Egyptology Daily

This is a beautiful facsimile by the British-American Egyptologist Charles K. Wilkinson (1897-1986) at the of the last two phrases of a typical Theban (modern-day Luxor) funerary procession of the New Kingdom: opening of the mouth ritual(s) and a memorial service and presentation of offerings to the glorified/blessed (Ax) dead before the tomb entrance of the Chief Sculptors and Artist(an)s Ipuky and Nebamun (TT181) in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna District of the Theban Necropolis.

Much like nowadays, formal flower arrangements could be ordered for funerals. The arrangements were organised and sewn together at nighttime to keep them fresh and cool by (master) and (chief) royal florists and gardeners who worked within the large Domain of Amun(-Ra) of Thebes like, but not limited to, Nefermenu, Qenamun, Sennefer, Nakht and his four sons and his likely foreign-born, Levantine father Gurer or the famous Senenmut.

While a sem-priest and purification (wab) priest ritually cense and libate Ipuky and Nebamun’s coffins, two female mourners offer three formal flower arrangements to them.

The three formal flower arrangements comprise taxa related to rebirth and resurrection: doum-palm fronds (Hyphaenae thebaica L.), poppy blossoms (Papaver spp.), persea (Mimusops laurifolia (Forssk.) Friis) and/or mandrake (Mandragora autumnalis Bertol.) fruit and leaves, Cyperaceae umbels and stems, and blue and white waterlily (N. caerulea Savigny and N. lotus L.) blossoms, rhizomes, and petals bound and sewn together.

Although the painting cannot be taken at face value due to Egyptian art conventions and what is referred to as the ‘grammaire des tombes’, the seasonality of the plants suggests the funeral(s) may have occurred in early spring to early summer. The two men were active during the reigns of Kings Thutmose IV to Amenhotep III (c. 1390-1349 BCE). 𓀾𓀾𓏭𓆰💐𓆰𓏫𓇋𓅓𓉐𓏤

Photograph courtesy of the Wilkinson facsimile (MMA 30.4.108) from 1920-1921 by ; Examples of real doum-palm fronds, poppy species, mandrake and persea fruits, Cyperaceae umbels, blue and white lotus via .

Spring is abound and so are the yellow fruits of a fan-favorite of the ancient world: mandrake.

Mandrakes (Mandragora autumnalis Bertol. = Mandragora officinarium L.) were likely introduced and naturalized into Egypt by Pharaoh Thutmose III.

Mandrakes were planted in the flowerbeds of Theban formal gardens and used in formal flower arrangements from the mid-18th Dynasty onwards.

Mandrake is a perennial, undershrub species of the nightshade family Solanaceae, is native to Syria, Palestine, and Israel, has deep, thick networks of roots, and purple, bell-shaped flowers and florets in autumn with yellow seeds clusters that develop into nested clusters of sweet-smelling, ovate, and yellow fruits with a blackened calyx by springtime.

In Pharaonic art, the taxon is shown naturalistic and most often in its fruiting period in the spring.
Mandrakes must have been one of the foreign flora that King Thutmose III brought back to Egypt during his tour of the empire in his Year 25 for Amun-Ra’s ‘botanical gardens’ at Karnak, as its earliest pictorial evidence comes from the botanical gardens reliefs in his Ax-mnw jubilee hall there, as well as in contemporary tomb art of the period like in Min’s tomb (TT 109).

Mandrake is likely rrmt (𓂋𓂋𓅓𓈅𓏸𓏦) in Late Egyptian, deriving from its Akkadian term samtarpilû: literally ‘egg plant’.

Due to its attributes and growth cycle, mandrake in ancient Near East was associated with Ereškigal, the queen and goddess of the underworld and Namtar, the chthonic god of death, plague, and disease.

The use of mandrake roots in Pharaonic folk magico-medicine to induce sleep and treat disease is not unexpected due to the natural photochemicals in roots, used to treat stomach, intestinal, and vaginal complications, including but not limited to: ulcers, strangury, vomiting, and nausea.

Mandrake fruit and flowers were a sunny addition in formal flower arrangements and were liked to rebirth and resurrection such as one of the ones discovered in King Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV 62). 💜𓆰🍋

hotographs courtesy of mandrake fruits and flowers by me in the and via ; Mandrake botanical illustration by Von Cuba (1485); Detail of a wall-painting of a women feeding another a mandrake at a banquet in Nebamun’s tomb (TTE2) at the by me ; Facsimiles of a Ramesside š-formal garden in Ipuy’s tomb (TT217) by Ni. de Garis Davies and of a formal banquet with noblewoman eating mandrakes from Nebseny’s tomb (TT108) via ; New Kingdom faience mandrake and necklace with faience dates and mandrakes at ; Mandrake botanical specimen via POWO of .

