Horemheb and His Deity Earring.

Horemheb, which means “Horus is in Jubilation” in Ancient Egyptian, was the final pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, ruling for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. Despite marrying Ay’s daughter Mutnedjmet, Horemheb had no blood relation to the preceding royal family and is believed to have come from a common background.

Detail of a statue of Horemheb at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The Tomb of Horemheb
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra (CC BY-NC-SA)

The Memphite Tomb of Horemheb is situated in the Saqqara necropolis near Memphis, Egypt. The tomb was built before Horemheb became the king, and he did not use it for his burial. Instead, he constructed the Theban tomb KV57 for this purpose. The tomb served as the resting place for Horemheb’s two wives, Mutnedjmet and Amenia.

Horemheb with a falcon-headed god, detail of a mural in the tomb of Horemheb, Ṣaqqārah, Egypt.
Photos.com/Jupiterimages

via Friend of Saqqara

Relief from Horemheb’s tomb. Receiving ‘gold of honour’ collars. Wikipedia

Here is the adventurous story of the discovery of this divine Jewel, presented by adorable Marie Grillot.🙏

An earring…from Horemheb?

via égyptophile

Horemheb’s earring – gold and glass paste – 18th or 18th Dynasty
from his tomb discovered in Saqqara in 1975 by an Anglo-Dutch mission led by Geoffrey Martin
Journal of Cairo Museum Entries – JE 97864

This round earring, with a diameter of 3.9 cm, is made of gold with mostly lacunar glass paste inlays.

This round earring, with a diameter of 3.9 cm, is made of gold with mostly lacunar glass paste inlays.
In its centre, in a golden circle and erected on a golden barrette, is a sphinx. He is represented in a walking attitude, which is unusual, to say the least…

The Sphinx is a “hybrid being” described as an androcephalus when it combines an animal body, a lion, and a human head. “The Egyptian sphinx was a protective and positive entity,” generally representing the “portrait” of the pharaoh to whom it was dedicated or allied.

Horemheb’s earring – gold and glass paste – 18th or 18th Dynasty
from his tomb discovered in Saqqara in 1975 by an Anglo-Dutch mission led by Geoffrey Martin
Journal of Cairo Museum Entries – JE 97864

The body of the Sphinx, which works in openwork, is delicately chiselled to restore the details of the fur, muscles, and legs…

The royal head is wearing the “blue” crown, which is sometimes compared to a “helmet”. This “khepresh” seems to appear in royal representations in the New Kingdom and, according to Karol Mysliewiec: “the first known royal statue wearing the khepresh is one of Amenhotep III”. If no crown of this type has actually been discovered, we can assume that it was: “probably made of leather or ostrich skin on a rigid, bulb-shaped structure often embellished with yellow gold or white polka dots “. This notion was also very well rendered by the goldsmith who created it…

Horemheb’s earring – gold and glass paste – 18th or 18th Dynasty
from his tomb discovered in Saqqara in 1975 by an Anglo-Dutch mission led by Geoffrey Martin
Journal of Cairo Museum Entries – JE 97864

The face is both emaciated and prognathous, an impression accentuated by the artificial beard, which lengthens the profile. The long and carried forward neck is decorated with a large ousekh necklace with several rows very cleverly rendered by incisions.
This central element is surrounded by two larger and nicely crafted concentric circles. They are composed of large gold chevrons, regularly spaced, in the intervals of which blue glass paste was encrusted, perhaps in several shades. Unfortunately, this colourful decoration has, for the most part, disappeared.

The outer circle is bordered by a lovely twist of gold, which is welded into small rings made up of a series of small shots welded two by two. “The edges of the pendant are decorated with small rings obtained by granulation, some of which had originally been inlaid with tiny cylinders of glass paste. Pendants were undoubtedly suspended from the five rings of the lower register. A sheet of gold shaped like an ousekh necklace was welded to the top of the Jewel,” specifies Daniella Comand (The Illustrated Guide to the Egyptian Museum).

Horemheb’s earring – gold and glass paste – 18th or 18th Dynasty
from his tomb discovered in Saqqara in 1975 by an Anglo-Dutch mission led by Geoffrey Martin
Journal of Cairo Museum Entries – JE 97864 (photo Orientalia: Vol. 47)

The suspension system is incomplete: in fact, only one of the two rings remains, which were placed on either side of the lobe and in which the tube slid, which, passing through it, ensured fixation.

This unique earring was discovered in the tomb General Horemheb built in Saqqara long before he became pharaoh and ordered the digging of a new hypogeum in the Valley of the Kings.

His tomb in the Memphite necropolis, unearthed in the 19th century and then lost, was “rediscovered” in 1975 by an Anglo-Dutch mission. Led by Geoffrey Martin, he and his team devoted four seasons of excavations… During the 1977 mission, this Jewel was found “in a room in the well in the outer courtyard”.

Relief depicting Horemheb receiving the gold reward – limestone – New Kingdom – 1333-1319 BC AD
from his tomb in Saqqara – Rijksmuseum van oudheden – RMO – Leiden – museum photo

The Sphinx’s countenance typically reveals Amarna features if its provenance “de facto” associates it with Horemheb. Thus, in “The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo”, Francesco Tiradritti presents it as “a pendant representing Akhenaten as a sphinx”. An idea echoed by Nigel Fletcher-Jones who, in “Ancient Egyptian Jewelry”, believes that: “It was probably made during the reign of Akhenaten (around 1352-1336 BC) or his son Tutankhamun ( circa 1336-1327). Furthermore, in “The Great Discoveries of Ancient Egypt”, Nicholas Reeves considers that it “probably comes from a later burial, from the Ramesside period, that of Princess Bentânat”.

