God Body: An Examination of the Shabaka Stone and Godhood in XXVth Dynasty Egypt.
According to modern chronology, in 705 BCE Nswt(pharaoh) Neferkare Shabaka- the 3rd King in a succession of Nubian rulers during the XXVth dynasty-sought to reestablish Old Kingdom traditions. Just prior to the XXVth Dynasty, KMT(Egypt) had been ravaged by the foreign rulers of the Third Intermediate Period, so this renewal of ancient Egyptian culture, philosophy and theology were sorely needed. He used various restoration projects as an opportunity to bring back the ‘golden days’ of KMT during the Old Kingdom and consolidate his power in the realm.
Part of this project involved restoring various ancient texts, the most famous of which was named the Shabaka Stone, found in the Temple of Ptah in Memphis. Shabaka claims that this ancient text was ‘the work of his ancestors, which was worm-eaten so that it cannot be known from the beginning to end’ (Shabaka Stone, lines 1–2). However, modern Egyptologists assert that this work wasn’t as ancient as previously thought. They claim that rather than it being a product of the late Old Kingdom, it was actually a result of Middle Kingdom cognitive thought and belief.
One is struck by two assumptions found in the Shabaka text, both of which sharply deviate from the standard perspective of Ancient Egyptian philosophy and theology:
