Reptile charmer This was an occupation of the ancient Egyptians and one that is still in demand on the modern Nile. One such noted reptile charmer served at deir el-MEDINA, the settlement of the workers in the tombs of the VALLEY OF THE KINGS. Others lived in villages and served entire areas. Still others were stationed at mines and quarries.
The reptile charmers normally conducted themselves as priests, physicians, scribes, or laborers but were on call when venomous snakes or scorpions posed a threat to the local populations. They were required to be on hand at all construction sites. These charmers were adept at handling the deadly reptiles, and many had been stung enough times to have built levels of immunity in their systems.
Reputneb (fl. 24th century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Fifth Dynasty
She was a consort of niuserre (r. 2416-2392 b. c.e.), sharing the rank with Queen khentikus. Reputneb was not the mother of the heir.
Repyt A lioness deity of Egypt, popular in many historical periods, her temple at athribis was once the same size as the temple of hathor in dendereh. This shrine was erected in the Ptolemaic Period (304-30 b. c.e.). PTOLEMY IX SOTER II (116-107, 88-81 B. C.E.) added to this temple.
Reserve heads Ancient Egyptian busts created as portraits of the deceased, the heads frequently had broken ears and marks of scoring. It is believed that the damaged ears were the accidental results of the breaking of the molds, which were made out of linen and thin plaster. The damage could have taken place at that instant. For some reason the heads were not repaired or restored. Reserve heads were placed outside of the TOMBS, although some were found in the burial chambers or at the bottom of grave shafts. They date to the Fourth Dynasty (2575-2465 b. c.e.), used mostly in giza, abu-SIR, SAQQARA, and DASHUR. More than 30 such heads, exquisitely portraying the deceased, have survived over the centuries. They were used as spare heads if the corpses needed replacements, and they identified the graves for wandering kas, or astral spirits set free in the grave.
Reshef He was an Amorite war deity brought into Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1307 B. C.E.), probably as a result of the Tuthmossid campaigns in the Near East territories. Accepted by the Egyptians but not popular, Reshef was depicted as a warrior wearing a white crown and carrying a mace and shield.
Restoration Stela This monument dating to the reign of tut’ankhamun (1333-1323 b. c.e.), describes the ruined state of Egypt as a result of the reign of akhen-ATEN (1353-1335 B. C.E.) at amarna. Both the chaos in Egypt’s temples and the precarious positions of the armed forces abroad are depicted in this stela.
Resurrection It was the continuing Egyptian belief that souls never died but achieved renewed existence in eternity when mortal remains were prepared and placed in appropriate tomb sites. Every religious ceremony conducted in connection with the funerary and mortuary rites was designed to foster that belief. In the cult of OSIRIS an important aspect was the god’s resurrection and ascension into heaven, with the promise that all mortals could share in his eternal bliss after being judged by him beyond the grave. This concept of resurrection had a positive and profound element in Egyptian life. The people of the Nile Valley held firmly to the belief that souls renewed their existence in eternity, where death could not touch them again. Funerary rituals and texts reassured the Egyptians of the transitory nature of life and death, events that the individual could
Ret She was an ancient Egyptian goddess, considered the consort of re and the mother of all the gods. Called Re-et in some lists, she was considered the female sun. She was worshiped in Heliopolis and was depicted normally as a woman wearing horns and a solar disk.
Rhind Papyrus This is a mathematical text copied by a Theban scribe, probably during the reign of apophis (c. 1585-1553 B. C.E.), the hyksos contemporary of the Seventeenth Dynasty (1640-1550 b. c.e.). The papyrus deals with fractions, calculus, and other mathematical processes known at the time. The Rhind Papyrus also contains material concerning science and wisdom literature. It is possible that the present form resulted from yet another copy made by a scribe in the reign of amen-hotep I (1525-1504 b. c.e.). Sometimes called the ’Ah-mose papyrus, it was purchased by Alexander Henry Rhind in 1858, hence the name.
