Cairo Museum Exhibit: 1,000 years of offerings to Wpwawt

[WebenBanu]

Link to the original article:
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5924

Egypt Museum airs 1,000 years of jackal god gifts

By Reuters
First Published: March 2, 2007
CAIRO: A thousand years' worth of offerings to an ancient Egyptian jackal god are the subject of an exhibition that opened on Thursday at Cairo's Egyptian Museum.

The exhibition, "Anubis, Upwawet and Other Deities", is based on votive offerings that British archaeologist Gerald Wainwright found in a tomb built around 1800 or 1900 BC near the southern town of Assiut.

The tomb originally belonged to a local hereditary prince, but for more than 1,000 years local people used it as a shrine for personal devotion, filling it with tablets dedicated to the local jackal god Upwawet.

"The stelae (tablets) offer us unrivalled evidence about the social history of the region. Much may be gleaned from the names and occupations of the people (who dedicated them to Upwawet)," the museum said in a statement.

About 100 of the 400 stelae are made of terracotta, or baked clay, a material not used for stelae at other Egyptian sites. Many are relatively crude and most are covered with pictures of jackals and other dog-like animals.

"You learn from these about common people, their situations, their families and sometimes how they lived and why they are coming to devote this stela," said museum director Wafaa El-Saddik.  

[WebenBanu]

This sounds like a really awesome exhibit, based on the finds of a single tomb which the local people turned into a devotional shrine to Wpwawt. There is a lot to be learned here, both about traditional offerings to one of our beloved Jackals and personal piety, practices, and concerns of the common people- because this wasn't an official shrine. Hopefully there will be more pictures and information on this exhibit forthcoming- maybe we can order a catalogue from the Cairo Museum? I would love to see some photos, because this promises to be a very inspiring and helpful collection of objects for modern followers of Wpwawt- as well as egyptologists!  

[Ubat]

Thanks for posting this! That's so cool! I've never really heard anything about the worship of Wepwawet alone before (he's always been more lumped in with Yinepu when I've heard of him). I hope they post more about it soon xd especially love the pic they have with the article. I can't recall ever seeing an actual picture or statue of Wepwa before sweatdrop  

[WebenBanu]

I want an exhibit catalogue so badly. xd The statue in the picture is a "Soul of Nekhen," which is odd because Nekhen's usually associated with a hawk headed god from what I've seen. I don't know if Wpwawt is considered to be a- or the- "Soul of Nekhen," and apparently there are some other objects associated with Inpw and other related deities included to round out the exhibit. You would think, though, that for the article they would chose an image of Wpwawt, since He's the star of the show? So it could be- maybe we should ask Hemet. 3nodding  

[Akladios]

yup, the museum is fantastic. I had a school trip to there once and it was very pretty. I CAN be of some help, to go there and take some pics for you (even though it's not allowed, I might try to get away with a phone camera without a flash (not to get away with it, but the flash harms the stone)

 

[WebenBanu]

Wow, thank you for the offer! But I wouldn't want to ask you to do something you're not allowed to do- really, I'd rather buy the exhibit catalogue if there is one. There usually is, and it has pictures of all the items plus lots of interesting information about each one! ^_^

Next time you go, if you see a catalogue for the exhibit please tell me- and pick up whatever information you can for someone who'd like to order it overseas. I'd really appreciate it! heart  

[KeeperofShadows]

The fact that the tomb was turned into a devotional shrine by the common folk is important, in my opinion, because it shows that if the will and the desire is there, any place can be a place of worship, whether or not a priest blessed it or whatever. I think that the Netjeru will listen as long as as one is sincere.  

[WebenBanu]

The tomb was extensively blessed, and established as a shrine to a person's kA- the spirits of the ancestors, in turn, were considered as divinized humans and ideal go-betweens to communicate the needs of their descendents to the spirit world.

But you are right in that ancient Egyptian religion was very much an immanent theology- gods were not, in the vast majority of cases, perceived of as being separated from the world of the living. They were very much a part of it, and Their influence could be felt in many aspects of life. The curator of a local Egyptian museum here feels that the religion of the common folk (as opposed to fancy State/Temple religion) was probably primarily expressed as a communion with the gods in the roles through which people passed each day- mother, artisan, doctor, scribe, potter, etc. There are many gods and many ways to encounter Them from day to day. I find this approach to spirituality both practical and inspirational- that special blend which is so typical of the ancient Egyptian worldview- the gods of the ancient Egyptians were a vital part of their world Who taught them a great deal about life and how to live it.