Benben
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Benben ( ancient Egyptian benbenti for "of the Benben Stone") is the name of a pyramidal divine stone of Heliopolis , capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian Gaus of the intact scepter, 12 km north-east of Cairo . The Benben is understood as the primordial hill on which Atum first set foot on land.
The Benben stone is initially closely connected with the gods Sokar and Atum, who emerged from the primal waters of Nun ; in their temples there were stones corresponding to Benben. The tip of an obelisk like that of Egyptian pyramids , the pyramidion , is called benbenet in ancient Egyptian .
The Benben is mentioned for the first time in the pyramid texts in connection with an obelisk ("Techen"). A connection to the sun god Re in Heliopolis can not be established for the early phase of the Benben stone cult , because inscriptions and archaeological finds are missing. The previously assumed connections of the Benben stone as a “template” to the buildings in the solar sanctuaries were based on “possible interpretations” and anachronisms , which is why these assumptions could not be confirmed.
The Benben was later kept in the innermost sanctuary of the "House of Re ". The Holy of Holies in the Temple of Aton in Tell el- Amarna (Achet-Aton) also had the same name .
See also
literature
- Hans Bonnet : Benben. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. 3rd unchanged edition, Niko, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , p. 100f.
- Manfred Lurker : Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Egyptians. Handbook of the mystical and magical world of Egypt. Special edition, 1st edition, Scherz, Bern et al. 1998, ISBN 3-502-16430-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Adolf Erman, Hermann Grapow: Dictionary of the Egyptian language. Hinrichs, Berlin, 1959, entry 459.13-14.