Gods who hear Prayers
In 1979, a stela was found at Ser-abit el-Khadim in the Sinai which shows Hathor as a young women in a long dress, holding the Ankh sign and Was Sceptre in her hands and Crowned with the Sun-Disk, horns and uraeus.
The accompying texts read:
"Hathor, Lady of Turquoise [ may she give good] life , praise and love to the Ka of ...."
Part 2: " Shalim-Shema".
This name , which can be translated as " Shalim who hears" is one of a number of personal names which combine the Name of a deity with the action of hearing, presumbly prayer.
The God Shalim is known in Ugarit as the God of the setting Sun, brother to Schachar, the Sun in the morning. Shalim-Shema would therfore appear to be of Asiatic origin.
In Egypt, the idea of a listening god is a well reflected part of religious thought. Only a select few of the Gods were available to the common man: Hathor, Ptah, Re, Horus, Thoth, and perhaps the most Important, the great Amun at Ipet-Sut (Karnak).
The Lord of the Thrones of the Two lands, Great Amun of Ipet-Sut
Located at the rear of the Amun complex, but outside of the sacred precinct is the temple of the listening ear, dedicated to " Amun who listens to prayer by Thuthmosis III. There are indications of an earlier work by Thuthmosis I, and much later additions were made for the worship of Ramesses II and Ptolemy VIII who, in turn " hear prayer .
This Temple allowed access to Amun for ordinary people who were excluded from the Temples themselves.
Amun " who lends his ear to the poor" is a theme which runs through Egyptian Literature. On the stela of Neb-Ra, a father is shown praying for his son to Amun-who-hears-prayers. The father is shown before Amun who sits in front of the Pylon of the Temple.
As noted before, the commoner could get no futher than the First Pylon - Amun here would appear to have gone out of his sanctuary to listen the pleas of NebRa.
At Medinet Habu, there was a famous and popular relief of Ptah " who hears prayers" at the Eastern gate, an image again made available to those kept outside.
The exclusion of the Hoi Polloi allowed for the actions of a go- between to carry word to and from the God. This was sometimes a deified mortal who was held in high esteem and was held to hold this role of intermediatry after his death.
A Block statue of Amunhotep-son-of-Hapu says:
People of Wastet who wish to see Amun: Come to me and I will transmit your petitions. I can address the God because King Amunhotep III set me up to repeat what the Two Lands say"
At Karnak Temple, statues of royal heralds were set up to perform a similar function.
An interesting petition to Amun was recorded in Hieratic graffitti in the Tomb of Peres at Western Thebes. This text records the only known regnal year of Ankheperure NeferNeferuaten and is the only text I know which mentions the Armarna Kings and Great Amun together. It is actually a good example of a prayer to Amun in which the Thay seeks aid on behalf of his brother, Pawah who has been stricken with blindness-a common condition amongst the poor of Egypt.
The Following translation is by Sir Alan Gardiner. the text is broken in places and cannot be restored fully, here is is then:
" Year 3, third month of inuundation, day 10. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ankheperure, beloved of Neferkheperure [?], the Son of Re, Neferneferuaten, beloved of Waenre[?].
Giving praise to Amun, prostration before Onnophris by the wa'b priest, scribe of the divine offerings of Amun in the house of Ankheperure in Wastet, Pawah born of Intefsonb.
He says: My heart desires to see thee, thou Lord of the Shawab Trees when thy throat takes the North wind. Thou givest saity without[?] eating, thou givest sobriety without [?] drinking.
My haert desires to see thee. My heart rejoices O Amun thou champion [?] of the poor man . Thou art the father of the motherless , the husband of the widow. Agreeable is the saying of your name, it is like the taste of bread to a child, a loincloth to the naked.
Thou [?] art like the taste of cedar[?] wood in the season of the heat...Thou art like the breath of freedom to a man who has been in prison.
Peaceful is...the man of virtue....
Turn yourself to us, thou Lord of Millions of Years.
Thou wast here ere aught had come into existence....
Thou causet me to see a darkness of your giving. Illumine me that I may see thee [?]. As the soul endureth and as thy beautiful beloved face endureth, thou shalt
come from afar, granting that this servant, the scribe Wah, may see you. Give to
him. Enduring is Re, enduring is Re!
Verily, the worship of thee is good. O Amun thou great Lord to seek if only he be found. Turn away fear. Place joy in the heart of men. Joyful is the man that sees thee, O Amun. He is in festival everyday.
For the soul of the Wab-priest, the scribe of the Temple of Amun in the house of Ankhkheperure, Pawah, born of Iotefsonb. To thy soul! Spend a happy day in the midst of thy fellow townsmen. His brother, the outline-draughtsman, Thay [?] of the house Ankhkheperure.
Conclusion
The Key line in this text is " thou champion of the poor man", it can be thus seen that the great state God Amun had a genuine and real appeal for listening to prayers and was not some remote divinity beyond the reach of the ordinary man.
Unlike the Aten, which in thoery at least could only be petioned through the medium of the King, no doubt this was a key factor in the unpopulat Atenism.
Ian Alex Blease
