CLOSE

Inventory number

Cat.1787

  • Document
  • Writing Recto

General description

Amduat papyrus of Mutregh

Turin papyrus Cat. 1787 presents scenes from the Amduat Eleventh and Twelfth Hours. On the manuscript’s right-hand side the so-called etiquette shows an offering scene between Osiris and the papyrus’ owner. 

The treatise’s structure consists of one horizontal register. From left to right it describes the netherworld reality through a multimodal composition of visual and linguistic signs.

On the manuscript’s left-hand side, the scribe presents the following scenes: The Snake of Time (Eleventh Hour), The Twelve Gods (Eleventh Hour) and Khepri and Shu (Twelfth Hour).

On the manuscript’s right-hand side, the etiquette shows the deceased, Mutregh, praising Osiris and offering him funerary supplies.

Epoch

Third Intermediate Period (1076-664 BC)

Dynasty

Dynasty 21 (1076-944 BC)

Pharaoh

Siamun/Psusennes II

Provenance

Thebes

Acquisition: Drovetti, Bernardino

Acquisition Date: 1824

Joining object(s) (log into TPOP)

Image(s)

Image

  • Text 1

Hieroglyphs

  • Hieroglyphs
    • Hieroglyphs
    • Hieroglyphs

Editor

Enrico Pozzi (EP)

Contributor

Shenali Boange (SB)

Script

cursive hieroglyphs

Text type

Amduat

Keywords

Eleventh Hour, Twelfth Hour

Place name

Netherworld (dwA.t), Nun (nww), Hidden Chamber (a.t-imn.t)

Epoch

Third Intermediate Period (1076-664 BC)

Dynasty

Dynasty 21 (1076-944 BC)

Pharaoh

Siamun/Psusennes II

Drawing

Yes

Drawing description

The manuscript’s visual representation describes a specific segment of the Sun-god Re’s nocturnal journey through the last hours of the night. The treatise’s visual model does not resemble the prototype established that decorates the 18th Dynasty royal burial chambers in the Valley of the Kings, as the scribe only focuses on the top register of the Eleventh Hour. The manuscript also presents a significant fracture; therefore, some deities are missing from these episodes (deities 760-767 in the Eleventh Hour and deity 883 in the Twelfth Hour). From the manuscript’s left to right-hand side, the scribe illustrates the snake of time Sd-wnw.t (He who takes away the hours) in red ink with the deity D.t (Time) above its coils: the former represents the flowing concept of time (nHH) and the latter its static aspect (D.t). In the following scene, three deities guard and protect the Sun-god’s mysteries; unfortunately, this episode is not well preserved and we only see three of the twelve deities. In the last scene, the Sun-god’s renewed form, a beetle (here missing), exits the Netherworld by travelling through the air-god Shu’s outstretched arms to be reborn as the sun disk at dawn. On the manuscript’s right-hand side, the etiquette shows the deceased, Mutregh, praising Osiris and offering him funerary supplies.

Bibliographical reference

Hornung E., Das Amduat: die Schrift des verborgenen Raumes, Teil I–III (ÄA 7 und 13), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 1963-1967 (OEB10071-12422).


Hornung E., Texte Zum Amduat, Teil I-III: Kurzfassung und Langfassung, 1. bis 12. Stunde, Autographiert von Lotty Spycher und Barbara Lüscher (AH 13–15), Genève: Éditions de Belles-Lettres 1987–1994 (OEB 28504, 35567, 36111).


Naguib S.-A., Le clergé féminin d’Amon thébain à la 21e Dynastie (OLA 38), Leuven: Peeters 1990 (OEB 33024).


Niwinski A., Studies on the Illustrated Theban Funerary Papyri of the 11th and 10th Centuries B.C. (OBO 86), Fribourg / Göttingen: Universitätsverlag / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht 1989 (OEB 32792).


Onstine S., The Role of the Chantress (Smay.t) in Ancient Egypt (BAR International Series 1401), Oxford: Archeopress 2005 (OEB 154482).


Sadek, A-A F., Contribution à l’étude de l’Amdouat: Les variantes tardives du Livre de l’Amdouat dans les papyrus du Musée du Caire (OBO 65), Freiburg / Göttingen: Universitätsverlag / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht 1985 (OEB 29751).


Museo Egizio