Mesechtiu
| Mesechtiu in hieroglyphics | ||||||
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| Middle realm |
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| New kingdom |
mesechtiu msḫtjw bull's legs |
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 (mouth opening ritual, Papyrus Hunnefer around 1290 BC) |
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Mesechtiu is originally the ancient Egyptian name of a hook or dexel , which was used during the mouth opening ritual and symbolized a bull's thigh . The associated determinative of the tool was used until the end of the Middle Kingdom .
In the New Egyptian language , the hieroglyphic spelling of the expression changed. In addition, the term “Mesechtiu” was replaced by “ Chepesch ” in the New Kingdom in connection with the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead .
Mythological connections
In the mouth opening ritual there is a mythological connection between the dexel as “Mesechtiu” and the foreleg of the bull as “Chepesch” . Both objects were called "immortal stars " or "indestructible stars" in ancient Egyptian astronomy and identified with the constellation Great Bear , which, according to ancient Egyptian ideas, represented the sacred celestial barge or the "bull's thigh of Apis ".
The Jumilhac papyrus describes how Horus tears out Seth's foreleg and then banished it to heaven, from which the name “Mesechtiu” was derived. The “bull's thigh” is also connected with Osiris , since Osiris may have been murdered by Seth in the form of the heavenly bull with his fore thigh as the “weapon of Seth”. This mythological connection leads to the interpretation that the “bull's leg” symbolized both “new life” and “death” for the recipient. In addition to the term “Chepesch” in its original meaning for the “front leg of the bull”, there were also the other Chepesch variants “strong arm”, “power arm”, “ scimitar ” and “war ax”.
Purpose of the Dexel
In the mouth opening ritual, the special hieroglyphic writing indicates that the priests in the Old Kingdom used the tool for preparatory measures for the sacrifice of the bull. This is supported by the fact that in the pyramid texts of Teti II. , Pepi I. and Merinre I. the term "setep"
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" Horus cut off the strong arms / hips (legs) of your (Osiris) enemies and Horus brought them cut off to you (Osiris)."
Another scene is documented from the time of the Old Kingdom in Meidum , where only the hieroglyph
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In this way, the Dexel could possibly be used in particular to sever the articular cartilage and the tendons ; in addition, perhaps to expose the bone marrow , in order to prepare a magically powerful food offering as possible . After analyzing the representations of the mouth ritual on reliefs and this carried out experiments concerning the confirmation regarding the use of Dexel, postulated Andrew Hunt Gordon and Calvin Schwabe that the adze of the priests with the "front leg of the bull" associated or as a synonym was understood.
Based on the test results, the Dexel was primarily used during the ceremony to stimulate muscle contractions , dissection and amputation of the fore leg of the bull. The other representations indicate that the sacrifice made by the bull was supposed to bring about the “ magical transfer of his life to the deceased”. The entire process contains the mythological meaning of the snake as a further element , which was also taken into account as a "symbol of life" for this sequence of the mouth opening ritual. It was understood as a “living spine” in whose bone marrow both “death” and “life” developed.
See also
literature
- Hans Bonnet : mouth opening. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. Nikol, Hamburg 2000 ISBN 3-937872-08-6 . Pp. 487-490.
- Rainer Hannig : Large concise dictionary of Egyptian-German. (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , pp. 385-386.
- Andrew Hunt Gordon, Calvin W. Schwabe: The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in ancient Egypt . Brill, Leiden 2004, ISBN 90-04-12391-1 .
- Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . (LGG) Vol. 3: P-nbw. (= Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta. [OLA] Vol. 112). Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1148-4 , pp. 398 and 441.
- Eberhard Otto : The Egyptian mouth opening ritual. Part I: Text. ; Part II: Commentary. (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. (ÄA) Vol. 3,1 and 3,2, ISSN 0568-0476 ). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1960.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kurt Sethe: Pyramid Text 458c .
- ↑ Christian Leitz u. a .: LGG, vol. 3, p. 398.
- ^ Andrew Hunt Gordon, Calvin W. Schwabe: The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in ancient Egypt . P. 79; with reference to Raymond O. Faulkner: A concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1976, ISBN 0-900416-32-7 , p. 190.
- ↑ Pyramid Text 653 ; Translation " strong arms " according to Raymond O. Faulkner: The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts 1910 . Kessinger Publications 2004, ISBN 1-4179-7856-2, p. 123 ; Translation " hips (legs) " according to Samuel Alfred Browne Mercer: The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentary . Longmans, Green & Co., New York 1952, p. 129 .
- ^ A b Andrew Hunt Gordon, Calvin W. Schwabe: The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in ancient Egypt . Leiden 2004, pp. 79-80.