Intercolumnar Wall E (65-67)

Esna 65

• Location: Facade, Intercolumnar E
• Date: Domitian
• Hieroglyphic Text
• Bibliography: None

Cartouches of Vespasian.

Esna 66

• Location: Facade, intercolumnar bandeau
  
• Date: Unknown, probably Claudius
  
• Hieroglyphic Text
  
• Bibliography: Elgawady 2016, p. 197.

mj m ḥtp
ẖnm=k pr-wr m pr-m-qd
ʿq=k ḥw.t-nṯr m nḏm-jb
wʿb.tw nn ḏw nb ḫr=k

mḥn=j ḥr tp=k
mj nb-ḏr
mnḥ.n=j tpy.w nw ḫfty.w=k
m rn=j pfy n Mnḥy.t

Come in peace!¹¹⁴
Unite with the Per-wer in extasy,
enter the temple in joy,
being pure, without evil.

I am coiled (mḥn) upon your head,
like (I would for) the All Lord,
I have cut off (mnḥ) the heads of your enemies,
in my name of Menhyt (Mnḥy.t).¹¹⁵

Esna 67

• Location: Facade, intercolumnar wall E
• Date: Claudius
• Hieroglyphic Text
  
• Bibliography: Elgawady 2016, pp. 198-199; additional entries in Tempeltexte 2.0

The King

¹nsw.t-bỉty
nb-tȝ.wy
(tbrys grwtys ksrs nty-ḫwỉ)|
²zȝ-Rʿ nb-ḫʿ.w
(krmnyqs ȝwdgrtwr)|

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Lord of the Two Lands,
(Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus)|
² Son of Re, Lord of Appearances,
(Germanicus Autokrator)|

Harsiese

³ḏd-mdw n ḥr-zȝ-Is.t
ỉwʿʿ mnḫ n (wn-nfr mȝʿ-ḫrw)|
⁴nb ʿbw šȝʿ twr

ʿbw=k ʿbw ḏḥwty
⁵ṯz-pẖr

ʿbw=k ʿbw Dwn-ʿn.wy
ṯz-pẖr

wʿb kȝ=k ḫr Rʿ
⁶swʿb.n tw Is.t
m nṯr.t
snṯr.n tw m nṯr(?)

ỉw=k ⁷mn.tw ḫʿ.tw
m nsw.t zȝ nsw.t
ḥr s.t-⁸ḥr
ḫnty ʿnḫ.w
ḏ.t zp-snw nḥḥ zp-snw

⁹ʿb.n tw ḥnʿ kȝ=k
m mw nṯry ỉỉ m snm.t
mỉ wʿb p.t n Rʿ

Words spoken by Harsiese,
beneficent heir of (Wennefer, justified)|
lord of purity, who began purification.

Your purity is the purity of Thoth,
and vice-versa!

Your purity is the purity of Dewen-anwy,
and vice-versa!

You Ka is pure before Re,
since Isis purified you
in Netjeri,¹¹⁶
you were purified as Thoth.

You remain and appear in glory
as the king, son of a king,
upon the throne of Horus,
foremost of the living,
for ever and ever!

You were purified with your Ka,
with divine water which came from Senmet,¹¹⁷
just as the sky is pure for Re.

Thoth

¹⁰ḏd-mdw n nb ḫmnw
nb mdw-nṯr
nb ʿbw šȝʿ swʿb

¹¹ʿbw=k ʿbw ḥr
ṯz-pẖr

ʿbw=k ʿbw ¹²Gbb
ṯz pẖr

wʿb ḥʿw=k mỉ Itm(?)
nn mn.t ¹³nb ḫr=k

ḏḥwty (ḥr) dr sḏb.w=k
twr ¹⁴tw m p.t ḫr Rʿ
snṯr.n tw m tȝ ḫr psḏ.t=f

ỉw=k ¹⁵mn.tw m bỉty n nḥḥ
ḥr ns.t n Rʿ
ḫnty ʿnḫ.w

¹⁶ʿb.n tw m mw ỉpn
n ʿnḫ-wȝs
swʿb ḥʿw=k m mw rnp
pr m ṯpḥ.t

¹⁰ Words spoken by the Lord of Hermopolis,
Lord of Hieroglyphs,
Lord of purity, who began purification.

¹¹ Your purity is the purity of Horus,
and vice-versa!

Your purity is the purity of ¹² Geb,
and vice-versa!

You body is pure like Atum,¹¹⁸
without any illness upon you.

Thoth is repelling all your impurity,
you are purified in heaven before Re,
you were censed on earth before his Ennead.

You remain as king for eternity,
upon the throne of Re,
foremost of the living.

You have been purified with this water
of ʿnḫ-wȝs; ¹¹⁹ your body is purified with fresh water
which came forth from the Cavern.

Menhyt

¹⁷ḏd-mdw n Mnḥy.t wr.t
nb(.t) ḫnt-tȝ
sḫm.t ¹⁸ʿȝ.t
nb.t sḫm.wt nb.wt

nb(.t) ʿbw
ḥtp(.t) ḥr twr
ỉr(.t) nty
¹⁹qmȝ(.t) wnn.t
Bȝšt.t(?) ʿšȝ ḥb.w

²⁰ḏỉ=ỉ pr n=k ḥʿpỉ
m ṯpḥ.t=f
r ʿȝ wr

Words spoken by Menhyt the great,
Lady of Khent-ta,
Sakhmet the great,
Lady of all the Sakhmets.¹²⁰

Lady of purity,
who is pleased with cleanliness,
who made what is,
and created what exists:
Bastet(?),¹²¹ numerous of festivals.

I cause Hapi to come forth
from his grotto for you,
very greatly.

---

114. This text is properly speaking a caption above Esna 67. The goddess Menhyt addresses the king while he is being purified by Harsiese and Thoth.↩︎

115. This entire speech has exact parallels in Esna II, 15, 19; Esna 104, 3-4.↩︎

116. Presumably Behbeit el-Hagar in the Delta, a toponym closely linked to Isis and purification rituals; cf. Favard-Meeks 2002. Unlikely that this should be identified as Dendera, as suggested by Elgawady 2016, p. 198, n. 1384.↩︎

117. Biggeh Island, near Philae and Aswan.↩︎

118. - A similar spelling occurs in Esna 54, 12; Esna 163, 13, with the usual determinative of Atum (reading noted by Sauneron 1963a, p. 54, n. b); see also Esna III, 218, 9. I read: ỉ < ỉtn, t < tȝ, m < ỉm. Since the boat is backwards in the other example, Sauneron suggested Atum’s named was reversed, which would presumably involve: ỉ < ỉm (acrophony), t < tȝ, m < mȝwy, “rays” (a variant of the shining sun hieroglyph usually found in spellings of Atum). Elgawady 2016, p. 198, read Re-Chepri”, but this does not explain the boat sign or take into account the Esna parallels.↩︎

119. In this scene, the purifying water is made entirely of ʿnḫ and wȝs symbols.↩︎

120. Remarkable epithet, paralleled in multiple variants (LGG IV, 133c), including the Litany to Neith: Esna III, 216, 7 (32).↩︎

121. - Reading uncertain, but the alternative option (“father of all multitudes”) seems less likely. “Numerous of festivals” is a very common epithet of Menhyt and Nebtu at Esna (LGG II, 225c-226a) but usually preceded by “lady of drunkenness (tḫ)” or “lady of jubilation (ỉhȝy).”↩︎