Astarte and the Sea (also pAmherst IX or simply the Astarte Papyrus) is an Egyptian hieratic tale, dating from the New Kingdom, which relates a story about the goddess Astarte and her rival Yam.[1][2] Though Astarte and Yam appear to have originated as Canaanite deities, both were, at times, worshipped in Egypt, as well.[3][4]
Contents
Yam, a deity who is a personification of the sea, demands tribute from the gods.[5][6] If his demands are not met, he will overrun the "sky, earth, and mountains."[7] Astarte brings tribute from Ptah, Nut, and Renenutet, but Yam changes the deal: he wants her as his wife, along with her divine jewelry that would grant him lordship over the world.[6][2]
The conclusion to the tale is inferred from a papyrus fragment which mentions the god Seth, who appears to triumph over Yam.[3]
Scholarship
Its interpretation has been a matter of continuous tweaking and addition.
History
It went completely unnoticed until the photographic edition of Percy E Newberry[8] in 1899,[9] after first mention in 1871.[10]
Epistemic bind
The difficulty of study according to Pehal:
"On the one hand, we want to identify as precisely as possible these devices “-emically,” i.e., within the frame of reference provided by that culture’s own linguistic or literary practice. On the other hand, to help us achieve this goal, we can rely only on “-etic” hermneutic categories derived from our own theoretical horizon."[11]
References
Bibliography
- Pehal, Martin (2014-01-01). "Interpreting ancient Egyptian narratives: A structural analysis of the Tale of Two Brothers, the Anat Myth, the Osirian Cycle, and the Astarte Papyrus". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2023-10-31.