ARCE Conventions (Cont.)

     The first day of the convention ended (for me) with Lorelei H. Corcoran's paper "A Heb Sed Festival in Perpetuity? Tutankhamen as the Lunar Osiris". This was a paper that reminded me that you need to look carefully at things you think you know, as they might not really be what they seem.

     In particular, some of the pectorals found in the tomb of Tutankhamen were discussed. I have always assumed that they showed a scarab pushing the sun through the sky, when in actuality some of them represent the scarab pushing the moon. The moon is represented by a silver disk, sometimes having a crescent moon immediately below it. There was one particular pectoral shown that seems to show three representations of Tutankhamen's second name Nebkheperura. But look carefully! Twice the name is spelled with a "neb" a "kheper" and a sun disk for "Ra". So far so good. In the middle spelling, however, the "Ra" is actually a lunar disk with a crescent moon below it. Dr. Corcoran agreed with Howard Carter that this is an association of the deceased Pharaoh, with a lunar "form" of the god Osiris..