This earring was registered in the Journal of Entries of the Cairo Museum under the reference JE 97864.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Samy Salah, The Illustrated Guide To The Egyptian Museum, Guide National Geographic https://archive.org/details/TheIllustratedGuideToTheEgyptianMuseumBySamySalah/page/n267/mode/2up

Fletcher-Jones, N, Ancient Egyptian Jewelry: 50 Masterpieces of Art and Design, 2019, The American University in Cairo Press
Francesco Tiradritti, Trésors d’Egypte – Les merveilles du musée égyptien du Caire
The Memphite tomb of Horemheb: the central chapel revisited, in: J. van Dijk (ed.), Another mouthful of dust, Egyptological studies in honour of Geoffrey Thorndike Martin (OLA 246, Leuven, 2016), 421-434., M. Raven https://www.academia.edu/37852972/The_Memphite_tomb_of_Horemheb_the_central_chapel_revisited_in_J_van_Dijk_ed_Another_mouthful_of_dust_Egyptological_studies_in_honour_of_Geoffrey_Thorndike_Martin_OLA_246_Leuven_2016_421_434 Orientalia: Vol. 47 https://books.google.co.uk/booksid=6tikRiQ1y0QC&pg=PR20&lpg=PR20&dq=Boucle%20d%27oreille%20Horemheb&source=bl&ots=Ds7UgBXNQZ&sig=ACfU3U3LgGzlurFYP7XKEP73RLCXbJWs0w&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjr8PLpp6_3AhXkg_0HHVbjB6oQ6AF6BAgzEAM&fbclid=IwAR0nSUs-R9O8DiZcHzWZqO3qCfjomrru_Fz0xPBj_fzFgmaoy76zSJ8pd5o#v=onepage&q=Horemheb&f=false

Nicholas Reeves, Ancient Egypt. The great discoveries, Thames & Hudson, 2002, Les Grandes découvertes de l’Egypte ancienne, Editions du Rocher, 2001
Tombe d’Horemheb à Saqqarah https://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/saqqara_nouvel_empire/horemheb_saqqara/horemheb_saqqara_01.htm

Publié il y a 29th April 2022 par Marie Grillot

Story of a Short Trip to the South, Though the Warmth is Still Not Available! (Yet, part 1!😁)

Or the story of a summerkid in the wrong space & time!!

Bodensee by day!

This year, the school holiday began here in our town the last week of March, and as usual, my adorable wife wanted to get out of the dull and constant life. Therefore, a trip was required!
We drove to Meersburg am Bodensee in South Germany for a few days. Although it is a beautiful village, it could be much more enjoyable later in Summer. One must be fortunate to have good weather at the end of March, and we weren’t!

The journey was supposed to last around seven hours, but it ended up taking nine due to three intense multiple car collisions that occurred on the way. Fortunately, we were not involved in any of them. We finally arrived at our destination feeling relieved. On the second day, we felt the gust of wind blowing around our ears, but as always, an order is an order: out to the village for a walk!

Read in my face!!
I wore everything I had with me, but it was still cold!

However, Mother Nature had mercy the following days, and the weather became a bit endurable.

We met at a museum of old house structures, which showed an interesting method of building houses: pile dwellings (Pfahlbauten) on the water.

It is a world heritage site with a range of exciting Stone Age and Bronze Age artefacts. Of course, much has happened in its history, and these houses have experienced many changes.
Here, I found an exciting placard of the different happening there.

It’s written down there: 1922, a time of upheaval or revolt, The Golden Age! It shows that it has not remained immune from these changes, although I don’t know what Howard Carter and his discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb are doing here!!🤔

And the guardian of the museum!

We also took a walk around and visited the pleasant environment.

Just as I suspected, the second part is needed! Many interesting things and actions remain, such as visiting the butterfly garden. So, until next time, thanks for dropping by.

You’ll Never Find Rainbows if You’re Looking Down!

Charlie Chaplin; “A tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure.”

Why not?
I stumbled upon an announcement congratulating Charlie Chaplin on his 135th birthday, and it suddenly caused me to reminisce about my admiration for him and consider writing an essay about my feelings and memories towards him.

I have been in love with this man since childhood. Not only because of his mastery in making incredible and fascinating movies but also because of his great personality, he became my great idol, especially when I began to act in the theatre. As I matured, I overcame my childish pleasures and began to understand his profound thoughts and deep-meaning messages. He imprinted in my head so much that I unconsciously imitated his posture; even his crooked walking can still be seen in my footprints! It is undoubtedly enough known that he initially refused to move to sound films in the 1930s and continued making silent movies. Of course, it was unavoidable, and he had to make his films hearable. But I am convinced he is a pantomime master and believe in his silent wisdom.

Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to meet this great man, though my love and appreciation for him have made me feel an inner connection with him and his life. I can understand his ambitions to get famous, be rich (or out of poverty), and be loved by beautiful women!

He once joked about its necessity and his favour to women, which I could relate to: “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl!”

However, he never treated others unfairly and always tried to rectify his mistakes. After learning about his life story and reviewing his CV, I couldn’t help but wonder how he could create such masterful works while facing numerous legal battles and navigating through turbulent times. He was constantly moving back and forth between the court and the film studio.
We have many similarities, and I could imitate him so perfectly that I got nicknamed Charlie the Second!

Of course, nobody is perfect, as he himself might have said it often. Everybody makes mistakes. How well Dr Jung uttered it:
Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth, and if a man does not know what a thing is, it is at least an increase in knowledge if he knows what it is not. ~Carl Jung, CW 9ii, Para, 429

carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog

“I am a citizen of the world.”

I could only admit this quote, as I happened to be born in Iran, though I would rather be a citizen of the world.

