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Dream Stele
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Key Information
The Dream Stele, also called the Sphinx Stele, is an epigraphic stele erected between the front paws of the Great Sphinx of Giza by the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose IV in the first year of the king's reign, 1401 BC, during the 18th Dynasty. As was common with other New Kingdom rulers, the epigraph makes claim to a divine legitimisation of kingship.[1]
Location and description
[edit]The Dream Stele is a rectangular stele made of granite, 3.6 metres (12 ft) tall and weighing 15 tons. It originally formed the back wall of a small open-air chapel built by Thutmose IV between the paws of the Sphinx.[2] It was rediscovered in 1818 during Giovanni Battista Caviglia's clearance of the Sphinx.[3] The stele itself is a reused door lintel from the entry to the mortuary temple of Khafre as pivot sockets on the back of the stele match those at the threshold of the temple.[2]
The scene in the lunette shows Thutmose IV on the left and right making offerings and libations to the Sphinx, which sits on a high pedestal with a door at the base. This is likely an artistic device used to raise the Sphinx above the head and shoulders of the king but it has contributed to the idea that a temple or passageway exists beneath the Sphinx.[2]
Text
[edit]The text is fragmented, with a large asymmetrical crack beginning at the twelfth line and resulting in only partial preservation of the following two lines. The stele is preserved to a height of approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) on the left edge and 5.4 feet (1.6 m) on the right. Given its restored height was some 12 feet (3.7 m), approximately half of the text is now missing.[4] The preserved text runs as follows:
Year I, third month of the first season, day 19, under the Majesty of Horus, the Mighty Bull, begetting radiance, (the Favourite) of the Two Goddesses, enduring in Kingship like Atum, the Golden Horus, Mighty of Sword, repelling the Nine Bows; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-kheperu-Ra, the Son of Ra, Thothmes IV, Shining in Diadems; beloved of (Amon), given life, stability and dominion, like Ra, for ever.
Live the Good God, the Son of Atum, Protector of Hor-akhty, Living Image of the All-Lord Sovereign, Begotten of Ra, Excellent Heir of Kheperi, beautiful of face like his father, who came forth equipped with the form of Horus upon him, a King who... favour with the Ennead of the Gods; who purifies Heliopolis, who satisfies Ra; who beautifies Memphis, who presents Truth to Atum, who offers it to Him who is South of his Wall (Ptah), who makes a monument by daily offering to the God who created all things, seeking benefits for the Gods of the South and the North, who builds their houses of limestone, who endows all their offerings, Son of Atum of His Body, Thothmes IV, Shining in Diadems like Ra, Heir of Horus upon His Throne, Men-kheperu-Ra, given life.
When His Majesty was a stripling, like Horus, the Youth in Khemmis, his beauty was like the Protector of His Father, he seemed like the God himself. The army rejoiced because of love for him, and he repeated the circuit of his might like the Son of Nut and all the princes and all the great ones...
Behold, he did a thing which gave him pleasure upon the highlands of the Memphite Nome, upon its southern and northern road shooting at a target with copper bolts, hunting lions and the small game of the desert, coursing in his chariot, his horses being swifter than the wind, together with two of his followers, while not a soul knew it.
Now, when his hour came for giving rest to his followers, it was always at the Setepet (Sanctuary of Hor-em-akhet), beside Seker in Rostaw, Rennutet in Iat-Ta-Mut(?)... in the desert (or necropolis), Mut of the Southern... (Neit?), Mistress of the Southern Wall. Sekhmet, presiding over the Mountain, the Splendid Place of the Beginning of Time, opposite the Lords of Kher-ahah (Babylon), the sacred road of the Gods to the Western Necropolis of Iwn (Heliopolis).
Now, the very great statue of Kheperi rests in this place the great in power, the splendid in strength, upon which the shadow of Ra tarries. The quarters of Memphis, and all the cities which are by him come to him, raising their hands for him in praise to his face, bearing oblations for his Ka.
