Stele Cairo A 9422 (Bulaq 666), depictingNut,Behdety as the winged solar disk,Ra-Horakhty seated on his throne, and the stele's owner,Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu i, standing on the right.
TheStele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu orStele of Revealing is a painted, wooden offeringstele located inCairo,Egypt. It was discovered in 1858 by the French EgyptologistFrançois Auguste Ferdinand Mariette at themortuary temple of the18th Dynasty PharaohHatshepsut, located atDeir el-Bahari.[1] It was originally made for theMontu-priestAnkh-ef-en-Khonsu i,[2] and was discovered near his coffin ensemble of two sarcophagi and two anthropomorphic inner coffins. It dates tocirca 680–70 BCE, the period of the late25th Dynasty/early26th Dynasty. Originally located in the formerBoulaq Museum under inventory number 666, the stele was moved around 1902 to the newly openedEgyptian Museum of Cairo (inventory number A 9422; Temporary Register Number 25/12/24/11), where it remained till it was moved to the newly opened Grand Museum of Egypt, next to the Pyramids of Giza, where it is now located in Gallery 11.
The stele is made of wood and covered with a plastergesso, which has been painted. It measures 51.5 centimeters high and 31 centimeters wide. On the front, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu can be seen as apriest of Montu; he is presenting offerings to the falcon-headed god Re-Harakhty ("Re-Horus of the Two Horizons"), a syncretic form of theancient Egyptian godsRa andHorus, who is seated on a throne. The symbol of the west, the place of the Dead, is seen behind Re-Harakhty. Above the figures is a depiction ofNut, the sky goddess who stretches from horizon to horizon. Directly beneath her is theWinged Solar Disk, Horus ofBehdet.
The stele is painted on both faces with Egyptian texts, some of which are Chapter 91 of the EgyptianBook of the Dead,[10] while the back of the stele records eleven lines of text from Chapters 30 and 2.
[A1]Beneath theWinged Solar Disk: (He of) Behdet, the Great God, Lord of Heaven
[A2–A3]Above Re-Harakhty: Re-Harakhty ("Re-Horus of the Two Horizons"), Chief of the Gods
[A4–A8]Above Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu: TheOsiris, God's Servant of Montu, Lord ofWaset, Opener of the Door-leaves of Heaven in the Most Select of Places (i.e.,Karnak), Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, <True of> Voice
[A9]Beneath the offering table: (thousands of) Bread and beer, cattle and fowl
[B1–B5]Main text: [B1] Words spoken by the Osiris (i.e., the deceased), God's Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, Opener of the Door-leaves of Heaven in the Most Select of Places (i.e., Karnak), Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, [B2] True of Voice: "O Exalted-one! may he be praised, Great of Manifestations, the greatBa whom [B3] the gods fear, and who appears on his great throne, make the path of theBa, theAkh, and theShadow, for I am equipped so that (I) might shine therein [B4] (as) an equipped-one. Make for me the path to the place in whichRe,Atum,Khepri,[11] andHathor are therein." The Osiris, God's Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, [B5] Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, <True of> Voice, son of the like titled Ba-sa-en-Mut, borne of the Chantress ofAmun-Re, Lady of the House, Ta-nesh<et>.[12]
[C1] Words spoken by the Osiris (i.e., the deceased), God's Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, Ankh-ef-en- [C2] Khonsu, True of Voice: "(O) my heart of my mother [2 times], (O) my heart while I existed [C3] upon earth, do not stand against me as a witness, do not oppose me in [C4] in the tribunal, do not be hostile against me in the presence of the Great God, Lord of the West. [C5] Although I have united (myself) to the land (i.e. died) to the great western side of Heaven, may I flourish upon earth!" [C6] Words spoken by the Osiris, the Stolist[13] of Waset, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, True of Voice: O (you who are) Unique [C7], who shines like the moon, the Osiris, Ankh-ef- [C8] en-Khonsu, goes forth from your multitudes, [C9] (O) deliverer of those who are within the sun-light, open for him [C10] theNetherworld, indeed, the Osiris, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu who goes forth in [C11] day in order to do everything all that pleased him upon earth among the living-ones."
The Stele Cairo A 9422 was originally marked with inventory tag number 666 at the Bulaq Museum.
According to Crowley, his wifeRose had already reported a revelation from theancient Egyptian godHorus through the non-physical entity namedAiwass, which is regarded as his messenger inThelema.[3][4][5] The couple went to the newly openedEgyptian Museum of Cairo (where the stele had been moved), to see if she could recognize Horus on Monday, March 21, 1904. Rose recognized an image of the god on this painted stele, which at the time bore the catalogue number666, anumber holding religious significance in Thelema.[3][4][5]
According to Crowley, the stele depicts the three chief deities of Thelema:Nuit (EgyptianNut),Hadit (EgyptianBehdety), andRa-Hoor-Khuit (Egyptian Re-Harakhty ["Re-Horus of the Two Horizons"]). Crowley stated that he dined withÉmile Brugsch, a GermanEgyptologist and curator of the Bulaq Museum, to discuss the stele in his charge and to arrange for a facsimile to be made. According to Crowley, Brugsch's French assistant curator translated thehieroglyphic text on the stele.[3][4][5] In 1912, a second translation of the stele was later performed for Crowley byAlan Gardiner andBattiscombe Gunn.
^In general, see Cynthia May Sheikholeslami. 2003. "The burials of the priests of Montu at Deir el-Bahari in the Theban necropolis." InThe Theban necropolis: Past, present and future, edited by Nigel C. Strudwick and John H. Taylor. London: British Museum Press. 131–137.
^Hisham el-Leithy, "Painted Wooden Stelae From Thebes from the 21st to the 26 Dynasties," inProceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, edited by Jean-Claude Goyon and Christine Cardin. Orientalia lovaniensia analecta 150. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2007. 585–594[1]; see also Abd el-Hamid Zayed, "Painted Wooden Stelae in the Cairo Museum,"Revue d'égytologie 20 (1968), 149–152, and plate 7.
^abSkinner, Stephen (ed).The Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley: Tunisia 1923, p. 79, n. 8. Weiser, 1996.ISBN0-87728-856-9
^Peter Munro. 1973.Die spätägyptischen Totenstelen. 2 vols. Ägyptologische Forschungen 25. Glückstadt: Verlag J. J. Augustin. The stele is #187 in Munro's catalogue.
^Abd el Hamid Zayed, "Painted Wooden Stelae in the Cairo Museum,"Revue d'égytologie 20 (1968), 149–152, and plate 7.
^Henri Gauthier. 1913.Cercueils anthropoïdes des prêtres de Montou. 2 vols. Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire 62 and 65. Cairo: Imprimerie de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire.
^Re is the sun at midday, Atum as it sets, and Khepri as it dawns
^Lit. "The Hairdresser." For the reading of the name, see Hermann Ranke. 1935.Die ägyptischen Personennamen. Vol. 1 of 3 vols. Glückstadt: Verlag J. J. Augustin. 1:364.cf. theProsopographia aegyptiArchived 2011-07-17 at theWayback Machine
^Egyptiansmꜣ; a priest responsible for clothing the image of a god. See William A. Ward. 1982.Index of Egyptian administrative and religious titles of the Middle Kingdom, with a glossary of words and phrases used. Beirut: American University of Beirut. No. 1288.
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