A Second Amuletic Passport for the Afterlife

8/10/2019 A Second Amuletic Passport for the Afterlife

1/9


2/9

A

?Second"

Amuletic

Passport

for

the Afterlife.

P.

Sydney

Nicholson Museum

346

b*

Mark 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

Nicholson Museum 346 b should be

compared

with an amulet, to be shown toOsiris before

entry

into the

underworld.

As such this

papyrus

may

shed

light

on

the

discussion

concerning

the

authorship

of the 'divine

decrees'.

In the

middle

of the

19th

entury,

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

in

Australia

this

collection would

?possess

a

value

and

an

interest

far

beyond

what would

belong

to

them

in

European

States",

he

donated his

acquisitions

to

the

University

[of

Sydney],

where

they

became the

basis

of

what

is

now

the

Nicholson

Museum1.

The Demotic

funerary

papyrus

published

in

this article

bears

no.

346 b

in

the

museum's

inventory

and

is described under the

same

number

in

the 1858

catalogue

by

J. Bonomi

as

?A

nearly

square

piece

with

Enchorial

writing

7

inches

by

6'2,

which fits its

current

dimen

sions

of 17.5

cm

high

and 15.5

cm

wide

(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 the

two

sheets of

1.5

cm.

The

text

was

written with

a

Greek

style

pen

on

the

papyrological

recto,

the fibres

parallel

to

the

writing

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

to

me

by

photographs

sent

in 1975

by

the then

curator

Alexander

Cabitoglou

to

the late

M.

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

thank

M.

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 themuseum's collections, see A.D. Trendhall,

The Nicholson

Museum,

in:

Art

and

Australia

5, 1967,

528-537.

2

[J.

Bonomi], Catalogue

of

Egyptian

and Other

Antiquities

collected

by

Sir

Charles

Nicholson,

1858,

50,

no.

346b.

It

is included under the

same

number

346 inE.

Reeve,

Catalogue

of

the

Museum

of Anti

quities

of the

University

of

Sydney,

1870,

31

and

in

C.

Nicholson,

Aegyptiaca,

1891,

69.

This content downloaded from 5.249.33.43 on Tue, 12 Aug 2014 17:10:37 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/9

94

M.Depauw

SAK

31

the

kollesis. The ink

has

quite

faded

in

some

places,

but

the

signs

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

is

mounted,

but

is

presumably

blank.

I_J

Fig. I: P. Sydney Nicholson Museum 346 b

Transliteration and

Translation

1)

tl?.tr

tly.t^s

m-blh

pi

nb

ntr.w

The

document

to

be

taken before the lord of the

gods

2)

Wsir

ntr

cl

Wsir

n

Dmc

Wsir

Osiris

the

great

god,

Osiris of

Jeme,

Osiris

3)

ntr

cl

nb

'Ibt

Wsir

pi

ntr

cl

n

Gb}

great

god

of

Abydos,

Osiris the

great

god

of

Koptos,

4)

Wsir

hw.t-bnbn

m

'Iwnw-wr

Osiris

of the

house

of

the

benben-stone

in

Heliopolis,

5)

Wsir

Gb}e

hnt

hw.t-nb

Wsir

Osiris

of

Koptos

who is

in

the

house of

gold,

Osiris,

6)

sp-2

Pr-Cl

c.w.s.

r

nhh dt

'Inp

Osiris

pharaoh

l.p.h.

orever

and

until

eternity,

Anubis

7)

si

Wsir

'Iy-m-htp

m

'Imn-htp

wr

si

son

of

Osiris,

Imhotep

and

Amenhotep

the

great,

son



4/9

2003 P.

Sydney

Nicholson

Museum

346

b

95

8)

Hcpy

hw.t-...

nb

st}

Hapy

of the house

of...,

lord of the

crypt,

9)

mtw^w

dy

cnh

ply^fby

sc dt

so

that

they

will

give

life

to

his

ba

until

eternity:

10)Tyflwns pi sr n l[g]crfh[e] Theonas the son of Agathe.

Line

Commentary

Line

1:

(a)

sc.t

is

just

the

general

word for

a

piece

of

papyrus

cut

from

a

roll.

As such

?document"

is

a

more

appropriate

translation than

?letter"

See below

general

commentary,

(b)

For

the

?gerundivum"

r

tly.t^s,

see

W.

Spiegelberg,

Demotische

Grammatik,

1925,

?226.

Line

2:

InDmc

the

scribe has left

some

space

between the

D

and

mc.

A

similar distance

between the first

sign

and the rest of theword is found in 1.6, in the

writing

of

'Inp.

