Hedvig Győry: Mélanges offerts a Edith Varga „Le lotus qui sort de terre” (Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts Supplément 1. Budapest, 2001)
LÁSZLÓ KÁKOSY: A late Horus cippus
catchwords 4 such as rn, dt\ nb (name, eternity, Lord) and shows a predilection for the sign of the seated man. 6 Another catchword common on the stelae of this genre sb 1 (rebel, enemy) does not occur on our stela. Pseudo-texts of this manner were intended to give the semblance of real magical spells carrying healing power by virtue of their very letters. The prominence of the Bes head is a feature characteristic of the late phase of the history of the Horns cippi. s The dwarf god, whose respect was enhanced by his ears and mane of a lion, began to gain more importance during the New Kingdom and the Late Period. Originally he was a deity of the popular religion without mythological background or theological interpretations. This began to change in the New Kingdom. In the story of the divine birth of Amenhotep III Bes and Thoeris descend from heaven to assist at the birth of the future king. 9 A late coffin shows Bes in the role of Shu as supporting heaven. 10 Later he became one of the characters of the myth of the Eye of Re (Hathor, Tefnut) who had to be enticed back from Nubia." His rise led to the formation of the so-called pantheistic figures 12 with Bes head and attributes of various gods. The main face is usually surrounded by heads of animals 11 or, in other cases, these animal heads are placed on the main 4 Ibid. p. 128. 5 Cf. CG 9420, 9424 (G. Daressy, Textes et dessins magiques, Le Caire 1903. pp. 32-33, 34; stela in Bologna KS 242, Baltimore Kat. Nr. 739; Naples 1005; Leiden A 1052; Stemberg-El Hotabi, op. cit. (note 3), fig. 74 b, fig. 78, fig. 89 a, fig. 90, etc. 6 A. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, London 1957, A 1. T Bologna KS 242; Figeac o. Nr.; Bruxelles Inv. Nr. E 4995; Sternberg-El Hotabi, op. cit. (note 3). fig. 74 b, fig. 76, fig. 77, etc. 8 Sternberg-El Hotabi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 122. ' K. Sethe, Urk. IV, p. 1718. 10 Bonnet, RÂRG, p. 108. " Malaise, op. cit. (note 3), pp. 696-8. 13 L. Kákosy, Der Gott Bes in einer koptischen Legende, in: Studio Aegyptiaca VII, Budapest 1981, p. 126. " E.g. the bronze statue in the Louvre (E 11554) from the time of Psammctichus I. G. Andreu - M.-H. Rutschowscaya Chr. Ziegler, /_ 'Egypte ancienne au Louvre, Paris 1997, p. 1 86 No 93. Fig. 4. Fig. 4/a.
