed that four clay troughs and four staffs were found in Tutankhamun's burial chamber. These four troughs would have held libations, likely of water, that could have been poured on or near Tutankhamun's mummy, while the four staffs would have represented the staff used by Horus. The water libations hold great symbolic value. In the Pyramid Texts, a series of funerary texts written onto the walls of some Egyptian pyramids, "liquid libations are said to be fluid derived from the corpse of the deceased, or from the corpse of Osiris," Brown wrote in the journal article. "These fluids are necessary in order to rejuvenate the decaying corpse and restore its life-giving fluid to the body." He also noted that water used for libations, retrieved from the Nile River, was known as the "Eye of Horus" and was "a powerful symbol of regeneration and overcoming evil, including death," Brown wrote in the article. The four troughs and four staffs would have represented the cardinal directions and would "symbolically surround the deceased for protection," Brown said in the email. Tutankhamun's father, the pharaoh Akhenaten, brought about a revolution that tried to focus Egyptian religion around the worship of the Aten, the sun disk. He even ordered an iconoclasm that saw the destruction of the names and images of other deities. "Akhenaten shifted the country's religious beliefs to the monotheistic religion focused on the sun-disk, the Aten; this also affected the official afterlife beliefs focused on resurrection through Osiris, which was no longer permitted," Brown said in the email. RELATED STORIES —Ancient Egyptian pyramids, thought to contain only the elite, may also hold low-class laborers —Mummy with a gold tongue found in Egypt —30 incredible treasures discovered in King Tut's tomb When Tutankhamun came to power, he undid this revolution, thus returning Egypt to its polytheistic religion. "Tutankhamun and the officials acting on his behalf had the opportunity to adapt, alter, and change royal funerary practice and bring back Osiris into the picture," Brown said. The Awakening of Osiris ritual was one way to show that Osiris was back. Paula Veiga, a doctoral student and researcher at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich who wasn't involved with Brown's paper but has studied and written extensively about Osiris, generally supported the findings. In addition to water, the troughs may have held other substances, such as ointments, she said.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Secrets of an Ancient Death Ritual May Be Hidden in the Tomb of King Tut
The discovery of wooden staffs and clay trays near the sarcophagus of King Tut might be the oldest known evidence of a ritual known as the Awakening of Osiris. As its name suggests, this ritual is based on the death and resurrection of Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld. It is also possible that the staffs and vessels were used for a different ritual, in which torch-bearers guided the pharaoh to the afterlife. In 1922, when Howard Carter ventured to the Valley of the Kings and broke the seal of a tomb that had been buried in the sands of Egypt for over 2,300 years, he was taken aback by the gilded splendor that had managed to elude tomb robbers for so long. He also opened a literal door to more mysteries than he could have ever imagined. Tutankhamun—more commonly known today as King Tut—ascended the throne at nine years old, ruled until his death (the cause of which is still being debated) at eighteen, and was the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom's illustrious 18th dynasty. Decades later, the wealth of grave goods that were supposed to accompany him to the afterlife continue to reveal his secrets. While the crudely shaped clay trays and wooden staffs found among his trove of riches may not be made of gold, Egyptologist Nicholas Brown of Yale University now thinks they are possible evidence of a ritual that may have started with the Boy King. 'Originally, these clay troughs were believed to be stands for the emblems found nearby and in close association to them,' Brown said in a study recently published in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 'However, closer examination of the religious and archaeological context of the artifacts enables another interpretation of their function.' After the death of his father Akhenaten—thought by many to be a heretic because of his abandonment of the Egyptian pantheon for the worship of the sun disk, or Aten—Tutankhamun and his advisers worked to restore traditional Egyptian religion as fast as possible. The pharaoh even changed his name (he was actually born Tutankhaten). With the religious shift came an opportunity to create new rituals and revive ones that were already ancient at the time. The trays and staffs are thought to have been used for a funerary rite known as the Awakening of Osiris. Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris was once a living king whose jealous brother Set murdered him, dismembered him, and scattered the parts of his body throughout Egypt. With the help of Set's wife Nepthys, Osiris's wife Isis reassembled her husband's body and breathed life into it long enough for them to conceive their son, Horus. Osiris was then mummified by the jackal-headed god Anubis and went to rule the underworld. The resurrected king of the dead was thought to give life to everything from below, especially through the yearly flooding of the Nile. Later artwork in other tombs reveals that the ritual inspired by this myth involves commanding the dead to wake with staffs behind their heads. However, the staffs at the head of Tutankhamen's mummy—along with trays that are thought to have held libations to once again imbue him with life—are thought to be the oldest evidence of the Awakening of Osiris being performed. The staffs and trays were also placed on reed mats because the ground was seen as impure. Mud from the Nile was apparently used to make the vessels, which may have held water from the river, whose fertility is symbolized by Osiris. There might be an alternative explanation, however. Brown acknowledges fellow Egyptologist Jacobus van Dijk's theory that the ritual carried out could have been the 'spell of the four torches' from the infamous Book of the Dead. During this ritual, four guides (each bearing a torch) stand by the sarcophagus to accompany the pharaoh through the treacherous journey to the afterlife until he reached Osiris and the Hall of Final Judgement. They would then extinguish those torches in clay trays filled with milk from a white cow—possibly symbolizing the goddess Hathor, who is often seen in the form of a cow. Which ritual these artifacts were actually used for remains unknown. Both would have been a part of the pharaoh's resurrection into a deity in the afterlife, so long as he passed the test of weighing his heart and wasn't thrown to the jaws of a ravenous beast. He could kick back and luxuriate in eternal life after that. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
