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EXPOSITION DU CENTENAIRE
MUSÉE ÉGYPTIEN, LE CAIRE, 2003
En août 2003, l'Exposition du
Centenaire du Musée du Caire était encore
ouverte, et je m'y suis rendu. Le chemin, mal indiqué,
contourne le flanc gauche du Musée, le long duquel
j'ai eu la surprise de trouver sur des galets, contenant
bouteilles vides et mégots, les restes du sarcophage
reconstitué de ... Akhenaton !
L'exposition elle même n'avait eu aucun visiteur de
la journée (il était 16h).
Première constatation, les conditions d'éclairage sont
insuffisantes, et les pièces, bien présentées,
en souffrent.
Deuxième constatation: aucune pièce ne comporte d'étiquette
explicative. J'ai demandé pourquoi, et on m'a répondu
qu'elles existaient au début mais avaient été retirées
car considérées comme non satisfaisantes. Personne
ne les a remplacées depuis des mois. Donc il était
impossible de s'y retrouver sans le catalogue. Malheureusement,
celui ci ne liste pas tous les objets.
Les conditions techniques étant difficiles, les photographies
présentées ci-dessous sont de qualité
variable. Et de nombreux objets n'ont pu être photographiés
valablement (par exemple la maintenant célèbre
prothèse d'orteil), j'en suis désolé.
Par ailleurs j'ai du faire un tri en retenant les oeuvres
maîtresses-selon moi-
Bonne visite!
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J'ai choisi de distinguer cet objet : il s'agit d'une tablette
d'offrandes pour les sept huiles sacrées. Elle appartenait
à un certain Teti-ankj-kem et date du début de la VIème Dynastie.
Elle a été retrouvée lors de fouilles menées par Zahi Hawass
dans la zone du cimetière du roi Teti, à Saqqara.
L'objet mesure 16,5 x 7,7 x 1,5 cm. Il comporte 7 godets destinés
à contenir l'huile dont le nom est mentionné au dessus.
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Les membres du forum
EEF News ont été sollicités pour commenter cet artéfact,
et voici ces informations (merci à A.K. Eyma)
"The seven sacred oils are those used in the Opening
of the Mouth Ritual for the anointing of the mouth and eyes
of the statue or mummy of the deceased. For more information
see The Book of Opening the Mouth, E.A. Wallace Budge, 1909.
. or look under "Opening the Mouth" in any modern egyptological
reference work. What is good about Budge's work is he reproduces
the hieroglyphic text and the vignettes of the ritual."
(Greg Reeder)
"Oils were attested in ancient Egypt from as early as
dynasty I, recorded
on some of the jar labels from royal tombs, for use in ritual.
They were
also later used for medicinal purposes, perfume production
and for
massage, as well as mundane household purposes such as for
cooking and
lamps. Stone tablets with indentations for oils are known
from the Old
Kingdom onwards, sometimes as part of burial equipment and
I believe
they were used in the 'Opening of the Mouth Ritual'. The body
of the
deceased was annointed with oils in a particular order during
the
funerary ritual. Suggestions for the reading of the Seven
Sacred Oils
listed in the tablet in the Centenary Exhibition are as follows
(from
right to left):
setji-heb oil (festival perfume) [sT(i)-Hb]
sefetji oil (unknown origin) [sfT]
heknu oil (oil of praising) [Hknw]
nekhenem oil (unknown origin) [nXnm]
tewat oil (unknown origin) [twA(w)(t)]
ash oil (best quality oil of conifer or cedar) [HAt aS]
tjehenu oil (best quality oil from Libya) [THnw]
(Su Bayfield) "
"It seems that the 7 sacred oils can be placed in a funerary
context as early as the 4th Dynasty, each associated with
a jar of a specific shape. They recur in tomb art of the Middle
and New Kingdoms; and are well represented in the Asasif tombs
of the Late Period where they are often depicted beneath the
chair of the tomb owner. All seven jars appear, for example,
beneath a chair in the tomb of Pabasa, TT279. There is some
discussion of these objects in an article by E.V. Pischikova
entitled 'Representations of Ritual and Symbolic Objects in
Late XXVth Dynasty and Saite Private Tombs' JARCE 31 (1994)
pp.63-77. Pischikova indicates that all seven types of jar
are first attested in a 'royal funerary context' in a scene
showing offering bearers in Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el
Bahri. The explanation given for the symbolic use of the oils
is that they were poured onto the head of the deceased in
the maner that Osiris was annointed by Horus to give the deceased
the 'spiritual power for resurrection' - Pyramid texts also
associating sacred oils with the emblem of the eye of Horus."
(Steven Gregory)
"There is a special study on this subject : Basma Koura,
Die "7-Heiligen Öle" und andere Öl- und Fettnamen. Eine lexikographische
Untersuchung zu den Bezeichnungen von Ölen, Fetten und Salben
bei den Alten Ägyptern von der Frühzeit bis zum Anfang der
Ptolemäerzeit (von 3000 v. Chr. - ca. 305 v. Chr.), Shaker,
1999 (Aegyptiaca Monasteriensia, 2). Pb., 322 pp. ISBN: 3-8265-6404-9,
price: EUR 54.50 ".
(Michael Tilgner)
And coming from ouside EEF, Elizabeth Mehlin provided
the following information :
"James P.
Allen translator, edited by Peter Der Manuelian, (2005),
The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Society of Biblical
Literature, Atlanta, Page 22.
This text comes from the tomb of Unis. The capital letters
indicate instructions to the priest. The numbers come
from Allen. (I take back my idea that some of these
oils could be faked with just any oil. You don’t mess
around with something as serious as this).
This anointing ritual is the same as the one found in
Teti’s tomb. I understand the anointing is done with
the little finger. Before the anointing ritual came
the rituals of libation, cleansing, cleansing the mouth,
mouth opening, and mouth opening meal. After the anointing
came the ritual of the presentation of eyepaint, then
linens, then another cleansing, and then the preparation
of the offering table.
ANOINTING
• 46 Osiris Unis, I have filled for
you your eye with oil. RECITATION 4 TIMES. “FESTIVAL-SCENT”
OIL
• 47 Osiris Unis, accept the foam that
is from his face. “JUBILATION” OIL.
• 48 Osirus
Unis, accept Horus’ eye, on which he caused the devastation.
PINE OIL
• 49 Osirus Unis, accept Horus’ eye
which he rejoined. “REJOINING” OIL
• 50 Osirus
Unis, accept Horus’ eye, with which he got the gods.
“SUPPORT” OIL
• 51 Ointment, ointment, where
should you be? You on Horus’ forehead, where should
you be. You were on Horus’ forehead, but I will put
you on this Unis’ forehead. You shall make it pleasant
for him, wearing you; you shall ankify him, wearing
you; you shall make him have control of his body; you
shall put his ferocity in the eyes of all akhs who shall
look at him and everyone who hears his name as well.
FIRST CLASS CEDAR OIL
• 52 Osiris Unis, I
have gotten for you Horus’ eye which he acquired, to
your forehead. FIRST CLASS LIBYAN OIL" |
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