Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 104. (Budapest, 2006)

ÉVA LIPTAY: Between Heaven and Earth II: The Iconography of a Funerary Papyrus from the Twenty-First Dynasty (Part I.)

Starting with the last one: the defeated body of Apophis with the knives lodging into it recalls the central scene in the middle register of the seventh hour of the Amduat. A similar scene can be found in the last (twelfth) hour of the Book of Gates: there, however, the destroying (magical) power of the serpent is neutralised not by knives, but by tethers and ropes. In the material of the Twenty-first Dynasty, the figure of Apophis stabbed by knives, and of many coils is widely depicted, but its traditional place is under the sun-barque.,

63 The direct precursor of that new iconographical motif is a scene on the enigmatic wall of the Ramesses IX tomb, which is of cardinal importance for the Budapest papyrus.

64 As also in that particular scene of the Ramesses IX tomb, at the left-hand side end of the middle register, under the serpent-headed sun-barque, a serpent of many coils can be seen.

63 According to the accompanying text it is Apophis, on whose back (bksw)

Mi the sun-barque grounds (

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61 for a moment, then passes above it after defeating the enemy. The enemy this time (besides Apophis) comes also in the form of eleven Nehaher-snakes, which are destroyed by arrows coming from the sun-barque and from the helpers of the god (seven netherworld creatures who seem to be androgynous, standing on their lit -hills).

6S THOSE IN THE SERPENT'S COILS The precursor of these seven creatures who destroy the enemy is the seven figures appearing in the 60th scene

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'' of the 9th part of the Book of Gates, who are standing in the coils of a flame-breathed serpent. " The flame destroys the sun-god's bound-handed enemies; ' the huge serpent therefore represents a positive, protecting powder. The seven deities are called the "sons of Horus" in the text.

72 Hornung'

3 draws attention to another serpent-like creature of similar nature in the 6th hour of the Amduat (No. 462), where the sons of Horus appear in their more usual grouping of four. On the Twenty-first Dynasty papyri, the above motifs are varied very imaginatively.'

4 The solution found on the Heruben papyrus is worth special mention. It has been said earlier that this version together with the Henuttawi variant, unlike the Budapest piece, kept the figure of the Nehep-serpent who is protectively surrounding the great god when adapting the Ramesses IX scene. On the Heruben version, the four sons of Horus are placed in the coils of that serpent.

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" That means that they were aware of the function and meaning of both the figures within the coiled serpent and of the serpent (the aspect of defeating the enemy), despite the fact that this appears on the Ramesses IX version, which served as a model, only quite indirectly. In the case of the Budapest papyrus, the outcome is even more interesting. Apparently, the maker of the composition felt it necessary to depict the defeated Apophis,

76 as well as to line