One of those days it came to pass that the King's Son Thothmes came, coursing at the time of mid-day, and he rested in the shadow of this Great God. Sleep seized him at the hour when the sun was in its zenith, and he found the Majesty of this Revered God speaking with his own mouth, as a father speaks with his son, saying: 'Behold thou me, my son, Thothmes. I am thy father, Hor-em-akhet-Kheperi-Ra-Atum; I will give to thee my Kingdom upon earth at the head of the living. Thou shalt wear the White Crown and the Red Crown upon the Throne of Geb, the Hereditary Prince. The land shall be thine, in its length and in its breath, that which the eye of the All-Lord shines upon. The food of the Two Lands shall be thine, the great tribute of all countries, the duration of a long period of years. My face is directed to you, my heart is to you; Thou shalt be to me the protector of my affairs, because I am ailing in all my limbs. The sands of the Sanctuary, upon which I am, have reached me; turn to me in order to do what I desire. I know that thou art my son, my protector; behold; I am with thee, I am thy leader.'
When he finished this speech, the King's Son awoke, hearing this..., he understood the words of the God, and he put them in his heart. He said: 'Come, let us hasten to our houses in the city; they shall protect the oblations for this God which we bring for him (or that we shall protect... and that we may bring): oxen... and all young vegetables; and we shall give praise to Wennefer... Khafra, the statue made for Atum-Hor-em-akhet...'[5]
The rest of the text likely gave Thutmose's response and an affirmation of the works carried out.[4]
Interpretations of the text
[edit]
The Sphinx's promise to make Thutmose ruler of Egypt if he clears the sand has led to speculation that Thutmose IV was not the crown prince (if he was, he would have ascended the throne on his father's death anyway), and that he may instead have seized the throne from his older brothers, with the erection of the stele serving solely to legitimize his rule. This interpretation is based on the find of three finely carved stele (now lost) which depict other sons of Amenhotep II making offerings to the Sphinx; the names of these princes have been carefully erased.[6] Selim Hassan's publication of the stelae (partially composed by Dorothy Eady) was the first to propose this interpretation:
We may suppose then, that these elder brothers stood in the way of his ambitions, and that Thothmes removed them in some way, either by death or disgrace, and then obliterated their names, in order that their very memories might be forgotten... I am afraid that this theory does not present Thothmes IV in a very favourable light, and if he was not actually a wholesale murderer (and there seems to be grounds for supposing that he was), at least he was a cold-hearted egoist.[6]
This characterisation of Thutmose as a ruthless usurper is still influential. However, the divine determination and birth of kings is a common 18th Dynasty motif and was utilised by rulers such as Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, and Thutmose IV's father Amenhotep II on his own Sphinx Stele. Though we can never be sure of the circumstances surrounding Thutmose's ascension, the text of the stele cannot be used as an indicator of his legitimacy.[7]
Medical analysis of the text
[edit]In 2012, Dr Hutan Ashrafian, a surgeon at Imperial College London, hypothesized that early deaths of Thutmose IV and other 18th Dynasty pharaohs, including Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, were likely a result of familial temporal epilepsy. This would account for the untimely demise of Thutmose IV and could also explain his religious vision described on the Dream Stele as this type of epilepsy is associated with intense spiritual visions and religiosity.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Shaw, Ian (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Hardback ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 254. ISBN 0-19-815034-2.
- ^ a b c Lehner, Mark (1997). The Complete Pyramids: Solving the Ancient Mysteries. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 132. ISBN 0-500-05084-8.
- ^ Vyse, Colonel Howard (1842). "Appendix: The Sphinx: Account of M. Caviglia's Excavations in 1818 Taken From the Papers of the Late Mr. Salt". Appendix To Operations Carried On At The Pyramids Of Gizeh In 1837 Vol.III. London: Moyes and Barclay. pp. 107–116. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ a b Mallet, D. (1889). "The Stele of Thothmes IV (Of the Eighteenth Dynasty)". In Sayce, A. H. (ed.). Records of the Past: Being English Translations of the Ancient Monuments of Egypt and Western Asia (New Series) Vol. II. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, Limited. pp. 45–56.
