Séquito de Horus, Tripulación de Ra: aspectos religiosos de las luchas de poder durante la dinastía VI egipcia

Abstract

The beginning of the ancient Egyptian Sixth Dynasty seems to have been a period of severe political confrontation. Apparently, the reign of king Teti was abruptly interrupted by a conspiracy which killed him and installed in powera usurper, Userkara. After a very short reign, Userkara was deposed, seemingly by violence, by the rightful heir of Teti, the new king Pepy I. The available evidence suggests the existence of two opposing sides in the Egyptian court of this period: one presided by Teti and Pepy I, who tried to reduce the political influence of the clergy of the Sun-god, Ra, andother supported by the latter. In this paper, the religious aspects of these political disputes between the reign of Teti and the reign of Pepy I have been analysed. The study, which takes into consideration the specific historical contexts of each reign, has focused on the contents of the several names and epithets of the royal titularies of those kings: the Horus names of Teti and Pepy I, and the coronation names and the epithets of Pepy I referring him as son of the goddess Hathor, Lady of Dendera, and the god Atum, Lord of Heliopolis. As a result of a detailed examination of these sources, it has been found that under this confrontation for power also underlay a debate between very different conceptions of the religious fundaments of the sacred kingship and of the exercise of royal power: one supported on Upper Egyptian traditions, focused around the god Horus, and other, located in the Memphite area and Lower Egypt and focused on the Sun-god Ra.