Canopic jar of Ketjen in the form of god Hapy
The canopic jar is made of alabaster. The canopic lid is made in the form of a head of baboon and it represents Egyptian god Hapy. The surface is a little bit damaged. At the front side, there is hieroglyphic inscription in four columns.
The text appears on the full set of canopic jars in collection of Varaždin. It is the usual one found on that type of Egyptian monuments. It contains a king's name Wahibre which was the prenomen taken by two kings: Psamtek and Apries. The unsolved problem in the text is the owner's name Ktjen (KTn) which also means "the chariot driver". It is always written before the king's name so it can also be understood as "the chariot driver of Wahibre". Even the previous translation by Miroslava Panić does not offer the solution of this problem. It is also possible that the title "the chariot driver", because of its importance, became a personal name of the owner.
Canopic jars belong to the Late Egyptian Period (26th Saite Dynasty). Probably the monuments could be dated back to the reign of Psamtek I (664 – 610 BC). The date is made on the orthography of some words and cartouche of pharaoh Psamtek I. Typology of German Egyptologist Kurt Sethe helps us in setting the date of the inscriptions. It was compared with typology made by Sethe and they all belong to the type XIX from 26th Saite Dynasty.
Magic sayings on canopic jars are dedicated to these god’s pairs: Isis-Imsety, Nepthis-Hapy, Neit-Duamutef and Serketh-Qebehsenuef. All magic sayings are different. Based on Raisner divisions we can rank them in the 5th group of canopic jars with inscriptions. This type appears for the first time during the 26th Saite Dynasty.
The Egyptian collection of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb also keeps 23 canopic jars with lids and 22 canopic lids dating from the periods of the Middle Kingdom to the Late Egyptian Periods. One canopic lid from the period of the Middle Kingdom is kept in Museum Mimara in Zagreb. Four canopic jars from the Museum of the City of Varaždin belong to the most beautiful specimens that can be found in the museums in Croatia.
Transliteration and translation:
Dd mdw jn Nbt-Ht HA. j sStAw jr. j bsA
Words spoken by Nephtis: "I hide the secrets, I protect
n ¡apj ntj jm. j sA Wsjr KTn
Hapy who is in me. Protection to Osiris Ketjen
WAH-jb-Ra mrj PtH mAa-Hrw sA ¡apj Wsjr K
Wahibre, the beloved of Ptah, the true of voice, by Hapy. (For) Osiris Ketjen
Tn WAH-jb-Ra mrj PtH mAa-Hrw pw ¡apj
Wahibre, the beloved of Ptah, the true of voice, is Hapy".
Very well preserved.
Inscription: the owner’s name on canopic jar, carving, hieroglyphics.
Acquisition: Originally the collection was in the possession of the noble family Pasthory-Varady in the 19th century. In 1920’s these artefacts came in the possession of the Varaždin City Museum.
The text appears on the full set of canopic jars in collection of Varaždin. It is the usual one found on that type of Egyptian monuments. It contains a king's name Wahibre which was the prenomen taken by two kings: Psamtek and Apries. The unsolved problem in the text is the owner's name Ktjen (KTn) which also means "the chariot driver". It is always written before the king's name so it can also be understood as "the chariot driver of Wahibre". Even the previous translation by Miroslava Panić does not offer the solution of this problem. It is also possible that the title "the chariot driver", because of its importance, became a personal name of the owner.
Canopic jars belong to the Late Egyptian Period (26th Saite Dynasty). Probably the monuments could be dated back to the reign of Psamtek I (664 – 610 BC). The date is made on the orthography of some words and cartouche of pharaoh Psamtek I. Typology of German Egyptologist Kurt Sethe helps us in setting the date of the inscriptions. It was compared with typology made by Sethe and they all belong to the type XIX from 26th Saite Dynasty.
Magic sayings on canopic jars are dedicated to these god’s pairs: Isis-Imsety, Nepthis-Hapy, Neit-Duamutef and Serketh-Qebehsenuef. All magic sayings are different. Based on Raisner divisions we can rank them in the 5th group of canopic jars with inscriptions. This type appears for the first time during the 26th Saite Dynasty.
