Egypt Exploration Society

Two Protodynastic Objects in Brussels and the Origin of the Bilobate Cult-Sign of Neith Author(s): Stan Hendrickx Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 82 (1996), pp. 23-42 Published by: Egypt Exploration Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3822112 . Accessed: 13/02/2012 09:00
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23

TWO PROTODYNASTICOBJECTSIN BRUSSELSAND THE ORIGIN OF THE BILOBATECULT-SIGN OF NEITH*

By STAN HENDRICKX
New publication and discussion of two fragmentarystone objects of Protodynastic date in the Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire in Brussels, together with a further fragment from one of them, found a few years ago in the excavations of the DAIK at Umm el-Qa'ab. The carved decoration of both includes representations of the click beetle (AgrypnusnotodontaLatr.), sacred to Neith. From their iconography,it is suggested that the bilobate cultsign of Neith originally consisted of the image of two click beetles, flanking two crossed arrows attached to a pole. Three different symbols of Neith can be distinguished during the Protodynastic Period: the bilobate object, two crossed arrows, and two bows tied together. The original meaning of the bilobate object seems to have been forgotten before the end of the Old Kingdom, and during the Middle Kingdom it lost its original form and was henceforward depicted as an oval. The significance given to it at that time remains open to discussion, but its traditional identification as a shield is most probably the result of the far more recent assimilation of Neith to the Greek goddess Athena.

THE bilobate cult-sign of Neith, consisting of two superposed ovals with a pair of crossed

arrowsbetween, has long been the subject of discussion. By coincidence, the two most important early dynastic depictions of the symbol are preserved on objects in the Egyptiancollection of the Musees Royauxd'Artet d'Histoire in Brussels. Althoughboth
have been published previously, a reassessment is desirable, not only because new drawings interpretations now seem possible, but also because the previously-published

are inaccurate and, more particularly, a further fragment of one of the objects was discovered a few years ago.

Two fragmentary Protodynastic objects in Brussels

1. Brussels, MRAH E.578 (pl. III, 1; figs. 1, 2). Five joining fragments and one separate

piece of a shallow oval plate, the exterior of which is decorated in low relief.
Greywacke. Original dimensions: length c. 39 cm; width c. 18cm. Thickness: 0.25-0.4 cm. E. Amelineau, Les nouvelles fouilles d'Abydos I. (1895-1896) (Paris, 1899), 212-13, pls. xxvii:

*I should like to thank Dr L. Limme, director of the Egyptian Department of the Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, for permission to publish the two objects in Brussels, and Dr G. Dreyer, director of the DAIK excavationsat Umm el-Qa'ab, for kindly allowing publication of the related fragment from Abydos. Further thanks are due to Mr C. Van Winkel, technical assistant in the Egyptian Department, for his ready help, and to Mrs F. Piette (MRAH) who made the drawings for figs. 1 and 5. Entomological references and information on Agrypnus notodonta were supplied by Mr J. Debecker (Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren) and Prof. J. Billen (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). Finally, Dr Limme, Mr B. Van Rinsveld (MRAH), and the JEA's two reviewers are to be thanked for their most useful comments on a first draft of the present article.

24

STAN HENDRICKX

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I,

I I I I I I

! ! /

FIG. 1. Brussels E.578 , together with a fragment from the DAIK excavations at Umm el-Qa'ab (K.1005): fragmentary plate with decoration in low relief. Scale 1:2.

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TWO PROTODYNASTICOBJECTSIN BRUSSELS

25

1 \ / 1 1r /^-^A
2 2

tV\
3

second row,seventhfrom left, xxviii:first row,tenth from left; H6tel Drouot, Paris,Antiquitgsegyptiennestrouveesa Abydos. Catalogue de vente de la collection Amelineau (1904), 43 nos. 286-7; L. Keimer, 'Pendeloquesen forme d'insectes faisantpartie de colliers egyptiens', ASAE 31 (1931), 145-82, at 149-53 (fig. 2, drawing incorrect);G. Kritsky,'Beetle Gods, King Bees and Other Insects of Ancient Egypt', KMT 4/1 (1993), 32-9, at 35; S. Hendrickx, Antiquitgsprehistoriqueset protodynastiquesd'Egypte (Brussels, 1994), 56-7 (where the plate is erroneouslydescribed as decorated on the interior).

Four fragments were found in 1895-6 by Amelineau during his work on the royal tombs of the first dynasties at Umm elQa'ab (fig. 2); two further fragments are registered in Brussels as originating from Petrie's excavations on the same spot between 1899 and 1901, but were not published by him. Another piece may be recognized among the fragments illustrated by Amelineau.2 Unfortunately, Amelineau did not specify the exact provenance of the fragments, nor is any location recorded for those from Petrie's work. However, during the 1988 excavation campaign of the German ArchaeoFIG. 2. BrusselsE.578 + of K.1005:position Abydos logical Institute Cairo (DAIK) at Umm el-Qa'ab, a matching the fragmentsfound by fragment (Abydos K. 1005) was found in the debris to the Amelineau (1), Petrie (2) north-east of the tomb of Den (tomb T).3 In the same area were found many objects inscribed with that king's name. The tomb of Den was excavated by Ame6lineauin 1895-96, the same season in which the fragments of the plate were found.4 In view of the massive disturbance of the royal tombs, this does not necessarily mean that the plate originally belonged to the funeral equipment of the tomb of Den, although this is a very likely provenance. The undecorated concave surface (the interior) of the object is very carefully polished, leaving no trace of the process of manufacture; nor can any evidence of use be seen. This
lack of wear, in conjunction with the fact that the convex surface (the exterior) is but a but a lid. However, the increasing decorated, might suggest that the object was not a plate

thickness of the section towards the centre of the object, which is unfortunately missing,
suggests that there may have been some kind of small base, allowing the object to stand as a plate without damaging the decoration. The shape of the rim is also more typical of a plate than a lid, and plates and vessels with a decoratedexted exterior are well known from

the Protodynastic Period.5

'Les nouzelles fotiilles, 200-15. The fragments were not recognized by Amelineau as joining. He thought the decoration represented a human figure (cf. ibid. 212). 2Ibid. pl. xxviii, lower row, first right. The present whereabouts of this fragment are unknown to me. 'For further matches between fragments found in the DAIK excavations and those preserved in Brussels, London and Berlin, see S. Hendrickx and C. Van Winkel, 'Fragments de recipients decores en pierre provenant de la necropole royale des premieres dynasties a Abydos (Haute-Egypte)', BMIRAH64 (1993), 5-38, esp. 6-7 n.8. 4Amelineau, Les nouznelles Joilles, 119-26. 'A. el-Khouli, Egyptian Stone V'essels. Predynastic Period to Dynasty III (Mainz am Rhein, 1978), nos. 5597-8, 5602-6, 5627; Hendrickx and Van Winkel, BMIRAH64, passim.

