IFAO

This article reconsiders previous interpretation of the Dialog of a man with his Ba according to which the Dispute between the man and his Ba takes place, as a literary fiction, in the presence of the divine tribunal. This thesis is supported by the comparison with spell 38 of the Coffin Texts. In this spell in which the confrontation, also in front of the divine tribunal, is between the dead and his heir, the son appears as the dead father’s Ba on earth.

Since 2000, excavations have been undertaken in the XXVIth dynasty Chapel of Osiris -Ounnefer Neb-djefaou located in the northern part of the temenos of Amun at Karnak. This small temple, whose remains were exposed during the XIXth century, has never been the subject of systematic study. In addition to the publishing of the inscriptions, the project’s focus is on the definition of the structure of the building and its relation to the neighbouring area, especially the path leading to the temple of Ptah and the adjacent mound that takes up a large part of the north-western corner of the temenos of Amun. The excavations have revealed several phases of occupation at the entrance of the chapel, from the XXVIth dynasty to the Coptic period, notably the reuse of several lintel blocks from the Saite chapel in a probably late Roman "hydraulic" settlement. Concerning the temple itself, whose mudbrick and stone walls were badly weathered over the last centuries, a preliminary reconstruction of its plan is suggested.

A Greek inscription recently discovered in Kôm al-Cheikh Aḥmad (Baḥariya Oasis), -mentioning the praefectus Marcus Iunius Rufus, was probably, this discussion argues, a dedication to an -unknown deity of a building belonging to a temple, which dates to the reign of Emperor Domitianus. The site may have been excavated in the XXth century by Ahmed Fakhry. The author also studies the corpus of inscriptions dedicated to Roman emperors and dated according to the name of the praefectus Aegypti.

The article discusses inscriptions from forty-five previously unpublished limestone and -terracotta ostraca housed at the French Institute in Cairo with their transcriptions and translations.

The sign G21, identified by L. Keimer as a reference to the Guineafowl, Numida meleagris L., has the phonetic reading nḥ, which is also the bird’s name, Nḥ. It is commonly used in the writing of the word for cyclical eternity, Nḥḥ.

Nḥ is mentioned in funerary texts, connected to sunrise.

This paper reconsiders the delicate problem of Djoser and Imhotep, two well known figures during the Ptolemaic period in the region of the first cataract. Why is Imhotep, a popular Memphite personnage since the Old Kingdom, worshipped in the Elephantine area, far from his original cult centre? Is it possible to improve our knowledge of the process by which the Egyptians instituted a cult of Imhotep there? Is this cult based on local historical events which would have made the introduction of this Memphite demigod into the Elephantine pantheon easier?

This article describes the mining expeditions led to South-Sinai during the New Kingdom. Using the epigraphic material, it shall point out to the various sites that were selected and describe the expeditionary forces: their number, organisation, their leaders and the roads they followed.

The use of fabric sjȝ.t within the framework of the Ritual of the Embalming largely exceeds its material function. It forms part of a vast network of bonds – that this article tries to restore – referring to other elements of creation: Ġax, rising, sun, moon, etc.

In spite of important damages on the south wall of the inner Hypostyle or room of appearence in Dendara, it was possible to determine that the four pictures, on the left side of the door form a coherent set. Through the power of the primeval god and god of creation Ptah-Tatenen, the universe of Tentyra gradually gets organised. The second and third pictures are in bad condition but we can guess that Montu is present and Thot, the god of learning, preserves the cosmic order he established. The top of the wall depicts the rising of the sun. The sungod Re-Horakhty appears and bestows integral kingship on Hathor. In her turn, the celestial goddess guarantees the investiture of the king who is charged with maintaining the cosmic order by specific rites.