- ^ Hassan, Selim (1953). The Great Sphinx And Its Secrets: Historical Studies In The Light Of Recent Excavations (PDF). Cairo: Government Press. pp. 94–95. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ a b Hassan, Selim (1953). The Great Sphinx And Its Secrets: Historical Studies In The Light Of Recent Excavations (PDF). Cairo: Government Press. pp. 83–91. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ Bryan, Betsy M. (1991). "Chapter Two: All The Kings' Sons". The Reign of Thutmose IV. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 38–92.
- ^ Ashrafian, Hutan. (2012). "Familial epilepsy in the pharaohs of ancient Egypt's eighteenth dynasty". Epilepsy Behav. 25 (1): 23–31. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2012.06.014. PMID 22980077. S2CID 20771815.
Dream Stele
View on GrokipediaHistorical Context
Thutmose IV's Reign and Ascension
Thutmose IV served as the eighth pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty, ruling for approximately ten years from around 1400 to 1390 BCE.[4] His reign represented a transitional period in the dynasty, bridging the more militaristic policies of his predecessors with the diplomatic emphases that would characterize later rulers.[5] Thutmose IV was the son of Amenhotep II and his lesser wife Tiaa, who held the titles of King's Wife and King's Mother but lacked the prominence of the chief queen.[6] Unlike many of his royal forebears, he was not the eldest son and thus not initially positioned as the crown prince; inscriptional evidence indicates that at least one older brother, possibly named Amenhotep, predeceased their father, creating potential challenges to the line of succession.[5] This non-heir status is corroborated by tomb inscriptions and administrative records from the period, which show no prior designation of Thutmose IV as successor during Amenhotep II's lifetime, highlighting the uncertainties in royal inheritance during the early 18th Dynasty.[7] Such disputes over legitimacy were not uncommon, as Egyptian kingship relied heavily on divine endorsement and familial precedence to maintain stability.[4] During his reign, Thutmose IV pursued limited military campaigns, primarily a punitive expedition to Nubia in his eighth regnal year to suppress rebellions and secure southern borders, though his overall approach marked a pivot away from the expansive conquests of Thutmose III toward consolidation rather than aggression.[4] In terms of building projects, he completed and erected the massive obelisk at the temple of Karnak—standing 105 feet (32 meters) tall and originally commissioned by Thutmose III—symbolizing continuity in monumental architecture and religious patronage.[4] Diplomatically, Thutmose IV initiated a significant shift by forging Egypt's first recorded marriage alliance with the rival kingdom of Mitanni, wedding a daughter of King Artatama I; this union fostered peace, enhanced trade routes, and laid the groundwork for the international correspondence later documented in the Amarna letters under his successors.[4] These efforts helped stabilize his rule amid lingering questions of legitimacy, with artifacts like the Dream Stele serving as a tool to affirm his divine right to the throne.[5]The Great Sphinx in the 18th Dynasty
The Great Sphinx of Giza was constructed during the reign of Khafre in the Fourth Dynasty, circa 2558–2532 BCE, as a monumental guardian figure carved from a single limestone outcrop adjacent to his pyramid complex on the Giza plateau.[8] This colossal statue, measuring approximately 73 meters in length and 20 meters in height, originally featured a human-headed lion form symbolizing the pharaoh's divine power and protection over the necropolis.[9] By the onset of the New Kingdom, including the 18th Dynasty (circa 1550–1292 BCE), the Sphinx had suffered significant degradation from natural erosion and environmental factors, with drifting sands progressively burying the monument up to its neck, leaving only the head visible above the surface.[10] During the Middle Kingdom (circa 2050–1710 BCE), the Giza plateau saw reduced activity following the political and economic instability of the First Intermediate Period, leading to neglect of the Sphinx and its partial burial under accumulating sands, though it retained enduring presence as a symbolic entity.[11] The site remained largely abandoned until renewed interest in the 18th Dynasty.