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: / ,

STAN HENDRICKX :

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FIG.3. AgrypnusnotodontaLatr. (AfterKeimer,

The decoration consists of the detailed representation of a beetle, with two human / \ : o\ s arms holding sceptres; one of them is cer,/ ' _ *'. ,t'/ ./ tainly a was-sceptre. In addition, there is a ~Xt /' [t single stick-like line descending vertically /^?^;:^ I I f from the insect's body and sections of four ^ other sticks which when complete would ..~:-7S;^ 'liy have crossed each other just below. In the . 1 aE _ > original publication by Keimer, the beetle l was identified as Agrypnus notodonta Latr. l /l fl i I (fig. 3).6 This rather large beetle, which can ,xt l fl/U l measure ^^ up to 3.5 cm, belongs to the elaI I\IL /1 il! ^^lk\. ~terid and is commonly known as the _ _ family [I lf) I S\ click beetle (fig. 3). Characteristic features are the vertical stripes on the elytra, the ; r IlwIl 1 I wn J^ / l shape of the prothorax with the angular extensions, and the rather large, round to '. /
oval mesoscutellum (the small part between

the elytra, just below the prothorax). The difference between this and the best-known Egyptian beetle, Scarabaeus sacer, is obvious both from the shape of the prothorax and that of the mesoscutellum, which is triangular on Scarabaeus sacer. The object is carved with great delicacy and accuracy, and testifies to the craftsmanship of the Protodynastic Period. The oval shape of the plate was evidently designed to accord with its decoration. This is especially noticeable in the treatment of the insect's small head: the prothorax is so positioned that its upper contour partly coincides with the rim of the plate, and thus allows the extremity of the oval to be seen as the insect's head. For this reason, the rim is slightly thicker at this point than along the rest of its profile. Such careful management of the shape demonstrates that the representation follows a clearly premeditated scheme. For many years, the iconography has remained puzzling, although a link between Agrypnus notodonta and the goddess Neith had already been made by Keimer and others. However, an important element which has not hitherto been accorded due weight, is the presence of the was-sceptre, which was a classic attribute of Neith, as early as the Second Dynasty.7 Since the sceptres are held by human arms protruding from the junction of the insect's prothorax and elytra, it may be deduced that the click beetle here actually represents Neith, instead of being merely her sacred creature.8 The fragment discovered by the DAIK adds greatly to our understanding of the representation. It now becomes clear that the insect is to be envisaged as fixed on a pole,
6Keimer, ASAE 31, 150. 7R. el-Sayed, La deesse Neith de Sais. I, Importance et rayonnement de son culte. II, Documentation (Cairo, 1982), II, 227 doc. 76, pl. ii. 8This representational device has been termed 'emblematic personification' by J. Baines, Fecundity Figures (Warminster, 1985), 41-5.

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TWO PROTODYNASTICOBJECTSIN BRUSSELS

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i^/

^sj, /I \

FIG. 4. Brussels E.578

+Abydos K.1005: pattern of arrowsand sceptres.

with the four sticks crossing each other just below the point where the newly-discoveredfragmentends. Since this part is missing, we cannot tell whether the bindings which might have lashed the sticks to the pole were shown. The surviving of the parts of the representation,especiallythe configuration sticks, argue for a symmetricallyplaced, identical decoration on the lost part of the object. This assumes that the plate had a uniform oval shape-an assumption which can hardly be questioned,since the single non-joiningfragmentcan only be integratedinto an oval outline. The suggested reconstruction of the decorationwould thus resemble in shape the bilobate Neith symbol. As for the four sticks, which are here interpreted as arrows,only one of the eight originalextremities is it is simply pointed, and shows no indicationof an preserved:9 arrowhead. Nearly all the earlydynasticrepresentationsof the crossed arrowsof Neith which are sufficiently detailed show arrowheads at the tip, often with a transverseedge. However, without feathers at their nock ends, are well arrows, pointed known for the Protodynastic Period.' The absence of arrowheads, then, does not preclude the identificationof the entire
decoration as the symbol of Neith, but the presence of four

crossed arrows instead of two requires some explanation, though it should be noted that the arrows are wo two. A possible explanationmight be to consider the entire by groupedy apparently the as representationof a click beetle, as suggested by its oval shape. The pattern object arrows and the four(?) was-sceptres could be reminiscent of the formed by the four arrows disposition of the insect's legs (fig. 4), as represented on a gold capsule found at Naga
ed-Deir (cf. below, fig. 7). This would imply that the undecorated surface represents the back of the insect, and the decorated underside the belly. that the plate itself reprepresents a click beetle and Such a double interpretation-namely the carved decoration upon it the symbol of Neith-would necessitate a complex process of 'reading' the object. Its interpretation as a plate, rather than a lid, also poses the

question:whywould the easily-damaged(and presumablyunseen) exteriorbe decorated? If we assume that the plate may have had a ritual function which necessitated both an
undecorated interior, but also the presence of the image of the click beetle, we might

conclude that the meaning of the object became clear when it was manipulated.1" Noticing the oval shape, the viewer would pick up the plate, turn it over, and by
9It could be suggested that the 'arrows' are in fact the veins of a leaf; there are several examples of imitations of leaves in the decoration of early dynastic stone vessels. However, the veins on these are either curved or branching, unlike the seemingly straight and undivided 'arrows'on this plate. Furthermore, the contours of these vessels imitate the shape of leaves, which is probably not the case with the plate. See Hendrickx and Van Winkel, BMRAH 64, 10-1 nos. E.4852a,b with references to other examples. W. B. Emery, The Tomb of Hemaka (Cairo, 1938), 45-8; id., Archaic Egypt (London, 1961), 114. " For the suggestion that Predynastic representations can be understood through manipulating them, see the work of W.M. Davis, Masking the Blow (Berkeley, 1992). Davis's theory is, however, weakened by the fact that the size of some of the objects he discusses precludes their having been easily 'flipped over' by a viewer.

STAN HENDRICKX

JEA 82

recognizing the graphically-depicted click beetles, would understand the meaning of the shape and deduce that this was the underside of the insect. This interpretation remains problematic, however, and it should be noted that the idea of viewing an object by manipulating it or moving through the representation principally serves the exposition of a narrative. The decoration of the plate under discussion apparently had no narrative connotations but is to be considered as symbolic. 2. Brussels, MRAH E.6261 (pl. III, 2, fig. 5). Triangular fragment from a rectangular palette decorated in low relief. Greywacke; width 10.6 cm; maximum preserved length 10.2 cm; thickness 0.8-1.1 cm. Anon., 'Sur un plateau de schiste', in 'Enquetes', CdE 2 (1926-7), 191; Keimer, ASAE 31, 1961), 166-7, 281, 324, fig. 106; el-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 226, doc. 74, pl. ii (drawing incorrect); Kritsky, KMT 4/1, 35-6; S.T. Hollis, 'Five Egyptian Goddesses in the Third Millennium BC. Neith, Hathor, Nut, Isis, Nephthys', KMT 5/4 (1994-5), 46-51, 82-5, at 48
149-53; H. Asselberghs, Chaos en beheersing: Documenten uit Aeneolithisch Egypte (Leiden,

FIG. 5. Brussels E.6261: fragment of a rectangular palette decorated in low relief. Scale 1:1.

