ȝḫ in the Amarna Period

Author(s): Florence Friedman

Source: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt , 1986, Vol. 23 (1986), pp. 99-
106
Published by: American Research Center in Egypt

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40001092

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 jh in the Amarna Period*

Florence Friedman

The term Sh is given special prominence in turn under

extends life, dominion, and millions of
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, most notably heb-seds to his son. This quid pro quo rela-
appear-
ing in the nomen of the king, in a variant tionship of
is atthe
the heart of the meaning of Sh in
name of the Aten, and in numerous secular texts7 and functions in Amarna texts not
inscriptions.
In Amarna tombs, the king states: ink only sS.k
on the Shlevel of king and god, but on all
n.k tuts rn.k, "I am your son [meaning the levels of society. For example, as Akhenaten is
Aten's] who is Sh -effective for you and whoSh for his father the Aten, so the official May is
exalts your name";1 he is Sh n it.f, "Sh for his ckS n nb tSwy Sh n nb.f, "upright for the lord of
father";2 and sS nhh pr m itn Sh n Sh n.f, "sonthe two lands, Sh for his lord";8 and Aye is Sh n
of eternity who came forth from the Aten, Sh for nsw, "Sh for the king."9
him who is Sh for him."3 This last text points up I argue elsewhere that the primary and most
the relationship of reciprocity between Akhena- fundamental meaning of Sh is effectiveness.10
ten and his divine father. This theme is stressed My thesis in brief is that Sh denotes in the mor-
in several boundary stelae. Akhenaten is ir Shwt tuary sphere the deceased who is effective by vir-
n ms sw, "one who does what is Sh for him who tue of having the proper offerings and knowing
made him";4 and is Sh ib mSc n ir sw, "Sh of the efficacious spells; and denotes in the earthly
heart truly for him who made him."5 sphere kings, officials, or townsmen who are Sh
The king in these passages is established in a for their gods, kings, lords, or one another. Sh
relationship of reciprocity with his divine fatheralso regularly denotes forms of effective cosmic
through the notion of Sh.6 He is Sh -effective and celestial power. In this context Sh assumes
and does Sh w ^-effective things for his father, who secondary associations with notions of effective
in turn is Sh for his son. Traditionally this solar luminosity and is often translated with the
means, for example, that the royal son buildsmeaning of splendor or glory. This paper is
monuments for his divine father and that the god concerned with an understanding of the meaning
of Sh in the nomen of King Akhenaten, and
how this meaning might further elucidate the
# This article represents a revised form of a paper delivered
relationship between Akhenaten and his divine
at the Fourth International Congress of Egyptology, held in
father.
Munich in August, 1985.
1 M. Sandman, Texts from the Time of Akhenaten The king and Aten are intentionally repre-
(Brussels, 1938), 14, 11. 13, 16. sented as equations of one another. Akhenaten
2 Ibid., 66, 1. 8, fragmentary inscription. and the early depiction of Reharakhty both
3 Ibid., 91, 11. 9-10.
exhibit the same exaggerated belly, as noted by
4 Ibid., 104, 1. 5; and 121, 11. 1-10, with variants of same
idea.
5 Ibid., 121, 11. 1-3, variants; N. de G. Davies, The Rock 7 See the discussion of this subject in my review of Gertie
Tombs of El Amarna (London, 1908), Pt. V, 32: "Truly pious Englund's Akh-une notion religieuse dans I'Egypte pharao-
of heart to his maker." The Davies is hereafter cited as El nique (Uppsala, 1978) in JARCE 19 (1982), 145-46.
Amarna. 8 Sandman, op. cit., 60, 1. 2; and see also for Aye, ibid., 91,
6 For Ramesside epithets expressing this relationship,1.see 16; 99, 1. 12.
Yoyotte in Kemi 10 (1949); and Von Beckerath, Handbuch 9 Ibid., 98, 1. 15.
der
aegyptische Konigsnamen (Munich/Berlin, 1984), 235, G3; 10 See JARCE 19 (1982), 145-48; and Serapis 8 (1985),
239, 4, H13; 242, 7, T3-5; 249, 7, Tl-5. 39-46.