Line 3:

For

Gbt,

compare

the clear

writing

in

1.

5.

Line 4:

(a)

For

hw.t-bnbn,

see

M.

Smith,

The

Liturgy

of

Opening

the Mouth for

Breathing,

1993, 65,

note

a

to B

5/13.

(b)

The

unexpected

addition

wr

in 'Iwnw-wr

may

serve

to

distinguish

Heliopolis

from the

other,

much closer Lwnw

,

i.e.

Hermonthis.

The

latter

is

often

called

'Iwnw-$mc

or

Lwnw-Mnf.

Line 5:

For the

reading

nb

in

hw.t-nb,

see

Glossar,

214.

For

Osiris of

Koptos

who

is

in

the

house

of

gold,

see

C.

Traunecker,

Coptos.

Homme

et

Dieux

sur

le

parvis

de

Geb,

OLA 43, 1992,96.

Line

6:

(a)

The

reading sp-2

is certain

in

view

of

the

parallelism

with P.

Cairo

31172,1.

7

(see

below

general

commentary), (b)

Osiris is

not

commonly

called Pr-Cl. The

only

ex

ample

listed

by

the

forthcoming

?Lexikon

der

agyptischen

Gotter und

Gotterbezeich

nungen"

is

one

in

the mammisi of

Armant4.

Add

P.

Petese

2/14,

where

Pr-Cl

Wsir-Wn-nfr

is

mentioned5,

or

mummy

label Berlin

13522

with

Pr-Cl

c.w.s.

Wslr

pi

ntr

cl6.

For

Osiris

as

king,

compare

J.G.

Griffiths,

s.v.

Osiris,

in:

LA

IV, 1982,

col.

627

(IV);

P.

Kaplony,

s.v.

Konigsring,

in:

LA

III,

1980,

col. 613.

Line

7:

(a)

For

the

preposition

m

meaning ?together

with",

see

M.

Smith,

The

Mortuary

Texts

of

Papyrus

BM

10507,

Catalogue

of Demotic

Papyri

in

the British

Museum

3, 1987,

99,

n.

b.

(b)

The

epiteth

wr

preceding

the filiation

is

normally

found

after

Imhotep

rather

than

Amenhotep7.

In

Thebes

Imhotep

is often

accompanied by

the local divinised

physician

Amenhotep.

Their

funerary

character

seems a

Roman

development8.

3

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.

4

Mammisi

Armant:

LD

IV,

6If.

5

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.

6

G.

Moeller,

Mumienschilder,

Demotische

Texte

aus

den

Koniglichen

Museen

zu

Berlin

1,

1913,

fasc.

1, 4;

fasc.

2,

17

(no. 46).

7

See

D.

Wildung,

Imhotep

und

Amenhotep. Gottwerdung

im

alten

Agypten,

MAS

36, 1977,

passim.

8

Ibid.,

199-248

for

Imhotep

in

the

company

of

Amenhotep,

and

p.

248

for their

funerary

character.



5/9

96

M.

Depauw

SAK

31

Line

8:

(a)

The

name

of

the father of

Amenhotep,

Hapu,

is

written

unetymologically

as

if

it

were

the

god

Hapy.

The normal

writing

is

that

as

Hp

?Apis".

(b)

It is

tempting

to

suggest

that there

is

a

reference here

to

Athribis

(Hw.t-

(tl-hry-)

lb)

as

the

place

of

birth of

Amenhotep9, but the group following hw.t is illegible tome. A curtailedwriting of tflw (?)

seems

unlikely,

and the resemblance

with

some

writings

of

Hr

in

Hathor's

name

is

also

insufficient10,

(c)

Glossar,

530

has

an

entry

stt

as

writing

for

st

,,Grundstuck",

but

in

this

case

clearly

stl

?tomb,

crypt"

is

meant11.

The

Coptic

word arrx

or

qrro

?cellar"

indicating

a

subterranean

chamber

is

probably

derived from

it12,

and the

t

probably

indicates

that

the

final

t

was

pronounced.

,JLord

of

the

crypt"

is

a

common

epiteth

(e.g.

of

Sokar),

in

this

case

stressing

the

funerary

character

of

(Imhotep and) Amenhotep.

Line

10:

Tyclwns

is

clearly

a

Greek

name,

perhaps

?eovaq

/

?ecovaq

rather than

Aiovfiq13.

I

have

interpreted

the

following/?;

sr n

?the

son

of

as

a

replacement

of

ms

n

?born

of

to

introduce

the

name

of the

mother,

the

reading

of

which,

'AyaGri,

is certain

because

of

the

parallel

with

P.

Cairo

31172

1.

