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Ancient Egypt Magazine

Issue One - May / June 2000

People of Ancient Egypt

Even in times of uncertainty, the daily ritual to the gods of Egypt continued, as it had done for over 2,000 years. Some of the chants and hymns were so old that even the senior priests could no longer remember what response they were intended to produce.

The temple of Amun at Karnak was the most important in Egypt. Over 500 years earlier, a local family of aggressive and enterprising nobles had finally thrown those hated invaders the "Hekau-Hasut" out of the Delta area of Egypt. It was Amun, the god of that revered family, who then became the chief of all the gods, uniting with the Old Kingdom sun god, Re, to become the supreme "Amun-Re".

The temple had grown since then. Every monarch, from great warrior kings of the Theban Dynasty to the boy king Tutankhamun (and even the reviled heretic Akhenaten) had added to the temple at Karnak. Its fame had spread not only throughout Egypt and Nubia but also throughout the known world.

Those great days, and the great kings, Tuthmosis III, and later, Sety I and Ramesses II, were gone. The temple remained though, and the ritual continued, and dozens of men and women owed their income to it. There were those who made the garlands for the god, and those who prepared his food and drink; those who danced and sang for him and those who looked after his estates.

His duties involved ensuring the quality of the bulls kept for Amun, his wife the goddess Mut and their son Khonsu. He was not a senior priest, but his job was demanding, even though he was only expected to perform his priestly duties for three months every year.Well, he was prepared. He had a fine coffin ready– though not made for him personally, it carried his name and titles. He had chosen it from the workshops and it was of excellent quality. He could afford a decent embalming and he would carry on his body as a talisman a mark of special respect from his king, Ramesses XI. This Ramesses was nothing like his namesake! With Egypt decreasing in power in the world, the priests of Amun were beginning to realise they would have to look out for themselves.

He was just a minor priest, although in this most important of temples. It wasn’t his job to prophesy the future. Perhaps it was just his age and condition that made him feel so pessimistic. He would rather have stayed with his wife and family than do his service by the god. For days he had been preparing for his time at the temple, removing himself from his family, washing, shaving and praying, not even allowed to kiss or caress his wife or eat some of his favourite food.

Finally, he donned his pure priestly robes of fine white linen and made his way, helped by servants, to the temple. Some days he could hardly walk for the pain.

The temple precincts loomed ahead of him, the painted stone magnificent as always against the deep blue sky. He would pass, but Egypt would surely endure.

The full story of Natsef-Amun, whose body now lies in Leeds City Museum, can be read in:

"The Mummy’s Tale: The Scientific Investigation of the Leeds Mummy"

by A.R.David and E.Tapp, London 1992.

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