Graam,


> Thanks Ritva, and a good article it is.
>
> The single most illuminating function of Seshat
> appears to be the granting of hebsed rituals, the
> 'life period' and the 'years of eternity', albeit
> vaguely interpreted.

And yet, Wainwright writes about the 7-year period granted by Seshat (it asn't really claer to me where he got the number 7 fromin hat context). But what about the first heb sed of a king being celebrated after 30 years of reign. Sure enough, after the first one the successive seds seem to accumulate.
I think we might need to look at what Nephthys does.




>
> Just to sidetrack you, the following is of
> interest:
>
> Pomegranate.
> origin Iran, Persia
> Egyptian. yes, cultivated.
> Seeds placed in burials.
> sacred plant, symbol of health, fertility and
> eternal life. long lived plants, 200 years.
> indivual flowers borne solitary or in small
> clusters angled towards the end of branchlets, 4,
> 5, 6, 7 and 8 petaled flowers.
> widespread word root for pomegranate is the
> Semitic, Egyptian r m n
> Buds which are to become flowers exactly resemble
> the shape of Narmer's supporting stem underneath
> his seven petaled flower. (illustrated in the
> Wainwright article)


This is intersting. But googleing around somewhat, I managed to learn that pomegranate cultivation in AE only was introduced during the MK. Would Narmer use a foreign symbol in his palette? Or rather, would Seshat have originally had a foreign symbol on her head?
I'd think that the flower in Narmer's is a variation of the rosette. That certainly is common and the number of it's petals vary considerably. The question then being, if Seshat/Nephthys original function was forgotten, could the rosette be the result? Heheh, you do know what Wilkinson (Richard) has suggested this rosette to be, eh?

While I was googleing, I stumbled on pomegranate amulets. [www.ancienttouch.com]
Small amulets of grapes were rather common and those clearly were linked to "eternal life" or something to that effect, since they abound in the funerals. Some depictations of Osiris show grapes hanging from the baldaquin, as well. I haven't seen any pomegranates used in this kind of context. While the amulets and small vases seem to be rarther common, I can't find any context to link them to. They do look very similar, and seen the representation in the piccie of the above link, could be confounded. Even by excavating Egyptologists.







Ritva