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Depauw
(Tafel 9)
Abstract
Publication of P. Sydney Nicholson Museum 346 b, a Demotic funerary papyrus from Thebes, probably
dating to the 2nd century AD. Its owner, Theonas son of Agathe, is known from P. Cairo 31172, of which
a new transliteration and translation are provided. The existence of two short funerary papyri with different
texts for the same deceased suggests that one was meant to be placed under the head, whereas the other
was to be put under his legs. As many other late abbreviations of the so-called 'documents of breathing',
these papyri seem to defy further categorization. Rather than with a letter, a passport such as P. Sydney
Museum 346 b should be compared with an amulet, to be shown to Osiris before entry into the
underworld. As such this papyrus may shed light on the discussion concerning the authorship of the 'divine
Nicholson
decrees'.
In themiddle of the 19thcentury, Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903) collected a large group
of antiquities through acquisitions from European dealers and by two journeys to Egypt in
1856 and 1862. In the enlightened belief that inAustralia this collection would ?possess a
value
and
an
interest
far beyond
what
the Nicholson
The Demotic
would
belong
to them
in European
States",
he
Museum1.
in this article bears no. 346 b in the museum's
published
as
in the 1858 catalogue
the same number
by J. Bonomi
7 inches by 6'2, which fits its current dimen
Enchorial writing
funerary papyrus
is described
under
inventory
and
?A nearly
sions of 17.5 cm high and 15.5 cmwide (fig. 1).The papyrus is quite dark brown, especially
the section to the right of the sheet-join, which is clearly visible 5.5 cm from the left edge
and causes
an overlap between
on
the papyrological
style pen
the fibres
to the writing
with
a Greek
and perpendicular
to
I should like to thank K. Sowada, curator of theNicholson Museum, for her hospitality when in Sydney
as well as for permission to study the original and to publish the result of my research. The existence
of Sydney Nicholson Museum 346 b was known tome by photographs sent in 1975 by the then curator
Alexander Cabitoglou to the lateM. Muszinsky. These were shown to me by W. Clarysse, who also
made a first transliteration of the text which has formed the basis for my research. The publication has
benefitted greatly from comments and suggestions during its presentation at the 2001 Demotic Summer
School in Trier and from a reading by M. Smith. I should like to thankM. Coenen for information on
late hieratic funerary texts as well as C. Leitz and his team for information from the forthcoming
?Lexikon der agyptischen GStter und G6tterbezeichnungen".
1
C. Nicholson, Aegyptiaca,
1891,116. For a history of the museum's collections, see A.D. Trendhall,
The Nicholson Museum, in:Art and Australia 5, 1967, 528-537.
2
1858,
[J. Bonomi], Catalogue of Egyptian and Other Antiquities collected by Sir Charles Nicholson,
50, no. 346b. It is included under the same number 346 inE. Reeve, Catalogue of theMuseum of Anti
1891, 69.
quities of the University of Sydney, 1870, 31 and in C. Nicholson, Aegyptiaca,
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94M.Depauw
the kollesis.
The
faded
in some
SAK 31
places,
are clearly
recognizable
except for where blotches of ink have made the text illegible. The verso is not accessible
because
of the way
the papyrus
I_J
Transliteration
1) tl?.tr
is mounted,
but
is presumably
blank.
346 b
and Translation
tly.t^s m-blh pi nb ntr.w
The document
4) Wsir hw.t-bnbn m
'Iwnw-wr
inHeliopolis,
7) si Wsir
'Iy-m-htp m
'Inp
'Imn-htp wr si
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2003
8) Hcpy hw.t-... nb
st}
9) mtw^w dy cnhply^fby
sc dt
10)Tyflwns pi sr n l[g]crfh[e]
Theonas
Line Commentary
cut from a roll. As such
Line 1: (a) sc.t is just the general word for a piece of papyrus
more
a
translation
than ?letter"
See below general commentary,
is
?document"
appropriate
r
see
W.
For
Demotische
the
1925,
Grammatik,
tly.t^s,
Spiegelberg,
?gerundivum"
(b)
?226.
Line 2: InDmc the scribe has left some space between theD and mc. A similar distance
between the first sign and the rest of theword is found in 1.6, in thewriting of 'Inp.
Line
3: For Gbt,
compare
a to B 5/13.
in 1. 5.
addition
(b) The unexpected
the other, much
closer Lwnw
wr
in
theMouth
for
'Iwnw-wr
1993,
may
Breathing,
serve to distinguish
from
i.e.
The
Hermonthis.
,
Heliopolis
or
latter is often called
'Iwnw-$mc
Lwnw-Mnf.
see Glossar,
Line 5: For the reading nb in hw.t-nb,
214. For Osiris of Koptos who
is in
see C. Traunecker,
sur le parvis de Geb,
et Dieux
Homme
the house of gold,
Coptos.
compare
J.G. Griffiths,
s.v. Osiris,
in: LA
IV,
1982,
col.
