172: Horemheb, Wise Like Thoth

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Horemheb's favourite god. Throughout his life, Horemheb commissioned monuments and artefacts that honoured Djehuty (Thoth). As a courtier, then a King, Horemheb showed a certain favour towards this god. Why did he like this god, in particular, and what do these artefacts tell us about Horemheb as a person? Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Logo image: Horemheb as a Scribe, statue in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Read the Hymn to Thoth at the Metropolitan Museum of Art website. Music interludes by Luke Chaos, Hathor Systrum, and Keith Zizza. Select Bibliography: N. Allon, Writing, Violence, and the Military: Images of Literacy in Eighteenth dynasty Egypt (1550-1295 BCE). (2019). B. G. Davies, Egyptian Historical Records of the Later Eighteenth Dynasty, VI (1995). M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume II: The New Kingdom (1976). W. J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (1995). K. Sowada, ‘A Late Eighteenth Dynasty Statue in the Nicholson Museum, Sydney’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 80 (1994), 137–43. H. E. Winlock, ‘A Statue of Horemhab before His Accession’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 10 (1924), 1–5. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The Salam alaqam, alaqum, peace be upon you. Welcome back to the History of Egypt podcast,
0:32.2	Episode 172, Wise, like Thoth. Today, we step outside the main narrative of King Hormhab's reign.
0:41.1	I want to get a closer look at Hormhab's personality, specifically the king's relationship with a
0:46.7	famous god, Jehuti, or Thoth, the Lord of Wisdom, the master of writing, the great advisor,
0:54.0	and counsellor of the gods.
0:56.4	Hormheb liked Thoth. He referenced the god repeatedly in his royal and pre-royal monuments.
1:03.8	It's an interesting phenomenon. Why did Hortemheb venerate this god specifically?
1:09.9	Today's episode comes to you as an offering from Adrian,
1:13.4	Tony and Morgan, who joined the Patreon as overseers. Folks, thank you so much. Your support
1:20.8	allows me to buy writing materials, printing paper, and take the time to read, read, read.
1:28.1	Surely, the great Jahuti, Thoth, will bless your learned patronage.
1:33.3	To everyone listening, thank you for joining me.
1:36.8	Come, let us sit in the court of the temple, and hear the praises of a wise god.
1:55.1	Last time, we stood by as Hormheb unveiled a significant proclamation.
2:04.3	The great decree, carved on large stilai and erected in various temples, presented the king's vision for order in Egypt.
2:10.7	That vision is complicated. We may read it positively, cynically, or somewhere in between.
2:12.8	But one thing is clear.
2:20.6	Publicly, King Horemheb, Josar Keparou-Rah, presented an image of discipline, stability,
2:29.3	and obedience to the cosmic order, an order that was created, maintained, and recorded by the gods.
2:33.7	At the end of the great decree, Hormhib made a curious statement.
2:40.2	He described himself and his reign in positive terms, how he would achieve great eternal things.
	...

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