A Message for the Future?
The Sacred Library of Padiamenope's Tomb
In a previous article we published, we referred to a turbulent and complicated period in Egypt, the 7th century BCE, which saw in rapid succession the fall of the 25th Kushite dynasty of Nubian origin, the conquest by the Assyrians, the weakening of the latter, and finally the beginning, with Psamtik I, of the reunification of Egypt with the establishment of the 26th dynasty.
But this period in Egypt was preceded by the fragmentation of Egypt between the pharaohs who ruled the north and those who ruled the south from Thebes. The end was slowly approaching, and already in those early days of dissolution, Herihor, the high priest of Amun in Thebes, took power, thus inaugurating the 21st Dynasty based in Thebes.
It was Herihor who promoted the transfer of the royal mummies from their tombs to a hidden cave in the hills above the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. At night, so as not to be observed, the bodies of the pharaohs were moved and sometimes abruptly deposited in that hiding place. And there they remained until their rediscovery by 19th-century Egyptologists. Clearly, the royal power in Thebes was no longer able to maintain the security of the royal tombs, and fearing their destruction, it resorted to this risky maneuver, which ultimately proved successful: most of the royal mummies that tourists can see today in Egyptian museums are those that were rescued from that place.
This weakness of the dynasties and their separation led to the invasion of the powerful kingdom of Kush and the events described above.
Who was the mysterious Padiamenope?
Padiamenope, also known as Petamenophis, is a figure straddling the 25th and 26th dynasties. His tomb, immense, larger than that of many kings, and the dozen statues found dedicated to him, is unusual and catches our attention. He did not hold any important position in the state structure, and his title of Chief Priest Reader presents him as a scholar, something that, as we shall see, is very important in his biography and significance.
Despite this, he was, along with the Pharaoh, the only one truly authorized to lead the festivals of Amun-Ra in Thebes, as “Director of the Festivals of Amun,” in addition to adding to these titles that of “Private Secretary to the King” and “Chief Ritual Priest.” All this points to someone with profound knowledge, a sage, who also enjoyed the special trust of the pharaoh, or pharaohs: curiously, as was the custom, in his tomb he thanks the pharaoh for the privilege of allowing its construction, but at no point does he indicate which pharaoh he was addressing.
According to Claude Traunecker (University of Strasbourg), who restarted the excavation of his tomb, “Padiamenope was a sage specializing in royal rituals” and goes on to say that “his tomb is much more than a simple tomb: it is a place of pilgrimage and worship, with an underground sanctuary dedicated to Osiris, at the heart of a gigantic library-museum.”
The Sacred Library of Padiamenope
As we have pointed out, Padiamenope's tomb is immense, comprising 22 chambers distributed over four levels of depth, with a decorated area of approximately 2,622 m2. The following link shows the extent of the tomb:
According to Egyptologist Isabelle Règen, who describes the place as a library in stone: “The inscribed books often clarify and rework the originals, reorganizing them in both a textual and architectural order. These texts allow us to clarify and understand earlier, flawed texts.”
Professor Claude Traunecker adds: “The sage Padiamenopè had the results of his work compiling and modernizing the great funerary corpus of Ancient Egypt carved on the walls of his tomb and explicitly invites future visitors to copy and study them, in short, to pass them on.”
In fact, the figure of Padiamenope appears in the first scenes at the entrance to the tomb, looking outwards and inviting those who arrive to share in his treasures, which is very strange, because the entrance to tombs was usually protected and magical texts were even inscribed to expel intruders. However, his words are a blessing and an invitation:
... O, you who are alive
Those who are on earth,
Those who have been born and those who will be born.
Those who come as followers of Montu, lord of Thebes
Those who come to enjoy the west of Thebes
Those who pass through the stairs
Those who enter the tombs and
contemplate what is there,
As true as Amun-Ra, the living lord to us
worship the god, and pronounce the offering formula,
complete this monument and restore what has been damaged.
It seems that even in deep chambers, certain members of the public were allowed to enter, and ceremonies were performed, and there may even have been sacred animals alive.
Everything seems to indicate, therefore, that it is the work of a sage, a personal friend of the king, without important public office, but with recognized wisdom that allowed him, with the support of royalty, to realize his dream of transmitting the best versions of the sacred books, as well as a certain initiatory tradition in relation to the imperishable stars. Thus, his tomb does not end in the east like others, but clearly points north, to the place of the sacred stars of the North Pole, and in a secret upper chamber, the remains of his tomb were found, along with astronomical murals with extraordinary representations of the circumpolar stars.
In the heart of the tomb
At the very heart of the tomb is an Osirian Temple, a central place of great importance that made it the center of pilgrimage, as well as for the followers of Montu, the ancestral god of Armant—the place of origin of Padiamenope, near Thebes—and considered the warrior ancestor of the god Amun.
Even today, in that small village in southern Egypt, I can personally attest to the existence of groups of native Egyptians who enthusiastically seek to revive the ancient traditions linked to Montu, Amun, Thebes, and Armant.
It is equally striking that in Cairo—a city traditionally overrun by cats and where until recently wild dogs were persecuted, mistreated, and stoned by people—these animals have in recent years become domestic companions to many people. Now they settle in the lobbies of buildings as guardians of their owners, and others, simply without owners, consider everyone who passes by to be their friends. People care for and feed them, and they seem to have happily regained their place as the former lords of Egypt: a symbol of the new times ahead, in which dogs, brothers of Anubis, are reclaiming their rights.
Surely the gods also protect them!
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