THE STELE OF REVEALING

The Stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu i (also known as the Stele of Revealing) is a painted, wooden offering stele, discovered in 1858 at the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Dayr al-Bahri by François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette. It was originally made for the Montu-priest Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu i, and was discovered near his coffin ensemble of two sarcophagi and two anthropomorphic inner coffins. It dates to circa 680/70 BCE, the period of the late Dynasty 25/early Dynasty 26. Originally located in the former Bulaq Museum under inventory number 666, the stele was moved around 1902 to the newly opened Egyptian Museum of Cairo (inventory number A 9422; Temporary Register Number 25/12/24/11), where it remains today.

The stele is made of wood and covered with a plaster gesso, which has been painted. It measures 51.5 centimeters high and 31 centimeters wide. On the front Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu is as a priest of Montu can be seen; he is presenting offerings to the falcon-headed god Re-Harakhty (“Re-Horus of the Two Horizons”), a syncretic form of the gods Ra and Horus, who is seated on a throne. The symbol of the west, the place of the Dead, is seen behind Re-Harakhty. Above the figures is a depiction of Nuit, the sky goddess who stretches from horizon to horizon. Directly beneath her is the Winged Solar Disk, Horus of Behdet.

The stele is also known as the “Stele of Revealing” and is a central element of the religious philosophy Thelema founded by Aleister Crowley.

The stele is a fairly typical example of a late Third Intermediate Period Theban offering stele dating to the late Dynasty 25/early Dynasty 26. It was discovered in 1854 as part of a large burial of priests of Montu at Dayr al-Bahri, and included the coffin of the dedicant, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu.

{source: Wikipedia}

The Stele of Revealing

The image of The Stele of Revealing above is taken from the first edition of the Equinox of the Gods and is not a photo of the original stele. (It has a typo in hieroglyphs.) The original stele can be seen below. – [Ed.]

Stele Of Revealing front
original – Cairo Museum

Stele Of Revealing back
original – Cairo Museum

Rose and Aleister Crowley

French transcript by Crowley

Liber AL vel Legis (page 1)

The Stèle of Revealing (also called Stèle 666) was discovered by Aleister Crowley and his wife Rose in the Boulaq Museum in Cairo, Egypt on March 18, 1904. For the previous two days, she had been receiving the message, “They are waiting for you” and claimed that it was from Horus. When Aleister took her to the museum to point out the speaker to him, she finally settled on this small, unassuming funerary stele. What struck Crowley was that it did indeed show Horus, and attached to the top was the exhibit number: 666, the number that he strongly identified himself with. The discovery of the Stele of Revealing was an important step in the events leading to the writing of The Book of the Law.

The Stele of Revealing was created by an actual Egyptian priest of the god Mentu, Ankh-af-na-khonsu (lit. He Lives in Khonsu), who lived in Thebes in the 26th dynasty (apx. 725 PEV). It is a funerary tablet created to commemorate his death. It is wooden, covered with stucco and painted on both sides. It is rounded at the top and measures 51.5 by 31 centimeters.

On April 8 1904, the voice of the Goddess Nuith spoke through the intermediary of the intelligence known as Aiwass, to deliver the first chapter of The Holiest Book of Thelema, The Book of the Law, Liber AL vel Legis. A month earlier Rose Crowley, Ouarda the Seer, had told her husband “they are waiting for you” and later directed his attention to Stélé 666 in Cairo’s Boulak museum. Her instructions were that Crowley should enter the room “exactly at noon on April 8, 9 & 10, and write down what I had heard, rising exactly at one o’clock.

“March 23rd to April 7th. I made inquiries about the stele and had the inscriptions translated into French by the assistant curator at Boulak. I made poetic paraphrases of them. Ouarda now told me to enter the room, where all this work had been done, exactly at noon on April 8th, 9th and 10th, and write down what I heard, rising exactly at one o’clock. This is did. In these three hours were written the three chapters of The Book of the Law.

The above statement is as succinct as I can make it. By April 8th, I had been convinced of the reality of the communication and obeyed my wife’s arbitrary instructions with a certain confidence. I retained my sceptical attitude none the less.

THE CLAIM OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW IN RESPECT OF RELIGION.

