Thus several short stone altars were found, of which one, broken in
half, was 22 inches high with a cup hollow on the top, 3½ inches wide
and one inch deep. Another was described as “well finished, and on the
top the surface was burnt for about a quarter of an inch inwards, black
outside and discoloured below. This proves that such altars were used
for burning, and from the small size, 5 to 7 inches across, the only
substance burnt on them must have been highly inflammable, such as
incense,”[30]
Two rectangular altars cut in stone were also found, each with two
saucer-like depressions, ten inches wide all over, and seven inches
across inside, which “might well be for meat offerings, or cakes
of flour and oil, a kind of pastry.”[31] According to a passage in
Jeremiah, the Israelite women, who repudiated visiting the sanctuary
of the Queen of Heaven without their husbands, which was forbidden to
them, said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and
poured out drink-offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship
her, and pour out drink-offerings unto her, without our men?” (Jer.
xliv. 19). The utterance shows that offerings in food and drink as well
as incense burning was customary in the cult of the Semitic goddess.
Offerings that consisted of cakes continued in Arabia into Christian
times. For Epiphanius of Cyprus († 403), in his book, _Against all
Heresies_, denounced certain Christians as Collyridians, from the
cakes which they placed under an awning and offered in the name of the
Virgin.[32]
Hathor, however, was not the only divinity whose cult was located at
Serabit. While the larger of the two caves was appropriated to her,
the smaller adjacent cave was associated with Sopd, who was repeatedly
named here from the reign of Amen-em-hat III (XII 6) onwards. One
inscription of the sixth year of this king named him together with
Hathor. Another of the forty-second year mentioned Sebek-didi who set
up an inscription and described himself as “beloved of Hathor; mistress
of the _mafkat_-country; beloved of Sopd, lord of the east; beloved of
Sneferu and the gods and goddesses of this land.”[33]
The special association of Sopd with the Pharaoh Amen-em-hat III is
shown by an open hall that was erected outside the temple at Serabit in
the course of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the decoration of which caused
Prof. Petrie to call it the hall of the kings. On the inner wall of
this building are the figures of the divinities and the kings who
were especially associated with Serabit. Among them is Sopd who is
seen holding in one hand an _ankh_, in the other a staff of justice,
and who follows the Pharaoh Amen-em-hat III.[34] Sopd during the
Eighteenth Dynasty was reckoned the equal of Hathor. For the entrance
to a mine that was opened conjointly by Queen Hatshepsut and her nephew
Tahutmes shows Tahutmes offering incense to Hathor and Hatshepsut in a
corresponding scene offering incense to Sopd.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account