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Last Updated on 13 Jan 2019

Author: Cassandre Hartenstein

CAPInv. 1462: The great association of Hathor.

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Egypt
ii. Nome Tentyrites (U06)
iii. Site Dendera (?)

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Tȝ ẖne.t ʿȝ.t n Ḥwt-Ḥr (l. 1).
ii. Full name (transliterated) The great association of Hathor.

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 27 BC - 14 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Theophoric:Hathor
iii. Descriptive terms ẖny.t
Note ẖny.t: l. 1, 5. In the five editions of this inscription, the word ‘association’ is translitterated sn.t, but this reading was rejected by De Cenival 2006.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Short Texts I 167 (Augustan period)

Note Other editions of the inscription are: Spiegelberg 1904: 51; Sottas 1921; Farid 1993: 13; Farid 1995: 270, no 2.
Online Resources TM 53809
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script The inscription is a Demotic dedication from an association dedicated to Hathor, made by a strategos and a lesonis (the latter is probably the president of the association, see VII Organization), with all the others membres of the group. The inscription marks maybe the place where the association used to gather.
i.c. Physical format(s) Sandstone stela (37, x 26,5 cm), with a representation of a king (Augustus?) offering two jars to three deities.
ii. Source(s) provenance Due to the contents of the inscription, all the editors think it comes from Dendera (compared to similar inscriptions from Dendera). The stela is now in the Cairo Museum.

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership The mr šn (lesonis) cited l. 4 is probably the president of the association. The lesonis is usually an official attached to temples. In an association, the mr šn is an administrator (De Conical 1972: 154-159). Considering the way the title is mentioned in the inscription, it appears slightly more likely that it refers here to the function in the association.
iii. Members Referred to as nȝ rmṯ.w (n) ẖny.t (‘the people from (the) association’, l. 5).
iv. Officials The dedication is made by the mr šn and a strategos (l. 2-3) Ptwlms son of Pa-nȝ (Ptolemaios son of Panas). We do not know if Ptolemaios has a role in the association or if he just took part in the dedication.
v. Other staff

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
Note Both of people named are male. We do not know about the others.
vi. Proper names and physical features Ptwlms son of Pa-nȝ (Ptolemaios son of Panas).
Pȝ-ʿẖm-pȝ-šr-Ỉs(.t) sȝ Pȝ-šr-Wsỉr
(Pachompasenesis son of Psenosiris).

X. ACTIVITIES

Deities worshipped Hathor (l.1).

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The association of Hathor had connections with official authorities, as the strategos of the nome is one of the dedicants of the inscription. The association had probably interactions with the temple of Dendera too (and maybe took part in some celebrations).
Ptolemaios son of Pana, the strategos is also a prophet of Horus and a prophet of Hathor (l. 3-4, pȝ ḥm-nṯr Ḥr, pȝ ḥm-nṯr Ḥwt-Ḥr).

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Cauville, S. (1991), 'Dieux et prêtres à Dendera au Ier siècle avant Jésus-Christ', BIFAO 91: 69-97.
De Cenival, Fr. (1972), Les associations religieuses en Égypte d’après les documents démotiques, Le Caire.
De Cenival, Fr. (2006), ‘À propos du mot désignant en démotique « l’association »’, RdE 57 : 233-234.
Farid, A. (1993), Die demotischen Inschriften der Strategen, San Antonio.
Farid, A. (1995), Fünf Stelen, Berlin.
Sottas, H. (1921), 'Le this d’Ombos', Rev. Arch. 13: 24-36.
Spiegelberg, W. (1912), 'Denkstein einer Kultgenossenschaft in Dendera aus der Zeit des Augustus', ZÄS 50: 36-39.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The use of ẖny.t to describe this group proves that it was a private association.