The Middle Kingdom Offering Formulas—A Challenge

Abstract

It is argued that there was no Middle Kingdom re-interpretation of the offering formula. Old and Middle Kingdom offering formulas show no basic differences in spelling, and they should be interpreted as 'an offering whichthe king has given (and) Osiris has given:...' There are no convincing examples from the Middle Kingdom to the Eighteenth Dynasty for a dative construction with n that would make the god(s) the recipient(s) of the offerings only. Parallel to the king, the gods are always the givers of the offerings, according to the custom of the reversion of offerings. The 'late' spelling of htp dj nswt is an expression of the profane scribal tradition, not predominantly in use before the Sixteenth Dynasty. The method for dating stelae developed by Bennett and refined by Satzinger can lead systematically to wrong results and should be abandoned.