Visit of the sources of the Book of the Day
MARCUS MUELLER-ROTH
The Book of the Day (LdJ – Livre du Jour) belongs to the group of the Books for the Afterlife that are known mainly from the royal tombs of the New Kingdom. Jean François Champollion was the first researcher who dealt with the LdJ. During a French-tuscan expedition which traveled to Egypt and Nubia, he also visited the Valley of the Kings. Among other things he documented paintings and texts from the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9), and thereby he described the LdJ for the first time.1 His report that has been published posthumous did not result in continuative researches on the LdJ, but long time remained unnoticed.
Alexandre Piankoff took up the topic again one hundred years later. He prepared a temporary edition of the LdJ on the basis of the already known two versions from KV 9.2 Next to an English and French translation of these texts, Piankoff found comparable texts and paintings in a private tomb from the time of Taharqa.3 Although the tomb of Ramesses IX (KV 6) as well as the tomb of Osorkon II (NRT I) also contain the LdJ,4 the edition remains substantial and unreplaced to this day. This situation is very unfortunate, because the LdJ was multiple included into other studies lately. While a current edition is missing which takes all known sources, texts and paintings into account that belong to the LdJ, these studies run the risk of misinterpretation. In the autumn of 2004 I got the opportunity to visit the archaeological sites of sources of the LdJ to prepare a complete and detailed new edition.
Of course the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9) was in the center of the examinations. There is still the oldest and at the same time the only complete version of the LdJ. In addition, it contains amazingly two versions at once. Besides the check of the texts and drawings two unknown texts could be discovered. The first one is at the end of the third corridor below the representation of the journey of the solar-barque. (Figure 1) At first the text fragments appear unspectacular since only the beginning of the first line makes sense. It is a text to the Southern Bas which are also represented as four ram-
1 Jean François Champollion, Monuments de l’Ègypte et de la Nubie. Notices Descriptives Conforme aux notices Autographs rédirées sur les lieux par Champ. le jeune, Vol. II, Paris 1844-1889, 630-661. 2 A. Piankoff, Le Livre du jour et de la nuit, BdE 13, Kairo 1942; A. Piankoff/N. Rambova, The Tomb of Ramesses VI., Bollinger Series XL.1, New York 1954. 3 A. Piankoff, Le livre du jour dans la tombe (No 132) de Ramose, in: ASAE 41, 1941, 151-158. 4 F. Guilmant, Le Tombeau de Ramsès IX, MIFAO 15, Kairo 1907; F. Abitz, Der Bauablauf und die Dekoration des Grabes Ramses’ IX., in: SAK 17, 1990, 1-40; P. Montet, La nécropole royale de Tanis I. Les constructions et le tombeau d’Osorkon II à Tanis, Paris 1947; G. Roulin, Les Tombes royales de Tanis: analyse du programme décoratif, in: P. Brissaud/Chr. Zivie- headed gods at the traction rope of the solar-barque.5 Since corresponding texts to the Northern and Eastern Bas are known, the text can be reviewed analog.6
Some hieroglyphs which remained unnoticed till now could be recognized also in the area of the Field of Reeds. The text merely consists of three signs that can be seen on its left edge in a narrow gap.7 Unlike the text of the Southern Bas, the meaning here remains dubious.
The published drawings of the respective sources were also checked next to the texts. Since the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9) is published completely with photos, this work is concentrated on the drawings from the tomb of Ramesses IX (KV 6) and Osorkon II (NRT I).
At the ceiling of KV 6 it turned out that the drawings of Felix Guilmant are faulty.8 The divinities in the left area were represented too small. Moreover, the gods in the right section are arranged wrongly. They spread out on the complete breadth of the register and adapt to the available space by decreasing their body height. The uraei in the lower area were represented just like they appear in KV 9. In reality the cobras have arms and lift them up praising. For the new edition the ceiling was documented newly to provide a correct drawing. (Figure 3)
The tomb of Osorkon II in Tanis was discovered and edited by Pierre Montet simultaneous to the researches of Piankoff. The published drawing proved to be very exact.9 Moreover, many remains of the paint could be recognized so that the representation can be reconstructed in color. Unfortunately it got also clear, that the tombs and their decorations are threatened by salt.
