officials would not aid him. Taken before a special
regional court, Khunianupu pleaded eloquently, using
traditional moral values as arguments. Rensi was so
impressed that he gave the transcript of the testimony to
the ruler. The court and ruler promptly punished Dje-
hutinakhte by taking all his lands and personal posses-
sions and awarding them to Khunianupu.
Called “the Eloquent Peasant,” announcing to the
court officials the fact that “righteousness is for eternity,”
Khunianupu eventually made his way into the royal
court, where he was applauded and honored. The ruler
supposedly invited Khunianupu to address his officials
and to recite on state occasions. The popular account of
Khunianupu’s adventures and sayings was recorded in the
Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1783 B.C.E.) and is included in
four New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.) papyri, now in
Berlin and London. Such tales delighted the Egyptians,
who appreciated the didactic texts of their literature and
especially admired the independence and courage of the
commoners, whether or not they were real people or fic-
titious characters.
embalming See MORTUARY RITUALS.
Ennead A system of nine deities worshiped at HELIOPO-
LISduring the Early Dynastic Period (2920–2575 B.C.E.),
the Ennead was part of the cosmogonic or creation myths
of the region. The Ennead varies according to ancient
records, but the usual deities involved were Ré-ATUM,
SHU,TEFNUT,GEB,NUT,ISIS,SET,NEPHTHYS, and OSIRIS. In
some lists Thoth or Horus are included. PTAHwas given
an Ennead in MEMPHIS also. The Ennead gathered at
Heliopolis and influenced human affairs. All Enneads
were called “Companies of Gods.”
epagomenal days The five days at the end of the
Egyptian CALENDARthat were used to commemorate the
birthdays of the gods with gala festivals and ceremonies,
the epagomenal days were officially added to the Egyp-
tian calendar by IMHOTEP, the vizier of DJOSER (r.
2630–2611 B.C.E.) in the Third Dynasty. Imhotep also
designed the STEP PYRAMID. He used the additional time
to correct the calendar, which had been in use since the
Early Dynastic Period (2920–2575 B.C.E.). The original
lunar calendar did not correspond to the actual rotation
of the earth around the sun, thus veering steadily away
from real time. The epagomenal days were added to
make the necessary adjustments, although the traditional
calendar was never accurate. The birthdays celebrated on
these additional periods of time were: the first day,
OSIRIS; second, HORUS; third, SET; fourth, ISIS; and the
fifth, NEPHTHYS. The days were actually called “the God’s
Birthdays.”
The cosmological tradition associated with the
epagomenal days concerns NUT, the sky goddess, and
GEB, the earth god. ATUM, the creator, discovered that
Nut and Geb were lovers and had Nut raised up to form
the sky. Discovering that the goddess was pregnant,
Atum said that she could give birth, but not on the tradi-
tional days of the known calendar. The god THOTH, tak-
ing pity on Nut, gambled with the other deities of Egypt
and won five extra days for Nut. Nut gave birth on those
days, bringing Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys into
the world.Eratosthenes of Cyrene(d. 194 B.C.E.)Greek scientist,
astronomer, and poet
He was born c. 276 B.C.E. in CYRENE, Libya. He became
the chief of the LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIAc. 255 B.C.E. and
wrote about poetry, philosophy, literary criticism, geogra-
phy, mathematics, and astronomy. His Geographicaand
On the Measurement of the Earthwere instant classics.
Eratosthenes was reportedly the first person to mea-
sure the earth’s circumference. He stated that the earth
was round and assessed the circumference using geomet-
ric calculation. The length of the shadows measured at
noon on the summer solstice in ALEXANDRIAand ASWAN
started the calculations. Eratosthenes also mapped the
world in lines of latitude and longitude. As the head of
the Library of Alexandria, he tried to reformthe calendar
and to fix the historical dates in literature. When he went
blind, Eratosthenes committed suicide by voluntarystar-
vation c. 194 B.C.E. He died in Alexandria.Erment(Hermonthis, Iun-Mut, Iun-Montu, Ar-
mant) This was a site south of Thebes, called Iun-Mut,
“The Pillar of Mut,” or Iun-Montu, “the Pillar of Montu,”
in Egyptian; Hermonthis in Greek; also Armant in some
lists. Erment was once the capital of the fourth nome of
Upper Egypt but was replaced by Thebes as early as the
Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 B.C.E.). The god MONTUhad
a cult center at Erment, associated with the sacred bull
BUCHIS. Remains of an Eleventh Dynasty (2040–1991
B.C.E.) palace were discovered on the site. A temple from
the Eighteenth Dynasty, built by Queen-Pharaoh HATSHEP-
SUT(r. 1473–1458 B.C.E.) and restored by TUTHMOSIS III(r.
1479–1425 B.C.E.), was also found in Erment. The
BUCHEUM, the bull necropolis, is also on the site.
A major temple at Erment dates to the Middle King-
dom with later additions. NECTANEBO II(r. 363–343?
B.C.E.) started a similar shrine that was completed by the
Ptolemies (304–30 B.C.E.). CLEOPATRA VII(r. 51–30 B.C.E.)
and PTOLEMY XV CAESARION(r. 44–30 B.C.E.) built a MAM-
MISI, or birth house there, with a sacred lake.Ernutet She was an Egyptian goddess revered in the
FAIYUM, near modern Medinet el-Faiyum (CROCODILOPO-
LIS). A temple honoring Ernutet,SOBEK, and HORUSwas
erected there by AMENEMHET III(r. 1844–1797 B.C.E.) and
completed by AMENEMHET IV(r. 1799–1787 B.C.E.).132 embalming