Only fragments of the hieroglyphic texts engraved into the walls of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt have been translated into English. Initially, translations were based on transcriptions by Maxence de Rochemonteix, Émile Gaston Chassinat, Sylvie Cauville, and Didier Devauchelle. In 1986, the German Edfu Project, led by Dieter Kurth, revisited earlier work, and has since published updated transcriptions, transliterations, and translations of most Edfu texts in German. Here, I have translated into English from the Edfu Project’s German a passage written near the northwest corner of the interior face of the temple’s enclosure wall. It recounts the creation of the world according to the Memphite cosmogony. My translation aims to reflect both the essence of the Edfu Project’s German interpretation of the text and the original hieroglyphic composition, thus preserving originalist content in an attempt not to introduce unwanted English adaptations of German language nuances into the content. The passage explores metaphysical and religious themes some of which trace back to the Pyramid Texts, offering insight into early ancient Egyptian beliefs. Thus, this translation may provide a valuable resource for researchers unfamiliar with German, or Ptolemaic hieroglyphic.
References
[1]
Allen, J. P. (2014). Middle Egyptian. An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs(3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107283930
[2]
Chassinat, É. (1931). Le Temple d’Edfou (Tome Sixième). Imprimerie de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale. https://archive.org/details/MMAF23/mode/2up
[3]
Effland, A., von Falck, M., & Graeff, J. P. (2009). Inschriften des Ptolemäerzeitlichen Temples von Edfu—Das Edfu Projekt. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. https://www.academia.edu/326697/Inschriften_des_ptolem?erzeitlichen_Tempels_von_Edfu
[4]
Gardiner, A. H. (1927). Egyptian Grammar. Clarenden Press. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015047473916&view=1up&seq=479
[5]
German Edfu Project (2002-2017). Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. https://web.archive.org/web/20140502032632/ http://adw-goe.de/forschung/forschungsprojekte-akademienprogramm/edfu-projekt/
[6]
Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale du Caire (IFAO) (1985, 1987, 2008). https://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/catalogue/?coll=MMAF&page=2&total=16&nb=10&nv=0
[7]
Kurth, D. (2009). Einführung ins Ptolemäische (Teil 1). Backe-Verlag.
[8]
Kurth, D. (2021). Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu. Abteilung I Übersetzungen(Band 5.1, Edfou IV). Backe-Verlag.
[9]
Kurth, D., Behrmann, A., Block, A., Brech, R., Budde, D., Effland, A., von Falck, M., Felber, H., Graeff, J.-P., Koepke, S., Martinssen-von Falck, S., Pardey, E., Rüter, St., Waitkus, W., & Woodhouse, S. (2014). Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu. Abteilung I Übersetzungen(Band 3, Edfou VI).PeWe-Verlag.
[10]
Reymond, E. A. E. (1969). The Mythical Origin of the Egyptian Temple. Manchester University Press.