[12] In the 18th Dynasty, the Sphinx continued to face encroachment from desert sands due to ongoing neglect amid Egypt's focus on southern and eastern frontiers, exacerbating its obscured state and highlighting the challenges of maintaining such ancient monuments.[13] Religiously, the Sphinx held profound symbolic importance as a guardian of the Giza necropolis, embodying the protective aspects of Horus, the falcon-headed sky god, and solar deities like Ra, with its form representing the pharaoh's eternal vigilance over the horizon (akhet).[9] Known as Horemakhet ("Horus of the Horizon") by this era, it linked the monument to cosmic renewal and kingship, reinforcing its role in royal ideology despite physical deterioration.[11] This symbolism persisted from earlier dynasties, underscoring the Sphinx's status as a sacred protector amid the sands' relentless advance.[14]Physical Description
Location and Placement
The Dream Stele was erected between the front paws of the Great Sphinx of Giza, positioned directly at the base of the monument's chest in the Sphinx enclosure.[1] This placement integrated the stele into the core of the Sphinx complex, serving as a prominent marker within the structure's axial symmetry. Measuring approximately 3.6 meters in height and 2.2 meters in width, the stele was oriented to align with the Sphinx's central east-west axis, enhancing its role as a focal point in the sacred landscape.[15] The stele's location ensured high visibility from the Khafre causeway, which approaches the Giza plateau from the east and passes near the Sphinx enclosure, allowing processional views for visitors and priests traversing the necropolis.[16] This strategic positioning emphasized the stele's connection to the broader Giza layout, where the Great Sphinx forms the western guardian of Khafre's funerary complex, flanked by the Sphinx Temple immediately to its east and the Valley Temple further along the causeway.[17] Upon erection around 1400 BCE, the stele featured a polished granite surface meticulously prepared for the subsequent carving of inscriptions, reflecting careful craftsmanship in its initial state before textual additions.[18] The placement occurred amid the Sphinx's partial burial in drifting sand, which had obscured much of the monument and prompted restorative efforts in the area.[1]Material and Inscription Features
The Dream Stele is crafted from pink Aswan granite, quarried approximately 400 miles south of Giza and transported via the Nile River to the site, where it was shaped into a rectangular form with a rounded lunette at the top.[19][20] The monument measures about 3.6 meters in height, 2.18 meters in width, and 0.7 meters in thickness, weighing roughly 15 tons, which underscores the engineering prowess required for its creation and erection early in Thutmose IV's reign, around Year 1 (c. 1400 BCE).[20][21] The inscription features sunk hieroglyphs incised across the front surface, a technique that enhances legibility and durability on the hard granite, with the text framed by royal cartouches bearing Thutmose IV's prenomen and nomen.[19] At the top lunette, low-relief scenes depict the king performing offerings—such as pouring libations and burning incense—to divine figures, including a winged sun disk symbolizing protection and solar divinity, integrating epigraphic and iconographic elements typical of 18th Dynasty royal stelae.[19] Engraving likely occurred on-site after transport, employing copper tools and abrasives to achieve the precise, deep cuts characteristic of New Kingdom stonework.[20]Content of the Inscription
Translation of the Hieroglyphic Text
The hieroglyphic inscription on the Dream Stele is composed in Middle Egyptian with archaic stylistic elements typical of 18th Dynasty royal monuments, employing a first-person narrative primarily from the perspective of Thutmose IV, interspersed with direct speech from the god Harmakhis. The text invokes the deity as Horemakhet (Horus in the Horizon), describes the prince's physical fatigue during a hunt, and records the god's oath promising kingship in exchange for clearing encroaching sand. Below is a complete English translation based on James Henry Breasted's edition, divided into stanzas for clarity corresponding to the stele's structural columns and scenes.[22] Stanza 1: Royal Titles and Date (Top Register, Offering Scenes)Year 1, third month of the first season, day 19, under the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkheperure, Son of Re, Thutmose, given life like Re forever. Horus on the horizon, great god, lord of the sky. The king offers to his father Harmakhis: "I give strength to the Lord of the Two Lands, Thutmose, the appearance of appearances." The king offers incense and libations: "I make Menkheperure appear on the throne of Geb, and Thutmose, the appearance of appearances, in the office of Atum."[22] Stanza 2: The Prince's Youth and Journey