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TWO PROTODYNASTICOBJECTSIN BRUSSELS

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P. F. Houlihan, TheAnimalWorldof the Pharaohs (Cairo,1996),187,fig. incorrect); (drawing 128. The fragment was bought in Cairo during the early years of this century. Its exact provenance is unknown, although several authors have supposed it to originate from Abydos.12It has been convincingly dated to the Protodynastic Period on stylistic a datingwhich is supportedby the fact that rectangular palettes are charactergrounds,13 and by the triangularshape of the istic for the late Predynastic-Protodynastic Period,14 It should also be noted that this is the only known ntr-flagswhich figure on the object.15 example of a rectangularpalette decorated in low relief. It is therefore likely to be the latest in the series of decoratedpalettes.16 On the undecorated area in the central part of the palette, slight scratches can be observed.These cannot be related to the manufactureof the piece, but are evidence of use, proving that the object actually served as a grinding surface, presumably for eyepaint, though probably only on a limited number of occasions, since there is no substantial degradationof the surface and the decoration has not been touched at all. That the palette was rectangularrather than square is suggested by the fact that the traces of use appearto have continued into the missing lower part. The palette was surroundedon at least three sides by a raised border, ribbed on the outer vertical surface. Running parallel to the border is a series of representationsin relief: along one side is a detailed depiction of the bilobate Neith sign, while on the opposite side are traces of two angled lines which may be interpretedas the remains of a flagpole, or more probablytwo superimposed flagpoles,with triangularflags or pennants.17Representationson cylinder seals show two flags thus, pointing in the same direction.18The side between is decorated with two confronted images of Agrypnus notodonta.The prothoraxand elytra of the insects are clearly distinguished, the elytra being striped. The bilobate Neith symbol is striped in its entirety,thus resembling the
insect's elytra but lacking the separate representation of the prothorax. A distinct division between the prothorax and the elytra can never be seen in the few cases where the bilobate object is drawn in some detail. If its relationship to the beetle is accepted, it is possible that because of the small scal e on which the Neith emblem was usually rendered, the characteristic vertical stripes were extended over the entire back of the

insect.
The
12

ribbed edge of the palette

has already been

interpreted

by Asselberghs

as

E.g. Keimer,ASAE 31, 149.

'3Keimer, ASAE 31, 149; Asselberghs, Chaos, 324.

4W.M.F. Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt (London, 1920), 38; EJ. Baumgartel, The Cultures of Prehistoric Egypt, II (London, 1960), 89; K.M. Cialowicz, Les palettes egyptiennes aux motifs zoomorpheset sans decoration. Etudes de l'art predynastique (Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 3; Krakow,1991), 32-4. 'J. Baines, 'On the symbolic context of the principal hieroglyph for "god"', in U. Verhoeven and E. Graefe alten Agypten. Festgabefiir Philippe Derchain (Leuven, 1991), 33-4. (eds), Religion uindPhilosophie imn "'For the sequence of predynasticdecorated palettes, see H. Ranke's fundamental study,Altertum und Herkunft der Agyptischen 'Lowenjagd-Palette'. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Heidelberg, Phil.Hist. Klasse 1924-5. V (Heidelberg, 1925), and, more recently Cialowicz, Les palettes, passim; Davis, Masking the Blow, passim, both with further references. 17For the symbolic importance of these flagpoles, see Baines, in Fs. Derchain, 29-46, where he considers the 'flags' to be pennants represented as triangularprojections (pp. 33-4). '8Ibid., 33 fig. 3b, 34 n. 22.

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and it seems likely that we are indeed dealing with the representinga temple faade,19 of a niched enclosure wall. image Comparableearly dynastic representationsof such a wall are to be found on fragments of two ivoryplaques from the tomb of Den at Umm and the type is known in realityfrom the funerarypalaces at Abydos,21 and el-Qa'ab,20 the so-called 'Fort' at Hierakonpolis. The interpretation of the latteras a funerary palace for its builder Khasekhemwi is open to question;22it could equally well have been a A connection between these buildings temple enclosure without funerarysignificance.23 and the ribbed detail on the palette was not made by Asselberghs:their interpretation as religious or funerarystructureswas not under discussion at the time he was writing, and he confinedhimself to noting that the significanceof the decoratedpalette, although clearlyreligious,could not be discerned.24 The imitation of a niched enclosure wall seems obvious, however,and the intention to symbolizea temple becomes even more convincingif we comparethe palettewith early dynasticrepresentationsof temples, and especially with that of the temple of Neith on a tag from the tomb of HorusAha at Abydos(fig. 6).25The buildinghas been interpreted as a wattleworkconstruction, because of the rectangularpanels which appear in the renderingof the enclosure and the shrine on the tag.26Elsewhere on the tag, however, this same device is used in the depiction of boats, a human form, an earth mound, and the forepart of a lion. Clearly, it is an artistic convention for indicating the solid or and thereforeno conclusionscan be drawn patternedsurfaceof anykind of largeobject,27 from it as regardsthe actualphysicalappearance of the things represented.It is therefore
19 Chaos, 167.

20Cairo JE 34905. W.M.F. Petrie, The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, II (London, 1901), pl. vii. 8-9;

H. Ricke, Beitrige zur Agyptischen Bauforschungund Altertumskunde,4. BemerkungenzurAgyptischen Baukunst des Alten Reichs, I (Zurich, 1944), fig. 10. 3-5, 8-9; J. Vandier,Manuel d'archeologieegyptienne,II. Les grandes epoques. L'architecture religieuse et civile (Paris, 1955), fig. 312; Baines, Fs. Derchain, 35 fig. 4. The niched enclosure walls which represent fortified cities on the Bull Palette, the Libyan or Booty Palette, and the Narmer Palette are of a different kind and fall outside the present discussion. 21 B. J. Kemp, JEA 52 (1966), 13-22; id., Antiquity 41 (1967), 22-32; W. Kaiser, MDAIK 25 (1969), 1-21; W. Helck, MDAIK 28 (1972), 95-9; R. Stadelmann, BIFAO 81 suppl. (1981), 153-64; W. Kaiser and G. Dreyer, MDAIK 38 (1982), 253-60; W. Kaiser, LA IV, 511-13; id., MDAIK 41 (1985), 47-60; D. O'Connor, JARCE 26 (1989), 51-86. 22Khasekehmwi's tomb is situated at Abydos (Tomb V). It has been suggested that the Hierakonpolisstructure was erected as his funerarypalace when, as Khasekhem, he intended to be buried at Hierakonpolis, prior to his assumption of power over the whole of Egypt and change of name to Khasekhemwi. No royal tomb has been located at Hierakonpolis, however, and it seems illogical that the funerary palace would have been built before the tomb, which would have been more urgently needed in the event of the king's unexpected death. There is no necessity to see a funerarysignificance to the Hierakonpolis 'Fort'. 23This would make the Hierakonpolis 'Fort' the oldest survivingelement of a temple in the 'EarlyFormal' style, as defined by B.J. Kemp (AncientEgypt:Anatomy of a Civilization (London, 1989), 92), but would contradict his opinion that the 'palace facade' style was not used for temples. For recent conflicting views regarding the nature of early temples, see O'Connor, 'The Status of Early Egyptian Temples: An AlternativeTheory', in R. Friedman and B. Adams (eds), The Followers of Horus. Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman (Oxford, 1992), 82-98, contra Kemp,Ancient Egypt, 53-100. 24Asselberghs,Chaos, 166-7. 25Now in the Cairo Museum: Petrie, Royal Tombs I, 21, pls. iiiA. 5; x.2. For further references, see el-Sayed, La d&esse Neith II, 225 doc. 73. 26For a perspective restoration of the temple of Neith, see A. Badawy,Le dessin architecturalchez les anciens egyptiens (Cairo, 1948), 10-16; id., A History of Egyptian Architecture,I. From the Earliest Times to the End of the Old Kingdom (Giza, 1954), 34, fig. 22. 27The device is alreadyattested on predynastic decorated pottery and also in rock drawings, cf. S. Hendrickx, CdE 67 (1992), 10-11.

