Execration texts, also referred to as proscription lists,[1] are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors.[2] The texts were most often written upon statuettes of bound foreigners, bowls, or blocks of clay or stone, which were subsequently destroyed. The ceremonial process of breaking the names and burying them was intended to be a sort of sympathetic magic that would affect the persons or entities named in the texts. The fragments were usually placed near tombs or ritual sites. This practice was most common during times of conflict with the Asiatic neighbors of Egypt.[3]
Execration texts are attested from the late Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2160 BCE) up into the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069).
The earliest physical execration texts date to the 6th dynasty (24th–22nd century BCE) during Egypt's Old Kingdom. They are statuettes made from unbaked clay and fashioned into the shape of bound foreigners with name labels inscribed on their chests, sometimes in red ink.[4][5] Over 400 of these statuettes were excavated from the cemetery at Giza, while a few others have been unearthed at the settlements of Elephantine and Balat.[4]
In the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650), Egyptians continued to use statuettes as execration texts. For example, a group of both large and small figurines dating to the end of the 12th dynasty was excavated at the necropolis of Saqqara.[4] Middle Kingdom Egyptians also began to use pottery vessels for execration texts, which is evidenced by an excavation of over 175vessels outside the Egyptian fortress at Mirgissa in Lower Nubia. These vessels, dating to the middle of the 12th dynasty, were inscribed with lengthy execration texts and appear to have been deliberately broken, likely as part of the execration ritual.[4]
It has been noted that the later execration texts created during the Middle Kingdom, at least partially repeat, with some updates, formulas from the older, Old Kingdom texts.[7] Ben-Tor therefore argues that Middle Kingdom texts don't reflect, either in part or entirely, the historical reality of their time, but that of the Old Kingdom or, archaeologically speaking, of the Early Bronze Age (EB) rather than the Middle Bronze Age (MB).[7] He points out that the identified sites were all occupied during the EB, most of them being fortified.[7]
Sites where execration texts were found
Execration figurines from the Brussels Collection (Royal Museums of Art and History)
There have been over 1,000 execration deposits found, with sites at Semna, Uronarti, Mirgissa, Elephantine, Thebes, Balat, Abydos, Helwan, Saqqara, and Giza.[8] Because the execration jars, figurines, vases, and statues were almost destroyed during the rituals, archaeologists have to put all the pieces they find from execration pits back together to learn about the rituals. Four deposits have been uncovered at Giza, which contained figurines packed into pottery jars.[9]
At the Middle Kingdom fortress of Mirgissa, execration remains included 200 broken inscribed red vases, over 400 broken uninscribed red vases, nearly 350 mud figurines, four limestone figures, small traces of beeswax dyed red-probably the remnants of melted figurines, and one human-whose head was ritually severed.[10][11] Other evidence of human sacrifice and execration victims, as well as animal sacrifice was found at Avaris, probably from the 18th dynasty. Two execration pits were found: one containing skulls and fingers while the other had two full male skeletons.
Georges Posener[fr] published his findings from Saqqara in 1940, which later became known as the Brussels texts. Figurines there name over 60 enemy cities, people, and tribes.[12]
The execration ritual
The execration ritual was the process by which one could thwart or eradicate one's enemies. Usually the ritual object(s) would be bound (usually a small figurine, but sometimes human sacrifice was practiced), then the object was smashed, stomped on, stabbed, cut, speared, spat on, locked in a box, burned, saturated in urine, and finally buried. But not every execration included all of the previous components. A full rite could use any of these actions numerous times with numerous figures. One recorded rite gave instructions to "spit on him four times ... trample on him with the left foot ... smite him with a spear ... slaughter him with a knife ... place him on the fire ... spit on him in the fire many times"[8][13]
Places mentioned
The presence of foreign names of cities and tribes has long been a source for researchers to learn more about the dates and influence of these sites. The first two groups of execration texts published, the Berlin and Brussels texts, contain numerous mentions of Canaanite and Phoenician cities. The Berlin and Brussels texts date approximately from the end of the 20th century BCE to midway through the 18th century BCE. From an archaeological standpoint, these execration texts range from MB I to MB IIB. Archaeological remains from this period have not been found in all of the sites mentioned on Egyptian execration texts.[14]
Places mentioned in execration texts for which there is substantial archaeological remains from MB IIA:[15]
The site Beit She'an may also have been mentioned in these sets of execration texts, but this site has not been identified with certainty. Byblos was mentioned as the name of a tribe in execration texts, but not as a site.[16]
Most scholars claim that the Šu-tu mentioned in execration texts and other Egyptian texts may refer to the land and people of Moab due to the text in Numbers 24:17[clarification needed] which refers to the Moabites as the "sons of Sheth". However, it is also possible that the term Šu-tu may refer to all people living in an area ranging from Wadi al-Hassa to Nahr ez-Zerqa, instead of referring exclusively to Moab.[17]
The Kingdom of Kush in Nubia is also mentioned in execration texts.
