Greg Reeder Wrote:
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> "In the texts, the wands are referred to as
> symbols of the Two Lands, and more importantly,
> these wands are never used or handled by Seti I.
> If these implements are meant to give him power,
> why does the king never take then?"- Katherine
>
> The text itself states that Thoth gives the
> staffs.
>
> Thoth says:
> ' give thee life to thy nose, and the two uraei
> for thy beautiful face.'
>
>
> Seti I does handle the two
> sceptres.
>
> See: Ritual Guide to Abydos, David p.39.
> VI/VIIwb, UR (IV.13)

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Right: and what does this inscription say, Greg? Quoting David's translation for this scene:

In the Upper Register, the kings receives the sceptres of Upper and Lower Egypt and a staff decorated with jubilees from Horus. Isis stands behind the king who states,'I am thy son, (I) have come forth from thy body, I have received thy kingship upon earth.'...(snip speech of Isis about jubilees)...Horus urges him '...Receive for thyself thy kingship as King of Upper and Lower Egypt...the /nms/-headdress and the atef-crown are upon thy brow(?), the /HqAt/ sceptre, the /Awt/ sceptre, the /Ams/ sceptre, the flail and the /smat/-sceptre are grasped in (thy fist). Those siezest the office, my throne and my seat upon earth since I appeared in the seat of my father. I give it to thee to rule the Two Lands like a well-doing son like unto thee.' (David 1981: 36)

This is a political conveyance of power, as in a coronation ceremony.

> where Horus presents the two Urai sceptres of
> Upper and Lower Egypt surmounted by the cobra
> goddesses wearing the Red and White Crowns to Seti
> and the King takes hold of the two sceptres
> thereby representing the passing of the power and
> authority of the divine kingship.

Yes, but didn't I say that was the symbolic significance of this scene? You had stated earlier, however, something quite different. You said:

"IMHO Thoth is performing a "magical" ritual or an act of magic by "using" "presenting" to the deceased those implements to ensure his power of being in the afterlife. To therefore say that those implements are not magical ("political") is incorrect IMHO."

This was in response to my comment that " For one, Thoth isn't 'using wands' - the staffs symbolically represent the Two Lands in a political way - the northern lands by the papyrus and red-crowned cobra, and the lotus staff with White crown cobra, the southern lands of Egypt. Hence my comment about Thoth as a 'divine vizier' conveying the symbols of the Two Lands to the deceased king as he rules from the afterlife." (bold emphasis added}

So, even by my reading, Frankfort appears to hold that this is also a symbolic transfer of political power, couched in religious terms (hence the ritual nature of the event), as stated in your quote below.

> I think the following is apt and well reflects
> some of the points I have tried to make.
>
>
> "Here, then, we have a sample of the actual
> procedure during one part of the coronation. Its
> purpose was to transfer power from certain sacred
> objects to the king. A relationship was
> established between the monarch and the object
> which was the repository of the force of royalty.
> It is significant that the texts assume the
> character of an incantation, the recurring rhythm
> of which is likely to cast a spell over the
> performaners and can be experienced as a
> compulsion effecting the transfer."
> Kingship and the Gods, Henri Frankfort, p. 109.

Leprohon sees the coronation more prosaically:

"Sacral power was transferred to the king, and was made concrete by a number of visible symbols...(discussion of crown types and types and staffs of authority used by the king)...The aforementioned symbols were vested in the king, and their power renewed, in a number of important ceremonies, chief of which of which were his accession and coronation. These occasions were crucial because it was during them the divine essence of the sacral office was transferred to the king and the fusion of pharaoh's human and divine natures occurred.

<...snip accession rites...>

The coronation ceremonies were more elaborate, for they were the rites by which the king officially received his sacred regalia. It should be noted, however, that because no connected account of these ceremonies has survived, the exact order of the various activities is unknown...

An early coronation ceremony seems to have been the so-called Baptism of the Pharaoh, a symbolic purification of the king by the gods of the four cardinal points. The reliefs show not only water but also the symbols of life and dominion being poured over the pharaoh. Another rite was the Circuit of the Walls, which symbolized the king taking possession of the land. Other scenes have the king being led by gods into re-creations of the original shrines of Upper and Lower Egypt; there he received his crowns, the uraeus, the crook and flail, as well as the title deeds to his kingship. At this point, the entire court, which had been called in to witness the spectacle, acclaimed the new king with hails of joy praising the new monarch.