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FIG. 6. The temple of Neith: detail from a tag of Horus Aha from Abydos. (Petrie, Royal Tombs II, pl. x.2.)

possible that the temple of Neith was built not exclusively in wattlework, but in a more solid material.28 In addition, the tag of Horus Aha shows two triangular ntr-flags at the entrance of the temple enclosure, and a large standard of Neith which is placed within the temple court. The flagpoles and the standard are shown at the same scale, as is the case with the depictions on the palette under discussion. This may be accepted as a reflection of reality-i.e., a large-scale model of the bilobate Neith symbol with the crossed arrows was actually fixed to a huge pole within the temple court. The pole on the palette is marked with small horizontal lines which are denser towards the top, a device which most likely indicates the trunk of a palm tree. The denser lines at the top would represent the marks on the upper part of the tree where the thickly-clustered leaves have been cut away in preparing the pole. Although at first Keimer considered this interpretation attractive, he rejected it because he could not imagine the entire object to have been so large.29 The dimensions seem to be confirmed, however, by the archaeological record, since a large isolated post-hole within the court of the predynastic temple at Hierakonpolis was interpreted by the excavators as the remains of a pole which would have carried a totem or flag.30Finally, the two confronted click beetles can be seen as representations of Neith herself, and may thus be considered to symbolize the sanctuary of the temple. Comparison might be made with a decorated heb-sed vase (p. 33), illustrating most probably that the image of click beetles was present on the roof of a heb-sed pavilion. Although the different elements of the representation seem obvious enough, we must be aware that they need not all reflect a single reality. As Baines has observed of other early depictions of enclosures, the composition of the palette may consist of an assem28As already suggested by some authors: cf. el-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 226. See also n. 26. 29Keimer, ASAE 31, 152. "M.A. Hoffman, 'Prelude to Civilization: The Predynastic Period in Egypt' in K.L. Willoughby and E.B. Stanton (eds), The First Egyptians (exhibition cat., The McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, 1988), 43; D.L. Holmes, 'Chipped Stone-Working Craftsmen, Hierakonpolis and the Rise of Civilization in Egypt', in Friedman and Adams (eds), The Followers of Horus, 37-8, figs. 1-2. On a smaller scale, the well-known decorated maceheads may also have been presented on poles: cf. H. Whitehouse, 'The Hierakonpolis Ivories in Oxford. A Progress Report', ibid., 81.

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blage of both representational and symbolic elements.31 None the less, its iconography seems to offer two possible ways of reconstructing the original building, depending on the function attributed to the niched wall. It could be considered as either the wall of that of the tefragmentarythe the temple itselfinct, itself, or thatscene temple ivory tags cited above shows that temples such as that on the Horus Aha tag could be standing within a large enclosure wall, possibly with other buildings. If the niched wall represents a temple enclosure, no element of the architecture of the temple itself would be shown on the palette. In that case, the entire temple building and not just the sanctuary would be represented by the confronted click beetles. In all likelihood, the palette presents the schematic image of a temple dedicated to Neith. The missing fourth side may have included an entrance to the temple or the temple area, as well as another, completely lost, element of decoration.32 Regardless of whether the niched wall enclosed a temple or the temple precinct, the flagpoles could be imagined as standing in front of the area represented by the lower part of the palette, while the large standard of Neith might be located somewhere in the court, leaving the sanctuary or temple, represented by the beetles, in the customary place opposite the entrance. As in the case of the decorated plate, the representation on the palette was most probably not narrative in itself, although some of the typical narrative principles of Egyptian art may have been used. For instance, the flagpoles, which mark the entrance to the temple, and thus the 'beginning' of the scene, may be seen to be placed on the right, so that the object should be read from right to left, as is the case with many elements in late predynastic and early dynastic scenes, as well as with the hieroglyphic script. In addition, to see and understand the ribbed edge as depicting a temple wall or enclosure, it would be necessary to manipulate the object in order to obtain a different angle of view from that needed to look at the decorated surface.

Further representations of Agrypnus notodonta Latr.33

Representations of beetles which can be identified beyond doubt as Agrypnus notodonta because thein the main too small for the diagnostic details Latr. are scarce, mainly becausare theythey are to be visible. The presence of different types of beetles and other insects in Egyptian religion and art only adds to the confusion. In addition to the two objects in Brussels, another representation of the click beetle has recently been identified among the fragments of decorated stone vessels from Umm el-Qa'ab: it is accurately depicted on a series of joining fragments in London and Brussels.34 Although the fragmentary object of which the beetle forms part is a significant addition to the corpus of composite vessels, it does not shed new light on the problems discussed here.35 A further example may be cited, however, which links the image of the
3' Baines, in Fs. Derchain, 34.

32Asselberghs,Chaos, 167 supposes the presence of a (royal) name in this area, possibly that of Mer-Neith. also el-Sayed, La deesse NleithI, 23-4. 34Petrie Museum, University College London, UC 37001-2; Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, unregistered. 35The publication of these and other fragments in London and Brussels is being undertaken by Barbara Adams.
33 See

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^\\\\.'\ ^-Deir ^'S/ \In JllWiiiJ 1) JIpK l ff \^

click beetle firmly to Neith: the well-known gold capsule in the shape of a beetle with the emblem of Neith inlaid on its back, which was found in tomb 1532 at Naga edand is dated to the First Dynasty.36 This object carries the most detailed representation known of the belly of the insect (fig. 7). a few instances, the image of the click beetle is used as an amulet. The earliest examples have been dated to the Predynastic37 and Protodynastic Periods,38 but the identification of these small objects, which show very little detail, as Agrypnus notodonta can be disputed.39 On

'l l
0\_ /#

\Y

FIG. 7. Golden capsule from

Naga ed-Deir, tomb 1532: Cairo

JE 35706/CG 53821-2. (After

necklace with fifty pendants, each in the shape of a click beetle, found in tomb 294 at Gizeh and dating to the Fourth Dynasty.40 Representations of beetles can also be found on stone vessels. The images on two fragmentary plates, both
found at Saqqara and one certainly dating to the First Dynasty,41 are not sufficiently detailed to allow an unde-

