Papiro dell’Amduat anonimo
Il papiro Cat. 1778 presenta scene tratte dalla Decima, Undicesima e Dodicesima ora dell’Amduat. Sulla destra del manoscritto, la cosiddetta etichetta riporta frammenti di una scena di offerta che raffigurano la parte inferiore del trono di Osiride e delle offerte funerarie.
La struttura narrativa del trattato consiste di un registro orizzontale che descrive da sinistra a destra la dimensione oltremondana tramite una composizione di segni linguistici e visuali. Nella parte inferiore del manoscritto viene riportata la componente iconografica del periplo notturno dell’ipostasi solare, mentre nella parte superiore si trova quella testuale, riportata in inchiostro nero e rosso.
Sulla sinistra del manoscritto, la prima parte del trattato presenta le seguenti scene: Il Ba di Osiride (Decima ora), Il Ba di Sokar (Decima ora) insieme ad Atum e il serpente alato (Undicesima ora) e “La processione delle divinità”.
Lo scriba dispone poi cinque colonne di testo a formare un elemento verticale che separa la prima parte della composizione dalla seconda.
Sulla destra del manoscritto, la seconda parte del trattato presenta le seguenti scene: Gli annegati (Decima ora), La punizione dei dannati (Undicesima ora), La barca solare (Dodicesima ora), I portatori di Mehen (Undicesima ora), I dieci (o) dodici adoratori (Dodicesima ora), La mummia di Osiride (Dodicesima ora) e Khepri e Shu (Dodicesima ora).
Sempre sulla destra, prima dell’etichetta, lo scriba riporta una formula di offerta. Sfortunatamente, in questa colonna di testo è possibile identificare solo il titolo e non il nome della defunta. Della scena di offerta, piuttosto rovinata, si conservano solo i frammenti che raffigurano la parte inferiore del trono di Osiride insieme ad alcune delle offerte funerarie presentate dalla defunta.
Third Intermediate Period (1076-664 BC)
Dynasty 21 (1076-944 BC)
Siamun/Psusennes II
Thebes
Acquisizione: Drovetti, Bernardino
Data acquisizione: 1824
Formula di offerta (col. 1)
(1) […] Ra-Harakhti, Atum, signore dell’eternità, colui che presiede a Eliopoli, cantrice dell’Occidente, che è nella Duat.
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).