”Why haven’t you become a citizen (American)?’ said another voice.
‘I see no reason to change my nationality. I consider myself a citizen of the world,’ I answered.”
– Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography

The dialogue above comes from the press conference for Monsieur Verdoux, which occurred right after its premiere in New York. Rather than directing their questions at the film, the hostile journalists interrogated Chaplin about his political sympathies, patriotism, tax affairs and refusal to adopt American citizenship.

Chaplin also said: “I consider myself a citizen of the world, an internationalist… I just happen to have been born in London, England. It could have been Burma, China, or Timbuktu, but I’d still be the way I am. I’d keep my first citizenship because, being an accident of birth, it wouldn’t have any real significance. But wherever I live, I’ll conform to the rules, laws and regulations of that country.”
– From My Father, Charlie Chaplin by Charles Chaplin Jr.

Today, April 20th is Adolf Hitler’s birthday occasionally! Therefore, I thought it was not false to put this clip.

Every single scene in his movies is extraordinary; for example, in City Lights, a peaceful Tramp tries to earn money in any way he can. I can’t still stop laughing!

He was never drawn to a luxurious lifestyle or wealth. He believed that becoming used to luxury was the saddest thing that could happen to a person. One day, his daughter Geraldine asked him for money to purchase a golden necklace. He agreed to send her the money but also included a letter with a message: “My lovely daughter, I have sent you the money as requested, but please remember that the biggest and most beautiful jewel in the world is the sun that hangs on everyone’s neck!”

Chaplin’s views on the future of mankind at his 70th birthday, April 16, 1959:

I feel I am privileged to express a hope. The hope is this: that we shall have peace throughout the world, that we shall abolish wars and settle all international differences at the conference table, and that we shall abolish all atom and hydrogen bombs before they abolish us. The future of the modern world demands modern thinking. Therefore, let us use the full force of our intelligence instead of obsolete homicidal methods to settle our international differences. (source RTS archives: “Interview et message de Charlie Chaplin à l’occasion de son 70ème anniversaire”)

And Chaplin’s Modern Times ‘nonsense song’

Charlie Chaplin’s lyrics to “Swing Little Girl” (the song at the beginning of The Circus, which Chaplin himself sang for the film’s 1969 rerelease).

He is an unforgettable personality from whom we can learn a lot. I appreciate your presence.🙏💖💥

Carl Jung, The Red Book; Soul and God

Francisco de Holanda – De aetatibus mundi imagines – 1545

I won’t bore you with a lengthy account of my personal life. Still, I will mention that my wife and I had to take care of our cute grandchildren all week due to the lack of support from the German government for kindergarten care and education (the two issues are assumed to be unimportant!). We are also facing a death (redemption!) in the family, which I will write about later.

Amidst all the chaos, I found solace in reading my “holy book”, The Red Book, by Dr. Jung, attempting to nourish my soul. I hope you can find some comfort in reading it, too.🙏

[H I ii(r) 2] Cap. ii (P. 130, 131, 132; Liber Primus, A Reader’s Edition)

On the second night, I called out to my soul (Nov. 14, 1913):

I am weary, my soul, my wondering has lasted too long, my search for myself outside myself. Now, I have gone through events and found you behind them, for I made discoveries on my erring through events, humanity, and the world. I found men. And you, my soul, I found again, first in images within men and then you yourself. I found you where I least expected you. You climbed out of a dark shaft. You announced yourself to me in advance in dreams (which were dark to me and which I sought to grasp in my own inadequate way). They burned in my heart, drove me to all the boldest acts of daring, and forced me to rise above myself. You let me see truths of which I had no previous inkling. You let me undertake journeys whose endless length would have scared me if the knowledge of them had not been secure in you.

I wandered for many years, so long that I forgot that I possessed a soul (I belonged to men and things. I did not belong to myself {Black Book 2}). Where were you all this time? Which Beyond sheltered you and gave you sanctuary? Oh, you must speak through me, that my speech and I are your symbol and expression! How should I decipher you?

Who are you, child? My dreams have represented you as a child and as a maiden (and I found you again only through the soul of the woman {Black Book 2}). I am ignorant of your mystery (Look! I bear a wound that is as yet not healed: my ambition to make an impression {Black Book 2}). Forgive me if I speak as in a dream, like a drunkard – are you God? Is God a child, a maiden? (I must tell myself most clearly: does He use the image of a child that lives in everyman’s soul? Were Horus, Tags, and Christ not children? Dionysus and Heracles were also divine children. Did Christ, the God of man, not called himself the son of man? What was his innermost thought when doing so? Should the daughter of man be God’s name {Black Book 2})? Forgive me if I bobble. No one else hears me. I speak to you quietly, and you know that I am neither a drunkard nor someone deranged, and my heart twists in pain from the wound, whose darkness delivers speeches full of mockery: “You are lying to yourself! You spoke so as to deceive others and make them believe in you. You want to be a prophet and chase after your ambition.” The wound still bleeds, and I am far from being able to pretend that I do not hear the mockery.

How strange it sounds to me to call you a child, you who still hold the all-without-end in your hand (how thick the earlier darkness was! How impetuous and egoistic my passion was, subjugated by all the diamonds of ambition, the desire for glory, greed, uncharitableness, and zeal! How ignorant I was at the time! Life tore me away, and I deliberately moved away from you, and I have done so far all these years. I recognise how good all of this was, but I thought you were lost, even though I sometimes thought I was lost. But you were not lost. I went on the way of the day. You went invisibly with me and guided me step by step, putting the pieces together meaningfully {Black Book 2}) and letting me see the whole in each part.

You took away where I thought to take hold and gave me where I did not expect anything. Time and again, you brought about fate from new and unexpected quarters. Where I sowed, you robbed me of the harvest, and where I did not sow, you gave it to me again where I would never have foreseen it. You upheld my belief when I was alone and near despair. At every decisive moment, you let me believe in myself.