Rib-Hadda (Rib-Addi) (fl. 14th century b. c.e.) Ruler of ancient Byblos, now a city in modern Lebanon Rib-Hadda was in power during the reign of akhenaten (1353-1335 B. C.E.), serving as an ally of Egypt. This king wrote to Akhenaten, warning him about abdiashirta of Amurru, a city-state in the region. Rib-Hadda was being attacked by Abdiashirta and was begging Akhenaten for troops and grain. He suffered exile from byblos when no Egyptian aid was forthcoming.
See also amarna letters.
Rishi pattern This is a term for the feathered design used on the sarcophagi of the Seventeenth (1640-1550 B. C.E.) and the Eighteenth (1550-1307 b. c.e.) Dynasties. The pattern imitated the wings of the god horus, thus enfolding the deceased in the sarcophagus within the protective power of the deity Theban tombs from these dynastic periods have the rishi pattern evident on the sarcophagus.
Rising sun A sacred symbol in Egypt, associated with the horizon, the rising sun was displayed in an amulet that was deemed powerful in conveying life and resurrection beyond the grave. The symbol of Harmachis, Hor on the Horizon, was the amulet that depicted a sun rising between two mountains of hills. It was popular in MORTUARY RITUALS.
Rite of the House of Morning This was a solemn ceremony conducted each day in ancient Egyptian palaces. The pharaoh’s rising was a great event. priests and courtiers attended him, ready to assist in bathing and dressing. He washed in water from the local temple lake to symbolize his primordial rebirth, and the water represented the chaotic abyss of the god nun. The king was then anointed, robed, invested with the royal insignias, and praised by priests wearing the masks of the gods horus and thoth. If the king was not in residence at the time, a substitute official or a member of the royal family was given similar honors in his stead. In some eras the king also chewed bits of natron, another symbol of rebirth and resurrection.
See also daily royal rites.
Rituals They were the often elaborate ceremonies conducted throughout all of the historical periods of Egypt as religious, magical, or state displays of power and belief. Such ceremonies depicted events taking place in the affairs of humans and the gods. In Egypt, rituals and beliefs were so closely bound that one could not exist without the other.
The temple of the deity was considered not as a material structure but as a horizon, the place where the deity reigned, opening onto the land of glorious light beyond the dawn. festivals and rituals celebrated the sacred cultic traditions, cosmic or historical, of the time when the sacred was manifested. Rituals were religious renewals, the demonstrations of the divine.
River of Heaven A waterway called the Celestial Stream, the Celestial River, or the Spiritual Nile, the River of Heaven was the counterpart of the actual Nile and was believed to enter the earthly sphere on the elephantine Island, at ASWAN. The River of Heaven was depicted in the mortuary texts and was associated with the god re’s nightly sojourn. This Nile flowed through the tuat, the land beyond the grave.
Roau (Ro-an, Roen, Ra-an) (fl. 15th century b. c.e.) Priestly official of the Eighteenth Dynasty He served tuthmosis iii (r. 1479-1425 b. c.e.) as the chief steward of amun. Roau was in charge of the mortuary complex of Queen ah’hotep (1), the mother of ’ahmose, the founder of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 b. c.e.) and the Eighteenth Dynasty Queen Ah’hotep’s cult was still active in the reign of Tuthmosis iii, and he erected a shrine in her honor. Tuthmosis iii donated a tomb to Roau as a reward for his services.
Rodis (Rhodopis) (fl. seventh or sixth century b. c.e.) Greek woman living in Naukratis, Egypt, called one of the most beautiful women of the world
NAUKRATIS, founded in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664-525 b. c.e.), was the residence of Greek merchants and traders on the canopic branch of the Nile. Rodis, a resident of the city, was heralded in legend as one of the most beautiful women of all time. As a result of her charms she was the center of attention and had Greek and Egyptian suitors.
Rome One of the most powerful of the ancient states, Rome emerged from a small, rural community in italy to conquer most of the Mediterranean world and to bring to an end the long pharaonic history of Egypt in 30 b. c.e.
