Inventory number

General description

Offering Ritual to Amenophis I

The long manuscript bears in 14 columns a hieratic text which contains the so-called “Ritual of Amenophis I”. It dates back to the period of Ramesses II (1279-1213), 19th dynasty.
Found in 1906 by Schiaparelli in Deir el-Medina site, the papyrus was stolen shortly afterwards from the excavation and was repurchased by Schiaparelli himself in 1909 at the antiquities market in Cairo. The Turin manuscript is part of the same papyrus scroll whose upper two-thirds are now in the Cairo Museum (CG 58030). It can be assumed that the manuscript has been cut right after the robbery at the excavation site, in order to sell more parts of it at the market.

The papyrus is a kind of a ceremonial manual recording a variety of offerings and cultic activities. It is the archive copy of one of those papyri which were probably used on a daily basis during temple liturgies and religious festivities. The ritual’s structure is rather complex, it consists of several activities such as purification, the offerings of food and of different items, which were given in the temple to statues of deities or the pharaoh  by a priest, accompanied by “magical” formulas. In general, the aim of the ritual was to preserve the religious order of Egypt by pacifying the divine ruler. 

Amenophis I Djeserkara, king of the XVIII dynasty, founded the village of Deir el-Medina, where the workmen who constructed and decorated the royal tombs lived. Subsequently to his death, he was deified and worshipped by the inhabitants themselves. The offering ritual is addressed to Amun and to the pharaoh Amenophis I Djeserkara. Depending on the sections, the latter is mentioned as beneficiary or donor of the offerings. For this reason, an assimilation of the god Amun with the pharaoh  seems to be performed within that ritual, resulting in the adjustment of Amun’s traditional cult to the local cult of Amenophis I, as deified in the Western Theban area. 

It is not clear if the recitation of the papyrus was performed out loud, nor if it was associated with gestures, even though it can be assumed. Infact, in the text many ritual acts are listed, such as the daily lightning of a lantern. Such actions and offers would have a magical religious connotation aiming at nourishing and enhancing an otherwise weakened god, so that he can regain his divine prerogatives and, by extension, strengthens the community he is worshipped by. The purpose of such rites is thus to revive the god Amun and the deceased and deified pharaoh, Amenophis I Djeserkara. 

Parallels:  Chester Beatty papyrus P. Brit. Mus. 10589; Ostrakon Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M. 80.203.192, M. 80.203.211); Reliefs Temple of Sethi I at Karnak and the Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu.