Inventory number

General description

Papyrus with a Pharaonic Encomium

Cat.1882 is a long well-preserved papyrus scroll, containing texts written in hieratic script. It includes two other fragments from the Geneva Museum, recognized as belonging to the same manuscript by Alan Gardiner and Jean Capart. The document seems to originate from Memphis, at least if the names mentioned on the verso are really those of the writer of the papyrus and his master. It contains on the recto a well-known “Pharaonic Encomium”, a hymn of praise and gratitude addressed by an unknown Pharaoh of the Ramesside Period to the Theban god Amun-Re. Unfortunately, the name of the Pharaoh is not preserved. However, due to palaeographical reasons and according to some contextual allusions, the abovementioned Pharaoh should be Ramses IV. For instance, certain criminal acts mentioned in the hymn seem to recall the Harem conspiracy against Ramses III, as reported in the Judicial Papyrus of Turin. Moreover, the king refers to himself as “Ruler of Justice”, which forms part of the prenomen of Ramesses IV. The verso of the papyrus contains several texts: a model letter concerning some goods, an instruction to a lazy scribe, another one telling the misfortunes of a farmer and, in the end, an instruction reporting a complaint against the recruitment of forced laborers.