(Garden) statuary, or ‘likeness/images’ (twt) as they were generally called in Pharaonic Egypt, were simulacra to perpetuate the fresh flora and fauna (rnpt) raised in the arable fields and formal gardens of cult and memorial temple, shrine and tomb (called ‘houses of eternity’) domains/estates of both the royal and nonroyal spheres.

Such examples include those of the NN-who-offers-fresh-produce type, which are incredibly preserved from the reigns of the Queen-Pharaoh Hatshepsut (MMA 29.3.1-30.3.1), her coregent and eventual successor King Thutmose III (JE 42056); and from his successor, son and heir Pharaoh Amenhotep II (no. 1375) of the mid 18th Dynasty at the or from pictorial evidence in Mayor and Overseer Sennefer’s tomb proper (TT 96A). Or the textual reference in the Abbott Hieratic Papyrus (pBM EA 10221) to one of Pharaoh Amenhotep I called ‘Amenhotep-(𓋹𓌀𓋴)-of-the-š-formal-garden’, which imagines must be beautiful if ever discovered in the future.

Earlier archetypes that parallel the NN-who-offers-fresh-produce (rnpt) type from Thebes/Waset (modern-day Luxor) have survived from the Middle Kingdom-era reign of King Amenemhat III: a double statue of the monarch as the Nile god Hapy (JE 18221).

This statuary type could be placed within formal garden landscapes along tree avenues (allées) and groves, as well as within garden shrines like the tripartite one located within an extensive at-nt-xt-formal garden of the Domain of Amun of Thebes that was updated/made anew (m-mAwt) by King Amenhotep II.

This statuary type was also sometimes ritually moved temporarily from formal garden landscapes into the other shrines for festivals like those from Hatshepsut’s memorial temple at the .

The reigning kings are depicted kneeling or striding, offering fresh bundles of flora and fauna from the arable fields and formal gardens of the Domain of Amun(-Ra) of Thebes. Amun-Ra was an important syncretic state deity of the New Kingdom who embodied the hidden and visible aspects of our Sun.

Photographs courtesy of the , , and

Today is and the author () will rightly celebrate (honey) bees, who as with other pollinators, are so important to our plant’s wellbeing.

Honey bee’s relationship with humans spans more than 10,000 years: from the Prehistoric wild landscapes of modern-day Spain and Georgia in the Caucasuses to their domestication in the arable fields and gardens of early (Pre)dynastic Egypt.

Our relationship is a long and respected one, and as with many other species - animal, plant and fungi - requires a mutual understanding between parties: something that many humans take for granted and have forgotten in our so-called ‘modern’ but still very much chaotic and out-of-touch world we live today.

Egyptian honey bees (Apis mellifera lamarkii Cockerell) are native to Egypt and the Sudan and shown stylized in Egyptian art. An Egyptian honey bee was called afy-n-bit (𓂝𓆑𓏭𓆤𓈖𓆤𓏏), coming from the same root as afi (𓂝𓂝𓆑𓂡) or ‘to squeeze out’. In reality, this type of honey bee has six legs, a small ovate black and yellow abdomen, a hairy thorax, two forewings and hindwings, and two compound eyes with antennae. Egyptian honey bees are low in honey yield and collect nectar and pollen during their honeyflow season from January to June, producing their actual honey from April to June.

Beekeeping (apiculture) is known from the Predynastic Period (6-3000 BC) onwards and famously from King Niwaserra Any’s sun-temple in the so-called ‘Room of Seasons,’ dating to the 6th Dynasty. Apiaries were likely placed in agricultural fields, and the informal and formal gardens of the elite and in temple domains, as the Egyptians were well-aware of the bee’s symbiotic relationship with plants, evident in Salt Papyrus 825 from the Late Period:

“As soon as all the bees had been fashioned, [their] work in the flowers of all the fields came into existence”.

500+ folk magico-medicinal cures and mummification preparations have honey; or rubs on meats or as a sweetener for desserts, wine and beer. Honey had sun, fertility and rebirth symbolism. 🐝𓆤🐝

In Salt Papyrus 825, bees and honey were considered acts of solar creation by the sun-god due to their color, shape, and sweetness, which were referred to as the tears of Ra:

“The god Ra wept and the tears from his eyes fell on the ground and turned into a bee. The bee made (his honeycomb) and busied himself with the flowers of every plant; and so wax was made and also honey out of the tears of Ra’.”