627
(IV); P. Kaplony,
s.v.
m meaning
?together
with",
see M.
Smith,
The Mortuary
3
4
5
6
7
8
Their
funerary
character
seems
a Roman
development8.
See P.W. Pestman, The Archive of the Theban Choachytes (Second Century B.C.). A Survey of the
Demotic and Greek Papyri contained in the Archive, Studia Demotica 2, 1993, 315-316.
Mammisi Armant: LD IV, 6If.
K. Ryholt, The Story of Petese Son of Petetum and Seventy other Good and Bad Stories (P. Petese)
CNI Publications 23/ The Carlsberg Papyri 4, 1999, 14.
Texte aus den Koniglichen Museen zu Berlin 1, 1913,
Demotische
G. Moeller, Mumienschilder,
fasc. 1, 4; fasc. 2, 17 (no. 46).
im alten Agypten, MAS 36, 1977, passim.
See D. Wildung, Imhotep und Amenhotep. Gottwerdung
Ibid., 199-248 for Imhotep in the company of Amenhotep, and p. 248 for their funerary character.
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96 M. Depauw SAK 31
Line 8: (a) The name of the father of Amenhotep, Hapu, iswritten unetymologically as
if itwere the god Hapy. The normal writing is that as Hp ?Apis". (b) It is tempting to
suggest that there is a reference here toAthribis (Hw.t- (tl-hry-) lb) as the place of birth of
Amenhotep9, but the group following hw.t is illegible tome. A curtailed writing of tflw (?)
seems
unlikely,
insufficient10,
case
clearly
(c) Glossar,
stl ?tomb,
some writings
an entry stt as writing
ismeant11.
crypt"
of Hr
with
The Coptic
name
in Hathor's
for st ,,Grundstuck",
arrx or
word
qrro
is also
but
?cellar"
in this
indicating
a subterranean chamber is probably derived from it12,and the t probably indicates that the
final
twas
pronounced.
is a common
in this case
(e.g. of Sokar),
epiteth
because
of the parallel
with
P. Cairo
31172
1. 2 (see
to the Byzantine
commentary
general
below)14.
but **Fevay&6'n
is unattested15.
example
known
hitherto
The
The
apparently
period16.
General
Commentary
are
the early Roman period onwards
all kinds of funerary and mortuary
compositions
in Demotic.
written
Some of these are very elaborate,
e.g. the Rhind funerary papyri, while
others are very short. Many
of them come from Thebes,
and in this case the initial position
From
the place
or, more
likely,
Date
of origin. Palaeography,
2nd century AD.
onomastics,
are confirmed
by a second
and provenance
and contents
papyrus
suggest
inscribed
leave no doubt
a date
in the 1st
It is preserved in the Cairo museum, and has been edited by Spiegelberg in his ?Catalogue
General" publication as no. 3117217.Not only is the handwriting of this text identical to that
of P. Sydney Nicholson Museum 346 b, it even has the same sheet-join visible on the left
9
und Amenhotep, 295.
10Wildung, Imhotep
See the writings of Hw.t-Hr inW. Erichsen, Demotisches Glossar, 1854, 286.
11
M. Depauw, The Archive of Teos and Thabis from Early Ptolemaic Thebes, P. Brux. dem. inv. E.
8252-8256, Monographies Reine Elisabeth 8, 2000, 202-204.
12
Crum, Dictionary, 595a; Westendorf, Handworterbuch,
560; Cerny, Dictionary, 255.
13
o or co, compare Coptic o ?great".
c\
DN
1256
For
Greek
17,
Compare
Tywns.
?great" rendering
14
96
DN
2,
Compare
clgthe.
15
For
names
with
matronymic,
see DN
4,
260-273,
e.g. Pl-sr-klllwd.
t or Pl-sr-n-tl
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2003
side of the papyrus.
This
that both
were
documents
the same
by
scribe with the same pen, but very likely even on the same sheet. The width of the roll (or
of the sheet) can be reconstructed
Ptolemaic
average18.
as 34.5
height
Because
of the close
connection
between
rather wide
cm,
both papyri,
I provide
in comparison
a new
with
transliteration
the
and
translation of P. Cairo 31172, which has received little attention since its editio princeps
1906.
