Paanmeni

Title, name and epithets of the Paanmeni

Paanmeni (or Pa-an-meni , that is, “the beautiful” [or “the good”, that is, the designation of a god] has landed [that is, with his processional barque] ”) was an ancient Egyptian priest and high-ranking doctor. He carried the priestly titles "Father of God of Amun-Re , the king of the gods", "Father of God of Aries, the Lord of Mendes , the great God, of the" Life of Re ", " Prophet of Ptah , of great power " and the Functional title "Supreme Doctor of Upper and Lower Egypt, who sees the King in his seclusion". Paanmeni was too"Son of the (creator god) Ptah and of the (wisdom god) Thoth " . His biological father's name was Nes-Ptah ("Who belongs to Ptah"), that of his mother was Mehit-em-Wawat ("The north wind is in Nubia"). No titles are known from either parent; however, their names appear on two of the statues of Paanmeni.

The doctor Paanmeni is documented by a total of five monuments: three cube statues (" cube stool "), an isolated head belonging to a cube statue and a memorial stone in the form of a naos . A (fragmentary) small cube statue of Paanmeni was found in 1950 by the Egyptian archaeologist Shehata Adam in Tell el-Yahudiya (eastern delta) (her whereabouts are unclear). The naos, however, seems to come from Memphis because of the inscribed invocation of the god Ptah on it. Due to their style, the other monuments of the Paanmeni also suggest an origin from Lower Egypt.

Chronological order

The chronological classification of the Paanmeni is made possible by the inscription in the reign of Osorkon II (approx. 872–842 BC, 22nd Dynasty) of the palace official Anchcherednefer , which comes from Pithom (Tell er-Retabi, in the eastern delta) . The head of this statue is very similar to the statue head of Paanmeni (Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum, ÄM 253), which also belongs to a cube figure, so that the approximate simultaneity of the works or their owners can be assumed, i.e. in the middle of the 9th Century BC Both statue heads each have a sculpted scarab on the head and reliefs of gods on the wig - characteristic features of private sculpture from Lower Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty (Third Intermediate Period). The full-cheeked, idealized faces with eyes without any make-up lines are also very similar to one another. Two other similar cube statues of Paanmeni are currently in private ownership. According to its inscriptions, the smaller of the two could probably come from Heliopolis .

The stone Naos (Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum, ÄM 31230) shows a standing figure of Paanmeni in the niche on the front, holding a smaller figure of the god Ptah in front of him . An inscription on the naos, an invocation of the god Ptah, explains the desired protective function of this form of representation:

“… I got behind you [to protect and preserve] what I said. May you let the statue be a bulwark [around me (or similar)]. Give me compensation because of my gift for you like [every] righteous person [who does you justice (or similar)] ... " (translation: Karl Jansen-Winkeln )

meaning

Paanmeni was called "Chief physician of Upper and Lower Egypt" may be the " personal physician " Pharaoh ( Osorkon II. ?). No monuments of Paanmeni are known from the southern part of Egypt. This is probably due to the fact that the "upper king" of the 22nd dynasty ruled from Memphis or from cities of the Nile Delta at that time and Paanmeni stayed in the vicinity (while Harsiese I in Thebes was still a king of the second generation resided). Paanmeni's strong connection to Lower Egypt is also evidenced by his priesthood in the delta city of Mendes . His title of “God's father of Amun-Re ” could therefore primarily refer to Tanis , the “Lower Egyptian Thebes ”.

literature

• Frans Jonkheere: Les Médecins de l'Égypte pharaonique . In: La Médecine Égyptienne. Vol. 3. Bruxelles 1958, p. 35, no. 23.
• Helmut Brandl, Karl Jansen-Winkeln : Five monuments of the Supreme Doctor Pa-an-meni from the 22nd dynasty. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) No. 64, 2008, pp. 15–34, plates 9–14 ( online )
• Helmut Brandl: Investigations into private stone sculpture of the Third Intermediate Period: Typology, Iconography, Stylistics. Mensch und Buch Verlag (mbv), Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86664-482-3 , pp. 71–72, 81–82, 91–96, plates 28–29, 36–37, 42–43a, 44 -45, 162, 180a, d-e. (also dissertation Humboldt-Univ. Berlin 2003, 155 pages).