|
whereas
those who were in prison and those who were under accusation
for a long time, he has freed of the charges against them;
and
| whereas he has directed that the gods
shall continue to enjoy the revenues of the temples and the
yearly allowances given to them, both of corn and money,
likewise also the revenue assigned to the gods from the vine
land and from gardens and the other properties which
belonged to the gods in his father's time; and whereas he directed also, with regard to
the priests, that they should pay no more as the tax for
admission to the priesthood than what was appointed them
throughout his father's reign and until the first year of
his own reign; and has relieved the members of the priestly
orders from the yearly journey to Alexandria; and |
Own a full-size,
3D replica of the
famous Rosetta Stone
|
whereas he has directed that
impressments for the navy shall no longer be employed; and
of the tax on fine linen cloth paid by the temples to the
crown he has remitted two-thirds; and whatever things were
neglected in former times he has restored to their proper
condition, having a care how the traditional duties shall be
fittingly paid to the gods; and likewise has apportioned
justice to all, like Thoth the great and great; and has
ordained that those who return of the warrior class, and of
others who were unfavorably disposed in the days of the
disturbances, should, on their return be allowed to occupy
their old possessions; and
whereas he provided that cavalry and
infantry forces and ships should be sent out against those
who invaded Egypt by sea and by land, laying out great sums
in money and corn in order that the temples and all those
who are in the land might be in safety; and having gone to
Lycopolis in the Busirite nome, which had been occupied and
fortified against a siege with an abundant store of weapons
and all other supplies seeing that disaffection was now of
long standing among the impious men gathered into it, who
had perpetrated much damage to the temples and to all the
inhabitants of Egypt, and having encamped against it, he
surrounded it with mounds and trenches and elaborate
fortifications; when the Nile made a great rise in the
eighth year of his reign, which usually floods the plains,
he prevented it, by damming at many points the outlets of
the channels spending upon this no small amount of money,
and setting cavalry and infantry to guard them, in a short
time he took the town by storm and destroyed all the impious
men in it, even as Thoth and Horus, the son of Isis and
Osiris, formerly subdued the rebels in the same district;
and as to those who had led the rebels in the time of his
father and who had disturbed the land and done wrong to the
temples, he came to Memphis to avenge his father and his own
kingship, and punished them all as they deserved, at the
time that he came there to perform the proper ceremonies for
the assumption of the crown; and
whereas he remitted what was due to the
crown in the temples up to his eighth year, being no small
amount of corn and money; so also the fines for the fine
linen cloth not delivered to the crown, and of
those delivered, the several fees for their verification,
for the same period; and he also freed the temples of the
tax of the measure of grain for every measure of sacred land
and likewise the jar of wine for each measure of vine land;
and
whereas he bestowed many gifts upon Apis and
Mnevis and upon the other sacred animals in Egypt, because
he was much more considerate than the kings before him of
all that belonged to them; and for their burials he gave
what was suitable lavishly and splendidly, and what was
regularly paid to their special shrines, with sacrifices and
festivals and other customary observances, and he maintained
the honors of the temples and of Egypt according to the
laws; and he adorned the temple of Apis with rich work,
spending upon it gold and silver and precious stones, no
small amount; and
whereas he has funded temples and
shrines and altars, and has repaired those requiring it,
having the spirit of a beneficent god in matters pertaining
to religion; and
whereas after enquiry he has been
renewing the most honorable of the temples during his reign,
as is becoming; in requital of which things the gods have
given him health, victory and power, and all other good
things, and he and his children shall retain the kingship
for all time.
WITH PROPITIOUS FORTUNE: It was resolved by the
priests of all the temples in the land to increase greatly
the existing honors of King PTOLEMY, THE EVER-LIVING, THE
BELOVED
OF PTAH, THE GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS, likewise those
of his parents the Gods Philopatores, and of his ancestors,
the Great Euergatai and the Gods Adelphoi and the Gods
Soteres and to set up in the most prominent place of every
temple an image of the EVER-LIVING KING PTOLEMY, THE
BELOVED OF PTAH, THE GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS, which
shall be called that of 'PTOLEMY, the defender of
Egypt,' beside which shall stand the principal god of the
temple, handing him the scimitar of victory, all of which
shall be manufactured in the Egyptian fashion; and that the
priests shall pay homage to the images three times a day,
and put upon them the sacred garments, and perform the other
usual honors such as are given to the other gods in the
Egyptian festivals; and to establish for King PTOLEMY,
THE GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS, sprung of King Ptolemy
and Queen Arsinoe, the Gods Philopatores, a statue and
golden shrine in each of the temples, and to set it up in
the inner chamber with the other shrines; and in the great
festivals in which the shrines are carried in procession the
shrine of the GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS shall be
carried in procession with them. And in order that it may be
easily distinguishable now and for all time, there shall be
set upon the shrine ten gold crowns of the king, to which
shall be added a cobra exactly as on all the crowns adorned
with cobras which are upon the other shrines, in the center
of them shall be the double crown which he put on when he
went into the temple at Memphis to perform therein the
ceremonies for assuming the kingship; and there shall be
placed on the square surface round about the crowns, beside
the aforementioned crown, golden symbols eight in number
signifying that it is the shrine of the king who makes
manifest the Upper and the Lower countries. And since it is
the 30th of Mesore on which the birthday of the king is
celebrated, and likewise the 17th of Paophi on which he
succeeded his father in the kingship, they have held these
days in honor as name-days in the temples, since they are
sources of great blessings for all;
it was further decreed that a festival shall be kept
in the temples throughout Egypt on these days in every
month, on which there shall be sacrifices and libations and
all the ceremonies customary at the other festivals and the
offerings shall be given to the priests who serve in the
temples. And a festival shall be kept for King PTOLEMY,
THE EVER-LIVING, THE BELOVED OF PTAH, THE GOD EPIPHANES
EUCHARISTOS, yearly in the temples throughout the land
from the 1st of Thoth for five days, in which they shall
wear garlands and perform sacrifices and libations and the
other usual honors, and the priests in each temple shall be
called priests of the GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS in
addition to the names of the other gods whom they serve; and
his priesthood shall be entered upon all formal documents
and engraved upon the rings which they wear; and private
individuals shall also be allowed to keep the festival and
set up the aforementioned shrine and have it in their homes;
performing the aforementioned celebrations yearly, in order
that it may be known to all that the men of Egypt magnify
and honor the GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS the king,
according to the law.