^theother hand, this is not the case with the golden

niable identification of the insects; they most likely do not represent Agrypnus notodonta, but rather a buprestid beetle, probably Steraspis squanosa.2 On the other hand, the image of an insect on the handle of a heb-sed vase found in gallery VI below the Step Pyramid,43 can almost certainly be identified as Agrypnus notodonta, although several authors have expressed different opinions.44 The undecorated prothorax and the vertically striped elytra are similar to other representations of the click beetle, but it is especially the interruption
3'Cairo Museum, JE 35706 / CG 53821-2: G.A. Reisner, The Early Dynastic Cemeteries of Naqa-ed-Der (Leipzig, 1908), 31, 143, pls. vi.1, ix.a; E. Vernier, Bijoux et orfeivreries (Cairo, 1927), 509-10, CG 53821-2; Keimer, ASA4E31, 153-6, pl. iii.l,a-c; J. Vandier, Manuel d'arclheologieegyptienne, I. Les epoques de formnation (Paris, 1952), 816, fig. 546; A. Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptian fewellery (London, 1971), 15, fig. 5 (Neith symbol incorrectly drawn); el-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 226-7 doc. 75; C. Andrews,Ancient Egyptian Jewellery (London, 1990), 175-6. Manuel I, 399. 37Vandier, 38Ibid. 814 n. 2. 39Keimer,ASAE 31, 166-8. 4'Cairo Museum JE 31769: S. Hlassan,Excavations at Giza 1930-1931 (Cairo, 1936), pl. lii; Keimer, ASAE 31, 147-50, pl. i; C. Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs (London, 1971), 176, pl. v; Wilkinson, AE Jewellery, 26-7, fig. 17. 41One from the Step Pyramid, gallery VII: R. Macramallah,ASAE 36 (1936), 29, pl. ii.1; the other from the archaic cemetery north-west of the Serapeum, grave 36: Macramallah, Un cimetiere archaique de la classe moyenne du peuple a Saqqarah (Cairo, 1940), 20, pl. xlii. 42Keimer,ASAE 31, 161-2; Kritsky,KMT 4/1, 35. 43Cairo Museum, JE 64872: J.-P. Lauer, ASAE 34 (1934), 58-9, fig. 1; J.E. Quibell, ASAE 34 (1934), 72, pl. iv; C.M. Firth and J.E. Quibell, The Step Pyramid (Cairo, 1935), I, 135, and II, pl. civ; Lauer, Saqqara (London, 1976), pl. 104; el-Khouli, Egyptian Stone Vessels, 326, no. 2240; M. Saleh and H. Sourouzian, Die Hauptwerke aus dem AgyptischenMuseum, Kairo (Mainz am Rhein, 1986), no. 19. 44Firth and Quibell, loc. cit. supra, identify the insect as Steraspis squamosa Klug. (cf. Keimer, ASAE 31, 161-2). Lauer, Saqqara, pl. 104 caption, and Saleh and Sourouzian, Die Hauptwerke, consider it to be Scarabaeus sacer. The latter identification seems most unlikely since scarabs occur only from the end of the Old Kingdom on: see W.A. Ward, Studies on Scarab Seals, I. Pre-12th Dynasty Scarab Amulets (Warminster, 1978), 15-19.

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in the line between the prothorax and the elytra, reflecting the round mesoscutellum, which is very characteristic in the representation of Agrypnus notodonta and therefore leaves hardly any doubt as to its identification. As for early representations of the bilobate Neith symbol itself, they occur most frequently on cylinder seals,45 but the lack of recognizable details on these means that they cannot provide evidence for the present study. The Neith emblems on the ruined, so-called second armchair of Hetepheres of the Fourth Dynasty are the most detailed extant representations (fig. 8).46 Their vertical stripes in particular give them a close resemblance to the emblem on the palette in Brussels.

FIG. 8. Chair of Hetepheres. (After Reisner, History of the Giza Necropolis II, fig. 32.)

The cult-sign of Neith: previous research Although Neith is one of the most important divinities throughout Egyptian history, her popularity may never have been greater than it was during the Protodynastic Period. Among theophorous names of that time, those constructed with the name of Neith are by far the most common.47 Althoughl their reading as real theophorous names has been questioned,48 the importance of Neith is uncontested, and is additionally confirmed by the royal names of the First Dynasty: three out of eight attested queens had names
45El-Sayed,La deesse Neith II, 209-25 docs. 1-72. 46Cairo Museum: G.A. Reisner, A History of the Giza Necropolis, II. The Tomb of Hetep-heres the Mother of Cheops (Cambridge, Mass., 1955), 19, 29-31, fig. 32, pis. xxi.a, xxii.c-d; W.S. Smith, A History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom (Boston, 1946), 148, fig. 58; H.S. Baker, Furniture in the Ancient World: Origins and Evolution 3100-475 B.C. (London, 1966), 42-3, fig. 30; el-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 266, doc.
191.

47E. Endesfelder, 'Die Formierung der altagyptischen Klassengesellschaft. Probleme und Beobachtungen', in Endesfelder (ed.), Probleme derfriihen Gesellschaftsentwicklungim Alten Agypten (Berlin, 1991), table 5. 48W.Helck, ZAS 79 (1954), 28.

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referringto Neith.49Among them are the two best-knownearly dynasticqueens, HetepNeith and Mer-Neith, both of whom became reigning monarchsafter the deaths of their respective husbands.50 Despite extensive studies on the iconographyof Neith,51her bilobate cult-sign has remained a subject of discussion, the main problem being the identification of the enigmatic bilobate object. After the Old Kingdom it no longer occurs, but the Neith emblem becomes an ovalwith two superimposedcrossed arrows.This oval emblem has been considered to be a kind of small shield,52a view which is still supportedby many scholars up to the present day.53The object was also thought to be a skin, either perforated by arrows or with arrows attached to it,54 two wrapped or tied bows,55a or a distaff.57 target,56 The idea that the object is a shield is most probablyonly the result of the identification of Neith with Athena, an assimilationexplicitly stated by Herodotos and other classical authors, although they make no mention of the shield.58The shield is of course an importantattributeof Athena, but to my knowledgethere is not a single representation of Neith holding a shield. On the other hand, she is often representedholding a bow and two arrows,and using these weapons precludes the holding of a shield at the same time. Alreadyduring the First Dynasty,the shield was used in combinationwith the mace, as can be seen in the writing of the name of Hor Aha (fig. 9). The Egyptianarchers shown in scenes of warfare on the walls of New Kingdom temples normally do not have a shield with them. The models of soldiers from the Middle Kingdom tomb of Mesehti
show javelin fighters with shields but archers without.59 It is obvious that fighting with