The visit of TT 132 (Ramose) conduced to a complete documentation of the decoration. Till now, the representations were only known by a survey of Jean Leclant.10 Piankoff published only the texts.11 However, TT 132 is also important for the processions of gods which constitute a considerable contingent of the LdJ. While Ramesses VI still included hundreds of gods in his decoration, Ramose reduced them to a handful. They alternate with the texts of the hours in the register above the journey of the solar-barque. Piankoff still mentioned them as gods of the hours. In the same function they were
Coche (Ed.), Tanis. Travaux Récents sur le Tell Sân el-Hagar. Mission Française des Fouilles de Tanis 1987-1997, Paris 1998, 218-230. 5 A. Piankoff/N. Rambova, The Tomb of Ramesses VI., Bollinger Series XL.1, New York 1954, pl. 152. 6 A. Piankoff, Le Livre du jour et de la nuit, BdE 13, Kairo 1942, 3 and 23. 7 A. Piankoff/N. Rambova, The Tomb of Ramesses VI., Bollinger Series XL.1, New York 1954, pl. 156. 8 F. Guilmant, Le Tombeau de Ramsès IX, MIFAO 15, Kairo 1907, pl. LXXXVIII. 9 P. Montet, La nécropole royale de Tanis I. Les constructions et le tombeau d’Osorkon II à Tanis, Paris 1947, pl. XXV. 10 J. Leclant, Fouilles et travaux en Égypte, 1951-1952, in: Or N.S. 22, 1953, 88f., pl. XIII, Fig. 25 (LdJ) - 26 (LdN); J. Leclant, Fouilles et travaux en Égypte, 1951-1952, in: Or N.S. 22, 1953, 66, pl. VIII, Fig. 1-2 (LdN). 11 A. Piankoff, Le Livre du Jour dans la Tombe (No 132) de Ramose, in: ASAE 41, 1941, 151-158. also introduced in the “Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterzeichnungen”.12 If one looks at the first group in the first register of the corridor-version at KV 9, it gets clear that it is the same group like in TT 132. Their names are merely a little corrupt at Ramose, their shapes have individual features and their sequence is a little incompletely, because of the historical tradition of some centuries. The group can be completed by the procession in NRT I. Although the gods there remain anonymous, the identification by the iconography is clear.13 A schema shall get an overview (Figure 2).
Next to the sources of the LdJ the Edifice of Taharqa at the Sacred Lake in Karnak was visited as well as Medinet Habu. The solar-complexes of these two temples have an important parallel to a hymn which exists also in the LdJ. This is covered, however, only cryptographic in KV 9. Since the texts of the temples are written in “Klarschrift”, they are essential for understanding the hymn.14
Approximately a dozen sarcophagi of the 25th and 26th dynasty remain unconsidered till now. Their lids are decorated with scenes of the day- and the night-barque. Since the composition of the crew is typical, the barque of the LdJ together with the team at the traction rope can be identified several times.15
With the visit to the archaeological sites of the LdJ the base for a standard new edition is built. The results shall be worked in into the existing documents, so that a quick completion of the project can be achieved.
12 A. Piankoff, Le livre du jour dans la tombe (No 132) de Ramose, in: ASAE 41, 1941, 151-155; LGG III, 189b (292); LGG II, 388b (293); LGG III, 68c (294); LGG II, 81a (295); LGG II, 79a-b (296); LGG I, 82b (301); LGG I, 236b (304). 13 A. Piankoff/N. Rambova, The Tomb of Ramesses VI., Bollinger Series XL. 1, New York 1954, fig. 130; P. Montet, La nécropole royale de Tanis I. Les constructions et le tombeau d’Osorkon II à Tanis, Paris 1947, pl. XXV; C. R. Lepsius, Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien, Textband III, Leipzig 1900, 285. 14 U. Hölscher, Medinet Habu VI. The Temple Proper Part II. Chigago 1963, pl. 420 and 421A sowie R. A. Parker/J. Leclant/J. C. Goyon, The Edifice of Taharka by the Sacrd Lake of Karnak, Brown Egyptological Studies VIII, London 1979, pl. 18A; M. C. Betrò, L’inno crittografico del Libro del Giorno, in: EVO 12, 1989, 37-54. 15 Ursula Verhoeven, Das saitische Totenbuch der Iahtesnacht, P. Colon. Aeg. 10207 (PTA 41.1-3), Bonn 1993, pl. 1-2.
Figure 1: Fragments of the text to the Southern Bas (A. Piankoff/N. Rambova, The Tomb of Ramesses VI., Bollinger Series XL.1, New York 1954, pl. 153.).
292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 a.
Ramesses VI (a)
------
Ramesses VI (b)
Osorkon II a. a. a. a. a. a. --- a. a. a. a. ------
Ramose
Figure 2: The gods n. 292-307 of the LdJ (Count on the according to the new edition; a=anonym).
Figure 3: The LdJ in KV 6 (Drawing: Susanne Michels). Figure 4: The LdJ in TT 132 (Drawing: Susanne Michels).