Faience Foundation Deposit Plaque, Tel Aphek
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An inscribed glazed faience object closely resembling plaques associated with the foundation deposits of Egyptian temples was excavated at Tel Aphek.
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Description
Rectangular in shape, the faience plaque is white glazed with dimensions 3.8 x 2.4 x 0.9 cm.
The presence of the plaque at Aphek has been used as evidence for an Egyptian temple or cultic area at Aphek.
Inscription
Both sides of the plaque are inscribed in black hieroglyphs, now only faintly preserved. The reading could possibly stand closer examination and thought.
Side A
nṯr nfr [Wsr]-M3ʿ.t-[Rʿ.(w) Stp-n-Rʿ.(w)] dj ʿnḫ mry wr.t ḥk3w nb.t p.t [jm.yt Jwn.(t)]
The good god [User]maat[re Setepenre], given life, beloved of the Great One of Magic, mistress of heaven, [the one who is in Dendera (?)]
Side B
s3-Rʿ.(w) Rʿ.(w)-[mss mry] Jmn.(w) mj Rʿ.(w) mry 3s.t wr.t mw.t nṯr [jm.yt] Jwn(t)
Son of Re, Ra[messes beloved] of Amun, like Re, beloved of Isis the Great One, mother of the god [who is in / the one in] Dendera (?)
Discussion
Giveon suggested translation of the place name identified with the jwn pillar-sign as Dendera on account of Dendera having more documented connections with the goddess Isis than the alternatives.
The reading of Dendera is far from certain - Could it be that the goddess of Side A is to be identified with Hathor instead, and the place name to be identified with Heliopolis or some alternate pillar-determined toponym?
Given its apparently low intrinsic value and aesthetic appeal, Giveon [1978:189-190] suggested that the plaque did not arrive at Aphek by trade but in its traditional use a foundation deposit for a temple, i.e. a temple of Isis at Aphek.
Objections to Giveon's suggestion have been made [Wimmer 1990:1095]:
- Why should a foundation deposit referring to Dendera be found not there, but rather in Canaan?
- Uncertainty exists as the proper context of the plaque, it having been found in a 10th century BCE silo [Giveon 1978:188-189, n.1]
(Plaque could still hail from the 13th century BCE, only out of original context owing to post-Ramesside building of silos, etc.)
Wimmer [loc.cit.] suggests that the plaque's use was probably ceremonial of some description, even if not employed within a foundation deposit.
Bibliography
- Giveon, Raphael [1978], “Two Unique Egyptian Inscriptions from Tel Aphek”, TA 5 (1978), pp. 188-191, plate 52.
- Wimmer, Stephan [1990], “Egyptian Temples in Canaan and Sinai”, in Israelit-Groll, S. (ed.), Studies in Egyptology Presented to Miriam Lichtheim, Volume II, Jerusalem: Magnes Press, the Hebrew University, 1990, pp.1065-1106.
