Note 21 — Chapter I
P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) Renouf translation
The sem, and the urȧ ḫerp ḥem, were priests in the service of Ptah. The latter, who held perhaps the highest sacerdotal office in Egypt, as high priest of Ptah at Memphis, is repeatedly found combining with his own special office that of the sem. The ceremony which is here referred to consisted in a grand procession round the walls of the great sanctuary of Ptah, conveying upon a sledge the bark in which the coffin of the god was supposed to rest. Sokaru signifies ‘the coffined,’ and Ptah Sokaru is only a form of Osiris. Abundant details of the ceremony will be found in the plates of M. Mariette’s Abydos, I, pl. 36 and following. The king Seti I is represented as a Sem priest presiding at the festival.
