Temple of Osiris Heka-Djet: “Ruler of Eternity”
Before we leave the east-west axis of Karnak—this great site—we should take a moment to examine the Temple of Osiris Heka-Djet. Dating from the Late Period, it offers some unique aspects for the curious observer. That it is rarely visited is no mystery, lying where it does just inside of the temenos wall at the far eastern end of the complex. The temple itself was built in the 22nd Dynasty by Osorkon IV (ca. 730 BCE), who ruled at Tanis in the delta. It is a measure of the importance given to Karnak that even kings who were in power at a distance from this sacred site felt it necessary to add to the overall design of the temple as a whole. These kings named their sons, on a fairly regular basis, as the high priests of Thebes. Often we see the names of these priests inscribed within a cartouche at the site, an example of which may be seen at the already mentioned Bubastite Portal of Sheshonq I, where Sheshonq’s son Iuput, high priest of Amen at Karnak, is represented with his father on the posts of the portal, giving the impression, as in the preceding dynasty, that there were two governments, one in the North and one in the South.
As one enters this sanctuary, to the left of the entrance a Kushite king can be seen receiving the sed-festival symbols hanging from a palm, symbolizing years, along with the was scepter and the ankh. The cartouches bearing the King of Upper and Lower Egypt and the Son of Re names have been chiseled out but from the still visible Horus name we know that this is king Shabataka (Shebitku) of the 25th Dynasty (ca. 702 BCE). Take note of the thick quality of the necks of the king and of the god Amen-Re by comparison with other depictions.
Additionally, the king originally had two uraei on the crown (note the two tails evident at the back of the crown), one cobra, most likely wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, having been chiseled out. This powerful appearance along with the facial features leaves little doubt as to this king being of the Kushite Dynasty.
The first chamber entered shows some scenes of interest. The top register shows a scene of Shepenwepet, the daughter of Osorkon III (ca. 787 BCE), presenting Ma’at to the god Amen and receiving the menat necklace from the goddess Hathor. In the lower register can be seen Amenirdis holding the sistrum of Hathor on her shoulder and receiving three ankhs from the god Amen-Re in her left hand. Above her head are her titles inscribed above the cartouches. To the right she is the Divine Worshiper and to the left she is styled as God’s Wife with her name, Amenirdis, in the cartouche below this title. Above her flies the goddess Nekhbet of Hieraconpolis, the ancient Upper Egyptian city. The long line of glyphs to her left read:
“The God’s Wife, Amenirdis, may she live, has made heka-djet as a monument to her father Osiris.”
“All protection, life stability and dominion, all joy behind her, like Re forever”
The goddess to the right behind Amen-Re is identified in the line of glyphs behind Amen-Re’s tall plumes as: “Great Mut, the Lady of Isheru.” Isheru is the ancient Egyptian name of the Precinct of Mut in the temple of Karnak.
On the south wall of this chamber is the seven doorways of Osiris all boxed within each other. To the right of these doorways the symbol of the nome (an Egyptian governmental district) of Abydos can be seen. This fetish is worshiped in the temple of Osiris at Abydos as it is thought to represent the place where the head of the god was placed following his dismemberment by his brother Seth in the Osiris legend.
These seven doorways may refer to the gates in chapter 144 of the Book of the Dead (chapter 147 in the Papyrus of Ani, Book of the Dead). There are seven gates in the realm of Osiris. In the Book of the Dead, each gate is guarded by three attendants, these being its keeper, guardian and announcer. This group is always composed of three anthropomorphic deities with the first being ram headed, the second animal-headed and the third human headed. One must have knowledge of their names and speak them to be allowed to pass on to each succeeding gate with the final objective being that “he be among the blameless blessed spirits in order that he might prevail among the chief followers of Osiris” (Papyrus of Ani, Chapter 147).
In the relief’s to the right are scenes of Shepenwepet being breast fed by a Hathor-like goddess and then being embraced by Amen in the lower register. The east wall of the inner chapel shows two kings kneeling back to back in a persea tree, or the Tree of Life. Their cartouches are embedded within the tree and bear the names of the kings: on the left is Osorkon III wearing the crown of Upper Egypt and on the right is Takelot III wearing the crown of Lower Egypt. The god Amen-Re is seen inscribing the kings names on the leaves of the tree on the left and the god Tem is seen doing the same on the right.
The lower register shows a very unique scene. It shows two arms extending to measure an oval device which may represent the depths of the underworld. A kneeling figure and the Horus falcon sit atop this curve and look to the south. In the final hour of the ‘Book of Gates” Osiris is identified as the “one who encircles the underworld.” From this we may infer that this small temple is relating to that which occurs in the underworld, i.e. the nightly aspect of the suns’ cycle where midnight separated the end of one day and the beginning of another. Again we may look to the “Book of the Amduat” for explanation in that the deepest part of the underworld is encountered in the fifth hour of the night or approximately half way through. From here on the god is being “reborn”, a “coming into being” which is represented by the appearance of the scarab beetle which represents the Egyptian verb kheper meaning “to come into being.” In this scene we see the appearance of the beetle rather unusually just below the winged disk at the top of the scene. This serves as a reinforcing factor regarding the above mentioned observations.
The innermost sanctuary is now empty but the wall glyphs refer to Amen-Re and Amenirdis. A statue of Amenirdis found at Karnak may well have been originally placed in this sanctuary. On the lintels above the doorway two kings are seated back to back on thrones with two images of the Nile god Hapy linking Upper and Lower Egypt. Below the seated kings are the glyph signs of the rekhyt bird atop the neb basket facing the sema or “union” symbol. We can read this as “all the people praise the union (of the two lands).”