Tamás Mekis
I graduated in 2007 at the University Eötvös Loránd, then received Ph.d. degree in 2013. I am dealing with the native Egyptian Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic funerary customs.
Address: Budapest, Hungary
Address: Budapest, Hungary
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Papers by Tamás Mekis
the “Min-Hor-Isis” triad in Akhmim (Ipou) during
the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic Periods. The triad
was treated as if a single entity named Menares in
Greek texts (nominal case) as noted by Herman De
Meulenaere in 1988. In the main part of the study,
we investigate the emergence of the rare priestly
title Hm-nTr wHm of Menares, and for Hm-nTr wHm
we recommend the translation “prophet-registrar”.
Functionally speaking, the position of the prophet-registrar
arose from a division of priestly duties occurring
in the last millennium BC. The office seems
to have evolved from responsibilities of the second
and fourth prophets. Further, we conjecture that the
office was dedicated to the interpretation of “divine
speech” occurring in oracles of an administrative
nature seen as supporting the pre-destined organizational
chart (sn.t wr.t) of the temples. Through
prosopographical analysis of Akhmimic objects of
the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic Periods, we offer
tentative family-trees of 1) the first and second
prophets of Min and 2) the prophet-registrars of
Menares. The rich coffin corpus of Akhmim helped
us to anchor the family-trees chronologically. The
methodology presented here is based on a more
precise typology of the neck and collar designs on
coffins of the early Ptolemaic Period. The discussion
is rounded off by a consideration of the privileged
status of prophet-registrars and their family members,
using CT data derived from two Ptolemaic
mummies in the Egyptian Museum Cairo scanned in
2006 by the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium
(AMSC). While we await discovery of an ancient
monument explaining specifically how the temples
of Akhmim were managed, we present an interim
analysis of the functions of different categories of
Akhmimic priests. The increasing frequency of the
Min-Re syncretism in the city provides a possible key
to understanding the priestly handling of the oracular
mechanism of the god(s) of Akhmim.
found during the study of the Akhmimic coffin
TR 21.11.16.11 in the Egyptian Museum Cairo. Inside
the coffin base, under the mummy of Muthotep,
a single sheet of papyrus was discovered inscribed
with a contaminated text of the Book of the Dead,
spells 100/129 and vignette 130. The papyrus was
certainly placed under the mummy as an amulet.
Coffin&Mummy - Cairo, Egyptian Museum of Cairo TR 21.11.16.13 (SR 4/11354)
Canopic chest - Athens, National Archaeological Museum, inv. no. X 76
L’origine de cette étude est la découverte d’un hypocéphale in situ sous la tête d’une momie d’Akhmîm datée de la deuxième moitié du IIIe siècle av. J.-C. Le propriétaire, dont le nom est Djed-hor (PP IX, 5837), était un prêtre d’Akhmîm. Son nom alterne de façon intéressante avec Ousir-our dans les textes de son cercueil. L’étude décrit le couvercle, le cartonnage doré couvrant la momie et finalement l’hypocéphale retiré de sous la tête de la momie.
Khokha hillock in Thebes during the 2009 excavation season. The study is a preliminary report and the excavations are
still ongoing. The objects found in the tomb are of importance concerning Ptolemaic burials in Thebes, on El-Khokha.
The objects come from the 3rd section of the sloping passage of the tomb originally carved in the New Kingdom. Since
the beginning of the excavations in 1995, this has been the only material discovered from the Ptolemaic times in this
upper part of the cemetery.
Among the objects described in this study, are two fragmentary hypocephali, fragments of cartonnage trappings,
aprons, a foot panel, a wesekh-en-bik collar, a fragmentary mummy mask and the crown and horns of a black Ptah-
Sokar-Osiris statue.
I would recommend here to date these finds to the second half of the 3rd century BC. I will describe an interesting
find of some cotton balls which came from among the mummy bandages in the aforementioned section of the sloping
passage.
Plusieurs objets de l’époque ptolémaïque ont été découvert dans la tombe No -43- fondée au Nouvel Empire à
Thèbes pendant la saison de fouilles dirigé par Z. I. Fábián, en 2009. La tombe se trouve sur le versant d’El-Kôkha,
où de la 3ème section du sloping passage proviennent ces restes d’enterrement ptolémaïque, uniques dès le début des
travaux sur cette partie supérieure du cimetière.
Parmi les objets ci-dessous publiés sont deux fragments d’hypocéphale, des pièces de cartonnage: une parure
de jambes, l’enveloppe de pied, un collier wesekh-en-bik, un fragment d’un masque de momie, des cornes et de la
couronne d’une statuette de Ptah-Sokaris-Osiris et, finalement des boules de coton trouvées parmi les bandages de
momies.
Les pièces peuvent être datées de la seconde moitié du 3ème siècle av. J.-C.
Mots-clés : cartonnage – Nestanetjeretten – joueuse de sistre d’Amon-Rê – Paiuhor – prêtre d’Amon.
The aim of this article is to discuss the late Pharaonic/early Ptolemaic one-piece-cartonnage of the sistrum-player of Amun-Ra, Nestanetjeretten (PP IX, 7112c). During the examination of the texts of the cartonnage an interesting problem emerged. An Amun priest, Paiuhor (PP IX, 5775j) is named on one of the bands of the headdress as the owner of the mummy case, while the other texts give the name of Nestanetjeretten and her parentage. The second part of the article explains the enigma by the interpretation of the several documents and provides some further details to the personal file of Paiuhor.