2

(see

general

commentary

below)14.

The

entire

group

Pl-sr-n-lgthe

can

also be the

patronymic,

but

**Fevay&6'n

is

unattested15.

The

name

'AyccOri

or

'AY&6e

is

uncommon

and

the

earliest

example

known hitherto

apparently

dates

to

the

Byzantine period16.

General

Commentary

From

the

early

Roman

period

onwards

all

kinds

of

funerary

and

mortuary

compositions

are

written inDemotic. 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

of Osiris of

Jeme

and

the

presence

of the

divinised

physician

Amenhotep

leave

no

doubt

about the

place

of

origin.

Palaeography,

onomastics,

and

contents

suggest

a

date

in

the

1st

or,

more

likely,

2nd

century

AD.

Date

and

provenance

are

confirmed

by

a

second

papyrus

inscribed for the

same

person.

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

Wildung, Imhotep

und

Amenhotep,

295.

10

See

the

writings

of

Hw.t-Hr

in

W.

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

Compare

DN

17,

1256

Tywns.

For

c\

?great"

rendering

Greek

o

or

co,

compare

Coptic

o

?great".

14

Compare

DN

2,

96

clgthe.

15

For

names

of the

type Pl-sr(-n)-

with

matronymic,

see

DN

4,

260-273,

e.g.

Pl-sr-klllwd.

t

or

Pl-sr-n-tl

sr.t-Hr-wdl.

For

a

similar

problem,

see

J.

Quaegebeur, Mummy

Labels:

An

Orientation,

in:

E.

Boswinkel/ PW. Pestman

(eds),

Textes

grecs,

demotiques

et

bilingues,

P.L.Bat.

19, 1978,

249.

16

See

F.

Preisigke,

Namenbuch,

col.

3-4.

D.

Foraboschi,

Onomasticon

Alterum

Papyrologicum. Supple

mento

al Namenbuch

di F.

Preisigke,

Testi

e

Documenti

per

lo

Studio

deU'Antichita

16,

1971,

17.

17

W.

Spiegelberg,

Die

demotischen

Denkmaler

(30601-31270;

50001-50022)

II.

Die

demotischen

Papyrus, Catalogue

General

des

Antiquites

Egyptiennes

du

Musee du

Caire,

1906-1908, 282,

pi.

112.



6/9

2003 P.

Sydney

Nicholson Museum 346

b

97

side

of the

papyrus.

This shows

that both documents

were

not

only

written

by

the

same

scribe

with the

same

pen,

but

very

likely

even on

the

same

sheet. The width of the roll

(or

height

of the

sheet)

can

be

reconstructed

as

34.5

cm,

rather

wide in

comparison

with the

Ptolemaic

average18.

Because

of the

close

connection between

both

papyri,

I

provide

a new

transliteration and

translation

of

P.

Cairo

31172,

which has received little

attention since

its

editio

princeps

in

1906.

1)

Wsir

hn}

imnj,

Wn-nfr pi

ntr

cl

pi

nb

n

Osiris the

foremost of the

Westerners,

Onnophris

the

great

god,

the lord of

2)

'Ibt

Tywnspl

sr n

clgcthe

mtw

Abydos.

Theonas the

son

of

Agathe,

may

3) ply^fby

sms

r

Wsir

mtw^fhpr

hn

his

ba

follow

Osiris

and

may

he

become

one

of

4) nl hsy.w n Wsir mtw&ftly mw hr the praised ones of Osiris and may he receive

water

on

5)

tl

htp

m-sl

Wsir

n

pi

sy

m-sl

the

offering

table after Osiris of

the lake and

after

6) Wn-nfr

rnpt

n

cnh

r-ir^fhrpl

tl

Onnophris.

Years

he lived

on

earth:

7)

80.

t

(?)

rpy^fsp-2

r

nhh

rpyply^f

80

(?).May

he

rejuvenate,

may

he

rejuvenate,

may

his

8)

by

sc

nhh dt

ba

rejuvenate

until

eternity

and

forever.

In

1.

1-21

interpret

Osiris

and

Onnophris

as

invocations

rather than

as

epithets

of

the deceased.

In

1.

7 I

have

opted

to

read the

age

of Theonas

as

80.t

rather

than

Spiegelberg's

60

(?).

A

reading

50.t

is also

possible.

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 document

should

be located.

Other,

earlier

examples

of

multiple funerary

texts

written for

a

single

person

include

combinations

of

a

Book of

the

Dead

and

a

Book

of Breathing

made

by Isis,

as

well

as

what

looks

like

a

personal library

consisting

of

the

longest

known

Book

of Traversing Eternity,

a

Book

of

Breathing

made

by

Isis,

a

First

Book

of Breathing,

and

a

Second

Book

of

Breathing20.

