Understandably, the Rites of Protection at the Cenotaph and the related rites of burning fans bearing the images of Egypt’s enemies depicted in Hatshepsut’s chapelle rouge have been considered part of a larger group of rituals whose aim was to assert the universal power of god, and consequently proclaim the king’s own authority.335 Collectively, those rites are known as “Rites of Royal and Divine Dominion.” At least three other rituals, also known from the Twenty-fifth dynasty, served a similar purpose: the Driving of the Four Calves (Egyptian: hout behesou), the Consecration of Meret-chests, and the Elevation of the 7/’est-column.
The first two of these rites, the ritual driving of calves and the striking of the meret-chests, are very closely associated, not only in temple decoration where they often appear next to each other, but also in terms of their Osirian references. Both rites occur on the southern half of the east wall in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, where Ramses II performs both rites for the benefit of Amun-Re-Kamutef. They similarly occur on adjacent walls in the courtyard of the funerary chapel of Amenirdis I at Medinet Habu. There, Shepenwepet II appears as the main officiant in the rite of the hout-behesou, or the ritual of Driving the Four Calves, depicted on the upper register of the eastern part of the south wall of the courtyard. On the poorly preserved adjacent east wall is the ritual presentation of the Meret-chests. Both rites were often performed together “during processions on the occasion of several major temple festivals.”337
World History
