Hau-nebut

Hau-nebut in hieroglyphics
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In the past, Hau-nebut was the presumed Egyptian name for the area of the Aegean Sea or for the islanders in the Aegean Sea. It was assumed that this is the group of islands in the Cyclades , which lie behind Crete and the sea of Crete and the southern Aegean Sea.

Recent studies have shown that the term "Hau-nebut" was derived from a terrain shape and was initially used as a general ancient Egyptian north and north-western region indication of islands as well as "foreign countries" in and on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea or as a description of the terrain in the underworld . A more precise localization is only possible with additional names, for example “Chasut-nebut” for foreign countries that include desert mountain regions. In contrast, the term "Idebu-hau-nebut" ( Jdbw-ḥ3w-nbwt ) describes the coastal regions of the eastern Mediterranean.

In addition , the term “Hau-nebut” was used as a synonym for the “ Greek population ” since the late period , especially in the Ptolemaic period .

Geographical assignment

" Nebet " as a semi-cylindrical terrain shape (three-dimensional)

The term “ nebut ” in connection with “Hau-nebut” was first used in the Old Kingdom under Cheops as a general description of the area, with “nebut” probably also serving as a generic term for “islands”; translated by Jean Vercoutter as "basket country". In pyramid text 366, the home of the Hau-nebut is described as a place that is "encircled by the waters of the sea".

While the synonyms " Ta mehu " and " Mehti " ("north country") are used as additional explanations for " Chaset-charu " in the lists of nine-arch peoples from Tanis and Tebtynis , the Hau-nebut region has the following classification: "Islands of the sea and many foreign countries ”. Since the 26th dynasty , the equation with “ Greece , Aegean ” has been clearly demonstrable.

In the Greco-Roman times it undisputedly referred to Greece; with regard to earlier times, however, it depends on the context of the content in order to be able to make a possible assignment. Silke Roth therefore denies an exact localization of the area, since the term Hau-nebut is not an explicit geographical assignment. Rather, Hau-nebut is an umbrella term for different regions.

Mentions of the Hau-nebut

After the expulsion of the Hyksos , an inscription by Ahmose I reads: Ahhotep I , mistress of the land, ruler over the banks of the Hau-nebut, those with lofty names in all foreign lands . The "shores" refer to the eastern Mediterranean , as the associated grave goods come from the regions of the Aegean Sea. In connection with Ahhotep I, “Hau-nebut” is probably to be understood as a generic term for “the rest of the world” whose borders lie outside Egypt.

From the inscription of Amasis - Stele shows that in his third year of rule " Kebenet -Ships" with "Hau nebut" were occupied. In this context, Herodotus said that Apries had requested Ionic and Carian mercenaries . The attempts of some Egyptologists who want to settle the Hau-nebut in Phenicia and Syria are contradicting the information in various place name lists. There the Hau-nebut are not mentioned in any document as a people or region in the immediate vicinity of Egypt. Rather, her name is mostly described as the "northern region"; in rare cases also in a north-westerly location.

literature

Elmar Edel , Manfred Görg : The place name lists in the northern columned courtyard of the mortuary temple of Amenophis III. (= Egypt and Old Testament. Vol. 50). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-4470-5219-8 .
Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German. The language of the pharaohs (2800–950 BC) (= Hannig-Lexica. Vol. 1 = Cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 64). Marburg Edition, 4th, revised edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 .
Diamantis Panagiotopoulos : The distant neighbor. The influence of Egypt on Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece. In: Peter Cornelis Bol (Ed.): Strangeness - Eigenheit. Egypt, Greece and Rome. Exchange and understanding (= Städel-Jahrbuch. NF Vol. 19, 2004). Scheufele, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-7913-9809701-1-6 , pp. 33-46. ( Online ).
Diamantis Panagiotopoulos: Chronicle of an Encounter. Egypt and the Aegean Sea in the Bronze Age. In: Herbert Beck (Ed.): Egypt - Greece - Rome. Defense and touch. Wasmuth, Tübingen 2005, ISBN 3-8030-1057-8 , pp. 34-49. ( Online )
Joachim Friedrich Quack : The problem of the Hausnebut. In: Robert Rollinger , Andreas Luther , Josef Wiesehöfer : Separate ways? Communication, space and perceptions in the old world (= Oikumene. Vol. 2). Verlag Antike, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-938032-14-5 , pp. 331–362.
Jean Vercoutter : Les Haou-Nebout. In: Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. Vol. 46, 1947, ISSN 0255-0962 , pp. 125-158; and: Les Haou-Nebout (suite) [avec 2 planches]. Vol. 48, 1949, pp. 107-209.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ The Hau-nebut in Pyramid Text 629b .
↑ Jürgen Osing: Hieratical Papyri from Tebtunis (= CNI publications. Vol. 17, 1 = The Carlsberg papyri. Vol. 2, 1). Volume 1. 2 part volumes (text volume, table volume). Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies - University of Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen 1998, ISBN 8-7728-9280-3 , p. 254.
^ ^A ^b Silke Roth: Mistress of all countries. The role of the royal women in the fictional and real foreign policy of the Egyptian New Kingdom (= Orbis biblicus et orientalis. Vol. 185). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht et al., Göttingen et al. 2002, ISBN 3-5255-3042-0 , pp. 16-17.
↑ "Kebenet ships" were seagoing ships or galleys that are connected to the place Byblos ; therefore also used as a synonym for "Byblos driver".

[1] The Hau-nebut in Pyramid Text 629b .

[2] Jürgen Osing: Hieratical Papyri from Tebtunis (= CNI publications. Vol. 17, 1 = The Carlsberg papyri. Vol. 2, 1). Volume 1. 2 part volumes (text volume, table volume). Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies - University of Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen 1998, ISBN 8-7728-9280-3 , p. 254.

[R16-3] A ^b Silke Roth: Mistress of all countries. The role of the royal women in the fictional and real foreign policy of the Egyptian New Kingdom (= Orbis biblicus et orientalis. Vol. 185). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht et al., Göttingen et al. 2002, ISBN 3-5255-3042-0 , pp. 16-17.

[4] "Kebenet ships" were seagoing ships or galleys that are connected to the place Byblos ; therefore also used as a synonym for "Byblos driver".