The Ancient Egyptian Sed-Festival and the Exemption from Corvee Author(s): José M. Galán Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Oct., 2000), pp. 255-264 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/545782 . Accessed: 31/05/2011 09:23 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress. 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GALAN, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid AMENHOTEPIII's first sed-festival (ca. 1370 B.C.) is mentioned in a large number of dockets from Malqata as well as in the tombs of Kheruef and Khaemhet,the funerarytem- ple of Amenhotep son of Hapu, the temple of Khonsu at Karnak,and in Soleb. In the temple of Soleb, among the various scenes in relief summarizingthe ritual that was performedfor the occasion, there is one scene that is accompanied by an inscription with a legal and ad- ministrativecontent.' The text is arrangedin columns, and the first one is placed just before a figure of a king sitting on a litter; he is wearing the Upper Egyptian crown and holding in his hand the flagellum and the heqa-scepter. The inscription is badly damaged, but some sections can still be read. The missing parts can be restored by referring to an inscription in Osorkon II's temple at Bubastis.2 The latter commemorates Osorkon'sfirst sed-festival, celebrated in the twenty-second year of his reign (ca. 865 B.C.), in the fourth month of Akhet. Despite the geographical and chronological distance between the two inscriptions, there are only minor differences between them.3 Year 30, second month of Shemu.4 Appearing [in] Amun's temple, which is in the precinct of the sed-festival sitting on the southern litter5 and starting the protection (hw) of the Two Lands, by the king. (Consistingof) the protection(hw) of the musiciansand singers6of Amunand the protection (hw) of every woman of [his town,7 who have been] dependents (hmwt) since the times of the forefathers. They are in every household, taxed/levied (htr) [with/for their work (b3k) annually. 1 C. van Siclen III, "The Accession Date of Ameno- 3 Even the scene that accompanies the text is very phis III and the Jubilee,"JNES 32 (1973): 293, fig. 1. similar in both cases. The kings are being carried on a The drawing was made by N. de Garis Davies underthe litter by a small group of attendants,and two staffs of direction of J. H. Breasted. Other scenes of Amenho- millions of years are depicted before them. The texts, tep's sed-festival at Soleb can be found in LD, vol. 3, arranged in columns, are written in retrogradedirec- pls. 83-87. tion. Osorkon'scommand was issued at the end of the 2 E. Naville, The Festival-Hall of OsorkonIII in the sed-festival ceremony, when he was returning to his Great Temple of Bubastis (London, 1892), pl. 6; van palace. Siclen, "Accession Date," pp. 295-98, fig. 2; W. Barta, 4 For other dated references and the duration of "Die Sedfest-DarstellungOsorkons II. im Tempel von Amenhotep's sed-festival, see van Siclen, "Accession Bubastis," Studien zur altdigyptischenKultur 6 (1978): Date," pp. 290-96. 25-42, pls. 1-6. A reconstructedversion of Amenhotep 5 Osorkon, on the contrary,is being carried on the III's inscriptioncan be found in H. Goedicke, Problems northernlitter (spa), and he is wearing, accordingly,the concerning AmenhophisIII (Baltimore, 1992), pp. 28- Lower Egyptian crown. 34, fig. 2; K. A. Kitchen, The ThirdIntermediate Period 6 The terms are hnr[w]t ~mCw,but in Osorkon's in- in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C., 2d ed. (Warminster,1986), scription only hnit (<hnr) is mentioned. A discussion pp. 320 f., also cites some inscribed blocks at Karnakin of these terms can be found in S.-A. Naguib, Le clergde the so-called Bubastite room, mentioning a royal decree fdminin d'Amon thebain, OLA 38 (Leuven, 1990), pp. of Osorkon "to protect all the temples of Thebes." 188-207, 235-39. 7 I take niwtly.fas a nisba adjective, meaning "be- [JNES 59 no. 4 (2000)] longing to his town." Anotherreference to a god's town ? 