On the Question of the Continuity of Saite Traditions in Dynasty 30 (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum E.5.1909; Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum 56.152)

When W.M. Flinders Petrie excavated the Palace of Apries he uncovered a limestone block with inscriptions on both sides. This block was published in 1909 and is now kept in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Bernard Bothmer first compared the Cambridge block to another one kept in the Brooklyn Museum. He emphasized that they correspond closely and that the representations differ only minutely. After Bothmer’s publication, both artifacts were considered as originally parts of a single structure. In this contribution the function of the monument of which this block was originally a part will be investigated. The proposed interpretation gives rise to a new reading of religious representations of the ancient Egyptians. It is not about overcoming the barriers of the underworld, but about the practical use of spirits. The texts tell us about the Egyptian belief in affiliating oneself with the spirit of an important person for using it for personal purposes.