Pabasa

Pabasa

Pabasa is a senior asset manager from the late period of ancient Egypt (approx. 656–610 BC).

supporting documents

In addition to the tomb of Pabasa, which is located in the south of northern al-Asasif near the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut of Deir el-Bahari and today bears the number TT279 , there are a number of other objects that bear his name. These can be roughly divided into parts of his original grave equipment and other cultic installations.

Parts of the grave equipment

1. The granite sarcophagus of Pabasa . This was formerly owned by the Duke of Hamilton and can now be seen in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow .
2. Some grave cones of Pabasa with complete filiation , which are also likely to come from TT279 and are now kept in various museums ( Louvre , Paris - Museo de Oriente Biblico de Montserrat, Barcelona - Egyptian Museum, Cairo , Cairo - Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum , Hildesheim ) .
3. A previously unpublished rose granite sacrificial plaque on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York .

Cultic foundations

1. The fragment of a statuette of Pabasa that was found inside the Luxor Temple and was first worked on by Ahmed Fakhry in 1934 . The remains of two hieroglyphic inscriptions have been preserved on its back , one in the horizontal and one in the vertical reading direction, with the title and name of Pabasa.
2. The lower part of a granite seated statue from Sân / Buhia in the Nile Delta , which is now kept in Cairo. The upper body has broken off at the base of the abdomen and is lost; Only the lower body with the narrow, long apron, the cube-shaped stool and a thick, rounded footplate are preserved. A long inscription is affixed to the seat, in recessed hieroglyphs and evenly distributed over the back and sides.
3. A limestone naos des Pabasa, which was found by farmers in the chapel of Osiris-pa-djed-anch in the temple of Karnak in 1874 and, in addition to the depiction of Pabasa in front of seven Hathors with tambourines, also the wife of God Nitokris when donating a sistrum to the goddess Thoeris shows.
4. A statue of Thoeris made of green slate, walled up inside and therefore well preserved .

(A stele from Cairo bearing the name of a Pabasa from the beginning of the 26th dynasty is most likely not from the owner of the tomb TT279.)

In addition to these monuments independently commissioned by Pabasa, there are a number of well-preserved representations in the chapel of Nitokris for Osiris-neb-anch-di-heb-sed in Karnak, who sacrificed him, together with his mistress Nitrokris, before various deities demonstrate. The ruling pharaoh (and father of God's wife), Psammetich I, can also be seen in two scenes .

His family

The names of the parents of Pabasa are known from several grave cone inscriptions. His father was a “Father of God and Beloved of God” named Pa-di-Bastet and his mother, who always bears the simple title “Mistress of the house”, was called Ta-senet-net-Hor.

Also known for a long time is the name of the eldest son of Pabasa, Tjai-Hor-pa-chepesch, who is repeatedly found in his grave in el-Assasif.

We owe the name of Pabasa's wife, Tjas-Aset-peret , to the careful examination of grave TT279 by Günter Vittmann in 1975; on the north side of the atrium, on both sides of the passage, he was able to prove the mention of the mother of Tjai-Hor-pa-chepesch , who had previously been overlooked. This makes her one of the few wives of a senior asset manager who are known by name.

Vittmann was able to indirectly identify another son of Pabasa and Tjas-Aset-peret. Due to the fact that Tjai-Hor-pa-chepesch is always named “eldest son” of Pabasa in the grave, it can be assumed that there was at least one other male descendant. In an unfinished chamber in the southwest corner of grave TT279, Vittmann finally found the remains of two painted hieroglyphic inscriptions that contained the name of another Pabasa. Since the titles mentioned there differ noticeably from those of the tomb owner, but are surprisingly similar to those of the older brother, it can be assumed that this is another Pabasa, Pabasa the Younger.

If, according to Vittmann, one finally identifies the owner of the grave TT279 with Pabasa, named in a demotic papyrus, the “chief of the employees of the worshiper of God”, we received another member of the family, the daughter Hes-hen-Imen-mehit-em-wesechet .