2000 by The University of Chicago. being protected (hwt) by the king is mentioned in Hat- All rights reserved. shepsut's inscription at Speos Artemidos, Urk. IV 386, 0022-2968/2000/5904-0002$02.00. 13; see also A. H. Gardiner,"Davies's Copy of the Great 255 256 JOURNALOF NEAR EASTERNSTUDIES Now his majesty is seeking a great deed of magnificence] for his father Amun-Re, as he pro- claims the first sed-festival of his son, who is sitting on his throne, [and as he announces for him very many (sed-festivals) in Thebes, mistress of the Nine Bows. Thus, the king says in the pres- ence] of his father Amun lord of the thrones of the Two Lands: "I shall protect (hw) Thebes for you upon her height and [her width], being consecrated (swCb) [once given to] her lord, without (any) interference [against her by the agents of the royal administration.8Her people (rmt) are protected (hw) indefinitely] because of the great name [of the Good God]." The king's words are in the form of a royal decree. The sed-festival provides the setting and the date. The reason for issuing it is introduced by a recurrent sentence in commem- orative royal inscriptions: "now his majesty is seeking a great deed of magnificence .... " King and god based their relationship on reciprocal gestures, and the royal decree was presented as the compensation for the first sed-festival and Amun's announcementof more to come. Its content is generally understood as an exemption from corv~e granted to Amun's cult personnel. It has to be stressed that the King's intention was not to benefit the people involved but exclusively to favor the god. The decree was not meant to reduce the fiscal burden of a certain group but to grant them the possibility to dedicate themselves exclusively to giving better service to the god. The historicity of Amenhotep's gracious measure is confirmed by a second source. One of the statues of Amenhotep son of Hapu found at Karnak's Tenth Pylon has a text carved on a papyrus he holds over his crossed legs, as if the inscription were an original royal de- cree, one that would have probably been written in hieratic.9 Given by the grace of the king10 to the rapat, guard of the white chapel of Geb,"1 the royal scribe and scribe of recruits, Amenhotep justified of voice, son of Hapu of Athribis, for the temple of Amunin Karnak.He (Amenhotep)says: "I have acted as royal commissioner of his majesty, bringing in to him the people (rmt) of Thebes who were servants (n-dt) in the royal administration, in order to protect and consecrate (hw web) them forever for Amun lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, on (the occasion of) the first sed-festival of his majesty. Speos ArtemidosInscription," JEA 32 (1946): pl. 6 (19). 9 CCG. 44862; M. G. Legrain, "Au pylane d'Harm- Amenhotep's and Osorkon's texts mention only one habi 'a Karnak (Xe pylane)," ASAE 14(1914): 19,22-24; place, Thebes. But if, on the other hand, niwty is taken A. Varille, Inscriptions concernant l'architecte Amenho- as a dual and a second town is to be understood as tepfils de Hapou, BdE 44 (Cairo, 1968), pp. 18-24; Urk. being implicit in Osorkon's inscription, it would have IV 1834, 6-18. This passage is included in M. Valloggia, been Tanis. Concerning Amun's cult in Tanis, see Recherche sur les 'messagers' (wpwtyw) dans les sources Kitchen, ThirdIntermediate Period, 2d ed., pp. 426-30. dgyptiennes profanes (Geneva and Paris, 1976), p. 104 Van Siclen, "Accession Date,"p. 297 (i), has suggested, (no. 45); W. Helck, Der Einflufi der Militarfiihrer in der however, Bubastis as the possible second town. Goe- 18. iigyptischen Dynastie (Hildesheim, 1964), pp. 8 f.; dicke, Amenophis III, p. 31, has proposed that the dual idem, Materialien zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Neuen might refer to the two parts of Thebes, the eastern and Reiches, vol. 3 (Wiesbaden, 1963), p. 327. the western sides. 10 Varille, Amenhotep fils de Hapou, p. 9, explains 8On rwdw "agents,"see J.-M.