The dream of the nectanebos

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Statue head of Nectanebo II

The dream of the Nectanebo is the title of an ancient Egyptian - demotic story from the second century BC. It is about Nectanebo II (359 to 342 BC) as the last ancient Egyptian king of the 30th dynasty .

The Greek version is a copy of earlier documents. The papyrus was discovered in the Saqqara archives and is dated 160–150 BC. Dated. It is now in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden . A demotic fragment of the Carlsberg 562 papyrus that has since been found and other small demotic sections that have emerged corroborated the assumption that the narrative had found widespread use and was handed down in the most varied of variations.

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Greek version

Greek version

In Nektanebo's 16th year of reign, on the night of the full moon from the 21st to the 22nd  Pharmouthi , the fourth month of the Peret season , the king stayed in Mendes to make the usual full moon sacrifice. At the same time he asked the gods to predict the future for him. When the king went to sleep, he dreamed the divine revelation:

“There was a papyrus ship at anchor in Memphis . On top of it was a golden throne on which the goddess Isis sat; on her left and right side stood all the gods of Egypt. The largest of them measured 21 cubits, his name was Onuris , known to the Greeks as Ares . He came forward and said to Isis: 'Come to me Isis, mistress of those in the world, be gracious and hear me. As you commanded, I have taken care of the land perfectly. And so far I have turned all concern to King Nectanebo II, the son of King Samaus . But since you installed him in his office, he has neglected my temple and defied my orders. I am outside my temple and the work in the holy of holies, the house of the Shu , is only half finished because of the wickedness of the headmaster '. Isis, the mistress of the gods, did not answer. "

- The dream of the Nectanebo, Greek version

When Nectanebos II woke up again, he immediately asked the high priests of Onuris in Sebennytos whether the temple there was already completed. As predicted in the dream, the inscription of the hieroglyphs to be carved was missing in the Holy of Holies . The king gave the order to Petesis from Aphroditopolis , the best and fastest craftsman, to start the work immediately. However, after receiving the money for his work in advance, Petesis first went to Sebennytos to seek diversion over wine. When Petesis was in the southern part of the temple, he saw Hathyrsepse, daughter of [...]; he was fascinated by her because she was the most beautiful woman to him.

At this point the Greek version breaks off, we can only speculate about the further course of events. It can only be said with certainty that Petesis must have fared badly, since the beginning of the demotic version has also been preserved.

Demotic version

“In the sixteenth year of Pharos Nectanebos, who was an excellent king of the whole land, and Egypt prospered from all good things in his time. One day Pharaoh said: 'My heart is grieved because of the things that happened to Petesis son of Herieus in the temple of Sebennytos. I gave orders to find out the kind of time these things happened. I have given orders to find out the kind of foreigners who will come after me. I have given orders to find out the hardship they will cause when they reside in Egypt. ' The Pharaoh had a ship prepared to put his plan into practice. "

- The dream of the nectanebos, demotic version

Nectanebo II planned to travel to Letopolis and to offer a burnt offering between Seschem and the "House of Shu". After arriving in Letopolis, he rushed to the said places and sacrificed as planned. The demotic version ends at this point. Based on the formulations of Nectanebo II, it can be assumed that Petesis died and shortly before prophesied further things to the king; however, further details are not known.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Musée des Beaux Arts in Lyon .
  2. ^ Papyrus (dream of Nectanebo) at Google Arts & Culture
  3. ↑ Papyrus Carlsberg 1 424, 499 and 559.
  4. ↑ According to Friedhelm Hoffmann, Joachim Friedrich Quack: Anthology of demotic literature. P. 162: In the Julian calendar the night from July 5th to 6th in the year 343 BC. Chr .; according to Jean Meeus : Astronomical Algorithms (Applications for Ephemeris Tool 4,5). Barth, Leipzig 2000 for: Ephemeris Tool, Version 4.5 (conversion program 2001) only corresponds to the year 343 BC. With the full moon indications of the Greek version.