Research
The execration texts are an important resource for researchers in the field of ancient Near Eastern history of the 20th–18th centuries BCE[18] and Bible studies. The first group of execration texts were published by Kurt Sethe in 1926, known as the Berlin texts. Georges Posener published a second group of texts in 1957, known as the Brussels texts.[19][12]
The first collection are inscribed on pottery sherds, and contain the names of approximately 20 places in Canaan and Phoenicia, and over 30 rulers of the period. These texts contain what is possibly the first known mention of Jerusalem,[20] from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, the end of the 11th Dynasty to the 12th Dynasty.
The second group of texts are inscribed on figurines of bound prisoners discovered in Saqqara. This group contains the names of 64 places, usually listing one or two rulers. Seven known Asian countries are listed.[21] This group has been dated to the end of the 12th Dynasty.
An additional group of texts, the Mirgissa texts, was published by Yvan Koenig[fr] in 1990.
The execration texts are mostly inscribed on (un)baked clay materials and written in black carbon or red iron containing pigments. An obstacle to still being able to read them after thousands of years is that these texts have faded over time. This has partly been overcome by applying multi-spectral imaging techniques to enhance their readability.[22]
Historical interpretation
The interpretation of historians as to the meaning of execration texts has been well established thanks to documents that detail the ritual creation of the texts and the manner in which they were to be destroyed[23] in order to invoke a form of magic to protect Egypt and the pharaoh, in earlier cases, but especially in the Ptolemaic period they began to be utilized by more and more Egyptians for their own personal use.[24]
Because many of the early execration texts are found on pottery, some historians believe that the ritual smashing of execration figures originated from the smashing of clay vessels used in funerary preparations so as to prevent their use for other purposes and to relinquish any magical power that may have resided in the vessel after having been used for funerary washings.[25]
Beyond Egyptian borders
Execration texts deal with kings and cities who the Egyptians felt threatened by; some of whom lived in the Canaanite and Syrian lands. Execration texts including the Berlin, Brussels, and Migrissa groups contain curses targeting over 100 Syro-Palestinian kings and villages.[26]
Nubian kings such as Segersenti were mentioned in execration texts, as well as over 200 other Nubian kings.[27]
Biblical connections to execration texts: Egyptian sources are important when wanting to understand the history of Canaan. Their relationship with Egyptian pharaohs is brought to life by some execration texts.[28] Some execration texts refer to the people living on both sides of the Jordan River as su-tu. Scholars make a connection with the su-tu and the "sons of Sheth" or "bene-set", referred to in the book of Numbers 24:17 of the Bible:
"I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." (Hebrew: בני שתbənê-Šêṯ)
It is widely accepted that the "sons of Sheth" are those who dwelt in Moab, or the Moabites, on the borders of the Hebrews' lands.[29]
Dr. A. Bentzen in the 1950s advanced his thesis that the first and second chapters of the book of Amos in the Old Testament "is modelled on cultic patterns, resembling the ritual behind the Egyptian Execration Texts." Many have taken this theory and interpreted it wrongly by saying there is evidence that Amos' speech is influenced by Egyptian execration texts. Bentzen is simply stating that the influences for Amos' speech resemble (are not influenced by) Egyptian execration texts. They are similar, but there is no connection. Other books of the Bible share this same similarity; Daniel 11:41; Isaiah 11:14; Jeremiah 48–49; Zephaniah 2:8–9; Ezekiel 25:1–14 and Nehemiah 13:1–2:23.[30]
Qakare Ibi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the early First Intermediate Period and the 14th ruler of the Eighth Dynasty. As such Qakare Ibi's seat of power was Memphis and he probably did not hold power over all of Egypt. Qakare Ibi is one of the best attested pharaohs of the Eighth Dynasty due to the discovery of his small pyramid in South Saqqara.