I appreciate your being here. Have a lovely weekend.🙏💖🤗🌹🦋

A Kohl Tube, Sky-Blue Deity; A Divine Gift For An Eternal Beauty!

This is a deep blue glazed faience kohl tube. A column is inlaid with light blue on one side of the cylinder. This inscription is placed within a light blue frame. It reads, “The Good God, Lord of the Two Lands, Neb ma’at-re (Amenhotep III). The Kingdom, Wife Tiy, granted life.” A shallow indentation forms a border at the bottom of the tube. Condition: Small cracks at the bottom; blue glaze missing on half of the “neb” sign.

Here is another fascinating story by the brilliant lady Marie Grillot of a deity tube to help compare to divine beauty.

A kohol tube in the names of Amenhotep III and his daughter and wife Satamon…

via égyptophile

Kohl tube of Satamon, daughter and the great royal wife of Amenhotep III – earthenware – 18th dynasty
formerly in the collection of Reverend William MacGregor – acquired by Lord Carnarvon at Sotheby’s London in 1922
arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1926 by acquisition from the Carnarvon Collection – entry number 26.7.910

This delicate and elegant Egyptian earthenware kohol tube is 14.4 cm high and has a diameter of 1.8 cm. For Jeanne Vandier d’Abbadie (“Egyptian toilet objects at the Louvre Museum”), it was during the New Kingdom that kohol vases or pots which had varied shapes “were very often replaced by kohol tubes. This new form would have been introduced into Egypt under the reign of Tuthmosis III by the Asians. Indeed, it sometimes happens, from this time on, that the servants who assist the lady in her toilet have the Syrian type… These young foreigners hand their mistress the kohol tube into which the stylus is immersed…”

Originally, this tube was a simple Nile reed – hence sometimes its name “flute” -in the hollow of which the makeup was placed. For the wealthier classes of society, artisans were inspired by this natural element. They reproduced it more “luxurious” with more precious materials, ivory, for example, or, in this case, earthenware.

Kohl tube of Satamon, daughter and the great royal wife of Amenhotep III – earthenware – 18th dynasty
formerly in the collection of Reverend William MacGregor – acquired by Lord Carnarvon at Sotheby’s London in 1922
arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1926 by acquisition from the Carnarvon Collection – entry number 26.7.910

In ancient times, kohol was the makeup product par excellence; it was inseparable from the concept of beauty, intimately linked to the enhancement of the gaze. Its use has thus transcended these stretched eyes surrounded by black, which, even today, disturbs and fascinates. Made from powdered galena, it not only highlighted the intensity of the “Egyptian” gaze but also had, in this country where the light is so bright, the reverberation so intense, and the sun so burning, a protective function of the eye.

It was applied using a fine stylus – or stick. With a rounded head and a blunt tip, it could be made of hematite, wood (like ebony), ivory, and sometimes bronze or copper. No stylus is presented with this tube; one can imagine it has disappeared. Likewise, nothing indicates the presence or absence of a small “accommodation” fitted inside to store it. The sealing is also absent: in the more “rustic” models, it was done by a plug of fabric or wood.

Kohl tube of Satamon, daughter and the great royal wife of Amenhotep III – earthenware – 18th dynasty
formerly in the collection of Reverend William MacGregor – acquired by Lord Carnarvon at Sotheby’s London in 1922
arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1926 by acquisition from the Carnarvon Collection – entry number 26.7.910

In “Amenhotep III, the Sun Pharaoh”, Arielle P. Kozloff provides technical information on its creation: “The colour of the tube is medium blue, which suggests a copper base. This colour was used more frequently towards the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and during the Amarna period, unlike the cobalt-based blues that the king preferred. The dark-coloured inscription is undoubtedly cobalt-based.”

If the object is well made, the vertical inscription presented in a rectangle delimited by a black line in a column of delicate hieroglyphs is precious. Christiane Ziegler (“Queens of Egypt”) translates it thus: “The good god Nebmaâtre [Amenhotep III]; the king’s daughter, the Great Royal Wife Satamon, may she live.” She adds, “We noticed that the king’s name always accompanies that of the woman in his family mentioned on the kohol tubes.”

When we mention the wife of Amenhotep III, we immediately think of Queen Tiyi… Satamon (“The Daughter of Amon”) was the eldest daughter of Tiyi and Amenhotep III. However, explains Christian Leblanc in “Queens of the Nile”: “She distinguished herself especially towards the end of the reign of Amenhotep III by herself becoming the wife of her own father”.

Due to our current morality and contemporary conception of the family, understanding and admitting such a union is often tricky. However, well attested since at least the Middle Kingdom, this incest could only exist in the royal and divine world for reasons of an eminently sacred nature. Ordinary mortals did not practise it.

Relief depicting Satamon from the funerary temple of Amenhotep III
Petrie Museum, London – UC 14373 – museum photo

“The role of princesses was so important that two of them, Satamon and Isis, became ‘Great Royal Wives’ during the last decade of the reign, which in no way diminishes the status of Queen Tiya. Indeed, the “Theological model of divine families on which that of the king’s family was modelled favoured the adoption of different generations of women. Was Hathor not simultaneously mother, wife and daughter of the god Ra?” (Arielle P. Kozloff). Thus, different museums hold kohol tubes, identical or close to that of Satamon, with the names of Tiyi, of course, and Isis.