a bow excluded the use of a shield. The religious texts-for example, in the temple of
49W. Seipel, Untersuchungenzu den Agyptischen Koniginnen der Frihzeit und des Alten Reiches (Hamburg, 1980), 5-67. 50Ibid. 8-45; P.H. Schulze, Die Schone im Morgenlicht. Die Frau in der Agyptischen Fruhzeit (Bergisch Gladbach, 1985). 51 D. Mallet, Le culte de Neit a Sais (Paris, 1888); el-Sayed, La deesse Neith. 52Mallet, Le culte de Neit, 178; P.E. Newberry, PSBA 28 (1906), 71; id., Ancient Egypt 1914, pt. 1, 7-8; H. Bonnet, Die Waffen der Volkerdes Alten Orients (Leipzig, 1926), 183; Keimer, ASAE 31, 151-3. 53 E. Hornung, trans. J. Baines, Conceptionsof God in Ancient Egypt. The One and the Many (Ithaca, NY, 1982), 280; el-Sayed, La desse Neith I, 13; R. Schlichting LA IV, 392-4; Hollis, KMT 5/4, 46-7. 54F.W.von Bissing, Untersuchungenzu den Reliefs aus dem Re-Heiligtum des Rathures (Miinchen, 1922), 12*, note 87. This identification is to be explained by the search for totemism, a popular concept at that time for explaining the original character of Egyptian religion. However, no details which would support this identification can be seen on any of the representations of the bilobate object. 55B.B. Williams, 'An Early Pottery Jar with Incised Decoration from Egypt', in A. Leonard and B.B. Williams (eds), Essays in Ancient Civilizationpresented to H.7. Kantor (SAOC 47; Chicago, 1989), 311-12. Cf. infra. 56Helck, ZAS 79, 28, suggests this interpretation only tentatively. Obviously a bilobate shape is not at all suitable as a target, and the suggestion is not corroborated by the well-known New Kingdom representations where copper ingots of a shape vaguely similar to our bilobate object are used as archerytargets (W. Decker, Sport und Spiel im Alten Agypten (Miinchen, 1987), 42-54; W. Decker and M. Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im Alten Agypten (Handbuch der Orientalistik 1,14; Leiden, 1994), 139-50). Not only is it highly questionable whether copper ingots were ever really used as targets (Decker, op. cit. 54; Decker and Herb, op. cit. 140-1), but also copper ingots of this particular shape are known only from the New Kingdom onwards and are therefore not relevant for early dynastic times. Also, from the Old Kingdom on, there is evidence to suppose that wooden poles were the real targets for archery:H. Goedicke, Re-used Blocks from the Pyramid of Amenemhet I at Lisht (New York, 1971), 139-40; Decker, op. cit. 42, 48; Decker and Herb, op. cit. 140, n. 6. 57Petrie,Royal Tombs I, 26. This identification is derived from Neith's connection with cloth-making. However, the shape of the object shows no close resemblance to a distaff. 58El-Sayed,La deesse Neith II, 665-74 docs. 1095-1115, cf. also Mallet, Le culte de Neit, 237-44. 59 Saleh and Sourouzian, Die Hauptwerke, nos. 72-3.

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Esna where the largest number of texts relatingto Neith can be found-never mention a shield in relation to the goddess, although the bow and arrowsare regularlyreferred to.60Furthermore,during the Middle and New Kingdoms, the shape of the emblem of Neith does not correspondto that of shields in contemporary use. The emblem is oval, with roundedcorners,while the shields are pointed or roundedat the top or rectangular and have right-angledcorners at the bottom. remains of the Predynasticor Shields have not been found among the archaeological ProtodynasticPeriods, if one excludes Keimer's suggestion that a turtle shell found in The earliest representation an earlydynastictomb at Helwanhad been used as a shield.61 of a shield, dating to NaqadalIc, is to be found in the wall-paintingfrom tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis,where a man is shown holding what is clearly an animal skin, probably mounted on some kind of frame. The objects shown on the backs of a number of the hunters represented on the late predynastic'Hunters' Palette' have been identified by severalauthorsas ovalshields, 62 but althoughthis suggestionhas been widely accepted,63 it is highly questionable and has been challenged.64Not only is the use of shields exceptionalfor hunters,but also shields of this shape are completelyunknownfrom other Petrie-possibly correctly-considered the objects to be bags.66 Egyptiandocuments.65 The ovalsare broaderat the base and some of them havea slightly bilobateshape,which cannot howeverbe mistaken for the symbol of Neith, but correspondswell to the shape of closed bags. The striateddecorationaroundthem was takenby Keimerto indicatethat they are turtle shells, but more probablyit represents stitched decorationas might be found on bags. For the Protodynastic Period,the shape of shield used in writingthe name of Hor Aha (fig. 9) is alreadyof the type which later becomes 'classic' for Egyptian warfare. For all these reasons, it seems that a shield was never among the attributesor symbols of Neith. Thus the identificationof the bilobate object as a shield should be considered as a relativelyrecent result of the identificationof Neith with Athena. The click beetle as emblem The fragmentsof the decoratedplate in Brussels (pl. III, 1; fig. 1) were discussed in 1931 by Keimer, who confidently identified the beetle represented thereon as Agrypnus notodonta Latr., the click beetle.67In the context of the Nile valleyit was first described The most striking by Cailliaud under the name Taupin notodonte,Elater notodonta.68
6"El-Sayed,La deesse Neith II, 615-63 docs. 998-1094. 32 (1950), 94 n.3. 62W. Wolf, Die Bewaffnung des altigyptischen Heeres (Leipzig, 1926), 18, thinks that the shields consist of animal skin mounted on a wooden frame, while Keimer, BIE 32, 76-94, identifies the oval objects as carapaces of the Nile turtle. 63E.g. Vandier, Manuel d'archeologie egyptienne I, 576; Cialowicz, Les tgtes de massues des periodes predynastique et archaique dans la vallee du Nil (Warsaw, 1987), 59. 64E.g. Bonnet, Die Waffen, 184 n.9. 65Wolf, Die Bewaffnung, 18. 66Petrie, Ceremonial Slate Palettes (London, 1953), 12. 67Keimer, ASAE 31, 150. 68F. Cailliaud, Voyage a Mgroe et au Fleuve Blanc, II (Paris, 1823) pl. lviii.6, and IV (Paris, 1827), 275-6.
61 Keimer, BIE

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FIG. 9. Serekh of Hor Aha. (After Emery, Hor-Aha (Cairo, 1939), fig. 15.)

FIG. 10. Chicago OIM 10542. (After Williams, in Essays... Kantor, fig. 41; courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.)

characteristic of the click beetle is its ability when lying on its back to 'jump' onto its feet. The action has been described as follows: The insect first arches its back between the prothoraxand the mesothorax, so that it is supportedanteriorlyby the prothoraxand posteriorlyby the elytrawith the middle of the body off the ground.Then it contractsthe ventralmuscles which would tend to straightenthe body, but a stout process on the prosternumcatches on the edge of a cavityin the mesosternum so that the muscle contractionis isometric. The muscles consequently develop a considerable tension until suddenly the prosternalprocess slips into the cavity.As a result the prothorax straightenswith respect to the mesothorax,the middle of the back strikes the ground and the insect is jerked into the air, tending to right itself so that it lands on its feet.69 The sudden straightening of the insect produces a clicking sound, which accounts for its popular name. The click beetle is very common in Egypt, both in the valley and in the oases.70 Apparently it prefers the neighbourhood of water; in the bygone days of the annual Nile inundation, it used to be observed jumping to stay out of reach of the rising floodwaters of the river.71 Keimer also discussed the palette, the second document presented here (pl. III, 2 and fig. 5), and noted the resemblance between the shape of the two opposed insects and the symbol of Neith,72 but did not suggest that the latter might represent beetles.73 This identification was explicitly made by W.S. Smith,74 however, and defended by Montet.75 None the less, this interpretation has never been generally accepted, and nearly all
69R.F. Chapman,The Insects.Structureand Function (London, 1969), 154. 70E.F. Germer, Zeitschrift fur die Entomologie2 (1840), 253; H. du Buysson, Bulletin de la Societe de I'Egypte3 (1910), 134-6, and 4 (1911), 17-18. Entomologique 711 have been unable to find detailed information regardingthe biotope and the way of life of the insect, which is, however,a plant eater when fully grown. Cf. Keimer,ASAE 31, 150; el-Sayed,La deesse Neith I, 23-4. There are about7000 species of Elateridae (click beetles); manyof them haveneverbeen described
in detail. 72Keimer, ASAE 31, 151-2. 73For the contrary view, see Hollis, KMT 5/4, 48-9. 74HESPOK, 148. 75 Geographie de l'Egypte ancienne, I. La Basse Egypte (Paris, 1957), 75-6.