The importance of religion to humanity is paramount. The reason is that all men perceive more of less the “First Noble Truth” — that everything is sorrow; and religion claims to console them by an authoritative denial of this truth or by promising compensations in other states of existence. This claim implies the possibility of knowledge derived from sources other than the unaided investigation of nature through the senses and the intellect. It postulates, therefore, the existence of one or more praeter-human intelligences, able and willing to communicate, through the medium of certain chosen man, to mankind a truth or truths which could not otherwise be known. Religion is justified in demanding faith, since the evidence of the senses and the mind cannot confirm its statements. The evidence from prophecy and miracle is valid only in so far as it goes to the credit of the man through whom the communication is made. It establishes that he is in possession of knowledge and power different, not only in degree but in kind, from those enjoyed by the rest of man kind.” (Aleister Crowley)

Finding the Stèle of Revealing

“A glass case stood in the distance, too far off for its contents to be recognized. But [Rose Kelly] recognised it! ‘There,’ she cried, ‘There he is!’”

“Fra. P. advanced to the case. There was the image of Horus in the form of Ra Hoor Khuit painted upon a wooden stele of the 26th dynasty—and the exhibit bore the number 666!”

“In the museum at Cairo, No. 666 is the stele of the Priest Ankh-f-n- khonsu. Horus has a red Disk and green Uraeus.
His face is green, his skin indigo.
His necklace, anklets, and bracelets are gold.
His nemyss nearly black from blue.
His tunic is the Leopard’s skin, and his apron green and gold.
Green is the wand of double Power; his r.h. is empty.
His throne is indigo the gnomon, red the square.
The light is gamboge.
Above his are the Winged Globe and the bent figure of the heavenly Isis, her hands and feet touching earth.”

Aleister Crowley’s Stèle Poem

According to Crowley, the stela depicts the three chief deities of Thelema: Nuit (Egyptian Nut), Hadit (Egyptian Behdety), and Ra-Hoor-Khuit (Egyptian Re-Harakhty [“Re-Horus of the Two Horizons”]).

The Stele of Revealing

The image of The Stele of Revealing above is taken from the first edition of the Equinox of the Gods and is not a photo of the original stele. (It has a typo in hieroglyphs.) The original stele can be seen below. – [Ed.]

ПАРАФРАЗА НА НАДПИСИТЕ ВЪРХУ ЛИЦЕВАТА
СТРАНА НА СТÈЛАТА НА ОТКРОВЕНИЕТО

Отгоре, брилянтният лазур е
Голият блясък на Нуит;
Тя извива се в екстаз да целуне
Тайните пламтежи на Хадит.
Крилатото кълбо, звездната синева,
Са мои, О Анкх-аф-на-Кхонсу!

Аз съм Господарят на Тива, и аз
Вдъхновеният прорицател на Менту;
За мен небето забулено разкрива,
Сам-убитият Анкх-аф-на-Кхонсу
Чиито слова са истина.
Аз призовавам, Аз приветствам,
Теб, О Ра-Хоор-Кхуит!

Единство пределно проявено!
Обожавам мощта на Твоя дъх,
Върховен и ужасен Бог,
Пред когото боговете и смъртта
Треперят:– Аз, аз те обожавам!

Яви се на трона на Ра!
Отвори пътищата на Кху!

Озари пътищата на Ка!
Пътищата на Кхабс проникват,
За да ме раздвижат или умирят!
Аум! нека ме убие!

Светлината е моя; лъчите ù изгарят
Ме: Аз направил съм тайна врата
В Дома на Ра и Тум,
На Кхефра и на Ахатхоор.
Аз съм твоят Тиванец, О Менту,
Пророкът Анкх-аф-на-кхонсу!

С Бес-на-Маут гърдите си удрям;
С мъдрата Та-Hex заклинанието си тъка.
Покажи твоя звезден блясък, О Нуит!
Покани ме в твоя Дом да остана,
О крилата змия от светлина, Хадит!
Бъди с мен, Ра-Хоор-Кхуит!

ПАРАФРАЗА НА 11-ТЕ РЕДА ЙЕРОГЛИФИ
ОТ ЗАДНАТА СТРАНА НА СТЕЛАТА

Рече на Менту братът, който истината казва,
на Тива по рождение, който бе господар:
О сърце мое, сърце на моята майка!
О сърце, което имах на тази земя!
Срещу мен не заставай като свидетел!
Съдник срещу мен не бъди на съда!
Не ме обвинявай в липса на добродетел
пред Бога Велик, страшен Господ на Запада!
Защото свързал съм посредством заклинание
един за друг, в мистичен кръг,
Земя и Запад с дивно обаяние,
докато цъфтях, о земя, на твойта гръд!

Мъртвецът Анкх-аф-на-кхонсу тъй рече
на истината и покоя със гласа:
О ти с единствена ръка!
О ти, сияещи в луната!
Заплитам те в предящия се чар;
Примамвам те на напева с вълната.