Its current history is found in the 20th century in the collection of Reverend William MacGregor (1848-1937). This vicar is a “prominent member of the Egypt Exploration Society and the Institute of Archeology of the University of Liverpool. He patronised numerous excavations, notably those undertaken by Naville, Garstang, and Petrie, for which he frequently and actively participated in the field. His remarkable collection of antiquities is unprecedented compared to any other private collection in England, Europe or America” was then specified in the introduction to the sales catalogue when he decided to separate it. One thousand eight hundred objects will be auctioned at Sotheby’s London from June 26 to July 6, 1922.

Reverend William MacGregor, vicar, prominent member of the Egypt Exploration Society, Institute of Archeology, University of Liverpool and patron of many excavations
(Liverpool, 16-5-1848 – Tamworth, 26-2-1937)

Satamon’s kohol tube, presented under lot 255, will be acquired by another great collector, Lord Carnarvon. The same year, it was among the artefacts lent by the British aristocrat for the “Exhibition of Ancient Egyptian Art” at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in London. Percy Newberry, responsible for writing the catalogue, describes it as follows under number 17: “Kohol tube – blue glazed earthenware -, with a vertical line of hieroglyphs in black, giving the names of Amenhotep III and the great royal wife, Sat-amon'”.

Lord Carnarvon died in Cairo on April 5, 1923, shortly after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. According to a codicil to his will, intended for his wife, Lady Almina, he had expressed his suggestions on the future of his collection in case she had to part with it, which she did, putting Howard Carter in charge of the negotiations.

Lord Carnarvon – George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon
(Highclere – RU – 26-6-1866 – Continental-Savoy Hotel, Cairo, Egypt – 5-4-1923)
and his wife, Lady Almina

Thanks to the generosity of Edward S. Harkness, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York acquired it in 1926 for $145,000.

This is how this kohol tube bearing the names of Amenhotep III and Satamon arrived in the great New York Museum collections: it was registered under entry number 26.7.910.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Kohl Tube Inscribed for Amenhotep III and Princess Sitamun https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544512 Catalogue of the MacGregor collection of Egyptian antiquities, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, auction catalogue, sale dates: 26-30 June and 3-6 July 1922, London, 1922 https://www.abebooks.fr/edition-originale/Catalogue-MacGregor-collection-Egyptian-antiquities-Sotheby/31411328486/bd Percy Edward Newberry, Harry Reginald Hall, Catalogue of an Exhibition of Ancient Egyptian Art, London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, p. 34 no. 17, 1922 https://archive.org/details/catalogueofexhib00burlrich Rev William MacGregor https://www.tamworthheritagetrust.co.uk/articles/rev-william-macgregor Jeanne Vandier d’Abbadie, Egyptian toilet objects at the Louvre Museum, editions of the national museums, Paris, 1972
William C. Hayes, Scepter of Egypt II: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (1675-1080 B.C.), Cambridge, Mass., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 257, fig. 155, 1959
Christian Leblanc, Nefertari, “L’aimee-de-Mout”, Editions du Rocher, 1999 (pp. 185-186 on incest practised in the royal sphere)
Amenhotep III, the sun pharaoh, Meeting of National Museums, 1993
Christiane Ziegler, Queens of Egypt, Somogy éditions d’art, Grimaldi Forum, 2008
Christian Leblanc, Queens of the Nile, The Library of the Introuvables, 2009
Morris L. Bierbrier, Who Was Who in Egyptology, London, Egypt Exploration Society, 2012
Pierre Tallet, 12 queens of Egypt who changed history, Pygmalion, 2013

 Published January 6 ago by Marie Grillot

You were a Rock, as It has been Written on the Wall!

As I’m sitting on the chair, looking dumb at the desktop, I can’t think of anything else in my elderly head to leave to myself and you: a look into the younger years and again into old age, a song about loneliness from youth…

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

…into abandonment in the aged.

September, I’ll remember
A love once new has now grown old.

I ever thank you all for your hearty support.🙏🤗💖

Whoever Searches Finds Nothing, but Whoever does not Search will be Found.

Franz Kafka wrote that line up there and then continued; this is how it works when searching for God, and on love, it is no different.

A writer as a pioneer: Franz Kafka’s literature established a unique style.
© picture alliance/akg/Archiv K. Wagenbach

This year is the 100th anniversary of Kafka’s death, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to write about my impressions of him and his works. Of course, I must mention that it does not have to be his specific birthday or the day he died; I never search the web to find out about an event and write about it, as some are doing on WordPress!
The main reason is that I have known him and his works since I was young and always appreciated his solitude before society. Second, I see and hear many documentaries and TV series here in Germany for his anniversary, as the Germans always welcome a genius who writes in their language into their art world. Therefore, to put it bluntly, I had to write this article first in German and translate it into English. Because these days, I hear and read his works all in that language.

Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924), a German-language Bohemian writer, was born in Prague as the son of a middle-class Jewish merchant family.

As per literary scholar Reiner Stach, who studied Franz Kafka for over two decades and published a three-volume Kafka biography with S. Fischer Verlag, Kafka himself was uncertain about his historical classification. Stach quotes Kafka’s famous saying, “I am the end or the beginning.” Kafka intended to express that he may represent the end of a long tradition of classical literature, coming from Goethe, Kleist, and perhaps Flaubert, who was already modern and is an endpoint here. Alternatively, he may start something completely new from the fragments he inherited from tradition instead of falling apart.

Max Brod once said that Kafka was more ambitious than his talent. Maybe he’s right! He helped him, believed in him, and encouraged him to write his thoughts as books.

Franz Kafka and Max Brod

As one of his numerous lovers, Milena Jesenská, a Czech journalist and writer who was non-Jewish and married, once said to him: I have never met a person like you, and I assume it that’s because there has never existed anyone like you.

