Westcar Papyrus
The Westcar Papyrus (inventory-designation: P. Berlin 3033) is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of Pharaoh Cheops (4th dynasty) by his sons. The story in the papyrus is usually rendered in English as "King Cheops and the Magicians" and "The Tale of King Cheops' Court". In German, in which the text of the Westcar Papyrus was first translated, it is rendered as Die Märchen des Papyrus Westcar ("the fairy tales of Papyrus Westcar").
The surviving material of the Westcar Papyrus consists of twelve rolls. Miriam Lichtheim dates the document to the Hyksos period (18th to 16th century BC), but the tales appear to have originated some time in the 12th dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (ca. 20th century BC). Linguist and Egyptologist Verena Lepper thinks it may be possible that the Westcar Papyrus had already been written during the 13th dynasty. The papyrus has been used by historians as a literary resource for reconstituting the history of the 4th dynasty.
The papyrus is now on display under low-light conditions in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.
Read more about Westcar Papyrus: Discovery Story, Material Description, The Tales of Papyrus Westcar, Analysis and Interpretations
Famous quotes containing the word papyrus:
“When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 2:3.