99

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 100 JARCE XXIII (1986)

Redford;11 and the ago, A the tenname could

like read, "He
thewho is king
Bh because assum
royal cartouches and celebrates
of the heb-seds.
Aten." From a conceptual point of view, it It is
unreasonable that their names as well should is especially possible, however, that the king is
reflect their equivalence. "The Bh of the Aten," using n as an indirect
Much attention has been given to the names genitive of
n(y). There is no reason to believe that
the Aten, which read: he was "the effective 'spirit' of the Aten," a
colorless mortuary term, which conceptually, I
I. cnh Rc Hr-Bhty hcy m Bht believe, has no place in the understanding of
m rn.f m sw nty m itn. Akhenaten and his relationship with the Aten.
"Live Re-Horakhty who rejoices Based
in theon the use of Bh in the variant name of the
Aten noted
horizon, in his name of sunlight which is above, "Bh of the Aten" would mean
in the Aten." that the king through his new birth name is
describing himself as the sunlight of his father.14
II. cnh Rc hkBBhty hcy m Bht This translation of Bh as sunlight is also in
m rn.f m rc it [or: swty]12 ii m itn. accord with the king's statement that he was
"Live Re, ruler of the horizon, who re- made by the Aten (cited above) and that he was
joices in the horizon, in his name of Re most specifically born of the Aten's sunbeams.15
the Father [or: the sunlight] which returns This is equally supported by Coffin Texts and
in/from the Aten."
Book of the Dead spells which state that the Bh is
born from the solar eye (CT 312 and BD 78),
A variant reading appears, however, on an early specifically that the Bh dwells in the iBhw -sun-
fragment of a royal (?) statue found at Karnakshine and is born of the root of the eye of Atum.16
and now in the Cairo Museum:13 The solar understanding of the king's name as
sunlight is also supported by the many references
III. Hr-Bhty hcy m Bht which identify the king with light. For example,
m rn.f m Bh m Itn he wears the double plumes of the god Shu at
"Horakhty who rejoices in the horizon, Karnak
in at the Temple of Gm(t)-pB-itn17 and is
his name of Bh in/from the Aten." thereby identified with both the god and the
hypostasis of that god, which is sunlight. He is
Bh serves here as a variant for sw and rc it (or called sw in numerous inscriptions:18 he is sw n
swty), which in the first two names denote the tB nb cnh.tw m ptr.f, "the light of every land, by
light in or from the Aten. Clearly Bh, in a paral- whose appearance one lives"; and (s)w hbs mrwt
lel position in the second cartouche, also denotes mi pB itn, "light clothed with love like the Aten";
the king is the sw n irt nbt, "light of every eye";
sunlight. The question arises as to whether this
meaning of sunlight can be applied to a trans- and is pB sw n tBnb, "the light of every land." He
is also the wc-n-rc sw n hr nb, "the unique one of
lation of Bh in the name of the king.
It is best first to look at some of the different Re, the light of all men."19 As Tawfik has
grammatical possibilities for Bh in the name
Akhenaten. They include: "He who is Bh -effec- 14 Bongioanni, op. cit., uses the Bh in the name of the
Aten in parallelism with that of the king, but does not note
tive for the Aten," using Bh as a participial form
that the king is not the spirit of the Aten, but its very light.
of the adjective verb with dative, the best choice 15 See A. Volten, Studien zum Weisheitsbuch des Ann
from a grammatical point of view; or "Bh [or: (Copenhagen, 1937), 111; noted by Redford, op. cit., n. 132.
the one who is Bh] belongs to the Aten," which 16 CT 312, 74g-75c. While Redford, op. cit., 54 noted that
uses n as a dative, i.e., "Bh is to the Aten." Using sunlight which is in the Disc in the Aten's name "is a most
fitting appellative of Akhenaten," he did not remark that this
n as "because," as suggested by Gunn some years
is exactly what may be meant by the name Bh-n-itn.
17 See D. Redford, Akhenaten, the Heretic King (Princeton,
11 JARCE 13(1976), 54. N. J., 1984), 102-3.
12 See A. Bongioanni in GM 68 (1983), 46, for the reading 18 Collected from Sandman and translated by Fecht in ZAS
of swty instead of it. 85(1960), 105-6.
13 Sandman, op. cit., 162, CLXXXII. 19 Sandman, op. cit., 55, 1. 18.

