Anonymous Amduat papyrus
Turin papyrus Cat. 1778 presents scenes from the Amduat's Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Hours. On the manuscript’s far right-hand side, the so-called etiquette shows fragments of an offering scene representing the lower part of Osiris’ throne and funerary supplies.
The treatise’s structure consists of one horizontal register. From left to right it describes the Netherworld's reality through a multimodal composition of visual and linguistic signs. In the lower half of the composition, the author juxtaposes different episodes of the Sun-ogd Re's nocturnal journey, while in the upper half, now partly lost, he illustrates columns of text in black and red ink.
On the manuscript’s left-hand side, the treatise’s first segment presents the following scenes: The bA of Osiris (Tenth Hour), The bA of Sokar (Tenth Hour) joined with Atum and the Winged Serpent (Eleventh Hour) and “The Procession of Deities”.
The scribe then arranges five columns of text to form a vertical element that separates the first part of the composition from the second.
On the manuscript’s right-hand side, the treatise’s second segment presents the following scenes: The Drowned (Tenth Hour), The Punishment of the Damned (Eleventh Hour), The Solar Boat (Twelfth Hour), The Bearers of Mehen (Eleventh Hour), The Ten (or) Twelve Worshipers (Twelfth Hour), The Mummy of Osiris (Twelfth Hour) and Khepri and Shu (Twelfth Hour).
On the manuscript’s far right-hand side, before the etiquette, the author includes an offering formula. Unfortunately, in this one-columned text, we can only identify the title of the deceased, but not her name.
The offering scene is badly preserved and presents fragments of Osiris’ throne and the funerary supplies offered by the deceased.
Third Intermediate Period (1076-664 BC)
Dynasty 21 (1076-944 BC)
Siamun/Psusennes II
Thebes
Acquisition: Drovetti, Bernardino
Acquisition Date: 1824
Enrico Pozzi (EP)
Shenali Boange (SB)
cursive hieroglyphs
Amduat, Offering text
Eleventh Hour, Tenth Hour, Twelfth Hour
Netherworld (dwA.t), Heliopolis (iwnw)
Third Intermediate Period (1076-664 BC)
Dynasty 21 (1076-944 BC)
Siamun/Psusennes II
Yes
The manuscript’s visual representation describes the Sun-god Re's nocturnal journey through the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth 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. The scribe arranges the scenes without following the treatise’s standard protocol and presents the episodes according to his discretion. Therefore, several deities are missing from these scenes (deities 746, 747, 748 in the Tenth Hour, deities 805-816, 791-797 in the Eleventh, and deities 846, 847, 852, 853, 854, 883, 902-907 in the Twelfth Hour). The treatise's structure consists of a single horizontal register presenting Re, in his nocturnal shape as a ram-headed deity, travelling on the solar boat through the last netherworld regions. On the manuscript’s left-hand side, the Tenth Hour displays a vessel, worshipped by two deities, who transport a crocodile instead of the serpent anx-tA (The living one of the earth), the bA of Osiris. The second scene presents the double-headed winged-serpent Ts-Hr.w (Uniting faces), worshipped by two baboons and carrying a scarab, most probably the bA of Sokar xnty-p.t (Foremost of the sky). In addition to the originality of this vignette, combining elements from two different episodes, namely The bA of Sokar (Tenth Hour) and Atum and the Winged Serpent (Eleventh Hour), the scribe provides a solar counterpoint to the previous Osirian scene. The last episode of this first segment of the treatise presents a procession of twelve deities: we can recognise Isis, Min, Horus, Re, Anubis, Sobek and a baboon-headed god, but without their captions we cannot identify the remaining five anthropomorphic deities. On the manuscript’s right-hand side, the scribe presents scenes of the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Hours of the night, showing the last phases of Re's nocturnal journey. The first two scenes depict two Horus hypostasises supporting themselves on walking sticks, combining the bottom register's Tenth and Eleventh Hours' apotropaic and merciful features. The third scene presents the solar barque and its crew of seven deities: from prow to stern, we see a child over a trellis (a helpful instrument for sailing), which is one of the hypostasis of the solar god usually associated with the nocturnal navigation of the barque of Re (mskt.t), mAa.t (Maat), nb.t-wiA (Lady of the barque), iwf (Flesh), mHn (Mehen), Hr-Hknw (Horus of fragrance) and xrp-wiA (Guide of the bark). Afterwards, five deities tow the solar barque and carry the serpent Mehen over their shoulders, while four worshippers, represented in the same way as the bearers, adore and praise sSm-iwf (Image of the flesh), the corpse of Osiris, who is restricted into the boundaries of the Netherworld. His image is placed in front of the outstretched arms of the air-god Shu. On the manuscript’s far right-hand side, the offering scene (unfortunately badly preserved) shows fragments of Osiris’ throne and the funerary supplies offered by the deceased.
Hornung E., Das Amduat:
die Schrift des verborgenen Raumes, Teil I–III (ÄA 7 und 13), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 1963-1967 (OEB10071-12422).
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).
Roulin G., Le
Livre de la Nuit: une composition égyptienne de l'au-delà (OBO 147), Fribourg / Göttingen: Universitätsverlag /
Vandenhoeck Ruprecht 1996, pp. 75-78 (OEB 40570).
