Akhenaten's Sed-festival at Karnak

Description

In Akhenaten's Sed-festival at Karnak, Jocelyn Gohary makes a study of Akhenaten's celebration of the heb-sed or Sed-festival, an ancient Egyptian religious festival that can be traced back to the Archaic Period. Scenes of Akhenaten's Sed-festival were depicted on the walls of his temple at Karnak, and this volume makes available the hitherto unpublished record, with an analysis of Sed-festival scenes carved on the blocks known as the Akhenaten talatat. Originally incorporated in the Aten temple complex at Karnak, the blocks were reused after Akhenaten's death, and are now in the process of being correlated with the aid of computers, an enterprise initiated by the Akhenaten Temple Project. Dr. Gohary compares Akhenaten's Sed-festival with those of other pharaohs and draws conclusions relating to the religious aspects of the scenes and rites enacted and to the art styles used on the talatat. The material indicates that the temple of Akhenaten at Karnak represents an early stage of transition in the development of the cult of Aten, as well as in the innovation of artistic representation. Dr. Gohary's study thus establishes an extremely useful stage in the Akhenaten sequence, and provides an important core of material to which talatat recovered in the future can be related. Dr. Gohary's research also suggests that his celebration of the Sed-festival in a traditional manner lends weight to recent views of Akhenaten as less of a radical than has previously been thought. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Preface List of Plates 1. Matched Scenes : I -XIX: The Palanquin Procession XX: The tnt3t- dais XXI: The tnt3t-dais; a Possible Baldachin XXII: The tnt3t-dais ; a Foundation Rite ; The Heb-Sed band XXIII: The Heb-Sed Band XXIV-XXVII: The Palace XXVIII-XXXIX: The Offering - Kiosk Series XL-XLI: The Re ' - Harakhte Altars XLII: Miscellaneous Figures of the King XLIII-XLV: The Lion and Sphinx Palanquin XLVI: Procession Scenes ; Inscriptions XLVII: Narrative Inscriptions XLVIII-XLIX: Homage Scenes L: The ' Kheruef ’ Dancers LI: Dancers and Musicians LII: Cattle LIII-LVI: The offering-with-Libation Ceremony LVII: The Window of Appearance ; Men Carrying Meat LVIII: Miscellaneous Priests LIX: The Window of Appearance LX: The Window of Appearance ; Male Dancers ; The Atef - Crown ; Priests LXI: Ladies-in - Waiting LXII: Ladies-in-Waiting ; Soldiers LXIII: Miscellaneous Officials LXIV-LXVI: Miscellaneous Officials with Titles. 2. Individual Blocks: LXVII-LXXVII: Palanquin Procession Scenes LXXVIII-LXXXV: The Offering-Kiosk Series LXXXVI: Miscellaneous Small Scale Figures of the King LXXXVII: Lision-Furniture : The tnt3t-Dais LXXXVIII: Scenes Paralleled in Other Sed - Festival Reliefs LXXXIX: Depictions of Re '- Harakhte; The Re '- Harakhte Altars XC-XCI: Miscellaneous Figures of the King and Queen XCII: The Sinuous wall ; The King and Queen in the Window of Appearance XCIII: The Atef-Crown ; Possible Foundation Rites ; The Hb-Sd Motif Band XCIV: The lion and Sphinx Palanquin XCV-XCVIII: The Offering-with-Libation Ceremony XCVIII-C: Cattle CI: Ladies - in - Waiting ; Miscellaneous Officials CII-CIII : Priests CIV: Miscellaneous Official with Titles CV: Miscellaneous Officials , Some with Titles CVI: Miscellaneous Figures ; Sample Sun - Disks CVII: Dancers CVIII: Parts of Structures ; Inscriptions CIX: Examples of imy hbw - sd CX: Examples of gmt p3 ' Itn and wsht. Abbreviations Part I: The Sed - Festival 1. Definition of the Sed - Festival 2. Date of the Sed - Festival 3. Location of the Sed - Festival 4. Evidence of Sed - Festivals 5. The Rites of the Sed - Festival Part II: Sed - Festival Scenes of Amenhotep IV on the Karnak talatat 1. The Akhenaten Temple Project 2. The Number of Sed - Festivals Celebrated by Amenhotep IV 3. The Location of the Celebration of Amenhotep IV ’s Sed - Festival 4. Wall area Covered by Sed - Festival Scenes 5. Size of Figures in Sed-Festival Scenes 6. The Identification of Sed - Festival Scenes Part III: Catalogue of Matched Scenes and Individual Talatat 1. Matched Scenes 2. Individual Blocks Part IV: Conclusion Appendix: Register of Matched Scenes and Individual Blocks Footnotes Bibliography Index