Photos courtesy of of an Egyptian honey bee on a Matricaria or Anthemis spp.; Facsimiles of an offerer with a bowl of fresh honeycomb with bees from Tjener’s (TT 101) and New Kingdom-style beehives from Rekhmira’s (TT 100) tombs via

Spring is in full bloom including irises whose namesake is Iris herself: the Graeco-Roman goddess of the rainbow.

Irises appear in the ‘botanical garden’ bas-reliefs of the sun chamber’ of Karnak’s Ax-mnw-jubilee hall of Pharaoh Thutmose III (and the author ’s favorite king!).

Represented and considered by experts to be an ancient precursor to the ‘cabinets of curiosities’ of Western 17-19th century Europe, over 300 different native and foreign animal and plant taxa are shown in the holiest offering place (and ḥtp-shaped) chamber of the king’s jubilee hall dedicated to the syncretic New Kingdom state god Amun-Ra. The pharaoh and his royal entourage are described bringing many of the taxa back during his ‘Tour of the northern empire’ in his Year 25.

Irises comprise over 300 taxa, many cultivars (indicated with an ‘x’ between the genus and species in Botanical Latin) and are native to the Mediterranean Basin and southern Europe.

Irises are flowering perennials of the iris and asparagoid lily family Iridaceae that grow linear leaves, seed capsules and distinct six-lobed flowers from their creeping bulbs or rhizomes (depending on the climate, type and/or cultivar) and are in bloom from late winter to late spring: January to April.

Mary’s iris, Mary’s-sword-of-sorrow, or sword-lily (Iris mariae Barbey), who’s namesake is the Virgin Mother St Mary’s epithet as ‘Our Lady of Sorrow (Mater Dolorosa)’, referring to the seven sorrows that pierced her heart due to Christ’s crucifixion, e.g., is a purplish, blackish to violet, short-stemmed taxon with pairs of falling sepals that thrives in the desert climates of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Israel-Palestine. 🌈𓆰💜𓆰🌈

Photographs courtesy of the bas-relief of Iris taxa in the ‘sun chamber’ of Thutmose III’s Ax-mnw-jubilee hall at Karnak by me ; Iris mariae Barbey in bloom in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by ; Iris botanical illustration by Weinmann et al. (1750); Palomino’s Allegory of Air with the goddesses Hera/Juno and Iris; Yellow Iris seeds by ; 20th-century picture of St Mary in her form as ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’.

Spring is abound and so are the beautiful yellow fruits of a fan-favorite of the ancient world: mandrake.

Mandrakes (Mandragora autumnalis Bertol. = Mandragora officinarium L.) were likely introduced and naturalized into Egypt by Pharaoh Thutmose III.

Mandrakes were planted in the flowerbeds of Theban formal gardens and used in formal flower arrangements from the mid-18th Dynasty onwards.

Mandrake is a perennial, undershrub species of the nightshade family Solanaceae, is native to Syria, Palestine, and Israel, has deep, thick networks of roots, and purple, bell-shaped flowers and florets with yellow seeds clusters in autumn that develop into nested clusters of sweet-smelling, ovate, and yellow fruits with a blackened calyx by springtime.

In Pharaonic art, the taxon is shown naturalistic and most often in its fruiting period in the spring.
Mandrakes must have been one of the foreign flora that King Thutmose III brought back to Egypt during his tour of the empire in his Year 25 for Amun-Ra’s ‘botanical gardens’ at Karnak, as its earliest pictorial evidence comes from the botanical gardens reliefs in his Ax-mnw jubilee hall there, as well as in contemporary tomb art of the period like in Min’s tomb (TT 109).

Mandrake is likely rrmt (𓂋𓂋𓅓𓈅𓏸𓏦) in Late Egyptian, deriving from its Akkadian term samtarpilû: literally ‘egg plant’.

Due to its attributes and growth cycle, mandrake in ancient Near East was associated with Ereškigal, the queen and goddess of the underworld and Namtar, the chthonic god of death, plague, and disease.

The use of mandrake roots in Pharaonic folk magico-medicine to induce sleep and treat disease is not unexpected due to the natural photochemicals in roots, used to treat stomach, intestinal, and vaginal complications, including but not limited to: ulcers, strangury, vomiting, and nausea.

