Ancient Egypt
Elements of its Cultural History

  by Sjef Willockx

  
 


24. Other monumental uses of the heraldic plants

The monumental applications of the heraldic plants that we have examined so far – in the Sma Tawy vignette, and in connection with the “Nile Gods” – are the most prominent ones, but by no means the only ones. The heraldic plants could also be used symbolically in other contexts. This type of use is to be carefully distinguished from the earlier mentioned decorative uses of lotus and papyrus on furniture and household implements (see section 10: “Lotus and papyrus in art and architecture”.)

The distinction between the decorative and the symbolic was in ancient Egypt not always a clear-cut one. Jewelry e.g. was very often in the shape of protective amulets, but was probably mostly worn with the same purpose as today: to enjoy its beauty. Both papyrus and lotus were for their elegance often used as decorative elements, but whenever these plants are depicted side by side, in direct opposition, we may safely assume that the purpose was to allude to the symbolism of the Two Lands, and that we are therefore in fact dealing with the heraldic plants.

M15

In Blumen, two quartzite offering stands are reproduced from the Middle Kingdom. Each is decorated with a plant. The first one is a papyrus plant. At first sight, it seems to have the familiar format of hieroglyph M15 (see left). On closer inspection though, one element in the depiction is very different (see right). The papyrus stands on another hieroglyph, N36: . This sign represents “water”.

M15 + N36


The plant on its companion piece stands on the same hieroglyph - indicating that this one too is aquatic. So depicted, both plants  literally “rise from the water”.

That the plant shown here is in fact the heraldic plant of Upper Egypt follows from its use in direct opposition to the papyrus plant of its sister piece. This particular shape for the Upper Egyptian emblem plant is rare - at least in the surviving evidence - and probably restricted to the period before the New Kingdom (see Blumen 144-5).

The use of the heraldic plants on these offering stands probably served to indicate that the offerings were from either Land - and hence together represented the offerings of all of Egypt.

Another, very fine example of the heraldic plants in a truly monumental application can be found in front of the bark shrine of Amun’s temple at Karnak: on two exquisite granite pillars of Tuthmosis III.

Note the crisp, superb stylizings, of both papyrus (on the northern pillar - here in the background) and lotus (on the southern pillar). Today, these pillars stand out magnificently against the sky - but that’s just our good fortune. Originally, they carried a wooden roof, so their fine flowers were then only dimly visible in the gloom.

(These pillars by the way represent one of few examples of true high relief in ancient Egyptian art. Most other cases that are reminiscent of high relief are actually statues in the round, incompletely freed from the stone.)

That these pillars, with this particular ornamentation, were placed precisely here, is remarkable. In a temple context, the use of lotus columns is not attested, anywhere. Although this is not a lotus column, but a pillar decorated with a lotus motif, it still doesn’t seem to fit in. One would much sooner have expected to find such a motif in the royal palace. Instead, they stand immediately in front of a bark shrine - currently the one that was placed there by Philippus Arrhideus, replacing an older one from Tuthmosis III. Around this bark shrine, Tuthmosis had the walls inscribed with his annals, and some additional texts. The area is therefore referred to as the Hall of Annals. Perhaps all this talk about war and loot paved the way for a symbolism that would normally not occur in this form in a temple.


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