FEMALE FIGURINES FROM THE MUT PRECINCT: CONTEXT AND RITUAL FUNCTION by Elizabeth A. Waraksa A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland January 2007 © 2007 Elizabeth A. Waraksa All Rights Reserved UMI Number: 3262525 UMI Microform 3262525 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 Abstract This dissertation concerns the ceramic female figurines excavated by Johns Hopkins at the Precinct of Mut in Luxor, Egypt between 2001 and 2004. The figures date from the New Kingdom to the Late Period (ca. 1550-332 BCE). Ceramic figurines are frequently overlooked by archaeologists, art historians, and social historians because they lack the aesthetic qualities usually associated with Egyptian art. However, the Hopkins- excavated figurines display features that mark them as standardized ritual objects. I argue that ceramic female figurines were produced in workshops, utilized by magician/physicians in healing rituals, and snapped and discarded at the end of their effective ‘lives.’ This is a new interpretation for objects that have previously been labeled votive and relegated to the sphere of women. Chapter 1 presents a brief history of the Mut Precinct and summarizes the work of Johns Hopkins at the site. It also addresses the current state of figurine studies in Egyptology, including a critique of the “fertility figurine” theory. Finally, I present a typology for the Mut Precinct figurines. Chapter 2 is a detailed study of the materials and manufacture of ceramic female figurines. I suggest that the figurines were manufactured by craftsmen in state-sponsored workshops, and that the red hue of many figures signals that the objects were malevolent and ultimately to be destroyed. Chapter 3 presents translations and commentary for magico-medical spells calling for female figures of clay, which demonstrate how female figurines functioned in magical rituals. Chapter 3 also discusses a new term for “clay figurine.” Finally, a survey of ii magico-medical texts calling for other types of clay figurines is presented, highlighting the widespread use of such figures. Chapter 4 reviews the salient conclusions of the thesis, and discusses the use of ceramic female figurines at the Mut Precinct specifically. This new interpretation of Egyptian female figurines broadens our understanding of objects often called “crude” and placed in the realm of women by demonstrating that ceramic female figurines were manufactured and acquired by men, and manipulated to heal a variety of patients. This thesis will undoubtedly encourage future studies of archaeological finds in concert with magico-medical texts. Principal Advisers: Professor Betsy M. Bryan, Professor Richard Jasnow Readers: Professor Theodore J. Lewis, Professor H. Alan Shapiro, Dr. Emily Teeter iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction and Typology …………………………………………………1 Chapter 1a: The Mut Precinct Site and History of Excavations………………......1 Location……………………………………………………………….…..1 Early References to Mut and Her Theban Temple………………………..1 Royal names in the Mut Precinct………………….………………….…...2 Officials’ Inscriptions from the Mut Precinct…….………………….……4 History of Visitors, Expeditions to the Mut Precinct.……………….….…4 Summary of Johns Hopkins University Excavations 2001-2004…..……..8 Chapter 1b: Background to Female Figurine Studies………………………..…..12 Chapter 1c: Introduction to the Mut Precinct Figurines, with Typology……..….21 Type 1…………………………………………………………………....24 Type 2…………………………………………………………………....27 Type 3…………………………………………………………………....32 Type 4…………………………………………………………………....37 Type 5…………………………………………………………………....40 Type 6…………………………………………………………………....42 Unassigned…………………………………………………………….....43 Chapter 2: Materials and Manufacture of Female Figurines …..………………...….48 Chapter 2a: Introduction to the Technical Study………………………………...48 Chapter 2b: Manufacture of the Figurines……………………………………….50 Clay……………………………………………………………………....50 Shaping…………………………………………………………………..51 Incising…………………………………………………………………..55 Appliqué……………………………………………………………...….58 Red Wash………………………………………………………………...61 Polychrome Decoration……………………………………………….…65 Durability…………………………………………………………….…..75 Chapter 2c: Standardization and Distribution of the Figurines…………….……85 Standardization…………………………………………………….…….85 Distribution……………………………………………………………....90 Chapter 2d: Material & Color Symbolism and Iconographic Remarks………...104 Material Symbolism…………………………………………………….104 Clay…………………………………………...