A Ptolemaic Offering Table of Wedjatshu: British Museum EA1364

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Arts, Archaeology Department, New Valley University, Egypt

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the publication and analytical study of a limestone offering table[1], presently in the possession of the British Museum under the inventory number EA1364.[2] It belonged to Wedjatshu who bore a priestly title IHyt “sistrum player”. Wedjatshu seems to have been a member of one of the most influential families in Akhmim during the Ptolemaic Period, more specifically in relation to the temple. This paper sheds light on her family members and their social backgrounds. Based on the main inscriptional sources of her identity and her family, found to date, she married a high dignitary priest, Djehuty-mes, who inherited the priestly positions and benefices from three of his forefathers and handed over these to his elder son Irethoreru (Inaroys III). Also, her daughter, Tasheretenmin, retained the traditional titles of her mother and also had privileged access to the singing and playing in music troupes. The related mortuary material of the priestly family from which Wedjatshu’s husband descends declaring that their career was exclusively in carrying boxes of clothes and adornments for the god’s statue during the annual festivals.
 
[1] My gratitude is to the British Museum authorities for the permission to publish this object.  
[2] I am very grateful to Dr. Gillian Bowen, (Monash University) and Dr. Marion Claude (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier) for their generous help and insightful comments. 

Keywords

References

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