This decree shall be inscribed on a stela of hard
stone in sacred and native and Greek characters and set up
in each of the first, second and third rank temples beside
the image of the ever-living king.
Ptolemy V
Epiphanes Eucharistos king of Egypt, son of Ptolemy IV by
Arsinoe III, born late year 12 or early year 13 of Ptolemy
IV, official birthday 30 Mesore, associated on the throne
with his father 30 Mesore year 12 = 7 October 210 or 17
Phaophi year 13 = 30 November 210, succeeded
him summer 204 before 1 Mesore = 8 September 204, ruler
under the regency of Sosibius and Agathocles till October
203, then of Tlepolemus till 202 or 201, then of Aristomenes
till his majority was declared in c. Oct/Nov 197, was
incorporated in the dynastic cult with Cleopatra I probably
in 194/3 as the Manifest Gods, Qeoi EpifaneV, recaptured
rule of Upper Egypt from Ankhwennefer between Epeiph year 14
= 6 August - 4 September 191 and Mesore year 15 = 5
September - 4 October 190, died Mesore year 25 (Eg.) =
September 180, rumored to have been poisoned, and was
succeeded
by Cleopatra I and Ptolemy VI15. Ü ß Þ
Ptolemy V's
titles as king of Egypt were:
Horus Hwnw xaj-m-nsw-Hr-st-jt.f
Two Ladies wr-pHtj smn-tAwj snfr-TAmrj mnx-jb-xr-nTrw
Golden Horus wAD-anx-n-Hnmmt nb-HAbw-sd-mj-PtH-TATnn
jty-mj-Ra
Throne Name jwa-n-nTrwj-mr(wj)-jt stp-(n)-PtH wsr-kA-Ra
sxm-anx-n-Jmn
Son of Re ptwlmjs anx-Dt mrj-PtH
Ptolemy V married
Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III king of Syria
presumably by his first wife Laodice III, born between c.
218 and 212, engaged 196, married 194/3 at Raphia,
incorporated in the dynastic cult with Ptolemy V in 194/3 as
the Manifest Gods, Qeoi EpifaneiV, senior coruler with her
son Ptolemy VI September 180, died between 9 Mesore year 3 =
20 September 178 and 9 Thoth year 5 = 14 October 177. Ý ß
Cleopatra I held
title as queen of Egypt as follows:
Horus Hwn(t) zAt-HoA jr(t)-n-hoA mr(t)-nTrw-BAot
Xor(t)-n-$nmw TAtt-zAt +Hwtj wr(t)-pHtj shr(t)-tAwj
rdj-n.s-Nbtj-rxyt-n-nfrw onj-sj-Nt-nb(t)-ZAw Tnj-sj-@tHr-m-mrwt.s
Nomen olwptrt
Ptolemy V had
three children known or presumed to be by Cleopatra I:
|
1: Ptolemy VI Ý Þ
2: Ptolemy VIII Ü Ý Þ
3: Cleopatra II Ü Ý
|
____________________________________________
Important Egyptian
Discoveries Relating to the Bible
- Rosetta Stone discovered
in 1799. This led to the decipherment of Egyptian
hieroglyphics.
- Merneptah's Stele. First
mention of "Israel" in Egyptian texts. Stele dates to
about 1210 BC.
- Amarna Letters (14th
century BC). Letters written from Canaanite scribes in
Akkadian to king Akhenaten about the conditions in Canaan,
especially the troublesome Hapiru which probably refers to
the Hebrews.
- Inscriptions at Karnak.
Karnak is the largest temple complex in the world. There
also may be the earliest depiction of the Israelites.
- Mortuary Temple of Rameses
III at Medinet Habu. It depicts the battle with the
Sea People. One of the five groups of Sea Peoples was the
Philistines. There are carvings of what the Philistines
looked like.
Important Egyptian
Texts Relating to the Bible
- Tale of Two brothers.
This story is similar to the story of Joseph in Genesis
when he is tempted.
- Seven Lean Years Tradition in
the time of Djoser. Similar to the seven years of lean
in the story of Joseph.
- Sinuhe's Story. Tells of
his time in Canaan.
- Wenamun's Journey. Tells
of his trip to Byblos in Canaan.
- Amenemope's Wisdom.
Similar to Proverbs 22:17-24:22.
- Hymn to Aten which
parallels Psalm 104.
- Elephantine Papyri.
Letters from Jewish exile.
__________________________________________________ Two New
Resources
--The 4-CD Audio Book version
of Return To Glory
--140-MinuteVideo: "A White Man's
Journey Into Black History" |
