"... 97. Stela B.l, Abu Simbel, Forecourt of Great Temple
(a) Bibliography.
§323. South free-standing stela, before Temple. PM, VII, 98(6); S. D[onadoni] and J. C[erny], Abou Simbel, Steles de la cour (B.1-2), Cairo: editions CEDAE, 1960; handbook ed., KRI, II, 311-313, §97. Translation: RITA, II, 150-153, §97.
(b) General Notes.
§324. This stela and its companion probably fulfilled at Abu Simbel the role suggested above (§275) for the series of stelae erected at Pi-Ramesse (later taken to Tanis), namely to serve as verbalisations of the role of the king as shown in the temple reliefs.
Here, after the initial titulary, the main text (N. face) eulogises the king above all else as generous patron of the cults of the gods. Then Amun addresses the king, granting him victory, and thereafter takes up a theme that began with Amenophis III and was adapted to be used with the great triumph-scenes on temple-walls, from Sethos I onwards - see in brief Kitchen and Gaballa, ZAS 96(1969), 27-28, and RITANC, I, 27f., §50, with references. Namely, Amun turns to the four cardinal points, South, North, East and West, in each to 'work a wonder' for the king. Here, in stela B.l, only South and North appear fragmentarily, while East and West and the end of the text are now lost. The poetical form is of two-line couplets, with an occasional tricolon.
98. Stela B.2, Abu Simbel, Forecourt of Great Temple
(a) Bibliography.
§325. North free-standing stela, before Temple. PM, VII, 98(7); S. Dfonadoni] and J. C[emy], Abou Simbel, Steles de la cour (B.1-2), Cairo: editions CEDAE, 1960; handbook ed., KRI, II, 313-315, §98. Translation: RITA, II, 153-155, §98.
(b) General Notes.
§326. This stela makes a pair with the preceding one. The initial titulary is the normal one, but supplemented with bellicose epithets, vaunting the king's power over Kush and Hatti in particular. This same augmented titulary was used again in the parallel rock-stelae C.20, 22 (see next Section). Here, the eulogy that follows deals neither with war nor buildings and offerings but more theologically with the king's interrelationships with the gods - making their images, recognised as their offspring, and firmly doing right in the land; the end of the text is destroyed. ..." |