………………...104 Silver……………………………………………………………109 Copper…………………………………………………………..111 Faience………………………………………………………….112 Shell…………………………………………………………….114 Linen…………………………………………………………....115 Color Symbolism……………………………………………………….118 Red……………………………………………………………...119 Black……………………………………………………………131 Blue……………………………………………………………..132 iv White……………………………………………………………133 Iconographic Remarks………………………………………………….136 Chapter 3: Textual Sources for Interpreting Clay Figurines ………………………145 Chapter 3a: Introduction to the Textual Study………………………………….145 Chapter 3b: Magico-Medical Texts Calling for Female Figures of Clay……....146 P. Turin 54003 r. 13-16……………………………………….....……...153 Transliteration…………………………………………………..155 Translation……………………………………………………...156 Commentary…………………………………………………….158 P. Leiden I 348 r. 12,2-12,4…………………………………………….169 Transliteration……………………………………………….….171 Translation……………………………………………………...171 Commentary…………………………………………………….172 Chapter 3c: Additional Magico-Medical Texts Calling for Objects of sin(t) ..…175 Chapter 4: Conclusions…...…………………………………………………………..190 Appendix A: Catalogue of Female Figurines from the Mut Precinct (2001-2004)…....203 Type 1…………………………………………………………………………..203 Type 2…………………………………………………………………………..204 Type 3…………………………………………………………………………..206 Type 4…………………………………………………………………………..214 Type 5…………………………………………………………………………..216 Type 6………………………………………………………………….……….220 Unassigned……………………………………………………………….……..223 Concordance of Female Figurines by Catalogue Number ………………………….228 Concordance of Female Figurines by Excavation Location ...……………..……….229 Concordance of Female Figurines by Type ………………………………………….231 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………...232 Curriculum Vita ……………………………………………………………………….288 v List of Tables Table 1: JHU Expedition to the Precinct of Mut at Karnak 2001-2004 Excavation Trenches…………………………………………….….44 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Type 1 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 1)…………………....25 Figure 2: Type 2 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 2)……………………28 Figure 3: Type 2 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 4)……………………31 Figure 4: Type 3 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 6)……………………33 Figure 5: Type 4 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 20)…………………..38 Figure 6: Type 5 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 24)…………………..40 Figure 7: Type 6 figurine from the Mut Precinct (cat. no. 30)…………………..42 Figure 8: Type 1 figurine from Gebel Zeit (after Paule Posener-Krieger, “Les travaux de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale en 1984-1985.” Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 85 (1985) pl. LXV) ……….……….………………....57 Figure 9: Sketch of generic female figurine with common areas of breakage……………………………………..................................…....78 Figure 10: Amarna Workmen’s Village, with female figurine findspots indicated (after Barry J. Kemp, “How Religious were the Ancient Egyptians?” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 5:1 (1995) 31, fig. 3)………………………..………..83 Figure 11: Plan of the Mut Precinct, with female figurine findspots indicated….84 Figure 12: P. Turin 54003 rt. 13-16 (after Alessandro Roccati, Papiro Ieratico N. 54003: Estratti magici e rituali del Primo Medio Regno .)...............................................155 Figure 13: P. Leiden I 348 rt. 12,2-12,4 (after Joris F. Borghouts, The Magical Texts of Papyrus Leiden I 348 . pl. 12) ………………………………………………..170 vii Chapter 1: Introduction and Typology Chapter 1a: The Mut Precinct Site and History of Excavations Location The precinct of the goddess Mut at Karnak is located on the east bank of the Nile in modern Luxor, approximately 325 meters south of the precinct of the god Amun (25°43’N, 32°40’E). 1 Encompassing some 90,000 square meters of area, the Mut Precinct contains no less than six temples (the Mut Temple, the Contra Temple, Temples A, B, C, and D) and a sacred lake, called the Isheru , as well as a vast tract of still largely unexcavated land at the south of the site. 2 Oriented towards the Amun precinct, the Mut Precinct was a center of the goddess’s worship from at least the early 18 th Dynasty, and continued as a religious site well into the Ptolemaic period. The precinct’s structures underwent numerous building phases and modifications through the centuries before falling into disuse in Roman times. While the exact date of the last religious activity at the precinct is not known, by the fourth century AD, houses were constructed against and inside the temple buildings. 3 Early References to Mut and Her Theban Temple The earliest textual reference to “Mut, mistress of Isheru” ( Mwt nbt iSrw ), her most common epithet as a Theban goddess, 4 dates to the 17 th Dynasty (ca. 1575 BC). 5 1 Richard A. Fazzini, “Karnak, precinct of Mut.” Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt . Ed. Kathryn