Aspects of Egyptian Kingship According to the Inscriptions of the Temple of Edfu

Cairo: General Organization for Govt. Printing Offices, 1966. First edition. Hardcover. vg+ to fine. Quarto. xii, 2 leaves, 250pp. Bound in brown half leather over tan textured buckram with gilt tooling and ruling on spine; raised bands. Thesis presented for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy.

"The main portion of this thesis is a new study of the coronation of the king, with special reference to the inscriptions of the Temple of Edfu. It has been possible to reconstruct much of the sequence of the episodes of the ritual, to establish the fact that the coronation ceremonies were not performed in a single part of the temple but in different parts of the temple or of the temple area. The various places in the Temple of Edfu where these ceremonies were performed have been identified. In the course of this study a new analysis and study has been made of the Installation of the Sacred Falcon. Since this festival was in effect the annual renewal of the coronation of the earthly king, an analysis of its ritual throws extremely valuable light on the whole ceremony of the coronation and provides information about features not mentioned in any other sources." (Author's abstract).

The thesis has been structured in three parts: Part I.--The coronation of the King. Part II.--The King as Priest. Part III.--The Ptolemaic King. It contains a list of abbreviations at front, a bibliography and indices, general and a selection of hieroglyphic words, at rear. The thesis is illustrated with diagrams and a multitude of hieroglyphs with English and Egyptian transcripts. Contains previous owner's name on front free endpaper: "Donald Spanel, American Research Center in Egypt, Cairo, 1981." Text with Hieroglyphs. Binding with very light wear and light blue streak on back cover. Scarce.