There was also thought to have been a divine decree proclaimed by the god Thoth, announcing the choice of the new king to the divine ennead of gods, which gave its assent. The life span of the king was then inscribed on the leaves of the sacred ished tree." (Leprohon 1995: 275-277)

Now, when we think about how the modern European state crowns its monarchs, you can see parallels with this ancient Egyptian ceremony as described by Leprohon (I'm using, as an example, Queen Elizabeth II's coronation procedures here, from 1953):

1) the presentation of the monarch to the people by the Archbishop of Canterbury accompanied by the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord High Constable and the Earl Marshal, with Garter King of Arms preceding them, and the recognition of the monarch by the people;

(2)the taking of the coronation oath in the form provided by statute*;

= Circuit of the Walls, which symbolized the king taking possession of the land.

(3)the presentation to the monarch of the Holy Bible;

(4)the anointing by the Archbishop of Canterbury with the consecrated oil;

= Baptism of the Pharaoh

(5)the investiture with the colobium sindonis, the supertunica or close pall ofcloth of gold, with a girdle of cloth of gold;

(6)the presentation to the monarch of the spurs and sword, and an oblation ofthe sword by the monarch;

(7)the investiture with the armills, the stole royal and the robe royal, and delivery to the monarch of the orb;

(8)the investiture with the ring, the glove, the sceptre with the cross and the rod with the dove;

(9)the putting on of the crown;

= king being led by gods into re-creations of the original shrines of Upper and Lower Egypt; there he received his crowns, the uraeus, the crook and flail, as well as the title deeds to his kingship.

(10)the benediction; (also No. 14).

= ...divine decree proclaimed by the god Thoth, announcing the choice of the new king to the divine ennead of gods, which gave its assent. The life span of the king was then inscribed on the leaves of the sacred ished tree."

(11)the enthroning;

(12)fealty by the archbishops and bishops, and homage by the peers;

= ...the entire court, which had been called in to witness the spectacle, acclaimed the new king with hails of joy praising the new monarch.

(13)the oblation by the monarch of a pall or altar cloth and an ingot of gold, and

(14)the celebration of the holy communion

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* Coronation Oath taken by Elizabeth II in 1953

The Queen having returned to her Chair, (her Majesty having already on Tuesday,the 4th day of November, 1952, in the presence of the two Houses of Parliament,made and signed the Declaration prescribed by Act of Parliament), the Archbishop standing before her shall administer the Coronation Oath, first asking the Queen,

Madam, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?

And the Queen answering,

I am willing.

The Archbishop shall minister these questions; and the Queen, having a book in her hands, shall answer each question severally as follows:

Archbishop. Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, and of your Possessions and the other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?

Queen. I solemnly promise so to do.

Archbishop. Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed
in all your judgements?

Queen. I Will.

Archbishop. Will you to the your utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and
the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in
the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you
maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in
England? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the
Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do
or shall appertain to them or any of them?

Queen. All this I promise to do.

Then the Queen arising out of her Chair, supported as before, the Sword of State
being carried before her, shall go to the Altar, and make her solemn Oath in the sight
of all the people to observe the premises: laying her right hand upon the Holy Gospel
in the great Bible (which was before carried in the procession and is now brought
from the Altar by the Archbishop (The Bible to be brought) and tendered to her as she kneels
upon the steps), and be brought saying these words:

The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me
God.

Then the Queen shall kiss the Book and sign the Oath, And a Silver Standish.

Queen having thus taken her Oath shall return again to her Chair, and the Bible shall
be delivered to the Dean of Westminster.

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Now, there is a quasi-religious aspect to this ceremony, to be sure, but in no way does Queen Elizabeth II acquire "magical implements" in this ceremony which changes her nature or gives her special "powers" (magical) in order to rule. The event is a political ceremony, not a magical one.

In fact the coronation ceremony does not explicitly convey the religious notion that the Queen rules "by the grace of God", though that is certainly implied in this ceremony, as well as fervently believed by many British citizens even today.

Reference:

David, R. 1981. A Guide to Religious Ritual at Abydos. Warminster: Aris and Phillips.

Leprohon, R. 1995. Royal Ideology and State Administraion in Pharaonic Egypt. In J. M. Sasson, J. Baines, et al., Eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 1: 273-287. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

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