Maa-cheru

Maa-cheru (throne name of Amenemhet IV. )
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Maa-cheru in hieroglyphics
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Maa-cheru is the ancient Egyptian term for the predicate titles “Just in Voice”, “Justified” and “True in Voice”. In the early days of ancient Egyptian history, the title Maa-cheru referred to the deceased king. The misinterpretations of this predicate title that still exist are mostly based on earlier versions of Egyptology , in which it was assumed that the title "Maa-cheru" was basically linked to the deceased.

In the course of the Middle Kingdom, the term was subject to change and could be applied both to an extended group of people and to living people.

"Maa-cheru" in the cult of the dead

Old empire

In the Old Kingdom , the Egyptians saw the reigning king ( Pharaoh ) as "living Horus ", who, in addition to his royal followers, had the right to move into the hereafter . After a positive examination of the deeds on earth, the heavenly deities pronounced the judgment "justified in voice, blessed ". The king was then allowed to begin the ascent of the sky .

With the advent of the worship of Osiris in the 5th dynasty and the associated Osiris myth , the first changes in Egyptian mythology can be seen . Seth was now seen as the personification of death that was responsible for the death of his brother Osiris. Osiris, on the other hand, was understood as equating rebirth . The divine judge therefore gave the deceased the right to act against death (Seth). After the symbolic victory over Seth, the judgment "He (the deceased) is justified" followed.

Middle realm

At the end of the first interim period , there was a change in liturgical interpretation. The "Maa-Cheru" predicate title also was after the death priesthood avail; A little later, wealthy private individuals followed, who in return for appropriate financial sacrifices also acquired the title of title for their transfer to the Duat. In the " Story of Sinuhe " the process of the ascension of Amenemhet I is described:

“The god rose to his horizon. The king of Upper and Lower Egypt , Sehetepibre (Amenemhet I), went to heaven by being connected to the sun, by the body of God joining him who made it. "

- History of Sinuhe

New kingdom

Judgment of the dead: scene of the weighing of the heart. (Papyrus of Hunefer in the British Museum )

With the unification of the dead texts in the New Kingdom's Book of the Dead , there was a further relaxation in the area of the people who were allowed to join the Duat . The old tradition of the judgment of the dead was reformed in this regard. The balancing of good and bad deeds corresponded to the traditional "struggle of life (Osiris) against death (Seth)".

With the triumph of good deeds, the judgment of the dead pronounced the judgment "He (the deceased) is just (true) in voice". Thus, this predicate title did not generally stand for the fact that the person in question had died, but rather as a sign that the deceased was allowed to continue his existence due to his good life in Sechet-iaru .

In the Book of the Dead verse 172, similar to the coffin texts of the Middle Kingdom with the award of the predicate title “Just in Voice”, the beginning of the sky is described as “Exodus of the justified”: “You move out and see Re above the heavenly post, the bearer of heaven, above your head of the Iunmutef , over the shoulder of the Upuaut . "

"Maa-cheru" as a predicate title for the living

Royal cult

The throne name has been the most important title since the Middle Kingdom . The kings were given this name in the Seh-netjer on the occasion of the coronation . In the early days of the Old Kingdom, the gold name still held this important status .

In connection with the mention of Maa-cheru , the translation is controversial among Egyptologists . In the context of the Egyptologists who deal with this problem, it is considered likely that Maa-cheru had a military connection.

The title Maa-cheru was often found on rock inscriptions in connection with expeditions .

Other use

Since the Middle Kingdom, Maa-cheru has appeared as an epithet within the priesthood as an extension of the title . This could be the meaning of the divine designation of the king, since the priesthood performed activities in the mortuary temples . In the case of private individuals, there is the possibility that Maa-cheru was used as an “ honorary designation ” in the sense of “legitimized”.

literature

Jan Assmann : Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt . Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-49707-1 , pp. 150-155.
Julia Budka: The king at the front door. The role of the Egyptian ruler on decorated door frames of officials in the New Kingdom (= Contributions to Egyptology. Volume 19). Afro-Pub, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85043-094-4 , pp. 50-54.
Rainer Hannig : Large concise dictionary of Egyptian-German. The language of the pharaohs (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2001, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 316.
Wolfgang Helck : Maa-cheru In: Lexicon of Egyptology. Volume 3: Horhekenu - Megeb. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02100-4 , Sp. 1107-1110.
Claude Obsomer: Sésostris Ier: Etude chronologique et historique du règne. Connaissance de l'Egypte Ancienne, Brussels 1995, ISBN 2-87268-004-7 .
Cornelius von Pilgrim: Investigations in the city of the Middle Kingdom and the 2nd interim period (= Elephantine. Volume 18 / Archaeological Publications. Volume 91). von Zabern, Mainz 1996, ISBN 3-8053-1746-8 , pp. 250-253.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Wiiliam J. Murnane: Ancient Egyptian coregencies . The Oriental Institute, Chicago 1977, ISBN 0-918986-03-6 , pp. 267-269.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Jan Assmann: Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt. Munich 2003, p. 150.
^ Hermann Schlögl : The old Egypt. History and culture from the early days to Cleopatra . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54988-8 , pp. 135-136.
↑ Ute Rummel: pillar of his mother - support of his father. Investigations on the god Junmutef from the Old Kingdom to the end of the New Kingdom. Dissertation, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 2003, p. 9.
↑ Cornelius von Pilgrim: Investigations in the city of the Middle Kingdom and the second intermediate period. Mainz 1996, p. 252.

[1] Wiiliam J. Murnane: Ancient Egyptian coregencies . The Oriental Institute, Chicago 1977, ISBN 0-918986-03-6 , pp. 267-269.

[A150-2] Jan Assmann: Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt. Munich 2003, p. 150.

[3] Hermann Schlögl : The old Egypt. History and culture from the early days to Cleopatra . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54988-8 , pp. 135-136.

[4] Ute Rummel: pillar of his mother - support of his father. Investigations on the god Junmutef from the Old Kingdom to the end of the New Kingdom. Dissertation, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 2003, p. 9.

[5] Cornelius von Pilgrim: Investigations in the city of the Middle Kingdom and the second intermediate period. Mainz 1996, p. 252.