Lesonis

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Lesonis (Greek: λεσῶνις, Egyptian: mr-šn ) was the title of an ancient Egyptian administrative officer who was familiar with the management of the economic and possibly also cultic interests of the temple.

The title is since the 21./22. Dynasty occupied. The official who was not an initiated priest was elected every year and had to be confirmed by the government. Re-elections were not ruled out: Petosiris , whose famous grave is in Tuna el-Gebel , was, for example, Lesonis of the god Thoth of Hermopolis Magna for seven years . A fee had to be paid to the state treasury for entry into the office.

The choice of a Lesonis for the temple of the god Khnum of Elephantine under Dareios I (522–486 BC) is the subject of the so-called Pherendates correspondence.

literature

  • Hans Bonnet : Lesonis , in: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte , Hamburg 2000 ISBN 3-937872-08-6 p. 423f.
  • F. de Cernival: Les associations religieuses en Égypte d'après les documents démotiques (Bibliothèque d'Étude 46), Cairo 1972, pp. 154–159.
  • Walter Otto: Priest and Temple in Hellenistic Egypt. A contribution to the cultural history of Hellenism , 1st volume, Leipzig - Berlin 1905–1908, pp. 49–50.
  • Günter Vittmann: The demotic papyrus Ryland 9th part 2. Comments and indices (Egypt and Old Testament 38), Wiesbaden 1998, pp. 290-292.
  • Karl-Theodor Zauzich : Lesonis , in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie III (1980), Sp. 1008-1009.