Restoration Stela
The Restoration Stela, also known as the Restoration Stela of Tutankhamun, is an ancient Egyptian text from the reign of pharaoh Tutankhamun decreeing the religiopolitical countermand of the Atenism religion of the pharaoh Akhenaten. It is a record of the governmental policy change wherein Atenism was officially repealed, and the original, indigenous religion of ancient Egypt was reinstated. It was discovered in 1905 by Egypologist Georges Legrain in fragmented condition.
In overview, the writing details the deplorable conditions of the polytheistic religious institutions and society overall during the Atenism era, and how the pharaoh Tutankhamun enacted a system of revitalizing those religious institutions and reharmonizing society. These policies included various architectural and employment renovations.
Egyptologist Ray Johnson referred to Tutankhamun's reign as "one of the greatest periods of restoration in the history of Egypt".
Discovery
The Restoration Stela of Tutankhamun was found by the French Egyptologist Georges Legrain in July 1905, temple of Amun at Karnak. The Stela was lying underground about half of a meter, in the North-East corner of the Great Hypostyle Hall before the Third Pylon. As discovered by Legrain, the stela was shattered into five parts because one of the columns of the Hall had fallen on it. At some time it had also been subjected to an attempt to split it by drilling holes down its center line, presumably to utilize the stone, but the attempt was unsuccessful. A fragment of a duplicate was found at the Temple of Montu.Notably, the Restoration Stela was discovered approximately 17 years before the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Summary
The purpose of the Restoration Stela is to document and celebrate of the official governmental reversal of the Atenism religion. The artifact dates itself as "fourth month of Akhet, day 19"; the regnal year is damaged. Some Egyptologists have reconstructed it as "Year 1", although William Murnane argued that because Tutankhamun began his reign under the name "Tutankhaten", it is impossible to date the stela so early. Aidan Dodson reconstructs the date as "Year 4".The writing details various aspects of the societal turmoil in Egypt at the time of Atenism, and the actions that Tutankhamun took to repeal and remedy the situation. Egyptologist John Bennett writes:
The writing generally records Tutankhamun's rebuilding of expensive religious properties, refunding of religious institutions and reemploying of religious institutional personnel. For example, the document purports that the Egyptian military was underperforming during the reign of Akhenaten, as the document reads:
This excerpt is historically consistent with pharaoh Akhenaten's unsuccessful attack on Kadesh. The document also details a wide assortment of architectural endeavors undertaken. When Tutankhamun reversed Atenism, he reemphasized religiosity of the god Amun, the god of his own namesake. For instance, the stela reads:
The stela also elaborates on how Tutankhamun increased financial support to religious institutions and their employees that were neglected in Atenism. Notably, wealth tributes from foreign countries, such as gold, are repeatedly mentioned as financial sources for Tutankhamun's reconstructive efforts.
Artwork
The artifact contains an artistic depiction of Tutankhamun making an offering of lotus and papyrus to the god Amun-Ra. The god is depicted responding affirmatively, while an inscribed caption narrates the ceremony as "giving flowers make a 'given life. Also, there was an image of Ankhesenamun standing behind Tutankhamun on the stela in its original state. However, when Horemheb usurped the document, he completely erased her replacing the image with an inscription.Authorship
At the time of the creation of the Restoration Stela, Tutankhamun was approximately thirteen years old. It was customary for an ancient Egyptian prince to receive a comprehensive education, rendering Tutankhamun scholastically capable of authoring the text. Throughout the writing, Tutankhamun is referred to in the third person perspective, as His Majesty, as is customary for such documents. In one sentence of the writing, the first person perspective grammar is used, employing the Egyptian equivalent of the word "I". It refers to how the author is committed to protecting the newly hired servants, musicians and dancers:Generally, Tutankhamun is referred to as the author of the Restoration Stela, overseeing its composition, meaning that that first person usage is self-referent. An alternative interpretation is that Horemheb is the author, as a power behind the throne. However, the writing style is distinct from the writing style of the Edict of Horemheb document, known to be authored by Horemheb, which was more criminologically oriented, recording the establishment of Horemheb's new legalistic authority and penalties for criminal violations. The writing style is also distinct from the writing style of vizier Ay in his authored letters, such as in the Zannanza affair.
Usurpation of Horemheb
Notably, during Ay's brief two-year reign as pharaoh following the death of Tutankhamun, Ay did not usurp the Restoration Stela. However, as part of a standard damnatio memoriae, the next pharaoh after Ay, Horemheb, later scarcely usurped the stela during his reign, only supplanting Tutankhamun's name with his own. Egyptologist John Bennett writes:Horemheb's usurpation of the stela was relatively gentle, as it generally perseveres the rest of text.
English translation
An English translation of an excerpt from the central body of the text is below:The translation above follows after a brief preamble including date information and other governmental information.