Prisse Papyrus

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian papyrus}} {{Infobox manuscript | name = ''Papyrus Prisse'' | location = Bibliothèque nationale de France | image = Papyrus Prisse part I. Kagemni-bibliotekNF.tif | width = 225px | caption = Papyrus Prisse- Part I, two columns of the Instructions of Kagemni | Type = charter | Date = {{circa|2000 BC}} | Language(s) = Egyptian | Material = papyrus paint | Size = Length: 7.05 meters Width: {{circa|14.75}} cm | Format = double columns | Condition = conserved | Script = hieratic | Contents = Instructions of Kagemni and Maxims of Ptahhotep | Discovered = Cairo, 1843 }}

The '''Prisse Papyrus''' is an ancient Egyptian text written on papyrus in abbreviated hieratic script, sometimes referred to as the "''oldest book in the world''",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chabas |first=François |url=https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_ |title=Le plus ancient livre du monde sur Étude Papyus Prisse|date=1858 |publisher=A.Leleux |location=Paris|others= |isbn=|pages=}}</ref> named after the French Egyptologist Émile d'Avennes, who purchased the papyrus scroll in Cairo in 1843<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cayol |first=Cécile |url=https://expositions.bnf.fr/egypte/fiche_Prisse.pd|title= Visions d’Égypte|date=2011 |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |location=Paris|others= |isbn=|pages=6}}</ref> claiming it was stolen from excavations he was conducting near Thebes.<ref name="Jaq">{{Cite book |last=Jéquier |first=Gustave | url=https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/366/1/Le_Papyrus_Prisse.pdf|title=Le Papyrus Prisse|date=1911|publisher=Librairie Paul Geuthner |location=Paris | isbn=|pages=5-6}}</ref> Prisse later donated 1947 the papyrus to the Bibliothèque nationale de France<ref>{{cite web |author= |date=2026 |title=Papyrus Prisse |url=https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/exportBranchePdf.html?eadCid=FRBNFEAD000012921 |website= |location=Paris |publisher= BnF|access-date=}}</ref><ref name="Chl">{{cite web |last=Raggazzoli|first=Chloé|date= |title=The Prisse papyrus |url=https://llx.fr/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/THE-PRISSE-PAPYRUS-Ragazzoli-transcript.pdf |website= |location= |publisher= |access-date=}}</ref> and published its facsimile at the same time. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Prisse DÁvennes |first=Emile |url=https://www.meretsegerbooks.com/pages/books/M10351a/prisse-davennes-emile/fac-simile-dun-papyrus-egyptien-en-caraceres-hieratiques-trouve-a-thebes-donne-a-la-bibliotheque |title=Fac-similé d'un papyrus égyptien en caractères hiératiques trouvé à Thèbes donné à la Bibliothèque royale de Paris.|date= 1847|publisher=Rare Lemercier |location=Paris|others= |isbn=|pages=}}</ref>

