Petosiris, the «Pharaoh»: a usurper or a restorer of the order?

• Autor(a) principal: Sales, José das Candeias
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/10828
• topic: Petosiris; Iconographic sources; Textual sources; Memory; Pharaonic power; Priestly consciousness; Hermopolis Magna; 2nd Persian Domination

In the textual inscriptions of the inner chapel of the Τomb of Petosiris at Tuna ᾽el-Gebel, and in the iconography of the outer halls of the facade, there are several traces of the use by this high priest of epithets and expressions associated with the pharaonic protocol, as well as the performance of typical functions and ritual acts traditionally performed by Egyptian pharaohs. Never before had been witnessed such political audacity. Does the disappearance of the traditional indigenous central power, close, strong and effective, caused by the 2nd Persian Domination, and the political and administrative disorders around the ancient city of Hermopolis Magna, explain this usurpation of functions and privileges? Is this merely a case of abuse of potestas sacerdotalis? Are we before an exceptional example of priestly consciousness due to the decline of the traditional pharaonic royal model? This paper will try to shed light on these questions.