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of the symbolas a shield, althoughseveralhave authorshavemaintainedthe identification reservations about it.76 expressed In his recent extensive study of Neith, R. el-Sayed considered the enigmatic image to be a shield with a shape resembling that of two confrontedclick beetles. Because of this have havebeen a synthesis of the two symbols, similarityin shape, he suggested that there may thus implying that both originally existed independently.77 Writing more recently, G. Kritskyseems to share this view: he takes the identificationof the Neith symbolwith the considers the shield to be the originalsymbol elateridbeetles for granted,but apparently of Neith, with which the elateridbeetle was associatedbecause of the similarityin shape with,
between Egyptian shields and the prothorax of the beetle.78 However, this is quite

illogical,since the shape of the prothoraxof Agrypnusnotodontahardlydiffers from that

of other beetles, and is certainly not the insect's most remarkable characteristic, which is undoubtedly its ability to 'jump', as described above; and the bilobate object as a whole

could not serve as a symbolfor a shield, since there is no visual resemblanceto the known shape of pharaonicEgyptianshields. Finally,in his discussion of the scene incised on a NaqadaI(?) vessel, B. Williamshas suggested that it includes the oldest known example of the bilobate Neith symbol,79
which he interprets as two complex bows bound together (fig. 10). The motif of tied bows is a well-known symbol for Neith from the Protodynastic Period on, and is used in hieroglyphic script during the Old Kingdom (Gardiner Sign-list R 24). Nevertheless, this interpretation can be doubted for several reasons. Firstly, the sign on the vase in

for which Williamsgives severalparallels,81 resembles neither the shape nor Chicago,80 the orientationof the bilobate Neith symbol in a convincingway. Secondly, it is difficult
to accept an interpretation as 'complex bound bows' for the sign discussed by Williams as well as the parallels he cites on decorated pottery. All of them clearly show four separate curves attached to each other or to a horizontal line. It would make more sense to consider these curves to be pairs of horns, for instance, of cattle.82 Finally, there are no obvious examples found to be foundon on decoratedticpredynastic examplesdecorated pottery, or on other decorated predynto of of a combination the bilobate of this date, object with crossed arrows;83this objects does not seem to occur until the Protodynastic Period. Although it is dangerous to project
76E.g. Bonnet, Die Waffen, 183; Asselberghs, Chaos, 166-7. 77La deesse Neith I, 23-4. 78American Entomologist 37 (1991), 86-7; KMT 4/1, 35-6. 79Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, OIM 10542: Williams, in Leonard and Williams, Essays...Kantor, 305-20. 80Ibid. 306 fig. 41. 81 Ibid. 311-12 nn. 34-5. See also Newberry, 'List of Vases with Cult-Signs', LAAA 5 (1913), 137-42. 82Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, 19, pl. xxiii.5 nos. 7-8; Vandier, Manuel I, 340-1. The clearest drawn examples are Ashmolean Museum 1895.577 (J. Bourriau, Umm el-Ga'ab. Pottery from the Nile Valley before the Arab Conquest (Cambridge, 1981), 26 no. 31-illustration erroneously numbered 32; J. Crowfoot Payne, Catalogue of the Predynastic Egyptian Collection in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1993), 107 no. 864, fig. 41); British Museum EA 53881 (Scharff, JEA 14 (1928), 263, pl. xxvi). 83Cf. Newberry, LAAA 5, 137-42; Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, pl. xxiii.5. At first view a number of the signs on the prows of Naqada II boats shown in rock-drawings display similarities of shape: see e.g. H.A. Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt, II (London, 1939), pl. xv.1, el-Hosh, site 35, drawing M 475 bis 11; although one of the arrows is 'missing', and the parts of the bilobate object are different in size, it has been interpreted as the cult-sign of Neith (G. See, Naissance de l'urbanisme dans la vallee du Nil (Ivry, 1973), 28). However, the similarity in shape is only coincidental, since in reality what is represented is the heads of horned animals: M.A. Berger, 'Predynastic Animal-headed Boats from Hierakonpolis and Southern Egypt', in Friedman and Adams (eds), The Followers of Horus, 107-20.

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c a b FIG. 11. The different symbols of Neith, Protodynastic Period-Old Kingdom. (a) After F.W. von Bissing, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re II, 7 no. 17. (b) Brussels E.6261. (c) After W.B. Emery, Great Tombs of the First Dynasty III, pl. 39; H. Wild, Le tombeau de Ti, 3. La chapelle, 2e partie (Cairo, 1966), pl. clxiv.

pharaonic images into prehistory,84 it may be suggested that the main reason to doubt Williams's interpretation is that he does not distinguish two different Neith symbols, but considers the bilobate object and the tied bows to be identical, despite the fact that they can be clearly distinguished already during early dynastic times (fig. 11).85 Furthermore, the two objects, clearly distinct, may occur in the same context during the Old Kingdom.86

Conclusions It is evident that we can distinguish three different objects, all of them related to Neith, which can be used as her cult-sign (fig. 11). Insofar as we can tell from the available information, it seems that they did not come into use at the same time. The oldest symbol may have been the crossed arrows, if we accept that the standards with emblems of that shape featured on decorated pottery of the Naqada II period87 are the direct predecessors of similar Old Kingdom standards, which are certainly connected with Neith. The bilobate object is attested from the very beginning of the First Dynasty (Horus Aha), but always in combination with the crossed arrows. The earliest examples of the third cult-sign, the tied pair of bows, date to the end of the First Dynasty.88 The bilobate object and the crossed arrows are apparently combined from their earliest attestations. The two tied bows, on the other hand, are attested in combination with the crossed arrows only from the Old Kingdom on.89 Finally, the two bows are never found in combination with the bilobate object. Since there is also some resemblance in shape
84Cf. Davis, Masking the Blow, 27-37. 85Cf. el-Sayed, La deesse Neith I, 13. 86Von Bissing, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Ne-woser-re, II. Die Kleine Festdarstellung (Berlin, 1923), 7 no. 17; S. Schott, 'Ein Kult der Gottin Neith', in H. Ricke (ed.), Beitriige zurAgyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde. Heft 8. Das Sonnenheiligtum des Konigs Userkaf, II (Wiesbaden, 1969), 131 fig. 17. 87Newberry, LAAA 5, 137-42; Petrie, Prehistoric Egypt, 18; Keimer, ASAE 31 (1931), 151-2. For an example on a decorated ostrich egg (Berlin 22.393), see A. Scharff, Die Altertiimer der Vor- und FriihzeitAgyptens, II (Mitteilungen aus der Agyptischen Sammlung 5; Berlin, 1929), 85. 88Setting aside the identifications proposed by Williams (above, n. 79), the earliest examples can be found on the stela of Merka, dating to the reign of Qa-a (Emery, Great Tombs of the First Dynasty, III (London, 1958), pl. xxxix) and a jar from Abousir (Bonnet, Ein Fruhgeschichtliches Griberfeld bei Abusir (Leipzig, 1928), 19, fig. 12 no. 104; el-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 228 doc. 78). La deesse Neith I, 13; II, 242 doc. 125. 89E1-Sayed,