He explained it himself:

The enormous world that I have in my head. But how to free me and free them without tearing? And I would rather tear it up a thousand times than hold it back or bury it in me. That’s why I’m here; that’s very clear to me. (Sokel, Walter H. 2001).
Man cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible within himself, though both that indestructible something and his own trust in it may remain permanently concealed. (Gray, Ronald 1973)

The drama (on stage) is more exhausting than the novel because we see everything that we otherwise only read about. (Source: Kafka, diaries. October 28, 1911)

The fortune that flatters you most is most likely to deceive you.

Franz Kafka was convinced that his writing was inadequate, although he had much more to say. In his short story collection, A Hunger Artist, he wrote:
“Forgive me everything,” whispered the hunger artist. Only the supervisor, pressing his ear against the cage, understood him. “Certainly,” said the supervisor, tapping his forehead with his finger to indicate to the staff the state the hunger artist was in, “we forgive you.” “I always wanted you to admire my fasting,” said the hunger artist. “But we do admire it,” said the supervisor obligingly. “But you shouldn’t admire it,” said the hunger artist. “Well then, we don’t admire it,” said the supervisor, “but why shouldn’t we admire it?” “Because I had to fast. I can’t do anything else,” said the hunger artist.

Writer Franz Kafka in front of the family home; the Oppelt House on the Old Town Square in Prague. Czech Republic. Photograph. 1922.
Kafka stands in front of the Oppelt House on Old Town Square in Prague, the family’s residence, in 1922. At this time, he wrote “Research of a Dog”, among other things.
© picture alliance / IMAGNO/Votava

He died of Tuberculosis, or better to say, the cause of death seemed to be starvation: the condition of Kafka’s throat made eating too painful for him. By the way, Kafka’s mental health was a topic of debate. Marino Pérez-Álvarez suggests schizophrenia based on his diaries and “The Metamorphosis”. Alessia Coralli and Antonio Perciaccante diagnosed borderline personality disorder, worsened by Kafka’s insomnia complaints. Joan Lachkar developed a model describing Kafka’s fears of abandonment, anxiety, depression, and parasitic dependency needs in “The Metamorphosis“. Meanwhile, Manfred M. Fichter believes Kafka was anorexic.

But in my opinion, it’s all doctors prattling! Kafka had (like a few other known artists and geniuses like Dostoevsky, Mozart, Carl Jung, Van Gogh and…) a sensitive mind and soul who looked immense, broader and more profound in human society and the man itself, so deep that the artist himself cannot discern it. He was a Mozart in the matter of literature! Kafka’s writing, whether a letter or a book, had a wealth of words and topics to recount. In his book  Der Process (The Trial), he doesn’t criticize only the political system; K, the main character, is a victim of not being understood by his population. He writes about the trial of his own solitude, his isolation in society and his strangeness towards others.

He even asked Dora Diamant, his faithful companion in his last days in his dying bed, and wanted her to burn all his works after his death!

He died shortly before his 41st birthday in a private sanatorium outside Vienna. A week later, on June 11, 1924, he was buried in a simple ceremony at Prague’s New Jewish Cemetery.

How profoundly Dr Jung interpret the death;

Carl Jung Depth Psychology

In his final days, he asked his doctor for a lethal dose of morphine. When the doctor refused, he told his doctor: if you don’t do it, you will be my murderer!

Aquí Me Quedo (I’ll stay here)

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I could write a second post this week, as I arrived Thursday late back home from the trip to Southern Germany, and I was almost flat after a long drive with many car crashes and some pile-ups (thank goodness we were just spectators in the traffic jam). Yet, I know a specific resistance within me calls for expressing my feelings for freedom and justice. Therefore, I decided to share some artwork from Victor Jara, one of my favourites in the matter of resistance, in company with another warrior, Pablo Nerud.

I discovered Victor Jara and his music in the early 1970s when Chile began its transition towards democracy. Following the fall of the Shah’s regime, I learned more about his work. Victor Jara was undoubtedly a legend, and I loved his music.
He composed music for Pablo Neruda’s poems. He performed at a ceremony honouring him when Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972, so we have two masters of art here to speak about human rights!

By Rec79 – Own work

I am sharing this with you because there is a lot of talk about separatism in Iran at the moment, which is causing fear that Iran will be split up. However, this justification is baseless because all the people and ethnicities of Iran are united in seeking human rights and fair politics. Here, Pablo Neruda, through Victor Jara’s music and voice, says what it’s all about!

I do not want the country divided
Not even bled by seven knives
I want the light of Chile raised
About the new house built

I do not want the country divided
We all fit in my land
And those who believe they are prisoners
They go away with their melody

The rich have always been foreigners
Let them go to Miami with their aunts
I do not want the country divided
They go away with their melody

I do not want the country divided
We all fit in my land
I stay to sing with the workers
In this new history and geography

And in this song, one of his masterpieces, he humbly highlights the importance of rights and justice!

I do not sing for singing
Yo no canto por cantar

not even for having a good voice,
ni por tener buena voz,

I sing because the guitar
canto porque la guitarra

It makes sense and reason.
tiene sentido y razón.

It has a heart of earth
Tiene corazón de tierra

and dove wings,
y alas de palomita,

It’s like holy water
es como el agua bendita

holy glories and sorrows.
santigua glorias y penas.

This is where my song fits
Aquí se encajó mi canto

as Violeta said
como dijera Violeta

working guitar
guitarra trabajadora

with the smell of spring.
con olor a primavera.

It’s not a rich man’s guitar
Que no es guitarra de ricos

not anything that looks like
ni cosa que se parezca

my song is from the scaffolding
mi canto es de los andamios

to reach the stars,
para alcanzar las estrellas,

that the song has meaning
que el canto tiene sentido

when it beats in the veins
cuando palpita en las venas

of the one who will die singing
del que morirá cantando

the true truths,
las verdades verdaderas,

not fleeting flattery
no las lisonjas fugaces

nor foreign fame
ni las famas extranjeras

but the song of a market
sino el canto de una lonja

to the bottom of the earth.
hasta el fondo de la tierra.