The Egyptian collection of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb also keeps 23 canopic jars with lids and 22 canopic lids dating from the periods of the Middle Kingdom to the Late Egyptian Periods. One canopic lid from the period of the Middle Kingdom is kept in Museum Mimara in Zagreb. Four canopic jars from the Museum of the City of Varaždin belong to the most beautiful specimens that can be found in the museums in Croatia.
Transliteration and translation:
Dd mdw jn Nbt-Ht HA. j sStAw jr. j bsA
Words spoken by Nephtis: "I hide the secrets, I protect
n ¡apj ntj jm. j sA Wsjr KTn
Hapy who is in me. Protection to Osiris Ketjen
WAH-jb-Ra mrj PtH mAa-Hrw sA ¡apj Wsjr K
Wahibre, the beloved of Ptah, the true of voice, by Hapy. (For) Osiris Ketjen
Tn WAH-jb-Ra mrj PtH mAa-Hrw pw ¡apj
Wahibre, the beloved of Ptah, the true of voice, is Hapy".
Very well preserved.
Inscription: the owner’s name on canopic jar, carving, hieroglyphics.
Acquisition: Originally the collection was in the possession of the noble family Pasthory-Varady in the 19th century. In 1920’s these artefacts came in the possession of the Varaždin City Museum.
Catalogue entry
Canopic jar of Ketjen in the form of god Hapy
The Varaždin City Museum, Varaždin
Archaeological department: Collection of the Ancient Egyptian artefacts
Inv. no. GMV AO-5281
Egypt, unknown site
Late Period (664-332 BC)
26th Saite Dynasty (664-525 BC), reign of pharaoh Psamtek I (664-610 BC)
alabaster: carving, stone proccesing
canopic jar: 32 x 17.4 cm
canopic lid: 8 x 13.2 cm
inscription: 11 x 7.5 cm
private collection, Pasthory-Varady, 19th century
Resources
- Panić, Miroslava. "Četiri “kanope” u Gradskom muzeju u Varaždinu". Zbornik Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu XII-1 (1974): 15-31. 15-31
- Tomorad, Mladen. "Egipatske zbirke u Hrvatskoj s posebnim osvrtom na egipatsku zbirku Gradskog muzeja Varaždin". Zbornik radova međunarodnog simpozija Stvaralački potencijali u funkciji društveno-ekonomskog i kulturnog razvoja sjeverozapadne Hrvatske, Varaždin, 21.-22.11. 2002. Zagreb-Varaždin, 2002.: 543-558. 549.
- Tomorad, Mladen. „Foundation of the Ancient Egyptian Collections in Croatia: Travellers, Private Collectors and the Genesis of the Collections (1800-1920)“. U: Hudakova, Lubica; Hudec, Jozef (ur.). Egypt and Austria IX: Perception of the Orient in Central Europe (1800-1918). Krakow, 2016: 325-340, 405. 329, 339
- Tomorad, Mladen. „The Ancient Egyptian Antiquities in Institutional and Private Collections in Croatia“. U: Tomorad, Mladen (ur.). A History of Research into Ancient Egyptian Culture conducted in Southeast Europe. Oxford, 2015: 31-58. 256
- Tomorad, Mladen. „The Ancient Egyptian Antiquities in Institutional and Private Collections in Croatia“. U: Tomorad, Mladen (ur.). A History of Research into Ancient Egyptian Culture conducted in Southeast Europe. Oxford, 2015: 31-58. 51
- Tomorad, Mladen. „The Egyptian antiquities in Croatia“. PalArch 2, 1 (2005): 1-33. 20.
- Tomorad, Mladen. Egipat u Hrvatskoj: egipatske starine u hrvatskoj znanosti i kulturi. Zagreb, 2003. 8, 66-67
- Tomorad, Mladen. Model računalne obrade i prezentacije staroegipatskih predmeta u muzejskim zbirkama u Hrvatskoj. [Doktorska disertacije, Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu]. Zagreb, 2006. 30.
- Tomorad, Mladen; Uranić, Igor. "Egyptian Collection of the Museum of the City of Varaždin - Croatia". Trabajos de Egiptologia - Papers on Ancient Egypt 3 (2004): 87-98. no. 3b, 96
