'Stairway to Heaven'. Synergy and Divergence in the Rite of 'Ascending the Staircase' in Temples of the Ptolemaic and Roman Era
Abstract
On the temple walls dating to the Ptolemaic and Roman era, the foreign ruler is continuously portrayed performing the role of the traditional pharaoh. Among this plethora of scenes, one encounters a number of reliefs depicting the ruler standing in front of a small staircase.
Attested a dozen times, this scene is commonly titled "ascending the staircase" and forms part of the initial stages of the daily temple sanctuary ritual. In most known examples, text and image complement one another and reinforce the underlying message and function of the relief.
On occasion, one observes a clear divergence between the actual depiction of the ritual and the accompanying inscription. The present paper focuses precisely on this occasional dichotomy between text and image and investigates the motives and reasons for this sporadic occurrence by tracing back the origins and development of this specific ritual act.