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 SH IN THE AMARNA PERIOD 101

demonstrated,20 Re is but
and "As a Bh
for any variant
who knows the name designation
of the rc
for the Aten. Re is, it psdtappears,
[shining sun], heequally
knows his (own) aname."31
designa-
tion for the king who is of
The Book called rc
the Dead states thatcnh
Re "looks non hr nb,
"the living Re for all this men";21 andespecially
dJj as himself";32 sri n pj itn
pertinent rc
is the
cnh, "son of the Aten, Book living Re."22
of the Dead spell in whichThe the Bh king's
is seen as
prenomen defines him the "beams of Re."33 The Bh becomes bothivc-n-rc
as nfr-hprw-rc Re ,
"Beautiful are the forms of Re,
and his emanation of light;Unique
the Bh is at onceone of
Re."23 In short, dJj, creator sw,and and rc are
thing created.34 equated
These ideas of creator with
both the Aten and the names of his father.24 and creation uniting through the vehicle of Bh
The notion of effectiveness, the primary mean- provide the framework within which Akhenaten
ing of dH, is not lost, however, for sunlight isand the Aten, creation and creator, son and
effectiveness par excellence; it is light which
father, are united.
daily brings forth and maintains creation. In the The transference of Bh in religious texts is also
Coffin Texts Atum creates Shu and Tefnut with
found in the father-son relationship of Osiris
his jhw.25 The deceased, the product of dJj-
and Horus. The king as Horus in Pyramid Texts
creation,26 is an jh, lord of dHw, who himself becomes Bh through his father Osiris,35 in one
creates an dH at his will, and who most notably is instance through an embrace;36 Osiris also be-
nb ssp, "lord of 55"p- light,"27 this same appel- comes Bh through his son, Horus.37 As a Coffin
lation appearing in the Book of the Dead, where Text states, the son becomes Bh by the father and
Re is called nb ssp.28 Light, which produces the father by the son.38 They incorporate one
creation, is by definition effective; the jh/jhw another. In the Book of the Dead each embraces
power of creation through light is, I suggest, the other Bh.f im (prospective sdm.f), "that he
effectiveness itself,29 and it is manifest in the might be Bh thereby."39 Though Akhenaten dis-
individual created. In Amarna dogma that indi- carded the mythological trappings of the ancient
vidual manifestation of solar effectiveness is the Horus-Osiris relationship, he retained its essence
king, the daily creation of the sungod, the d/j- which, I believe, is sometimes evidenced in the
light of the Aten. association of the Bh with the Bht, "horizon,"
Creator and creation merge in Egyptian reli- Horus becoming associated with the Bh and
gious thinking. As a Coffin Text states, "Re does Osiris with Bht. Examples follow which first
it [various things] for me and his jh is in me";30 illustrate the association of Bh and Bht.
In the Pyramid Texts the Bht is the place where
the king and sungod become Bh: "O Re-Atum, it
20 S. Tawfik in MDAIK 32 (1976), 225. See also, Tawfik in
The Akhenaten Temple Project, Vol. I (Warminster, England, to you this king comes ..." wbn.tn m Bht m
is
1976), 58-59.
21 Sandman, op. cit., 55, 1. 14.
22 Sandman, op. cit., 84, 11. 4-5. 31 CTVI390L
23 And compare J. Bennett's translation in JEA 51 (1965), 32 E. A. Wallis Budge, The Book of the Dead, Facsimiles of
207: "Beautiful of being (like) Re and only one of Re." the Papyri of Hunefer, Anhai, Kerasher and Netchement with
24 Cyril Aldred, Akhenaten and Nejertiti (The Brooklyn Supplementary Text from the Papyrus of Nu (London, 1889),
Museum, 1973), 24, in a similar way calls Akhenaten the Ch. 130.41, Pap. of Nu; Allen, op. cit., 130 T6.
Incarnation of the Aten; see also Aldred, Akhenaten, Pharaoh 33 E. Naville, Das aegyptische Todtenbuch, Zweiter Band
of Egypt (London, 1968), 185. Varianten (Berlin, 1886), 344, end of Ta's rubric; Allen, op.
25 CT II 39c-d; and cf. Zandee in IAS 97 (1971), 161. cit, 133b T5.
26 CT IV 18e. 34 These texts are also cited in Serapis 8 (1985), 46 in
27 CT VII 293a-294a; sim. VII 501a-c. relation to the meaning of Bh -effectiveness and its corre-
28 Edouard Naville, Das aegyptische Todtenbuch der lation with celestial light.
XVIII. bix XX. Dynastie aus verschiedener Urkunden, Erster 35 Pyr. 612a-b; 648c; 584b-585a; and cf. 636a-c.
Band, Text und Vignetten (Berlin, 1886), 97.4-5; and trans- 36 Pyr. 584b-585c.
lated in T. G. Allen, The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by 37 Pyr. 1712a; 2264a-b; JP II 1055 and 76; 633a, using Bh
Day, SAOC 37 (Chicago, 1974), 85a S2. in the sdm.n.f construction.
29 On the root meaning of jh as effectiveness, see my 38 CT VII 109g-h.
discussion in Serapis 8 (1985), 39-46. 39 Nav. 1 195-96, heading across top; Allen, op. cit, 173b PI.
30 CTVI315J. Several of these texts are also cited in Serapis 8 (1985), 43.

