Opening the imagination - expressing the heart

And  Priest Setna Khamuas,

Since childhood, Egyptian magic has had a powerful fascination for me. So it was probably inevitable that I would eventually 'encounter' one of Egypt's most renown magicians. This I did about a decade ago within the pages of W.F. Petrie's 'Egyptian Tales'. There I read about Setna Khamuas, the prince ever in search of old, forgotten magical knowledge. There and then I felt an immediate affinity for this one magician, over and above the others included in the tales, for I too had spent a goodly part of my life in the same pursuit. I knew I would have to find out more about this ancient prince with whom I shared a common quest, so began a figurative search for both him and the magic he had sought . Little did I realise then where both would lead me. 

Unlike most of the magicians in 'Egyptian Tales', Setna Khamuas had a basis in historic fact. He was Kha'emuast, fourth son of Ramesses II (c. 1290 1224 H.C.) and the second of one of his Chief Consorts, Queen Istnofret. His name meant 'Manifestation In Thebes'. While still a young child he and one of his older brothers accompanied their father on a minor campaign into Lower Nubia (now the Sudan). Like other royal sons, he may have had short stint in the army before devoting himself to the priesthood. There is also enough evidence to suggest that, for a time, Kha'emuast was Crown Prince. Yet it was as a priest that Kha'emuast's true vocation had its greatest expression. From his twenties, and for the following forty years, he served as the Sem-Priest in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. One of his duties there included the internment of the sacred Apis bulls upon their deaths It was Kha'emuast who had the burial vaults for these bulls extended to become what is known today as the Serapeum at Saqqara. He was also the only human to be buried in this great mausoleum for the "living images of Ptah of Memphis", his tomb there being discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1852.

As eventual high Priest of Ptah, Kha'emuast had command of the best sculptors and artists all of Egypt. His main sacradotal title was 'Great One Who Rules the Artificers' a designation he put to good use in the exceptional works he undertook on behalf of the state and for himself. Kha'emuast combined his priestly duties with his 'Egyptological' interests. He travelled about the country in search of ruined monuments which he then restored. He also had statues of himself installed in the important religious sites. The British Museum possesses one of these statues, No.947, which is a fine work despite difficulty the stonemason had in its creation. The difficulty was posed by the layer of pebbly conglomerate beneath the rich honey coloured exterior of the stone chosen for the work. Yet the obstacles the imperfect inclusion presented were overcome and a remarkable statue emerged. Alan W. Shorter, in an article from 1932, thought that the face could possibly be an actual portrait of the princely priest. This particular statue was believed to have originally been set up in one of Egypt's most sacred sites, Abydos, yet in 1856 A.D. it was in the possession of a Dr. Charles Cuny of Asyut. Then in 1862 it had passed into the hands of an E.A. Diamandidi. In 1866, Samuel Sharpe purchased the statue from Diamandidi to present it to the British Museum, where today it is on public display in the northern Egyptian sculpture gallery , It was to this very statue that my search for Khe'emuast Setne took me in 1985. My visit had been prompted by information provided in Alan Richardson's Dancers To The Gods'. I had read that the great mage, Colonel Seymour, had used this statue in his magic work, and this was simply too much of an opportunity for me to pass up. Here, I felt, was the 'key' I had been waiting and looking for so long. 

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Last modified: November 09, 2003