1) Wsir hn} imnj,Wn-nfr pi ntr clpi nb n
2)
'IbtTywnspl
3) ply^fby
4)
sr n clgcthe mtw
hn
Onnophris
water
5)
Theonas
Abydos.
in
on
tl
r nhh rpyply^f
The contents of P. Cairo 31172 clearly supplement that of P. Sydney Nicholson Museum
346 b. Both
are abbreviated
examples
of what
is often
called
a sc.t n snsn
?document
of
breathing", and as the titles of some papyri indicate,most likely one (?the first")was meant
to be placed under the head of Theonas' mummy, while the other (?the second") was to be
put under his legs19. In this case it is uncertain where which
of multiple
texts written
earlier examples
Other,
funerary
of a Book of the Dead
and a Book of Breathing
combinations
a
like
looks
of the longest known
personal
library consisting
document
for
Perhaps
contemporary
identical
be
made
person
as well
Isis,
by
Book
of Traversing
should
located.
a single
include
as what
Eternity,
abbreviated
18
funerary
papyri
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98M.Depauw
SAK 31
(each 35 (!) cm high) written for the same woman, one to be put under the head, the other
under
the legs21.
The text of the Cairo document is similar to a group of funerary formulae found on
papyri and coffins, normally dated to the 2ndcentury AD22.These texts provide the name of
the deceased at the beginning, followed by wishes for the afterlife. Often the age of the
owner
is specified.
lengthy
?The document
Osiris
(and various
other gods)
so that
they will give life to his ba forever", followed by the name of the deceased at the end. In
this case
is an enumeration
should
assure
an eternal afterlife. Because of this litany-like list of gods followed by a conjunctive, the
Sydney papyrus resembles P. Turin N. 76623. Like that text, however, it is no typical
of a specific
example
to
better
be sceptical
and perhaps
it is
be
guidelines.
addressee,
epistolary
separated
the letter
with ritual
sometimes
over, but rather a title or a short summary,
are never any epistolary
names
formulae
the
of sender and
providing
seem problematic,
and indeed these categories
the
occasional
assertion
despite
handed
There
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2003
than with
letters,
the documents
an official
of these
Like
is the beneficiary
?amulets".
funerary
reason often no
and in all contexts,
for which
notification
it should be valid for everyone
are thought to
can
to
It
is
be
those
who
mentioned.
addressee
addressed,
however,
specific
the
deceased,
who
be especially competent in thematter. For this reason P. Sydney Nicholson Museum 346 b
is explicitly directed to Osiris and some of his divine colleagues in the underworld.
That the document should be presented to Osiris and his acolytes reminds one of the
discussion
the so-called
whether
?divine
decrees",
wd-ntr
beginning
issued
by Osiris oxfor Osiris. On the basis of the parallelism with documents less explicit than this
one,
J. Quaegebeur
Osiris
At least two aspects of his theory remain highly hypothetical, but the Sydney papyrus seems
to confirm his idea that the decree was for Osiris rather than by him. The only way to save
Osiris'
sources
in his underworld
realm is to detach the ?divine decrees" from the other
authority
as
and consider both
of separate traditions, an alternative which
is perhaps
examples
equally plausible in view of the time gap between them27.The recently published funerary
papyrus
?decree"
of Imouthes
does
entire underworld:
wd.tcl.t
to leave
it is best
the matter
there, or with
ni divin,
le decret
ou ordonnance
reutilise
par
?
recents avec un
les copistes
et on ne sait par qui, sinon
devient
querelle
de
New-York,
papyrus
modifications
done
inutile
sur le fait de
savoir,
si tel ou
tel dieu
a 1'esprit
et a la lettre du texte,
est
l'auteur
du moins
du
rescrit.
dans
Le
la version
de
des
probleme
a
apportees
ptole
l'epoque
scribes sacerdotaux
thebains, ne
profondes
du corpus des steles) par des
maique
(date moyenne
une fois
peut etre aborde ici, mais nul doute qu'une solution simple pourra etre avancee,
son
le document
d'etre mieux
reconnu"28.
integralite et, par la, susceptible
publie dans
26
J. Quaegebeur, Lettres de Thot et decrets pour Osiris, in: JH. Kamstra et al. (eds), Funerary Symbols
and Religion. Essays dedicated to Professor M.S.H.G. Heerma van Voss (...), 1988, 105-126.
27
H. De Meulenaere, Le decret d'Osiris, in:CdE 63, 1988, 234-241; L. Kakosy, Three Decrees of Gods
from Theban Tomb 32, in:OLP 23, 1992, 311-328.
28
of Art de New York
C. Goyon, Le papyrus d'lmouthes fils de Psintaes au Metropolitan Museum
MMA
18.
1999,
35.9.21),
(papyrus
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'
'*-*-*-.
^fc
;_<_y> ^-w^;
?~-
v *La_.-w2d_i_LL
,
?gT;f*^?fc^
P. Sydney Nicholson
**<*
->"^f#t^fr
Museum
'^''.--m
.ff'V-^:?^-:*C.
346 b
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