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between the bows and the bilobate object, one could suggest that they are identical, i.e. that the bilobate object represents wrapped bows. However,although some confusion between the bilobate symbol and the wrappedbows may well have occurred from, say, the end of the Old Kingdom onwards,a distinctionbetween the two symbolsseems clear in their earliest representations. With the newly-discoveredAbydos fragment of the decorated plate in Brussels, the identificationof the bilobateobject as the image of two click beetles seems highly likely, although it cannot be said for certainwhether the crossed arrowsreflect the pattern of the insect's legs when combinedwith the bilobateobject in the emblem of Neith. The image of the click beetle certainlyhad protectivevalue, as can be observedfor the golden capsule from Naga ed-Deir, with the beetle shape protectingits contents, and the necklace from Giza, which would have protectedits owner (see p. 33). This prophylactic aspect is probablyalso valid for the click beetle abovethe heb-sed pavilionon the stone vase from Saqqara(above,p. 33). The protectivecharacterof the goddess Neith, which is well documented during pharaonictimes, is also illustratedby the large number of theophorous names during the ProtodynasticPeriod and by the use of the bilobate emblem of Neith on such objects as the armchairof Hetepheres. That the click beetle was not only a symbol of Neith, but could also be used as an of the goddess, is suggested both by the human arms holding emblematicpersonification was-sceptres on the decoratedplate in Brussels and by the fact that the bilobate object, s placed on the std standardof the nome of Sais. was i.e. the image of two click beetles, the
While the bow and arrows were used as cult signs of Neith until the Graeco-Roman Period, the bilobate object lost its original shape (fig. 12). During the Fifth Dynasty, this shape was still used in the funerary temple of Sahure and the sun temple of Neuserre (fig. 12c),90 although the vertical stripes, which are still present on Fourth Dynasty examples (fig. 12b), had already disappeared.91 During the Middle Kingdom, the only which shows a bilobate the reflection of the bilobgeneralate object is in the gemblem, shobjpect

slight constrictionin a slender, nearlyoval form (fig. 12d).92During the New Kingdom,
this shape evolves from a slender oval during the reign of Hatshepsut (fig. 12e),93 into a broader oval during the later Eighteenth Dynasty and the Nineteenth (fig. 12f).94 Thus, contrary to the generally accepted opinion, explicitly stated by Montet, there is no resemblance to the shape of an Egyptian shield.95 The same broad oval, or almost rectangular shape with rounded corners, is also attested in the Late Period.
9"Ibid.II, 261-3 docs. 181-2, 184, with further refereferences. ' Besides those those on the armchair of Hetepheres (cf. note 46), this can also be seen in the tomb of Meten (elSayed, La deesse Neith II, 252 doc. 154, with further references). ')2El-Sayed, ibid., 284-5 doc. 225, with further references. See especially P. Lacau and H. Chevrier, Une chapelle de Sesostris I a Karnak (Cairo, 2 vols., 1956-1969), 230 (653), 233 (664), pl. 42; Montet, GeographieI, 77, fig. 13. '93El-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 338 doc. 314, with further references; see especially E. Naville, The Temple of Deir el Bahari, II. The Ebony Shrine. Northern Half of the Middle Platform (London, 1897), pl. liii. 94E.g. in the temples of Luxor and Medinet Habu; cf. el-Sayed, La deesse Neith II, 338-40 doc. 315. 95Montet, GeographieI, 75-6; the illustration,after A. Mariette,Abydos. Descriptiondesfouilles, I. Ville antique. Temple de Seti (Paris, 1869), pl. xv.105, is incorrect: cf. A.H. Gardiner (ed.), The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos, IV. The Second Hypostyle Hall (London, 1958), pl. xi.d. As for the examples from Late Period temples such as Edfu, which are quoted by Montet, these temples are not published in facsimile, but by means of the standardized printing types of the IFAO. In any case, the representations in Graeco-Roman temples are of no importance for this discussion, since by that time the identificationof Neith with Athena was established and may have caused the original oval object to be represented as a shield.

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As may be supposed from the evolution of its shape, the significance of the bilobate object had most probably been lost even before the end of the Old Kingdom. This is confirmed by the fact that no representation of Agrypnus notodonta is known later than the Fourth Dynasty. A detailed examination of the significance of the later, oval images, derived from the bilobate shape, falls beyond the scope of the present paper. Finally, the question remains as to why the click beetle was associated with Neith. Keimer regretted that the problem seemed insoluble.96 Kritsky's suggestion based on a putative resemblance between the prothorax of the beetle and the shape of an Egyptian shield has been discussed above (p. 16). Most recently, Hollis has stated that th e click beetle produces offspring through autogenesis, which might have been considered by the Egyptians to represent the concept of self-regeneration.97 However, no entomological confirmation for this statement is forthcoming,98 and even if it were true true, it seems highly unlikely that the phenomenon could have been recognized by the ancient Egyptians. one of the original aspects of Kaplony considered that her statuos Neith,99 and el-Sayed also accepted that water, and more precisely the Nile inundation,

FIG. 12. Evolution of the bilobate symbol of Neith. (a) Protodynastic: Brussels E.6261. (b) Old Kingdom,

Fourth Dynasty (after Reisner, History of the Giza NAecropolis II, fig. 32). (c) Old Kingdom, Fifth Dynasty (after Von Bissing, Das Re-Heiligtum des Konigs Nle-woser-re II, 7 no. 17). (d) Middle Kingdom, Twelfth Dynasty (after Lacau and Chevrier, Une chapelle de Sesostris I, pl. 42). (e) New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty (after Naville, Deir el Bahari II, pi. liii). (f) New Kingdom, Nineteenth Dynasty (after Gardiner, The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos IV, pl. 1l.d). 96Keimer,ASAE 31, 173. 97KMT 5/4, 49. XXI (1988), 651-9, given by 98It is not confirmed by the reference to Encyclopaedia Britannica MAacropaedia, Hollis, KMT 5/4, 84 n. 7. '9,Kaplony,MIO 11 (1966), 150-1 n. 69.

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constituted the link between Neith and the click beetle.100This seems indeed to be supported by the insect's manner of jumping to stay clear of the Nile floodwater,a remarkablehabit which could not have escaped the ancient Egyptians'notice. However, this would need entomologicalconfirmation. One might also look for a possible connection between the insect's abruptjump and the springing or shooting of Neith's bow, and an ultimate association might be sought between the bilobate cult-sign and that with the double bows. First of all, there is the fact that the bilobate object is alwayscombined with the crossed arrows.Furthermore, it cannot be denied that there is a certain resemblancein shape between the two images, and if the bilobateobject indeed had a conceptualconnectionwith shooting,both objects could reflect a common idea, even though their original significancewas different;but these are highly speculativeideas which the discoveryof further images of the cult-sign of Neith might resolve.

'E-Sayed, La deesse Neith I, 23-4.

~~~~Im2.

B Fragmentary palette:

1. Fragmentary plate decorated in relief: Brussels E. 578, etc. TWO PROTODYNASTIC OBJECTS IN BRUSSELS (pp. 23-42)