The first significant involvement of Rome in the affairs of Egypt occurred in 170 b. c.e. when the strife between Egypt and Syria (under King antiochus iv) ended with both sides appealing to the Romans to decide who should be the rightful claimant to the throne. The two candidates were ptolemy viii euergetes ii (the favorite of the Egyptians) and ptolemy vi philometor (the nephew and favorite of Antiochus IV). The Roman senate decided to split the rule of the country, so that Philometor reigned in MEMPHIS and Euergetes controlled ALEXANDRIA. This state of affairs proved unsatisfactory to the Egyptians, who wasted no time upon Antiochus’s departure back to Syria to rise up against Philometor. Antiochus responded by marching on Egypt with an army The Egyptians appealed once more to Rome.
The Roman Senate dispatched a three-man commission to Egypt, and in 168 there occurred the famous encounter between Antiochus IV and Papillius Laenas at Eleusis just outside of Alexandria. Laenas gave Antiochus the terms of the Senate: the Syrians must depart Egypt or there would be war. Laenas then used a stick to draw a circle in the sand around Antiochus’s feet and demanded an answer before he set foot out of the ring. The Syrian agreed to the Senate’s demands, and Ptolemy VI was installed as ruler of all Egypt; Ptolemy VIII was made king of cyrenaica.
Rome now stood as the supreme arbiter of Egyptian affairs. Thus, when ptolemy xii neos Dionysius was driven from Egypt in 58 b. c.e. he fled to Rome. After paying extensive bribes and cultivating the political favor of Julius CAESAR, Ptolemy XII returned to Egypt and was reinstated with the assistance of three Roman legions. The remainder of his reign was as a virtual client of Rome, and Ptolemy left provision in his will for the Romans to have oversight over the transition of power to his children, cleopatra vii and ptolemy xiii.
The bitter political struggle between cleopatra and her brother went largely unnoticed by the Romans owing to their own civil war. In 48 b. c.e., however, following the defeat of pompey the Great by Julius Caesar at the battle of Pharsalus, Pompey fled to Egypt and what he hoped would be the sanctuary of the court of Ptolemy The Roman general was immediately assassinated by a cabal of Egyptian courtiers, and his head was given as a gift to caesar upon the dictator’s arrival in Alexandria.
Caesar decided the dispute between Ptolemy and cleopatra in favor of the queen, and Ptolemy died in the fighting that followed. in a famous romance, caesar and Cleopatra became lovers and produced ptolemy xv cae-SARION. Following Caesar’s assassination in 44 b. c.e., Cleopatra established a relationship with Marc ANTONY. Their political and personal alliance culminated in the war with Caesar’s nephew, Octavian (the future Augustus) and the battle of actium in 31 b. c.e. The defeat of the Egyptian fleet and army opened the door for the Roman conquest of Egypt. cleopatra committed suicide in famed fashion by stinging herself with an asp, and Marc Antony died on his own sword. octavian, the future Augustus, entered Alexandria on August 1, 30 b. c.e. Henceforth, until the Arab conquest in 641 C. E., Egypt remained a territory of the Roman Empire and then the Byzantine Empire.
Romis This was an Egyptian term for “true humans,” also called piromis. These were the intellectual or artistic members of the Egyptian society, as contrasted with the alien or peasant classes of the various nomes or provinces.
See also social evolution in egypt.
Ropes Essential tools and elements in Egyptian life, termed cordage in some instances, strings, twine, cable, or ropes were fashioned by twisting or braiding fibers into a line that could be tied or used to bear weights or stresses. Most Egyptian ropes were S-twisted to the right. Three S-twitched strands formed a Z-twisted cord. They were made from the papyrus plant (Cyperus papyrus), halfa grass (Desmostachya bipinnata), the dom palm (Hyphaene thebaica), and the date palm (Phoenix dactilif-era), along with others. The halfa grass was most common. These ropes were used in the construction of the spirit boat discovered in the pyramid pits of khufu (Cheops; r. 2551-2528 B. C.E.). The Egyptians were masters at rope making.