Now his majesty was a charming youth, beloved of his father, the Good God, without an equal, strong and powerful, who had taken his part in valiant deeds. He had come at eventide from the royal court, his heart joyful, driving his horses in a chariot, his bow in his hand, his spear ready for action. He was on his way to the domain of Memphis, to look at the wonders of the horizon-god, Harmakhis-Khepri-Re-Atum. Then it happened that his heart desired to rest during the noontide hour in the shadow of the great god, the father of the gods, near the town of Memphis.[22] Stanza 3: The Dream and Divine Address
He betook himself to the precinct of the great god, and dropped asleep in the shade of this god. Then sleep overtook him at the moment of midday. And he found the majesty of this noble god speaking from out his own mouth, as a king speaks: "Behold me! See me, my son Thutmose! I am thy father Harmakhis-Khepri-Re-Atum! I will give to thee my kingdom upon earth, to rule the Black Land and the Red Land. Thou shalt wear the white crown and the red crown upon the throne of Geb like the Horus who is upon the horizon. The land shall be thine in its length and its breadth, filling its borders with subjects in thy grasp. The food of the Two Lands shall be thine, its revenues and its tributes; the things of the South and of the North shall be in thy hand; one shall build thy monuments; one shall fashion thy statues in every town and in every temple. No evil shall come against thee from any man, all the gods aiding thee. The duration of days of thy life shall be like the sun's disk upon the horizon."[22] Stanza 4: The God's Plea and Oath
"Look upon me, my son Thutmose! How long shall I remain in this my plight? My body is buried in the sand of this district in which I have my existence. Do as I desire in my heart, and thou shalt see the radiance of the horizon-god within the temple." The royal son, the prince Thutmose, understood the words of this great god, and he considered in his heart how to do what the god desired. For the sand had covered this great god up to his shoulders, so that the royal son, the prince Thutmose, found that the god had come to his presence, and the god had opened his eyes and his mouth in speaking with him.[22] Stanza 5: Fulfillment and Royal Decree
Then the royal son, the prince Thutmose, did as his father, the great god, had commanded. He cleared away the sand from the body of this great god. His majesty commanded to make a way in the midst of the sand, and he became king, as was decreed. His majesty made a great stela as a monument to his father, Harmakhis, in his Year 1. His majesty commands that offerings be made to this great god, consisting of bread, beer, oxen, fowl, incense, and all good things.[22] The inscription's archaic Egyptian style includes poetic repetitions and epithets for the deity, such as "Harmakhis-Khepri-Re-Atum," blending solar and horizon aspects, while the first-person narrative underscores Thutmose IV's personal divine election. References to divine oaths appear in the god's solemn promises of kingship and prosperity, phrased as unbreakable decrees akin to cosmic order (ma'at). Orthographic irregularities, such as non-standard spellings and forms, indicate possible later restorations during the Third Intermediate Period (21st-22nd Dynasty) or Late Period (Saitic era), as noted by Breasted.[22] Variations exist among Egyptologists in rendering specific phrases; for instance, Breasted's "clear away the sand from my body" emphasizes the physical threat of burial, while Kurt Sethe's German edition (Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums IV, 1960) interprets the sand more dynamically as an active "encroachment" (überwallend), highlighting its ongoing peril to the god's form. Another point of divergence is the phrase describing the prince's fatigue, translated by Breasted as "dropped asleep" to convey exhaustion, but by some modern scholars like Zivie-Coche (in Sphinx: History of a Monument, 2002) as "overcome by sleep" to stress the divine intervention's inevitability. These differences stem from ambiguities in the hieroglyphs, particularly determinatives for "sand" (depicted as dunes threatening stability).[22]