Mandrake fruit and flowers were a sunny addition in formal flower arrangements and were liked to rebirth and resurrection such as one of the ones discovered in King Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV 62). 💜𓆰🍋

Photographs courtesy of mandrake blooms by me in the and fruits and roots via ; Mandrake botanical illustration by Von Cuba (1485); Facsimiles of a Ramesside š-formal garden in Ipuy’s tomb (TT217) by Ni. de Garis Davies and of a formal banquet with noblewoman eating mandrakes from Nebseny’s tomb (TT108) via ; New Kingdom faience mandrake and necklace with faience dates and mandrakes at ; Mandrake botanical specimen via POWO of .

This is a lovely detail of the interior of Ankhefenkhonsu’s cartonnage anthropoid (human-shaped) sarcophagus at the . He was a Scribe within the Domain of Amun(-Ra) of Thebes (present-day Luxor) during the Third Intermediate Period’s 21st Dynasty (c. 1069-945 BCE).

Cartonnage is made by layering and moulding ideally wet linen and papyrus sheets with plaster into shape, similar to papier-mâché.

In this vignette scene, Ankhefenkhonsu wears a scented unguent cone with a lotus bud with its long rhizome intact that acts as a counterpoise, a gold bandeau around his wig, and wesekh-necklace (collar) and a long ethereal linen with a fine leopard skin.

Ankhefenkhonsu presents an incredible formal flower arrangement comprised of Cyperaceae, white lotus (Nymphaea lotus L.), grapes (Vitis spp.) and poppy blossoms and petals (Papaver spp.), as well as bundles of white lotus, alliums, as smaller formal flower bouquet of blue lotus, white lotus and poppy blossoms and petals sewn and tied together with greenery likely Cyperaceae.

Foodstuff like pomegranate (Punicum granatum L.), Christ’s-thorn jujube fruit (Ziziphus spina-Christi (L.) Desf.), common figs (Ficus carica L.) and notched sycamore fig (F. sycomorus L.), as well as flanks of meat and a fresh duck, types of finely baked offering breads, and two wine amphorae.

The text reads “all fresh and pure flowers, fruits and vegetables and libations” to a seated, solar syncretic form of “Osiris-Amun-Ra, King of the Gods, Lord of Heaven, Lord of Athribis”.

Ideally Ankhefenkhonsu’s mummified remains had been laid to rest within his sarcophagus, however, his mummy has yet to be discovered for the time being.

Photograph by me

Spring is in full bloom and so are irises whose namesake is Iris herself: the Graeco-Roman goddess of the rainbow.

Irises appear in the ‘botanical garden’ bas-reliefs of the sun chamber’ of Karnak’s Ax-mnw-jubilee hall of Pharaoh Thutmose III (and the author ’s favorite king!).

Represented and considered by experts to be an ancient precursor to the ‘cabinets of curiosities’ of Western 17-19th century Europe, over 300 different native and foreign animal and plant taxa are shown in the holiest offering place (and ḥtp-shaped) chamber of the king’s jubilee hall dedicated to the syncretic New Kingdom state god Amun-Ra. The pharaoh and his royal entourage are described bringing many of the taxa back during his ‘Tour of the northern empire’ in his Year 25.

Irises comprise over 300 taxa, many cultivars (indicated with an ‘x’ between the genus and species in Botanical Latin) and are native to the Mediterranean Basin and southern Europe.

Irises are flowering perennials of the iris and asparagoid lily family Iridaceae that grow linear leaves, seed capsules and distinct six-lobed flowers from their creeping bulbs or rhizomes (depending on the climate, type and/or cultivar) and are in bloom from late winter to late spring: January to April.

Mary’s iris, Mary’s-sword-of-sorrow, or sword-lily (Iris mariae Barbey), who’s namesake is the Virgin Mother St Mary’s epithet as ‘Our Lady of Sorrow (Mater Dolorosa)’, referring to the seven sorrows that pierced her heart due to Christ’s crucifixion, e.g., is a purplish, blackish to violet, short-stemmed taxon with pairs of falling sepals that thrives in the desert climates of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Israel-Palestine. 🌈𓆰💜𓆰🌈

Photographs courtesy of Iris mariae Barbey at and ; Palomino’s Allegory of Air with the goddesses Hera/Juno and Iris; Bas-relief of Iris taxa in the ‘sun chamber’ of Thutmose III’s Ax-mnw-jubilee hall at Karnak by me ; Iris botanical illustration by Weinmann et al. (1750); Iris mariae specimen from Egypt via POWO of ; 20th-century painting on canvas of St Mary; Yellow Iris seeds by

This is a beautiful grape harvest and winemaking scene from the Ramesside Artist(an) and Craftsman Ipuy’s tomb (TT 217) of the 19th Dynasty at Place-of-Truth (modern-day Deir el-Medina).