Мъртвецът Анкх-аф-на-кхонсу
се раздели с тълпите тъмни
и с обитаващите в светлината се събра,
отваряйки Дуант, обителите звездни,

получил ключове за тяхната врата.
Мъртвецът Анкх-аф-на-кхонсу направи
прехода си във нощта,
Своето удоволствие на таз земя
сред живите да прави.

(Aleister Crowley’s poetic rendition of the Stèle text, from The Temple of Solomon the King in Equinox I. viii)

[ Parts of this poetic version also appear in Liber NU, Liber Resh vel Helios, in the text of Liber AL vel Legis and many more. ]

The Text of the Stele

The stele is painted on both faces with Egyptian texts, some of which are Chapter 91 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, while the back of the stele records eleven lines of text from Chapters 30 and 2.

The text reads as follows.:

Aleister Crowley’s Stèle Poem

According to Crowley, the stela depicts the three chief deities of Thelema: Nuit (Egyptian Nut), Hadit (Egyptian Behdety), and Ra-Hoor-Khuit (Egyptian Re-Harakhty [“Re-Horus of the Two Horizons”]).

The Text of the Stele

The stele is painted on both faces with Egyptian texts, some of which are Chapter 91 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, while the back of the stele records eleven lines of text from Chapters 30 and 2.

The text reads as follows.:

Obverse

[A1] Beneath the Winged Solar Disk: (He of) Behdet, the Great God, Lord of Heaven

[A2–A3] Above Re-Harakhty: Re-Harakhty (“Re-Horus of the Two Horizons”), Chief of the Gods

[A4–A8] Above Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu: The Osiris, God’s Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, Opener of the Door-leaves of Heaven in the Most Select of Places (i.e., Karnak), Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, <True of> Voice

[A9] Beneath the offering table: (1000s of) Bread and beer, cattle and fowl

[B1–B5] Main text: [B1] Words spoken by the Osiris (i.e., the deceased), God’s Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, Opener of the Door-leaves of Heaven in the Most Select of Places (i.e., Karnak), Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, [B2] True of Voice: “O Exalted-one! may he be praised, Great of Manifestations, the great Ba whom [B3] the gods fear, and who appears on his great throne, make the path of the Ba, the Akh, and the Shadow, for I am equipped so that (I) might shine therein [B4] (as) an equipped-one. Make for me the path to the place in which Re, Atum, Khepri, and Hathor are therein.” The Osiris, God’s Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, [B5] Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, <True of> Voice, son of the like titled Ba-sa-en-Mut, borne of the Chantress of Amun-Re, Lady of the House, Ta-nesh<et>.

Reverse

[C1] Words spoken by the Osiris (i.e., the deceased), God’s Servant of Montu, Lord of Waset, Ankh-ef-en- [C2] Khonsu, True of Voice: “(O) my heart of my mother [2 times], (O) my heart while I existed [C3] upon earth, do not stand against me as a witness, do not oppose me in [C4] in the tribunal, do not be hostile against me in the presence of the Great God, Lord of the West. [C5] Although I have united (myself) to the land to the great western side of Heaven, may I flourish upon earth!” [C6] Words spoken by the Osiris, the Stolist of Waset, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, True of Voice: O (you who are) Unique [C7] of Arm, who shines like the moon, the Osiris, Ankh-ef- [C8] en-Khonsu, goes forth from your multitudes, [C9] (O) deliverer of those who are within the sun-light, open for him [C10] the Netherworld, indeed, the Osiris, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu who goes forth in [C11] day in order to do everything all that pleased him upon earth among the living-ones.”

Translations

Crowley states that he dined with the Egyptologist Émile Charles Albert Brugsch bey, Curator of the Bulaq Museum to discuss the stele in his charge and to arrange for a facsimile to be made. According to Crowley, Brugsch’s French assistant curator translated the hieroglyphic text on the stele. In 1912 a second translation was later made for Crowley by Alan Gardiner and Battiscombe Gunn.

The Gardiner Translation

The Liber Portal Hieroglyphics

If you’ve wondered what the hieroglyphics at the bottom of the portal graphic used for all of Crowley’s libers are, then you can find out by examining the Stèle. From Gardiner’s translation these are the sections “Behdet (? Hadit ?), the Great God, the Lord of Heaven” and “Oxen, Geese, Wine, (?) Bread”. Essentially, the language suggests “Meat”, “Drink” and “Hadit”.

“And, for as much as meat and drink are transmuted in us daily into spiritual substance, I believe in the Miracle of the Mass.” — Liber XV

In some images of the Stèle, there is what appears to be damage at the top of the front, probably from a label, which has been repaired in other images:

(damage on the original Stéle)