Curse of the ancient Egyptians? Protective spell against tomb robbers from the shaft tombs of Abusir Cover Image

Prokletí starých Egypťanů? Magický text na ochranu proti zlodějům ze šachtových hrobek v Abúsíru
Curse of the ancient Egyptians? Protective spell against tomb robbers from the shaft tombs of Abusir

Author(s): Renata Landgráfová, Diana Míčková
Subject(s): History, Ancient World
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze - Filozofická fakulta, Vydavatelství
Keywords: Late Period; Menekhibnekau; Iufaa; Abusir; shaft tombs; magical texts; religious texts; tomb robbers; curses;

Summary/Abstract: The study contains a translation and analysis of a hitherto unknown protective spell from the sarcophagus lid in the shafttomb of Menekhibnekau, which has a single known parallel as yet, located on the eastern exterior wall of the outer sarcophagus of Iufaa, with three columns extending onto the southern wall. The major part of the spell places the deceasedunder the protection of the goddess Isis, but the powerful seven “knots” or “utterances” of the creatrix goddess are invokedas well. The final part of the spell contains a short curse aimed at potential tomb robbers, which is rather unusual in terms ofboth its placement and time of use: such texts were much more usual in far earlier times of Egyptian history.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 22
  • Page Range: 54-67
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Czech