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 102 JARCE XXIII (1986)

bw Bh.n.tn im, "May given you [i.e.,

that he is the Bh- light Re-Atum
of the sun which he and
king] rise in the Bht, adores. in
Harris believes
the that the "manner in
place which
wherein yo
have become Bh."*° The iTU-horizon is where the they are paired suggests that they are assimilated
king does not die but becomes Bh: n mwt.n is toTShu and Tefnut, the first creation of Atum . . .
mwtt Bh.n.f m Bht. "Not in dying did Teti die, he and such an interpretation has been inferred in a
has become Bh in the Bht.41 The Bh/Bht paral- number of other instances."47 The squatting
lelism (or wordplay, if one wishes to call it that)posture, he notes, reflects the idea of the king as
underscores the fact that the Bht is the site from hypostasis (hprw) of the sun,48 and this posture,
which the sun and king emerge effectively re-he observes, is that of the child depicted within
newed.42 Another much-discussed Pyramid Text the disk, who is sometimes identified with Shu.49
states: Bh.n Hr hr.k m rn.k n Bht prrt Rc im, "It Shu and Tefnut, son and daughter of the sun-
is through you (Osiris) that he (Horus) has god, I would note, can denote Rwty in the texts,
become Bh in your name of Bht from which Re Rwty being the two lions which form the hills of
goes forth.43 The Bh/Bht parallelism is used tothe ^-horizon.50
describe how Horus emerges out of his father, I suggest that the opposing figures of Akhen-
who is named to elucidate the relationship, "the aten and Nefertiti (an ordinarily commonplace
Bht from which Re goes forth." Bh/Bht wordplay composition of two seated figures) set beneath the
is not confined to the Old Kingdom, as I point Aten and the pt-sign on the Cairo and Berlin
out elsewhere.44 The close association of Bh and stelae (figs. 1, 2) may function as Shu and Tefnut,
Bht continued in Dynasty XVIII, evidenced, asRwty, so that the very figures of Akhenaten
i.e.,
Otto points out, in the Ritual for Amenophis I
and Nefertiti create the curving outline of the
and in the Opening of the Mouth Ritual.45 Bh ^-horizon. It is important to remember that
Akhenaten eliminated the names of Horus and in the Coffin Texts Atum created Shu and Tefnut
Osiris in connection with Bh and Bht, but retained
with his Bhw, here equated, I suggest, with
the Bh/Bht wordplay, which, I believe, can thebeAten's creating Shu and Tefnut as king and
demonstrated in several relief representations. queen through his sunbeams; only the king and
On a faience knob in a private collection queen ever receive the Aten's rays directly in
published by J. R. Harris appear Akhenaten Amarna representations. With the sun disk above,
in the white crown and Nefertiti in the flat- an i/*£- hieroglyph is formed in these scenes im-
topped cap, each with hands upraised in plying adora- that this is the Bht of the Aten, the name,
tion before the sun.46 They are represented equal of Akhenaten' s capital city.51
of course,
in size, each squatting at the end of a solarThis bark.
suggested Bh ^-hieroglyph composition is
A cartouche on the top of the knob identi- also found, I believe, in some Window of Appear-
fies both figures. Interestingly, as Harris notes, ances scenes illustrated in the tombs of Ramose
the king's prenomen is not used. Instead he is
47 Ibid., 342.
called Akhenaten, which I feel is appropriate,
48 On the meaning of hprw, see especially J. Assmann,
Liturgische Lieder an den Sonnengott (Berlin, 1969), 43.
40 Pyr. 158a-d. For a grammatical analysis of this text, see op. cit., 342.
49 Harris,
Serapis 8 (1985), 45. 50 See, for example, A. Piankoff, Mythological Papyri,
41 Pyr 350b-c; translation of first line from M. GilulaVol.
in I,JEA
Texts, Bollingen Series XL.3 (New York, 1957), fig. 15,
56, 210. from the sarcophagus of Khonsu; and fig. 41, from the
42 For Gertie Englund's reflections on the meaning of jht, Papyrus of Henut-taui.
see her article "L'horizon et quoi encore," in Sundries in 51 See Aldred's observation in JEA 62 (1976), 184, that the
honour of Sdve-Soderbergh (Uppsala, 1984), 47-53; and most topography of the site of Amarna resembles the glyph for jht;
and note also D. O'Connor's statement in Egypt's Golden
specifically on jht as the site of gestation, see p. 48.
Age, ed. by E. Brovarski, Susan K. Doll, and Rita E. Freed
43 Pyr. 585a; cf. 633a. And see my discussion and use of this
(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1982), 20, that "the royal
text in a different but related context in JEA 71 (1985), 91-92.
44 Ibid. family tomb was set deep in the desert valley at the approx-
45 Discussed in ibid. imate center of the natural 'horizon'" [italics mine]. The
46 J. R. Harris in Burlington Magazine 119 (April-June,
notion of the horizon was, I believe, of critical importance to
1977), 340-43. the king.

