From left to right: Set, Horus and Anubis holding in their right hand a Was sceptre and in their left hand an a nkh cross. B) The Sceptre of Ptah James Stevens Curl, The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West, Routledge 2005 Such parallels, which could be multiplied, suffice to demonstrate that the biblical depictions of the ḥarṭummīm reflect a knowledge of Egyptian priestly arts. Yet, how did the Israelite writers obtain this knowledge? Indeed, the texts involving the ḥarṭummīm reflect a grasp of Egyptian priestly performative praxis that goes well beyond the sort of information that one might have obtained from Egyptian literary traditions. Recall that some parallels occur only in ritual texts. Moreover, one must ask how Israelite authors could have known any Egyptian literary traditions, since most of the literary parallels cited above predate the Israelite monarchy by many centuries. Egyptian Learning Outside of Egypt ḥʿ pỉ ỉr [ dšr]. See Jürgen Osing, Hieratische Papyri aus Tebtunis I (Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 17; Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1998), p. 253.

Thus, we may see the devouring of the ḥarṭummīm’s staffs by Aaron’s “staff of God” (Exod 4:20) as depicting the destruction of their authority and absorption of their power. [29] Superpositioning and Control of the Ḥarṭummīm

The United Middle Kingdom: Investing in a National Military

From the Nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ꜥꜣ on its own, was used as regularly as ḥm, "Majesty". [18] The term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler presiding in that building, particularly by the time of the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-third Dynasty. [ citation needed] Clayton 1995, p. 217. "Although paying lip-service to the old ideas and religion, in varying degrees, pharaonic Egypt had in effect died with the last native pharaoh, Nectanebo II in 343 BC" Book of the Heavenly Cow: “Moreover, guard against those handlers of ḥeka who know their spells, since the god Ḥeka is in them himself. Now as for the one who swallows/knows him, I am here.” [28] Sceptres with small shrines on the top are sometimes represented on royal seals, as on the great seal of Edward III, where the king, enthroned, bears such a sceptre, but it was an unusual form; and it is of interest to note that one of the sceptres of Scotland, preserved at Edinburgh, has such a shrine at the top, with little images of the Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, and Saint James the Great in it. This sceptre was, it is believed, made in France around 1536 for James V. Great seals usually represent the sovereign enthroned, holding a sceptre (often the second in dignity) in the right hand, and the orb and cross in the left. Harold Godwinson appears thus in the Bayeux Tapestry. [ citation needed]

But does the Bible’s portrayal of these magicians fit what we know of them from Egyptian sources? Their roles as literary figures encourage one to ponder whether they represent bonafide Egyptian functionaries and whether their marvelous feats depict real or imagined Egyptian practices. After all, biblical narratives set in Egypt often evince a knowledge of Egyptian customs and beliefs: [1] The only extant pharaonic examples of both the crook and flail come from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. [2] Their staffs are made of heavy bronze covered with alternating stripes of blue glass, obsidian, and gold, while the flail's beads are made of gilded wood. [3] Theories on significance [ edit ] In addition, priests generally viewed swallowing as a performative act that functioned either to destroy the thing swallowed or to acquire its power and knowledge:I begin with the first plague—the turning of the Nile to blood—a wonder that the ḥarṭummīm easily replicate. [11] The event has three analogues in Egyptian texts. Since artisans, and not priests, produced these items, one might gather that they were not perceived as possessing performative powers unless handled by experts in ḥeka. On the other hand, as the stela of the chief artist Iritisen makes clear (ca. 2000 BCE, Louvre Museum C 14), the making of artistic items such as amulets, statues, and wall reliefs was regarded a secret knowledge that required knowledge of ḥeka. The Pschent crown which is composed of both the white and red crowns to symbolize the union of the country.