Perhaps

contemporary

are

two

mutually

identical abbreviated

funerary

papyri

18

Assuming

that

Spiegelberg's

dimensions

of

0.18

x

0.17

are

correct

and refer

to

width and

height

of the

document

respectively.

For

the

evolution of the

width

of

papyrus rolls,

see

M.

Depauw,

The

Royal

Format

of

Early

Ptolemaic

Demotic

Papyri,

in:

K.

Ryholt (ed),

7th

International Conference of

Demotic

1999,

85-100.

19

For

a

survey

of

Egyptian

titles,

see

M.A.

Stadler,

The

Funerary

Texts of

Papyrus

Turin

N.

766: A

Demotic Book of

Breathing,

in:

Enchoria

25,

1999, 104,

n.

188

and Enchoria

26, 2000, 114-119,

with

reference

to

M.

Coenen,

Books of

Breathings.

More

than

a

Terminological

Question?,

in:

OLP

26,

1995,

34-38.

20

See

M.

Coenen,

On

the

Demise

of

the Book of the Dead

in

Ptolemaic

Thebes,

in:RdE

52,

2001,

80-84

and

FR.

Herbin,

Le

livre

de

parcourir

l'eternite,

OLA

58, 1994,

7

(P.

Leiden

T

32

is

a

Book

of



7/9

98

M.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 2ndcenturyAD22.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.

P.

Sydney

Nicholson

Museum

346

b

on

the

other

hand consists of

a

single,

but rather

lengthy

sentence:

?The

document

to

be

taken before 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

the

core

of the document is

an

enumeration of all

of the

gods

who

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

example

of

a

specific

category

of

funerary compositions,

and

perhaps

in

this

late

stage

it

is

better

to

be

sceptical

of these

categorizations

altogether24.

All

shorter

funerary

or

mortuary

texts

are

sometimes called

?letters

of

recommendation

for the

afterlife"25.

The

term

?letter",

however,

should

be

avoided for all

funerary

documents

of this

type,

even

if

they

are

written

on

strips

of

papyrus

(sc.t)

with

?epistolary"

dimensions,

and

although

these

are

occasionally

folded

as

letters.

For

in

contrast

with

e.g.

oracle

questions

and letters

to

gods,

the

texts

written

on

these

strips

do

not

assume

epistolary

fiction:

they

never

suggest

to

be

a

message

sent

between

a

sender and the

spatially separated

addressee. The

text

on

the

reverse

is

no

exterior

address

specifying

to

whom the letter

should be handed

over,

but rather

a

title

or

a

short

summary,

sometimes

with ritual

guidelines.

There

are

never

any

epistolary

formulae

providing

the

names

of sender and

addressee,

and indeed

these

categories

seem

problematic,

despite

the

occasional assertion

that

the document

was

written

by

Thoth himself

Traversing

Eternity,

P. Louvre

N

3291

is

a

Book

of

Breathing

made

by

Isis;

P.

BN

151a

First Book

of Breathing

(for

the

head);

P.

Louvre

N 3285

a

Second

Book

of Breathing

(for

the

feet),

all

in

M. Coenen's

terminology;

the

name

of

the

owner's mother

is

different

in

P.

Louvre

N 3285

(infor

mation M.

Coenen)).

21

P.

Firenze

3669

and 3670:

A.

Pellegrini,

Due

papiri

funerari

(sic)

del Museo

egizio

di

Firenze,

in:

Sphinx

8,

1904,216-222.

22

See W.

Spiegelberg,

Aegyptische

und

griechische Eigennamen

aus

Mumienetiketten der romischen

Kaiserzeit

auf

Grund

von

grossenteils

unveroffentlichtem

Material,

Demotische

Studien

1, 1901, 9-13,

where

3

papyri

and

1

coffin

have been

transliterated

synoptically;

add

J.

Quaegebeur,

P. Brux

dem.

E.

8258.

Une

lettre

de

recommandation

pour l'au-dela,

in: S.

Israelit-Groll

(ed),

Studies

in

Egyptology

presented

to

Miriam Lichtheim

II, 1990,

776-795

discussing

the

dating

of

these

texts to

the second

century

AD

with further

examples;

see

now

C.

Riggs/

M.

Depauw,

?Soternalia"

from

Deir

el-Bahri,

including

two

Coffin Lids with Demotic

Inscriptions,

in:

RdE

53,

2002,

forthcoming.

23

Recently

re-edited

by

Stadler,

in:

Enchoria

25-26,1999-2000,76-110; 110-124,123-124.