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 BH IN THE AMARNA PERIOD 103

Fig. 1. Stele, Egyptian

Cairo JE 44865. Photo c
Egyptian Museum, Cai

Fig. 2. Stele, Aegyptisches Mu-

seum, Berlin (West) 14145. Photo
courtesy Aegyptisches Museum
Berlin SMPK; Photo: M. Buesing.

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104 JARCE XXIII (1986)

Fig. 3. From N. de G. Davies, The Tomb of the Vizier

pl. XXXIII. Photo courtesy the Committee of the Egyp

as Aye52
at Karnak (fig. 3), and of jht isand
a point Diana
Meryre Wo
I53 at
Amarna. The brokendoctoral
lintel doorway with
dissertation at the
the
Aten extending its rays from above
Institute may
of Fine function
Arts has i
as the hieroglyph for at,
theand
3ht- horizon.
for which The
she pos-
has s
sibility of the broken oped support
lintel doorway infunctioning
her thesis
doorway. Illustrations from
Tutu
52 Davies, El Amarna, Pt. 6 (fig.
(London, 4) and
1908), Pentu (f
pl. XXIX.
53 Davies, El Amarna, Pt. pointed
1 (London,out to pl.
1903), me by Ms. L
VI.

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 m IN THE AMARNA PERIOD 105

Fig. 4. From Davies, The Rock Tombs of El Am

Tutu, and Ay (London, 1908), pl. XX. Photo courtesy the Committee of the Egypt
Exploration Society.

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106 JARCE XXIII (1986)

Fig. 5. Davies, op. cit., Part IV, the Tombs of

pl. VI. Photo courtesy the Committee of the Eg

the use of the broken In summary:

lintel Akhenaten
doorwayin these scenesor was pylon
perhaps making visual reference to the fact that
the Bht. If these suggestions are correct, there
an interesting correlation with the Pyramid
he is part of the Bht from which his father goes Te
585a noted above (n. forth
43); (as infor
the Cairohere at the
and Berlin stelae); that as BhWind
the king appears like
n Itn he the sun sunlight
is the i/i -effective (Horus) arisin
(and therefore
from the Sht (Osiris)
the from which
traditional i$ -effective Re
son) of (= the
his father; and At
goes forth. As a further
that as suchvisual
he can rejoicepun
in and goor forthreinforc
from
ment, the king (andthepossibly
Bht (designated bythe Queen)
the broken lintel doorway could
and perhaps
described here as one "who alluding to his capital in
rejoices city, the
Bht- Eht
horizon," hcy m Bht, just
Itn).55 If these like the
suggestions Aten
are correct, who,
the reci-
all his didactic names is
procity of Re "who
father-son rejoices
and the equivalence of king in t
jht."b* The king isand
also the
god notions Bh,
central as his
to Egyptian religiousnam
affirms, graphically placed
thinking, in
would yet againthe iT^-broken
be reinforced.
lintel doorway, thus illustrating the tradition
Bhl Bht association discussed above. Museum of Art
Rhode Island School of Design
54 Note that while Redford suggested in JARCE 13 (1976),
54, that the hcy m Bht phrase in the didactic name referred
possibly to the king as rejoicer and to the palace as the 55 And referring also perhaps to the royal Amarna tomb
Bht, yet another level of meaning may still be operative. site: see n. 51.

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