==Papyrus assesment== When Prisse d'Avennes bought the Cairo papyrus he could not obtain any reliable information about its origin or where it was discovered. Since he himself was conducting his own archaeological excavations at Dra' Abu el-Naga<ref>{{Cite book |last=Higueras-Jiménez |first=Ángeles |url=https://proyectodjehuty.com/archivos/2023/10/97.pdf |title=The Sacred Landscape of Dra Abu el-Naga|date=2020 |publisher=Equinox Publishing |location=Sheffield |others=Profan Landscape Sacred Space |isbn=|pages=}}</ref> and the seller was one of his former workers, he was convinced, as he told the Egyptologist Chabas, that the manuscript was part of the funerary equipment of one of the Intef kings of the 11th Dynasty, whose tomb he had recently discovered in the necropolis of El-Tarif.<ref name="Jaq"/>{{NoteTag|The El-Tarif necropolis located from Dra' Abu el-Naga ~1.7 km east.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Polz |first=Daniel |url=https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/5702/1/Polz_Vom_Gehoeft_zum_Tempel_2007.pdf |title=Vom „Gehöft“ zum Tempel: Die Grabbauten der 11. Dynastie in el-Tarif, Deir el-Bahari und dem Asasif |date=2007 |publisher=Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Kairo |location=Mainz am Rhein |others= |isbn=|pages=226-233}}</ref>}}.This hypothesis was not questioned later, either. If the text dates from the Old Kingdom, the papyrus is, as paleographic and epigraphic analysis of the script<ref>{{Cite book |last=Möller |first=Georg |url=http://www.egyptology.ru/lang/Moeller/Moeller-II-1-30.pdf |title=Hieratische Paläographie zweiter Band|date=1927 |publisher=Otto Zeller |location=Osnabrück |others= |isbn=|pages=}}</ref> has shown, undeniably somewhat older than the known literary manuscripts of the 12th Dynasty<ref name="Lich">{{Cite book |last=Lichtheim |first=Miriam |url=https://ia801301.us.archive.org/10/items/MiriamLichtheimAncientEgyptianLiteratureVolI/Miriam%20Lichtheim%20Ancient%20Egyptian%20Literature%20Vol%20I.pdf |title=Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.I The Old and Middle Kingdoms|date=1973 |publisher=University of California |location=|others= |isbn=|pages=134-163}}</ref><ref name="Erm">{{Cite book |last=Erman |first= Adolf|url=https://ia902909.us.archive.org/1/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.532519/2015.532519.literature-of_text.pdf |title=The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians|date=1927 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York|others= |isbn=|pages=}}</ref> and the papyrus can be assigned to the beginnings of the era of the first Theban Empire.<ref name="Jaq"/>

The papyrus scroll is still in excellent condition.<ref name="Chl"/> It was originally written with another text that had been washed/cleaned. It was then overwritten with the Instructions of Kagemni in two columns of lines totalling around 1.37 meters and The Maxims of Ptahhotep, which fills the rest of the papyrus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Žaba |first=Zbyněk|title=Les Maximes de Ptahotep|url=https://www.avcr.cz/en/ |date=1956|website= |location=Prag |publisher=Czech Academy of Sciences |access-date=}}</ref><ref name="Lich"/> Although the first surviving column of the papyrus is complete, the possible beginning of the papyrus, which used to be full of holes, was cut off beforehand, so the beginning of the Instructions of Kagemni is not recorded.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dils |first=Peter |url=http://repo.saw-leipzig.de/pubman/item/escidoc:31052/component/escidoc:31051/denkstroeme-heft11_28-66_dils.pdf |title=Nous ne sommes tous que des écoliers en fait d’hiéroglyphes|date=2013 |publisher=Journal der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 11 |location=|others= |isbn=|pages=28-66}}</ref> The second text of the Maxims of Ptahhotep, (columns 4–19), occupies the rest of the papyrus. While the Instructions of Kagemni is unique, the second text of the Maxims of Ptahhotep is known from several other copies, two in the British Museum, dating to the Middle Kingdom, and one in the Egyptian Museum, but they differ somewhat in text from of the original Prisse.<ref name="Lich" />

The calligraphic treatment shows that the scribe of the Prisse papyrus was evidently a professional scribe, very erudite and experienced, because it is seen that he sometimes gets carried away by the meaning of what he writes, and once he reaches the end of a meaningful text, he goes back and adjusts the graphic form of the writing. He is also a scribe who experimented, hierarchical text at that time begins to be written in lines and formatted into pages 25-30 cm wide. The written text has the characteristics of a work of art.<ref name="Chl"/>

