ABSTRACT
The Ptolemaic temples are a rich source of ritual and ceremonial texts. Numerous studies of the religion of Egypt prior to the Ptolemaic Period have depended heavily upon these texts. We must assume that the Egyptian priests in the Ptolemaic Period still possessed the theology and textual traditions of the Pharaonic Period. This must be true only in great part: there is no reason to claim that the assumption is total. For example, it has been argued that the lotus-offering ritual occurred mainly in the Ptolemaic temples and contained a special reference to the deities related to the sun-god.1 As discussed above in the case of wine offering, however, we found a long tradition since the Old Kingdom onward. In terms of textual tradition, there is also no doubt that the liturgy of wine offering employed in the Ptolemaic temples originated in the Pharaonic Period. The most direct evidence is the liturgy found in the Ritual of Amenophis I, studied in the last chapter. After examining the Ptolemaic wine offering liturgies, it is identified as belonging to one of several major types of text. The other types, although bearing no direct connection with earlier texts, would probably also have taken root in the Pharaonic Period.
