rich Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
when I wrote:
> "The so-called "Papyrus Island" "..."This same
> island is identified with Chemnis, for example"
> -- Chemmis is located in a close vicinity to Buto.
> 12 miles(100 fathoms) south of the Butic Lake
> according to Heliodorus.
>
>
> More Quotes on Byblus/Papyrus:
> "Thereafter Isis, as they relate, learned 357that
> the chest had been cast up by the sea near the
> land of Byblus81" -- Plutarch Osiris and Isis

In this case, we're talking about the land of Byblos, today modern Beirut, which is not an island. Isis' connection with Byblos is covered in this article

Herrmann, S. 1957. Isis in Byblos ZÄS 82: 48-55.

In this article, Herrmann notes that Plutarch probably consciously paralleled "... the arrival and the stay of Isis to Byblos to the Homeric hymn in honor of Demeter; as well as Isis in going to look for Osiris to Byblos, so does Demeter look for her daughter, the Koré, in Eleusis. Plutarch borrowed some elements of this Greek hymn to describe the stay of lsis to Byblos. He has been proceeded this way by reason of likeness of features between Isis and Demeter, a likeness that he also finds between Koré and Osiris." Herrmann analyzes the archaeological testimonies that one possesses about the role that Isis played Byblos, and finds them to be of late origin, and thus not part of the original Osirian tradition.

The relationship of Isis to Byblos of Egypt is likely related to her connection with a Levantine goddess at Byblos called Baalat-Gebal,"The Lady of Byblos," a goddess represented in a manner similar to Hathor and Isis. This article discusses more of this relationship in

Labrique, F. La chevelure des servantes de la reine de Byblos: un rite égyptien en filigrane? (PLUTARQUE, De Iside et Osiride, 15). In U. Verhoeven und E. Graefe, eds., Religion und Philosophie im Alten Ägypten. Festgabe für Philippe Derchain zu seinem 65. Geburtstag am 24. Juli 1991:203-207. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 39. Leuven: Peeters.

Labrique noted that the hairdressing episode (where Isis dresses the hair of the queen's servants) was a behaviour indicating relationship between Isis and the queen, who is none other than Hathor. Both goddesses have strong connections with hair and hairdressing. In fact, Isis only performing a Hathoric rite in disguise: returning the braid lost by Hathor to her.

It is thought that Baalat-Gebal may have had similar hair myths surrounding her as well, as references in Egyptian literature to the /nbt Kbn/, "mistress of Byblos", as an epithet of Hathor, is known from the Middle Kingdom onward, although, as Hollis (1990: 136; 167-168) points out, the history of commerce between Byblos and Egypt is much older, flourishing during the Old Kingdom as well.

Reference:

Hollis, S. T. 1990. The Ancient Egyptian "Tale of Two Brothers": The Oldest Fairy Tale in the World. Norman/London: University of Oklahoma Press.

HTH.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2007 12:24AM by Katherine Griffis-Greenberg.