Term of office

Already the cartouches on the architraves of the atrium of TT279 allow us a first rough date of the term of office of Pabasa: Psammetich I (664–610 BC), first king of the 26th dynasty, and the consort of Amun, Nitokris, are mentioned , the daughter of Psammetich. Since these names appear repeatedly at different points of the grave (especially in connection with the title of Pabasa) and have nowhere been supplemented or even replaced by cartouches of equal rank, the activities of Pabasa can with absolute certainty in the joint reign of the two named People are relocated, ie approx. In the years 656–610 BC. Chr.

Looking at the terms of office of the colleagues at Pabasa, there is a relatively clear delimitation within this long period of time. The successor of the great nomarch Montuemhat , Nesiptah II , who was tolerated and put into office by Psammetich I, died with high probability between the 17th and 25th year of this king's reign, i.e. between 647 and 640 BC. Since Ibi, another official colleague of Pabasa, was appointed chief asset manager of the Nitokris in the 26th year of the reign (i.e. 639), the latter date is even closer. In this respect, a classification of Pabasa as the successor of Ibi is more than likely and, taking into account the term of office of his predecessor, leads to an official activity of Pabasa from approx. 625–610 BC. Chr.

Although it was discussed whether Pabasa should be classified as the first of the Saït superior asset managers , the decoration of the tomb TT279, in which Schepenupet II , then God's wife, is referred to exclusively as Maa-cheru , i.e. deceased, speaks against this dating . Lichtheim also argues that Schepenupet II must have died around the time Ibi took office, and convincingly explains that the name of this wife of God is only quoted in genealogical contexts. Kees has provided evidence of the burial of Schepenupet during his tenure in a title of Ibi: ma seschta Djeret-netjer Schepenupet em Wabet .

Pabasa could only be the first of all senior asset managers if Schepenupet II had died a few years before 639 and one would have to suspect another official between Ibi and his grandson Padihorresnet. This reconstruction can, however, be described as more than unlikely, if only because of the lack of name evidence.

For the dating of Pabasa to the period 625–610 BC. In addition, the fact that Padihorresnet took over titles from both his great-grandfather Ibi and his predecessor Pabasa (in this case to be postulated), which would hardly have been useful as additional legitimation in the case of a direct successor to his relative, speaks also.

Today's assessment of his position

The so-called senior officials are well documented today. Their work is well known and we know how they represented themselves in magnificent tombs and numerous statues, and one can get a much better picture of their relationships and preferences than of any of their contemporaries. Details such as the plaintive widow of Pabasa, who tries to comfort her son on the funeral journey, or the knowledge of the name of his favorite dog, Hekenu, are - in addition to their human expressiveness - above all proof of the importance and the high position of these officials in the Hierarchy of the divine state.

No man of the 26th dynasty was able to deliver as many artifacts to our time as the superintendent of the wife of God. This fact stems not least from the political and financial opportunities that this office brought with it at the beginning of the Saïten period.

literature

• Ludwig Borchardt : Statues and statuettes of kings and private people III, Catalog Général des Antiquités Égyptiennes du Musée du Caire, Nos 654–950. Berlin 1930, pp. 155-156 [922].
• Colin Campbell: The Sarcophagus of Pabasa in Hamilton Palace, Scotland. Edinburgh 1910.
• Christophe: Karnak-Nord III (1945-49). In: Fouilles de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire. (FIFAO) Volume 23, Cairo 1951, pp. 40–41, 131–132.
• Georges Daressy: Recueil de cônes funéraires (= Mémoires de la Mission archéologique française. Volume VIII). Paris 1894, p. 191.
• Erhart Graefe : Studies on the administration and history of the institution of the wife of God of Amun from the beginning of the New Kingdom to the late period. Volume I In: Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. (ÄA) Volume 37, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-447-02174-8 , p. 64.
• Nancy Katherine Thomas: A Typological Study of Saite Tombs at Thebes. Dissertation University of California, Los Angeles, Ann Arbor 1983.
• Miroslav Verner : Statue of Tweret (Cairo Museum no.39145) Dedicated by Pabesi and Several Remarks on the Role of the Hippopotamus Goddess. In: Journal for Egyptian Language and Antiquity . Volume 96, 1970, pp. 52-63.
• Günther Vittmann: News about Pabasa, Obermajordomus of Nitokris. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Volume 5, 1977, pp. 245-264.