Roset This was a site near abydos in Upper Egypt deemed a holy place by Egyptians. Cliffs were prominent in the territory, and at Roset there is a cave that was considered to be one of the entrances to the tuat, the land beyond the grave. The proximity of Roset to abydos, the city of the god OSIRIS, may have caused the spiritual designation.
Rosetta Stone This is a portion of a large black basalt stone STELA, measuring three feet, nine inches by two feet and a half inch. The stone is inscribed with 14 lines of hieroglyphs, 32 lines of demotic script, and 54 lines of Greek. It was discovered by a French artillery officer, Lt. P F X. Bouchard, a member of Napoleon I’s forces, in the ruined Fort Julien at Rosetta. This town of Rosetta (Rashid) was in the northern region of the Delta on the western channel of the Nile. The inscriptions discovered on the Rosetta Stone were originally created by the priests of Memphis in the reign of ptolemy v epiphanes (205-180 B. C.E.), commemorating the ruler’s accession and patronage.
When the French surrendered Egypt in the Alexandrian Treaty of 1801, the stone passed to the British under Article 16. Work began on deciphering the ancient hieroglyphs, following the efforts of several scholars in previous historical periods. The Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680 C. E.) made contributions in deciphering. Abbe Jean-Jacques Barthelemy identified some cartouches of the ancient pharaohs in 1761.
In 1822, Jean-Franqois Champollion of France and Thomas Young of England started the last phases of decipherment of the Rosetta Stone. Young, recognizing the cartouche form, decided that the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra could be written in symbols with phonetic values that would correspond to their names in Greek. He managed to assign accurately the correct values to six signs with partially correct values for three more. Young also recognized the direction in which the texts should be read by ascertaining the direction in which birds in the inscriptions were facing.
In 1821, Champollion took up the task and published memoirs on the decipherment of both the hieroglyphs and the hieratic form of the Egyptian language. He recognized that some signs were alphabetical, some syllabic, and some determinative. Realizing the link between modern Coptic and ancient Egyptian, he mastered Coptic. He also established the fact that the Egyptian inscriptions were a translation from the Greek. His work inspired many Egyptologists.
Roy (1) (fl. 15th century b. c.e.) Financial official of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He served tuthmosis iii (r. 1479-1425 b. c.e.) as chief treasurer. An inscription cut into the rocks of serabit el-khadim, dating to Tuthmosis Ill’s 25th regnal year, depicts the pharaoh making a libation to hathor with Roy attending him. An inscription of eight lines praises Tuthmosis III, and another eight lines of hieroglyphs depict Roy as having been appointed a commander of the army sent to bring back malachite stone. There is a reference to “the sea,” indicating the Mediterranean or Red Sea.
See also Egyptian natural resources.
Roy (2) (fl. 13th century b. c.e.) Temple official of the Nineteenth Dynasty
He served merenptah (r. 1224-1214 b. c.e.) as the high priest of amun. The title became hereditary during Roy’s tenure. He had inherited the office from bakenkhonsu, and both apparently were members of the amenemopet clan.
Royal cults They resulted from the deification of the pharaohs of Egypt, as well as courtiers and certain queens, during their reigns or after their burials. Such deified individuals were considered intermediaries between the world of humans and the gods. amenhotep i (r. 1525-1504 b. c.e.), for example, and his mother, ’ahmose-nefertari, were deified and honored with shrines and temples.
The royal cults were particularly important when associated with mortuary complexes of deceased rulers, many remaining active for centuries after their institution. Such cults were centered at pyramids or tomb sites and were maintained by vast retinues. At times small cities were erected to house the priests and workers involved in the ongoing ceremonies and celebrations. The Ptolemaic Period (304-30 b. c.e.) continued the practice.
Royal List See king lists.
