Papyrus Jarf A and B
Papyrus Jarf A and B are fragments of ancient Egyptian papyri that were found in cave-like galleries in Wadi al-Garf in 2013 . They date from under King Cheops (around 2620 to 2580 BC). These are the oldest preserved and written papyri. They are also of particular interest because it is the log book of a work party that brought stones for the construction of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. So far, they are the only surviving documents that come from the construction of the largest pyramid.
The hieratic (the italics of the hieroglyphs ), but also with hieroglyphics, cover a period of about five months (July to November) in the 26th year of King Cheops' reign. The most common person mentioned is Inspector (sHD) Merer, who headed a group of workers that shipped stones from the Tura quarry (south of Cairo ) to Giza . Within ten days there were an average of two to three journeys between Tura and Giza. The texts are all structured according to the same scheme. At the very top there is a horizontal line of text stating the season and month. Below is another horizontal line of text with a list of the individual days of the month. Under each day there are two vertical columns with information about what happened that day: (Papyrus B Section BI): Day 29: Inspector Merer spends the day with his troops in Tura-Süd to pull stones. Spending the night in Tura-South. (Papyrus B Section B IV): Day 22: Spending the night in Ro-She-Chufu. In the morning we sail from Ro-She-Chufu to Achet-Chufu, spend the night at the chapels of Achet-Chufu .
The stones transported were probably used for the outer cladding of the pyramid, which has now completely disappeared.
Besides Merer, other people are mentioned in the papyrus. Above all Anchhaf , who is known as a high official from his grave and who appears in the papyrus as the person responsible for the port of Giza. He is referred to in papyrus B as Iripat , but also as the head of Ra-schi-Chufu .
Several places are mentioned in the text. Tura-Nord and Tura-Süd are the quarries in which limestone was quarried. Achet-Chufu ( Horizon of Cheops ) is the name of the Great Pyramid of Cheops . Ra-schi-Chufu was the port at the Great Pyramid of Cheops. This is where the ships arrived to unload the stones. Chemu-em-Achet-Chufu ( chapels in Achet-Chufu ) is mentioned only once. The troops stayed here for the night. It appears to have been part of the royal pyramid temple.
literature
- Pierre Tallet: Les papyrus de la Mer Rouge I, Le << Journal de Merer >> (Papyrus Jarf A et B). (= Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut Français d'archéologie orientale du Caire. [MIFAO] Volume 136) Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo 2017, ISBN 978-2-7247-0706-9 .
Web links
- Pierre Tallet: Ouadi el-Jarf (Egypte) In: Orient & Mediterranée; last accessed on December 9, 2018.