The Sacred and the Profane in Ancient Egypt: The Khonsu Temple in Karnak and Its Theological and Cultic Connections with the Opet Temple in the Greco-Roman Period” – “The Temple of Esna: Ptolemaic Inscriptions and Theologies”

2.5.2019

Project status

ongoing

Execution period

2020-2023

REF

CEECIND/02867/2018

Funding scheme

Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. - Scientific Employment Stimulus

Main research unit

Centre for History of the University of Lisbon

Main institution

School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon​

Principal Investigator

Abraham Ignacio Fernández Pichel (CH-ULisboa)

Partner Research Groups & Institutions

Université Paul Valéry Montpellier III, Institut Français d’archéologie Orientale (IFAO, Cairo), Centre franco-égyptien d’étude des temples de Karnak (CFEETK, Luxor)

The sacred domain of the god Amun-Ra at Karnak (ancient Thebes, modern Luxor), one of the largest sacred precincts in Egypt, forms a decisive source for the study of ancient Egyptian religion, temple activities as well as interconnections between temples. Karnak comprises a vast quantity of temples, chapels, shrines, administrative and domestics unities whose chronological development dates from the Middle Kingdom (from c. 2000 BC) until the Roman period (1st cent. AD). The Khonsu and Opet temples are located in the south-west sector of Karnak. The Khonsu temple was built during the 20th Dynasty at the end of the Second Millennium BC, the Opet temple probably during the 25th Dynasty (8th-7th century BC). Both were restored and enlarged during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (4th century BC to 1st century AD). Written and archeological sources from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods clearly show the connections between the Khonsu und Opet temples at different levels. In this respect, especially the inscriptions of the western gate of the first court of the Khonsu temple confirms that ritual circulations existed between them. A staircase linking both temples through the above-mentioned gate of the first court was found during the archaeological works in the east sector of the Opet temple in 2015, con­firming the connection of these two temples. The connection of both sanctuaries via this access and the staircase thus serves as a spatial framework, exemplifying the theological interaction and cultic circulation between both temples, mainly in the context of the funerary cult to the god Osiris. Texts and scenes in different rooms of the Khonsu and Opet temples reinforce these con­siderations. So far, however, only a part of these testimonies has been published and studied. The present project proposes to study this new material in order to establish the theological and ritual connection that existed between both temples. Finally, the aforementioned physical and theological circulation also allows us to suppose a possible communication between the temples of Khonsu and Opet from the point of view of the priests employed by them. In this respect, the statues dedicated by different Theban individuals of this period found in Karnak attest the existence of priests who performed their duties in both temples. The same considerations can be drawn from numerous demotic and Greek papyri and ostraca of the Karnak temple domain. With the present study, I intend to analyse the interconnections between the temples of Opet and Khonsu from different points of view. Firstly, both temples allow us to investigate new examples of intertextuality, genetic textual production, and theological practices, illustrating not only the textual dimension of these testimonies but also the literate culture responsible for its production. In this respect some questions are important: how do these texts from the Khonsu and Opet temples describe the divinities mentioned and represented in their ritual scenes and texts? To what extent do these descriptions respond to a common theological framework shared by both temples? And how are both sanctuaries connected spatially through these thematic analogies of their parietal decoration? Secondly, the proposed topic leads us to investigate the social group responsible for the text creation: the theologians and priests of the temple. The questions addressed will intend to determine the functions and ritual duties of this professional group in this south-west sector of Karnak, the existence of priestly genealogies in connection to both temples or modalities of transmission of priestly titles from parent to son.