Merenre Nemtyemsaf was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, fourth king of the Sixth Dynasty. He ruled Egypt for six to 11 years in the early 23rd century BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of his predecessor Pepi I Meryre and queen Ankhesenpepi I and was in turn succeeded by Pepi II Neferkare who might have been his son or less probably his brother. Pepi I may have shared power with Merenre in a co-regency at the very end of the former's reign.
The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt.
The ushabti was a funerary figurine used in ancient Egyptian funerary practices. The Egyptological term is derived from 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 wšbtj, which replaced earlier 𓆷𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 šwbtj, perhaps the nisba of 𓈙𓍯𓃀𓆭 šwꜣb "Persea tree".
Nynetjer is the Horus name of the third pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt during the Early Dynastic Period. Archaeologically, Nynetjer is the best attested king of the entire dynasty. Direct evidence shows that he succeeded Raneb on the throne. What happened after him is much less clear as historical sources and archaeological evidences point to some breakdown or partition of the state.
Neferirkare Kakai was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. Neferirkare, the eldest son of Sahure with his consort Meretnebty, was known as Ranefer A before he came to the throne. He acceded the day after his father's death and reigned for eight to eleven years, sometime in the early to mid-25th century BCE. He was himself very likely succeeded by his eldest son, born of his queen Khentkaus II, the prince Ranefer B who would take the throne as king Neferefre. Neferirkare fathered another pharaoh, Nyuserre Ini, who took the throne after Neferefre's short reign and the brief rule of the poorly known Shepseskare.
Menkauhor Kaiu was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom period. He was the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty at the end of the 25th century BC or early in the 24th century BC.
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterranean walls and sarcophagi of pyramids at Saqqara from the end of the Fifth Dynasty, and throughout the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, and into the Eighth Dynasty of the First Intermediate Period. The oldest of the texts have been dated to c. 2400–2300 BCE.
Nyuserre Ini was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 years depending on the scholar, and likely lived in the second half of the 25th century BCE. Nyuserre was the younger son of Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II, and the brother of the short-lived king Neferefre. He may have succeeded his brother directly, as indicated by much later historical sources. Alternatively, Shepseskare may have reigned between the two as advocated by Miroslav Verner, albeit only for a few weeks or months at the most. The relation of Shepseskare with Neferefre and Nyuserre remains highly uncertain. Nyuserre was in turn succeeded by Menkauhor Kaiu, who could have been his nephew and a son of Neferefre.
Senedj was an early Egyptian king (pharaoh), who may have ruled during the 2nd Dynasty. His historical standing remains uncertain. His name is included in the kinglists of the Ramesside era, although it is written in different ways: While the Abydos King List imitates the archaic form, the Royal Canon of Turin and the Saqqara King List form the name with the hieroglyphic sign of a plucked goose.
The pyramid of Unas is a smooth-sided pyramid built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty. It is the smallest Old Kingdom pyramid, but significant due to the discovery of Pyramid Texts, spells for the king's afterlife incised into the walls of its subterranean chambers. Inscribed for the first time in Unas's pyramid, the tradition of funerary texts carried on in the pyramids of subsequent rulers, through to the end of the Old Kingdom, and into the Middle Kingdom through the Coffin Texts that form the basis of the Book of the Dead.
Günter Dreyer was an Egyptologist at the German Archaeological Institute. In southern Egypt, Dreyer discovered records of linen and oil deliveries which have been carbon-dated to between 3300 BCE and 3200 BCE, predating the Dynastic Period.
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Menkare was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the first or second ruler of the Eighth Dynasty. Menkare probably reigned a short time at the transition between the Old Kingdom period and the First Intermediate Period, in the early 22nd century BC. The rapid succession of brief reigns at the time suggests times of hardship, possibly related to a widespread aridification of the Middle East, known as the 4.2 kiloyear event. As a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty, according to Manetho, Menkare's seat of power would have been Memphis.
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Thamphthis is the hellenized name of an ancient Egyptian ruler (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, who may have ruled under the name Djedefptah for between two and nine years. His original Egyptian name is lost, but it may have been Djedefptah or Ptahdjedef according to William C. Hayes. Thamphthis is one of the shadowy rulers of the Old Kingdom, since he is completely unattested in contemporary sources. For this reason, his historical figure is discussed intensely by historians and Egyptologists.