The stunning naturalism of the grapevines framed by a dynamic scene of local and/or hired gardeners and vintners who collect/smash grapes takes place likely in one of the arable (formal) gardens of the Domain of Amun(-Ra) of Thebes (present-day Luxor).

In ancient Egypt and the Sudan, skilled workers from Bahariya Oasis (Dsds.w) and Levantine (Mnty.w) nomads, whether by contract or as (war) tribute, were the choicest farmhands, gardeners and vintners of the pharaohs for the arable fields, vineyards and gardens due to their renowned horticultural and viticultural knowledge in the ancient world.

In ancient Egypt, grape domestication and cultivation was established from Predynastic Period onwards (6-3,000 BCE).

Also known as viticulture, domesticated grape (Vitis vinifera L.) varieties were grown for their sweet fruits, which were squeezed into wines.

Pharaonic grape wines could also include the addition of other fruits like dates, figs or lotus and likely pomegranate. Pharaonic wine was classified in three taste tiers: nfr (𓄤) or ‘good’; nfr nfr (𓄤𓄤) or ‘very good’; as well as nfr nfr nfr (𓄤𓄤𓄤) or ‘the best.’

A highly alcoholic wine called shedeh was also prepared with an intensely concentrated grape sugar mixture and served from a small, vial-like jar. Grapes were raised in the arable fields and gardens of large and small (non)royal and/or temple domains (pr.w): grown as a creeping plant on arbors or pergolas.

The gods Osiris, Shemzu and Renenutet were linked to viticulture due to its dark juice, which recalls the regenerative properties of the fertile, reddish and muddy Nilotic silt of the inundation season, and the deceased’s rebirth in the hereafter as a glorified/blessed spirit (Ax). the New Kingdom. 🍇𓆰🍇

Photographs courtesy of the Ipuy viticulture facsimile (TT 217) by Wilkinson via ; V. vinifera by ; V. vinifera drawing by Turpin (1820); Seed examples by@universityofgroningen

In ancient Egypt, grape domestication and cultivation is presented from the Predynastic Period onwards (6-3,000 BCE).

Also known as viticulture, domesticated grape (Vitis vinifera L.) varieties were grown for their sweet fruits, which were squeezed into wines.

Ancient Egyptian grape wines could also include the addition of other fruits like dates, figs or lotus and likely pomegranate. Pharaonic wine was classified in three taste tiers: nfr (𓄤) or ‘good’; nfr nfr (𓄤𓄤) or ‘very good’; as well as nfr nfr nfr (𓄤𓄤𓄤) or ‘the best.’

A highly alcoholic wine called shedeh was also prepared with an intensely concentrated grape sugar mixture and served from a small, vial-like jar. Grapes were raised in the arable fields and gardens of large and small (non)royal and/or temple domains (pr.w): grown as a creeping plant on arbors or pergolas.

The gods Osiris, Shemzu and Renenutet were closely link to viticulture due to its dark juice, which recalls the regenerative properties of the fertile, reddish and muddy Nilotic silt of the inundation season, and the deceased’s rebirth in the hereafter as a glorified/blessed spirit (Ax).

One of the most beautiful depictions of grapevines in Pharaonic art is on the ceiling of the cenotaph tomb of Sennefer (TT 96A) termed the ‘Tomb of the Vineyards’ in Egyptology: a Mayor, Chief (Garden) Architect, Royal Florist, and Overseer of the Formal Gardens of the Domain of Amun(-Ra) of Thebes of the mid-18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. 🍇𓆰🍷🍇

Photographs courtesy of V. vinifera on the vine by ; V. vinifera botanical illustation by; Detail of the grapevine on pergolas within a formal garden landscape (kAmw) in Nebamun’s tomb (TT90); Grape faience pendant from a pavilion/kiosk (mAru) of Amenhotep III’s House-of-Rejoicing Palace (modern-day Malkata and Birket Habu) at the ; Ancient domesticated grape seed via the ; Grapes among other food offerings by me from Nebamun’s tomb (TTE2) fragment at the .