Royal names They were the titles employed by the rulers of Egypt from the earliest eras, containing magical and spiritual connotations. The titles were elaborately designed with five elements that denoted the connection of the pharaoh to the gods, to their divine purposes, and to their roles in the nation. The royal names included the following:
Horus name—the first one used, symbolizing the role of the pharaoh as the representative of the god horus on earth. The name was normally written in a SEREKH and established the pharaoh’s right to rule the land.
Nebti name—called the Two Goddesses or Two Ladies title and linking the pharaoh to the patronesses of Upper and Lower Egypt, wadjet and nekhebet, the cobra and the vulture. This was a sign of unification for Egypt. The pharaohs also wore the URAEUS, the royal symbol of the cobra and the vulture, the goddesses protecting the Upper and Lower Kingdoms.
Golden Horus name—called the Bik nub, the depiction of a hawk on a golden symbol, representing the concept that the pharaoh was made of gold. His flesh was actually “the gold of the gods,” the earthly manifestation of the divine.
Nesut-Bit name—also called the Sedge and the Bee, the suten-Bat, a title symbolizing the unity of upper and Lower Egypt under the pharaoh’s rule. The north and south combined to provide the pharaoh with a prenomen or a cartouche name. This was the most important and the most frequently used title. In some inscriptions the appearance of this name alone designated the particular pharaoh. The bee was the symbol of the Delta and Lower Egypt, and the sedge represented Upper Egypt.
Son of Re name—called the Si-Re and depicted by the hieroglyphs of the pintail duck and a disk, the duck meaning “son” of the god re, the disk. This was the pharaoh’s actual birth name normally.
Royal Wadi This was the name given to the desert road from ’amarna, the capital of akhenaten (r. 1353-1335 B. C.E.) to the tombs of royal family members and court officials in the cliff areas of the region. These tombs were ransacked following Akhenaten’s demise and the abandonment of ’Amarna. The remains of the royal family members were brought to thebes, and parts of their mortuary regalia were used in the tomb of tut’ankhamun (r. 1333-1323 b. c.e.).
Ruaben (fl. 27th century b. c.e.) Noble of the Second Dynasty
He served in the reign of ninetjer (c. 2680 b. c.e.). Ruaben’s tomb was constructed in saqqara. Stone fragments bearing his name were discovered in the massive gravesite, and it is possible that Ruaben was buried in the funerary complex of Ninetjer, whose remains and burial chamber have not yet been found.
Rudamon (d. c. 712 b. c.e.) Ruler of the Twenty-third Dynasty
He reigned at leontopolis from c. 747 b. c.e. until defeated by piankhi (r. 750-712 b. c.e.) of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, the Nubian who invaded Egypt. Rudamon was the son of osorkon iii and Queen tentsai. He succeeded TAKELOT III, his brother, and his heir was iuput ii. Rudamon built at karnak and medinet habu. His daughter, irbast’udjefru, married peftjau’abast.
Rudamon joined the coalition of rulers that tried to defend the land against the armies of Piankhi. The Egyptians were routed by Piankhi’s Nubians and had to surrender. Rudamon was allowed to remain in Leontopolis as a vassal governor.
Rudjek (fl. 26th century b. c.e.) Royal mortuary official of the Fourth Dynasty
Rudjek served khufu (Cheops; r. 2551-2528 b. c.e.) as counselor and as the head of the priests who took care of the royal mortuary complex in giza, the site of the Great PYRAMID of Khufu and those of his successors. Rudjek described himself as a “friend” of Khufu.
Ruia (fl. 14th century b. c.e.) Father-in-law of Seti I Ruia was the father of Queen tuya, the consort of seti i (r. 1306-1290 b. c.e.). Tuya, a commoner, had married Seti I before his father, ramesses i, was designated by HOREMHAB as heir. Seti I thus became the second ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Ruia was a commander of chariots in the Egyptian army, a force strengthened by Horemhab and expanded by Ramesses I and his successors. Ruia and his wife, Raia, were buried in thebes.
World History
