Techi

Techi in hieroglyphics
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Techi referred to the second month of the Nile flood in the Egyptian calendar . At the same time, the month Techi was connected with the moon god Thoth , who also bore the title "Lord of the Eye of Horus ".

From the predynastic period to the end of the Middle Kingdom, Techi originally represented the second month of the Sothis calendar from the beginning of July to the beginning of August .

Mythological background

Sun god Re

The mythological background was formed by the hierarchy of deities from the 4th dynasty in the Old Kingdom , in which Re as the sun god took the top and first position and merged with other deities. With Re-Harachte , for example, Re is described as the sun god appearing in the east. It is the actual name of the god Re of Heliopolis .

In Thebes , Amun is documented as a local deity from the 11th Dynasty . In order to assert themselves against the strong worship of Re from the Old Kingdom, the priests Amun and Re combined to form the new name for God Amun-Re. Amun was known as the " Re whom one worships in Karnak ". In the New Kingdom he rose to become the main god as "the king of gods and lord of the thrones of both countries".

With the change to the sun god, which began in the Old Kingdom, the moon god Thoth moved to the second place and was given the names "Wesir des Re", "Scribe des Re" and "Child of Re". The Sothis calendar took into account the worship of the sun, which is why the first month of Wepet-renpet was also referred to as the "month of birth of Re-Harachte" or "month of birth of Re".

Moon god Thoth

Thoth received as the moon itself the subordinate designation " silver sun " and was at the same time lord of the moon eye. The background to the role as “protector and savior of the moon's eye” is the Osiris myth : he found the missing injured eye and healed it. In the Old Kingdom Thoth had a less positive meaning, as he was considered a "Companion of Seth " and is represented in the pyramid texts in the form of a crescent moon with a knife.

In an old cult tale from the Old Kingdom it is reported that Thoth arose from the head of Seth, who unknowingly swallowed the seed of Horus . Other texts vary and allow Thoth to emerge from Seth's knee or leg. His parallels become particularly clear when compared as a cosmic being: "Thoth as god of light and moon arises from the dark chaos of Seth".

In other depictions, Thoth is considered the king of the gods, who brings Osiris back into life and accompanies the ascent of Ba from Osiris into heaven as well as the descent of the sun god to pharaoh , when he fathered the son of Re in the form of the sun god with the royal wife.

Change of calendar form

In the New Kingdom the month Techi changed from the 18th dynasty in the Ebers calendar around 1517 BC. Chr. To fourth Schemu -month and dated from July 19 to August 17 ( Elephantine ) and from July 24 to August 22 ( Memphis ).

In connection with the beginning of the 19th dynasty , the old cult of Seth was revived and thus automatically a " renaissance of the moon deity Thoth", which is why the month Techi was moved to the first month of Achet and renamed Thoth . At the same time previously around 1291 BC The heliacal rising of Sothis on the first day of the month Techi.

As "Lord of the calendar", "Lord of the moon", "Lord of the hereafter", "Divider of the seasons and years" and "Lord of the moon eye", Thoth took first place in the calendar, which means that the " birth of Re " postponed to the twelfth month.

literature

Christian Hermann: Egyptian amulets from Palestine / Israel. With a view of their reception through the Old Testament. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-53773-5 .

Rolf Krauss : Sothis and moon dates. Studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, ISBN 3-8067-8086-X

Tycho Q. Mrsich: Questions about the ancient Egyptian law of the "isolation period" before the New Kingdom - a research report from the working group "Historiogenesis of legal norms". Utz, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-89675-970-1 .

Richard-Anthony Parker : The calendars of ancient Egypt. Chicago Press, Chicago 1950.

Siegfried Schott : Ancient Egyptian festival dates. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz / Wiesbaden 1950.

Individual evidence

↑ Cf. Tycho Q. Mrsich: Questions about the ancient Egyptian law of the "period of isolation" before the New Reich - a research report from the working group "Historiogenesis of legal norms" , Utz, Munich 2005, § 33.

^ Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800 - 950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1010.

[1] Cf. Tycho Q. Mrsich: Questions about the ancient Egyptian law of the "period of isolation" before the New Reich - a research report from the working group "Historiogenesis of legal norms" , Utz, Munich 2005, § 33.

[2] Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800 - 950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1010.