Milk Libations for Osiris: Nubian Piety at Philae
During the Roman period, the temples of Philae became a favorite place of pilgrimage for people throughout the Greco-Roman world. Pilgrims came to pray before Isis and her brother-husband Osiris who was buried on the adjacent island of Biga, also known by its Greek name Abaton. Many of these pilgrim...
| Published in: | Near Eastern archaeology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
[2019]
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| In: |
Near Eastern archaeology
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Libation
/ Milk
/ Piety
/ Philae
/ Nubian
/ Pilgrimage
/ Isis
/ Osiris
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| RelBib Classification: | BC Ancient Orient; religion |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | During the Roman period, the temples of Philae became a favorite place of pilgrimage for people throughout the Greco-Roman world. Pilgrims came to pray before Isis and her brother-husband Osiris who was buried on the adjacent island of Biga, also known by its Greek name Abaton. Many of these pilgrims left reminders of their pious visits in the form of prayer inscriptions, called proskynemata, which were engraved on the stone walls of the temple complex at Philae. Philae’s numerous temples are located on an island near the first cataract of the Nile, the traditional border between Egypt and Nubia. The Main Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, is oriented toward the south whence come the island’s most consistent visitors: the Nubians. Recovered building blocks and a bark shrine dedicated to Amun indicate that the Kushite king Taharqa was active at Philae during his twenty-six-year reign (690-664 BCE). The last inscriptions of Blemmye priests who traveled to Philae from elsewhere in Nubia were inscribed in 456 CE. Thus, Nubians were active in temple ritual at Philae and the other Egyptian temples of Lower Nubia for a period of more than one thousand years. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-5404 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Near Eastern archaeology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1086/705360 |