The coronation ritual of the falcon at Edfu : tradition and innovation in ancient Egyptian ritual composition

Abstract

This PhD-thesis investigates the role and function of tradition in the composition of new ritual texts in Ptolemaic Egypt on the basis of an in-depth analysis of the structural organisation and ritual composition of one the most elaborate and complex temple rituals known from Ptolemaic Egypt: the coronation ritual of the sacred living falcon. The available source material suggests that this ritual was a new composition of the Ptolemaic period in which tradition was merged with contemporary ideas. An investigation of the interrelations of the ritual texts and iconographic themes of this ritual with other textual and iconographic materials enabled us to investigate the role and function of tradition in the ritual, to identify the editorial processes to which the new composition was subjected and to reach conclusions on the extent of originality and the conceptualisation of innovation in ancient Egyptian ritual composition. Furthermore, the in-depth analysis of the structural organisation of the ritual resulted in a new reconstruction of the ritual sequence of the ritual based on the hieroglyphic inscriptions. On the basis of textual, iconographic, lexicographic and archaeological sources a new identification was proposed of the various locations where the ritual was carried out.