Compare

also

R. A.

Caminos,

A

Passport

to

the

Beyond:

Papyrus

British

Museum

10194,

in: E.

Kormysheva

(ed),

Ancient

Egypt

and

Kush.

In

Memoriam Mikhail

A.Korostovtsev,

1993, 104-123,

the

first section

of

which resembles

P.

Sydney

Nicholson

346

b,

the second P.

Cairo 31172.

24

Stadler,

in:Enchoria

26, 2000,

114-119.

25

Quaegebeur,

in:

S.

Israelit-Groll

(ed),

Studies Lichtheim

II,

789-791.



8/9

2003 P.

Sydney

Nicholson Museum

346

b

99

Rather than with

letters,

the

documents

can

be

compared

with

amulets,

which

are

issued

by

an

often

anonymous

but

hopefully

competent

or

authorised author

to

protect

its

owner

against

potential problems.

This better

explains

why

Thoth

is said

to

have written the

document, and it also accounts for the directions where to place the papyrus on the body of

the

deceased,

who is

the

beneficiary

of these

funerary

?amulets".

Like

an

official

notification it should

be

valid

for

everyone

and

in

all

contexts,

for which

reason

often

no

specific

addressee

is

mentioned.

It

can

be

addressed, however,

to

those who

are

thought

to

be

especially

competent

in

the

matter.

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

whether

the

so-called

?divine

decrees",

beginning

wd-ntr

ir

(n)

Wslr,

were

issued

by

Osiris

ox

for

Osiris.

On

the

basis of the

parallelism

with

documents less

explicit

than

this

one,

J.

Quaegebeur

opted

for

the

latter,

suggesting

that

the

decree

was

written

by

Thoth

for

Osiris

on

the

anonymous

authority

of who

can

be unveiled

as

the oracular

god

Amun-Re26.

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'

authority

in

his underworld

realm

is

to

detach the

?divine

decrees" from the other

sources

and

consider

both

as

examples

of

separate

traditions,

an

alternative

which

is

perhaps

equally

plausible

in

view of the

time

gap

between

them27.

The

recently

published funerary

papyrus

of

Imouthes

(Meir,

4th

century

BC)

which contains

a

more

elaborate version

of the

?decree" does not really provide a solution, since there it is issued

anonymously

for the

entire

underworld: wd.tcl.t

ir

r

sp.t

Tgr.t.

Perhaps

it is

best

to

leave the

matter

there,

or

with

thewords

of

the editor

Goyon:

?ni

royal

ni

divin,

le

decret

ou

ordonnance

reutilise

par

les

copistes

recents

avec

un

pseudo-titre,

refait

pour

la

circonstance,

est,

en

fait,

emis

?

et

on

ne

sait

par

qui,

sinon

tous

les

noms

divins

(enumeres

a

la colonne

2,

3

sq.):

Ptah, Re-Harakhtes,

Atoum,

Amon-Re

et

Noun

-

assurement

au

profit

d'Osiris,

mais

a

I

'egard (r)

du

nome

dTgeret,

autrement

dit

des

'puissances'

de

FAu-dela d'Occident

ou

Osiris

se

regenere

en

Re.

Toute querelle devient done inutile sur le fait de savoir, du moins dans la version de

papyrus

de

New-York,

si tel

ou

tel dieu

est

l'auteur du

rescrit.

Le

probleme

des

modifications

profondes

a

1'esprit

et

a

la

lettre du

texte,

apportees

a

l'epoque

ptole

maique

(date

moyenne

du

corpus

des

steles)

par

des

scribes sacerdotaux

thebains,

ne

peut

etre

aborde

ici,

mais nul doute

qu'une

solution

simple

pourra

etre

avancee,

une

fois

le

document

publie

dans

son

integralite

et,

par

la,

susceptible

d'etre mieux

reconnu"28.

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

C.

Goyon,

Le

papyrus

d'lmouthes

fils de Psintaes

au

Metropolitan

Museum

of

Art

de

New

York

(papyrus

MMA

35.9.21),

1999,

18.



9/9

2003

M.

Depauw

Tafel

9

'

^fc

'*-*-*-.

v

*La_.-w2d_i_LL

**"^f#t^fr

'^''.--m

.ff'V-^:?^-:*C.

;_

^-w^;

?~-

,

?gT;f*^?fc^

P.

Sydney

Nicholson Museum 346 b

This content downloaded from 5 249 33 43 on Tue 12 Aug 2014 17:10:37 UTC
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

A Second Amuletic Passport for the Afterlife

Documents

Transcript of A Second Amuletic Passport for the Afterlife