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The pyramid of Ity was probably the tomb of Pharaoh Ity who reigned during the 8th dynasty. It has never been discovered and is known only from a cliff-face inscription at Wadi Hammamat in the Eastern Desert, where there were several quarries in Pharaonic times.
1 2 3 4 Seidlmayer, Stephan J. (2001). "Execration Texts". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
↑ See Seidlmayer (2001) and Theis, Christoffer (2014). "Magie und Raum. Der magische Schutz ausgewählter Räume im Alten Ägypten nebst einem Vergleich zu angrenzenden Kulturbereichen". Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 13, Tübingen, pp. 65–87 for a collection of the material.
↑ Van De Mieroop, Marc (2011). A History of Ancient Egypt. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. p.109. ISBN978-1-4051-6071-1.
1 2 Muhlestein, Kerry. 2008, Execration Ritual. In Willeke Wendrich, Jacco Dieleman (eds.). UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles.
↑ Abu Bakr, Abdel Moneim, and Jürgen Osing, "Ächtungstexte aus dem Alten Reich", MDAIK 29, 1973, 97–133; Osing, "Ächtungstexte aus dem Alten Reich (II)", pp. 133–85; Hermann Junder, Giza VIII, Vienna: Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1947, pp. 30–38; and Stephan J. Seidlmayer, "Gräberfelder aus dem Übergang vom Altern zum Mittleren Reich". Studien zur archäologie der Ersten Zwischenzeit, Heidelberg: Heidelberger Orientverlag, 1990, pp. 488–89.
↑ Ritner, Robert. 1993. The mechanics of ancient Egyptian magical practice. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 54. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 153–154
↑ Vila, Un rituel, p. 631, fig. 15: and Ritner, The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian, p. 163
↑ Schott, Siegfried. 1929 Urkunden mythologischen Inhalts. Urkunden des aegyptischen Altertums 6, ed. Georg Steindorff. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs.
↑ Ben-Tor (2006), pp. 63–87; see the last references and maps by Christoffer Theis, "Magie und Raum. Der magische Schutz ausgewählter Räume im Alten Ägypten nebst einem Vergleich zu angrenzenden Kulturbereichen" (Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 13), Tübingen 2014, pp. 82–85.
↑ Van der Perre, Athena; Braekmans, Dennis; Boschloos, Vanessa; Ossieur, France; Hameeuw, Hendrik; Delvaux, Luc (2018). "The Egyptian Execration Figurines of the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels: Conservation, Pigments and Digitisation". Bulletin des Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire. 87/88: 5–29.
↑ Françoise Dunand, Christiane Zivie-Coche, Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE To 395 CE, Cornell University Press, 2005, pg. 126
↑ Paul Allan Mirecki, Marvin W. Meyer, Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World, Brill 2002, Part 4, p. 440
↑ Jacobus Van Dijk, The New Kingdom Necropolis of Memphis, Groningen, 1993, p. 185f
↑ (Egyptian Relations with Palestine in the Middle Kingdom James M. Weinstein Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 217 (Feb. 1975), pp. 1–16)
↑ (Three Rulers in Nubia and the Early Middle Kingdom in Egypt Bruce Williams Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 72, No. 1 (April 2013), pp. 1–10)
↑ (Hebrew Books and Papers Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3 (1960), pp. 184–189)
↑ (Egypt and Moab Udo Worschech The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 60, No. 4, The Archaeology of Moab (Dec., 1997), pp. 229–236)
↑ (The Pattern of the 'Execration Texts' in the Prophetic Literature M. WEISS Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1969), pp. 150–157)
Georges Posener[fr]: Princes et Pays d'Asie et de Nubie. Textes hiératiques sur des figurines d'envoûtement du Moyen Empire. Brüssel 1940 (Jüngere Texte der 12. Dynastie).
Kurt Sethe: Die Ächtung feindlicher Fürsten, Völker und Dinge auf altägyptischen Tongefäßscherben des Mittleren Reiches. (=: Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 1926, philos-histor. Klasse Nr. 5) Berlin 1926 (Ältere Ächtungstexte aus der 12. Dynastie).
Christoffer Theis, Magie und Raum. Der magische Schutz ausgewählter Räume im Alten Ägypten nebst einem Vergleich zu angrenzenden Kulturbereichen (Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 13), Tübingen 2014, pp.65–87.
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