Twins Flashcards
What did Aristotle think of twins?
monstrosity
what did hippocrates think of twins?
admirable
what concept does twinship challenge?
concept of social norm
who classified social attitudes towards twins?
Gilles Pison
what are the social attitudes towards twins?
- veneration of twins “yoruba culture” - ibji statuettes
- aversion of twins “Ndembe culture”
- intermediate conceptions - Haiti “marasa”
Stele of Suty and Hor
new kingdom
text read by 2 characters at the same time
both oversaw works of Amun
stele says brother not twin, insists on similarity
prayed addressed to sun and creative aspect
where is the double of stele of suty and Hor located?
cairo, it is mirrored
what does the names Suty and Hor represent?
Seth and Horus, opposition/complementary between twins
who wrote the story of the lynx and what does it say?
Claude Levi -Strauss
identical things amongst cultures and everything exists cause of dualism
who believed that twins were represented as one person in order to correct abnormality?
John Baines
what challenged the idea that twins appeared as one?
Cube statues of Hor and of Suty
How is Khnum represented at the entrance of the first room in the chapel of Niankhnum and Khnumhotep?
2 jars
The titles of Niânkhnum and Khnumhotep at the
entrance to the chapel
same tiles to both twins
what were the functions of Niankhnum and Khnumhotep?
worked the same jobs
hairdressers to the king, high position
special to be able to touch the king, dwarfs?
Khnumhotep fishing in the marshes
caught 2 tilapia
tilapia is linked with rebirth, since children can go in parents mouth and parent spit them out
may mean they’ll have an afterlife together
Niankhoum hunts wild birds
hunting wild birds is to repel chaos
afterlife may be dual
family scene
Niankhum and Nianhotep are the only ones with name
no name of parents
no word to say they are twins
celebrated twinhood but hushed
Oracular decree P. Rurin 1984
theban region
rolled papyrus in wooden case
could be worn by person
gods and goddesses speak to protect person wearing it
says, save from a Horus birth and birth of twins
what is the word for twins and when does it appear?
1st millenium BS, Htr,
existed since old kingdom but only described things that went in pairs
when does the word for twins become a name?
25th dynasty
pa htr - male twin, didymos
ta htr - female twin, didyme
Twinship in Roman Egypt
twins working together
living together
owning property
cultural exchanges with nonegyptian populations may attest to this change of attitude towards twins
Kom Abu Billu
dedicated to Hathor
large necropolis
tomb from roman period in bricks
Stele of Kom Abu Billu
text with name, simos and sime
twins and name show different gender
they hold hands, hireroglyph for twins
what is Ptolemy 1st epithet?
twin of the living apis
symbolic twinship
king has essence of another god
what god does the Apis bull incarnate?
Ptah
Anthony and Cleopatra’s twins?
alexandre hellios and cleopatra Selene
sun and moon
what are the water stories and who dod they quote?
quotes aristotle
mentions a woman giving birth to 7 children at once after drinking water from the Nile
who traveled to near east for healing and heard an interpretation of water stories in instanbul?
Gerard d Nerval
who wrote the strange case of Mohamed el Biss and what is it about?
George Legrain
boy, Mohamed called el biss and goes in kitchen at night to steal food
if you hear a biss, you will die
a biss can pass its gift of transformation onto its offsprings
what is a biss?
a twin who transforms into a wild cat
what gods were considered twins and represents Gemini?
Shu and tefnut are twins in Roman times
they represent double lion
