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147395

The Iconography of Elephant as Offering at the Temple of Isis at Philae

Article

Last updated: 24 Dec 2024

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Tags

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Abstract

A remarkable scene is attested on the western gate room of the pylon of Philae temple in Aswan. The scene represents three fecundity figures on each vertical's columns. The three male figures personify three districts in Lower Nubia, namely Mekhat, Maâmaâ and Bakt. The function of these figures is explained according to the textual accompanied the scene. Ptolemy IV Philopator was depicted as one of the three offering bearers presenting offering to the main god of the temple. The relation between the Ptolemaic king and fecundity figure is emblematic in order to follow the divine cult of the temple. The scene records a single elephant figure on the pylon room referring to ivory. The ebony, ivory and stones products were brought from Lower Nubia to be offered to goddess Isis. This paper will analyse the connotation of this remarkable scene in accordance to its textual evidence. The researcher will approach the historical, religious background on the elephant as an offering during the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator. The analytical study will also allow to differentiate between the three fecundity figures on each vertical hieroglyphic column.

DOI

10.21608/jaauth.2021.53460.1100

Keywords

Divine offering, fecundity figures, western room of pylon, ivory, elephant

Authors

First Name

Sherouk

Last Name

Ossama El-Sayed Zagloul

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Faculty of Tourism and Hotels Alexandria University

Email

sherouk.ossama90@gmail.com

City

Alexandria

Orcid

-

Volume

19

Article Issue

3

Related Issue

20824

Issue Date

2020-12-01

Receive Date

2020-12-13

Publish Date

2020-12-01

Page Start

48

Page End

60

Print ISSN

1687-1863

Online ISSN

2682-4612

Link

https://jaauth.journals.ekb.eg/article_147395.html

Detail API

https://jaauth.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=147395

Order

3

Type

Original Article

Type Code

997

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality

Publication Link

https://jaauth.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Iconography of Elephant as Offering at the Temple of Isis at Philae

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023