That’s where everything comes
Ahí donde llega todo

and where it all begins
y donde todo comienza

I sing that it has been brave
canto que ha sido valiente

It will always be a new song.
siempre será canción nueva.

I wish you a happy Easter filled with leisure and joy. Stay safe and stay tuned. 💖🙏🌹💕💥🍷

Horus, the Deity Symbol of Protection, Health and Restoration

Relief of Horus at Kom Obo Temple

Since Horus was considered the sky, he was also considered to contain the Sun and Moon. Egyptians believed that the Sun was his right eye and the Moon his left and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it.

Ägyptische Sammlung Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Foto: © JGU / Stefan F. Sämmer, http://www.samphoto.de, +49 163 7343300

As the title image shows, Horus is usually depicted as a falcon. But now, the brilliant Marie Grillot shows us a unique image of this deity.

The infant Horus is often pictured on stelae in the act of trampling two crocodiles and holding dangerous animals in his hands. The water poured on these objects, by flowing across their surface covered with magic spells, gained the power of healing whoever drank it from the stings of scorpions and the bites of snakes.

Stele of Horus: the magic that heals

Magic stele or “Cippus of Horus” – chlorite schist – Ptolemaic period – around 332-280 BC AD
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – entry number 20.2.23 – museum photo

via égyptophile

These “magical” steles, representing Horus on crocodiles, found in many museums, are generally dated from the Late Period to the end of the Roman era. “Called ‘Cippus of Horus’, they are usually carved from a hard, black stone, their upper edge is rounded, and they can be briefly described as follows: on the front of the stele, Horus as a child (Harpocrates) is presented in relief. It is standing on two crocodiles, and he holds snakes, scorpions, a lion and a horned animal (ibex?), all these representations being associated with Seth, the god of evil. On the head of Horus is a god,’ The ancient,’ who resembles the god Bes and, with Horus, thus represent the ancient god who perpetually regains his youth and strength,” specifies Wallis Budge in “Amulets & Magic”.

Their size seems to have yet to meet any specific criteria, whether made of soapstone, schist, greywacke, basalt, or sometimes limestone, copper alloy, wood, or even anhydrite.

Horus controlling harmful animals – magic stele – stone – Ptolemaic period, 332 – 30 BC
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – E 20008 – museum photo

Their iconography, as described by Wallis Budge, may vary somewhat, but their highly balanced composition remains. As a child, Horus is represented in the centre, frontally, in high relief; his chubby body is naked. He still wears the side braid from childhood, and often, a uraeus adorns his forehead. In the middle of the arch, just above his head, is the face of a leonine god, grimacing and bearded, comparable to Bes. However, the threatening species that Horus masters with his hands and feet may differ. They are generally “strong and dangerous desert animals (scorpions, snakes, lion, oryx) held by the tail or by their horns. This motif shows the domination of Horus over these powerful animals and the dangers they can represent,” indicates the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (presentation notice of the MMA stele 20.2.23).

Their lateral edges are occupied by sacred emblems, such as the lotus of the god Nefertum on the right and a papyrus stem surmounted by a falcon on the left. These elements are sometimes based on the Oak sign, symbolizing eternity.

Cippus of Horus on the Crocodiles – Ptolemaic period – 3rd century BC AD
Brooklyn Museum – entry number 60.73 – museum photo

These steles are inscribed with magical formulas which, to release their healing power, had to be “either immersed in water that the patient drank, thus imbuing themselves with the virtues of the magical texts and the image, or rubbed on the site of the injury.”

Thus, in “Amulets of Ancient Egypt”, Carol Andrews recalls: “We know that they were installed in the precincts of the temples so that water could be poured over them to absorb the magic of their scenes and formulas; “once drunk, the water offered prophylactic protection against the creatures in question or perhaps healed those already bitten or stung.” Thus, “Drinking the water that had been left to flow on the stele was to the benefit of the protection that Isis exercised over her son and brought healing”.

In “Animals and Pharaohs”, Florence Maruejol contextualizes their use thus: “Often worn out, the so-called steles of Horus on the crocodiles were manipulated by magicians who tried to cure their patients”…

Stele of Horus on crocodiles – cippi of Horus – schist – Ptolemaic period
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – CG 9401 – on display at NMEC in Fustat
In “The Egyptian Museum in Cairo”, Abeer El-Shahawy recalls that: “magic, prayer and medicine complemented each other in ancient Egypt and people in need, in danger, suffering from illness or disease and illness prayed in front of such stelae. Stele of Horus on the crocodiles – cippi of Horus – schist – Ptolemaic period Egyptian Museum in Cairo – CG 9401

For protection—and perhaps of a “preventive” nature—they were also present in chapels at the start of desert tracks (filled with dangers) and had a special place in homes. We have even found them in collective baths, where the humid environment was certainly conducive to the frequentation of snakes.

They all refer to an episode in the legend of Horus: “Son of Isis and Osiris, the child was raised by his mother in a remote place, the marshes of the Delta, to escape the vengeance of the god Seth who had put his father to death. But, one fine day, young Horus was bitten by a venomous animal: he owed his survival only to the magical practices of his mother, Isis and the god Thoth, who knew the most secret formulas. This miraculous healing was, in a way, a model for all Egyptians and left them a little hope for desperate cases,” explains Christiane Ziegler in “Ancient Egypt at the Louvre” (E 10777).

Cippus, protective magic stela – wood – Late period
British Museum – inventory number EA60958 – photo © The Trustees of the British Museum

Ancient Egyptian medicine combined scientific knowledge with healing magic. In “The Egyptian Museum in Cairo”, Abeer El-Shahawy recalls that: “magic, prayer and medicine complemented each other in ancient Egypt and people in need, in danger, suffering from illness or disease and illness prayed in front of such stelae.

There are also “miniature steles” that one could carry with oneself. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which has several examples, indicates that these small models were considered “an amulet for magical protection rather than transmitting magic to the water poured over them for drinking”.

Miniature cippus of Horus – magic stele – copper metal
Ptolemaic period – around 332 – 30 BC-AD – MMA New York – entry number: 23.6.19

In his reference study on “The ‘healing’ statues in ancient Egypt”, Pierre Lacau indicates that: “The typical stele of Horus on the crocodiles must therefore be considered as a true repertoire of ‘amulets’ and ‘formulas’ which the Egyptians could have at their disposal against bites; it is an arsenal or a codex containing the most varied weapons or remedies. We can, therefore, understand the extraordinary popularity that it was able to enjoy. All the provinces of Egypt have it used… They could be dedicated in temples, kept at home, or carried on one’s person like an amulet…

These steles testify to the force that magic exerted on the ancient Egyptians. They also reflect the fervour of the power granted to the “Medou-Neter,” the hieroglyphs, which in this specific case turn out to be, according to their etymology, sacred or divine writings.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Pierre Lacau, “Healing” statues in ancient Egypt, Monuments and memories of the Eugène Piot Foundation, 1921, 25-1-2 pp. 189-210 https://www.persee.fr/doc/piot_1148-6023_1921_num_25_1_1824

Wallis Budge, Amulets & Magic, London 1930
Georges Posener, Dictionary of Egyptian Civilization, Fernand Hazan, 1959
Jocelyne Berlandini, A stele of Horus on the crocodiles of the superior of the priests of Sekhmet, Padiimennebnesouttaouy, Cahiers de Karnak VI 1973-1977, Cairo, 1980 https://www.academia.edu/3736548/Une_stèle_dHorus_sur_les_crocodiles_du_supérieur_des_prêtres_de_Sekhmet_Padiimennebnesouttaouy Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press, London, 1994 https://archive.org/details/AmuletsOfAncientEgypt_201707 https://umranica.wikido.xyz/repo/e/ea/Amulets_of_ancient_Egypt.pdf

Guillemette Andreu, Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya, Christiane Ziegler, Ancient Egypt at the Louvre, Hachette, 1997
Francesco Tiradritti, Treasures of Egypt – The wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Gründ, 1999
Abeer El-Shahawy, The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Matḥaf al-Miṣrī, American Univ in Cairo Press, 2005
Magical stela or cippus of Horus, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, entry no. 20.2.23 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545766?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=horus+stelae&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=12 Miniature cippus of Horus (magical stela), Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, entry no. 23.6.19 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/570346 Cippus of Horus on the Crocodiles, Brooklyn Museum – accession number 60.73 https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3684 Stele of Horus, Louvre, E 20008 https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010006108 Healing statue, Louvre, E 10777 https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010034902 Cippus, protective magic stela, British Museum, EA60958 https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA60958

Posted 16th January 2015 by Marie Grillot

Labels: Bès CG 940 Cippe d’Horus cippi cippus guérisseuse Harpocrate Horus Isis magie piqures scorpions serpents Seth stèle stèle Horus et crocodiles stèle magique Wallis Budge

From the Ancient Times to the Modern Era: What Lesson Remains to Learn?

I am sharing an article with you at an unusual time for two reasons. First, today marks the beginning of Spring (around 6.26 am, CET), also celebrated as the ancient Persian New Year. Second, I’ll be travelling to Southern Germany for a few days over the weekend into the next, so I thought it would be an opportunity to write a few words.

This is a joyful celebration to leave behind dark and cold times and welcome brightness and warmth; the only difference to Easter is that this fiesta marks the start of a new year. It all sounds friendly and happy, though, as you might know, there is no happiness left to celebrate in Iran. Of course, the brave Iranians do celebrate it nonetheless, even though it coincides with the mourning Islamic month of Ramadan!

It looks like a never-ending battle between ancient traditional Persian ceremonies and the imposed Arabic religion. I don’t want to shout out like some lofty patriotic people who still try to prove a trampled and destroyed glory that might have been perfectly installed by Cirus the Great during his reign, who had built an enormous empire based on human rights but slowly was destroyed not only by the Arabs but even before that by the latest dynasties and their avaricious religious monks.

One of the most significant mistakes humans can make is relying on who or what they were in the past rather than who or what they are now. This happened in Iran many years ago and continues to happen now, as people keep talking about their glorious history. It seems that Iranian monarchists are attempting to use the pride of ancient Persia to promote their cause, much like how Mussolini tried to do the same with Rome for Italy. However, I struggle to understand these sentiments from my Persian friends here in Germany, who constantly talk about the greatness of Persia and its past strength. But where is that glory now? I believe that traditions can be beneficial if used consciously. A sense of pride can serve as a foundation for creating a better world for all humans.

Anyway, I wish all the people of Iran, every ethnicity or folk, a happy Nowruz with great hope for casting freedom, equality and prosperity all over the country. This will happen because the leaders are women! #Woman_Life_Freedom

Illustration by Marina Terauds 

I’m finishing this post with a short piece by an Iranian artist, Parisa Alipour. Be safe and well, everybody.🙏💖🌟✌🤗

At the top: Photo by Cory Grace / Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution

Hope dies last!
Which of the most lasting gifts you can give yourself is that
Live your life this way^*
To enjoy the moment
Don’t be someone’s lame…
✍ #Parisa_Zabli_Pour 📚 @audiobo0ok