In ancients Egypt, scribes were highly educated individuals who played a crucial role in the administrative, religious, and intellectual life of the society. They were responsible for tasks such as record-keeping, drafting legal documents, and maintaining religious texts. Scribes were held in high esteem in ancient Egyptian society, and their work was considered prestigious and essential for the functioning of the state and religious institutions. Sons of scribes inherited their father’s civic position as for example, 60px ''"Scribe of the King’s documents"''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hassan|first=Selim |url=https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/hassan_giza_6_3.pdf|title=Exavation at Giza, Vol. Vi-Part III, 1934-1935|date=1950|publisher=Government Press |location=Sheffield |others=Profan Landscape Sacred Space |isbn=|pages=254}}</ref> <blockquote style=text-align:center>'''Scriber immortality''' Be a scribe, put it in thy heart. That thy name may far similarly. More profitable is a book than a graven tombstone, then a chapel wall firmly established. This serves as chapels and pyramids to the a man’s name may be pronounced Assuredly profitable in the necropolis is a name on the lips of mankind. A man hath perished and is corps is become dirt. All his kindred have crumbled to dust but writings cause him to be remembered in the mouth of the reciter. More profitable is a book then the house of the builder, then chapels in the West. Better is then a stabilshed castle and then a memorial-stone in a temple.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Gardiner|first=Alan |url=https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/HIERATICPAPYRIIINTHEBRITISHMUSEUMI/HIERATIC%20PAPYRI%20I%20INTHE%20BRITISH%20MUSEUM_I.pdf |title=Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum|date= |publisher= |location=|others=Chester Beatty No. IV (British Museum ESA 10684),pl. 13-22"A Student’s Miscellany" |isbn=|pages=37-41}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author= |date=2003 |title=The immortality of the writer |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/literature/authorspchb.html |website= |location= |publisher= |access-date=}}</ref> </blockquote> The Prisse Papyrus composition there is a picture of the socio-cultural relations in the upper strata of Egyptian society in the peak period of the Old Kingdom and then also in the considered time of the creation of the copy in the 11th to 12th dynasty, when the empire was reunified after the First Intermediate Period ( 2118–1980 BC).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornung |first=Erik |url=https://archive.org/details/AncientEgyptianChronology |title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology|date=2006 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden|others= |isbn=|pages=}}</ref> The newly established dynasty sought its legitimacy by referring to the legacy of their famous ancestors,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breasted |first=James Henry |url=http://www.gizapyramids.org/static/pdf%20library/breasted_ancient_records_I.pdf |title=Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol I.|date=1906 |publisher= University Chicago |location=London |others= |isbn=|pages=195-330}}</ref> where similar elements of learning appear as in the Prisse Papyrus, described here, many copies occurred from the New Kingdom were found in Deir el-Medina in the local scribal school.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagen |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.academia.edu/795460/Ostraca_Literature_and_Teaching_at_Deir_el_Medinadate= |title=Ostraca, Literature and Teaching at Deir el-Medina |date= 2005| publisher=University of Cambridge |location=|others=Current Research in Egyptology 2005, Symposium |isbn=|pages=38-51}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= Hill|first=J. |date= 2018|title=Scribes in ancient Egypt |url= https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/scribe/ | website= |location= |publisher=Ancient Egyptian history and art |access-date=}}</ref> [[File:Papyrus Prisse part II. Kagemni-hiero script.jpg|thumb|center|400px|The second column of Instruction Kagemni, the last raw hieroglyphic transcription: "''King Huni died and king Snefrue become beneficent king i this entire land and Kagemni was promoted to mayor and vizir''" <ref>{{cite web |author= |date= 2025|title= The Prisse Papyrus - A Collection of Wisdom Texts| url=https://prisse.ifao.egnet.net/ |website= |location=Paris|publisher=BnF |access-date=}}</ref>]]

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" widths="180px" heights="180px"> File:The seated scribe.jpg|The Seated Scribe Saqqara 5.th Dynasty File:Egypt Sakkara Museum Statue scribe 5th Dynasty.JPG|Statue of a scribe Ptahoshepses of the 5th Dynasty File:Ancient Egypt Limestone Funerary Statue of Henka, Scribe Overseer of 2 Pyramids of Sneferu; Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, c. 2450 BC (28132599254).jpg|Statue of a scribe from Saqqara, early 5th Dynasty File:Mastaba_of_Kaninisut-grup_of_scribes.png| Mastaba of Keninisut, group of named scribes (⇐) Wahemka, Kaemwehen, Mesy, Tenti.{{NoteTag|Wahemka ''Chief Scribe and Administrator'' of the Prince’s Estate 50px}} </gallery>

==Note== {{NoteFoot}}

==See also== *List of ancient Egyptian papyri

==References== {{Reflist|45em}}

Category:Papyri from ancient Egypt Category:2nd-millennium BC manuscripts Category:Bibliothèque nationale de France collections Category:1843 archaeological discoveries