Tempest Stele

The Tempest Stele (alt. Storm Stele) was erected by Ahmose I early in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, "circa" 1550 BCE. The stele describes a great storm striking Egypt during this time, destroying tombs, temples and pyramids in the Theban region and the work of restoration ordered by the king. [Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. p. 290-210 Oxford University Press. 2000. ISBN 0-19-280458-8]

Interpretation

There are Egyptologists who believe the stele to be propaganda put out by the pharaoh, the "tempest" being the depredations of officials of the embattled seventeenth dynasty of Egypt drawing upon the financial resources of the temples during the escalating conflict with the Hyksos. [Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. p. 290-210 Oxford University Press. 2000. ISBN 0-19-280458-8] This would constitute an official re-writing of history, for which there are other parallels, such as Hatshepsut's Speos Artemidos, which records "storms" that similarly destroyed temples, which she restored during her reign, while pointedly cursing the Hyksos and "toppling what had been made" there. [http://www.ancientneareast.net/texts/egyptian/speos_artemidos.html The "Speos Artemidos Inscription of Hatshepsut", accessed August 17, 2007] [Wiener, Malcolm H. and Allen, James P. "The Ahmose Tempest Stela and the Thera Eruption." Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Jan., 1998) p.20]

Thera eruption

The argument has been made that was "a meteorological event of far-reaching proportions, one of the major aftereffects, we strongly suspect, of the Thera eruption". [Foster, Karen Plinger, Robert K. Ritner, Benjamin R. Foster "Text, Storms and the Thera Eruption" Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 55, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 1-14] Others argue that given the description in the stele, this is unlikely. [cite journal
last = Wiener
first = Malcolm H.
authorlink = Malcolm H. Wiener
coauthors = James P. Allen
title = The Ahmose Tempest Stela and the Thera Eruption
journal = Journal of Near Eastern Studies
volume = 57
issue = 1
pages =
publisher =
date = January 1998
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate = ]

References

Bibliography

* Davis, E. N., "A Storm in Egypt during the Reign of Ahmose" in D.A.Hardy and A. C. Renfrew, eds.,"Thera and the Aegean World III", Volume Three: "Chronology" Proceedings of the Third International Congress, Santorini, Greece, 3-9 September 1989." The Thera Foundation, 1990, ISBN 978-0950613376

*cite journal
last = Wiener
first = Malcolm H.
authorlink = Malcolm H. Wiener
coauthors = James P. Allen
title = The Ahmose Tempest Stela and the Thera Eruption
journal = Journal of Near Eastern Studies
volume = 57
issue = 1
pages =
publisher =
date = January 1998
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate =

* [http://www.ancientneareast.net/texts/egyptian/speos_artemidos.html Speos Artemedios]

External links

* [http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/chronololy/astorminegyptduringthereignofahmose/view?searchterm= English Translation of the Tempest Stele]
* [http://www3.la.psu.edu/cams/redford.htm Professor Donald B. Redford] - Penn State University department page