The Prisse Papyrus is an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian papyrus datable to the Middle Kingdom and is now in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

in Paris.
Inhabitants of

Kurna Kurna (also Gourna, Gurna, Qurna, Qurnah or Qurneh; ) is a group of three closely related villages (New Qurna, Qurna and Sheikh Abd el-Qurna) located on the West Bank of the River Nile opposite the modern city of Luxor in Egypt near the Theban Hi ...

originally found the papyrus inside the

rishi coffin Rishi coffins are funerary coffins adorned with a feather design, which were used in Ancient Egypt. They are typical of the Egyptian Second Intermediate Period, to 1550 BC. The name comes from ريشة (''risha''), Arabic for "feather". Develop ...

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef-Aa (sometimes Intef V) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt, who lived late during the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was divided in two by Hyksos-controlled Lower Egypt and Theban-ruled Upper ...

of the

17th Dynasty The Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVII, alternatively 17th Dynasty or Dynasty 17) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt during the late Second Intermediate Period, approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC. Its mainly Theb ...

, whose tomb was probably located in

Dra' Abu el-Naga' The necropolis of Draʻ Abu el-Naga () is located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Egypt, just by the entrance of the dry bay that leads up to Deir el-Bahari and north of the necropolis of el-Assasif. The necropolis is located near the Va ...

near Thebes. The

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

document contains the last two pages of the ''

Instructions of Kagemni The ''Instructions of Kagemni'' is an ancient Egyptian instructional text of wisdom literature which belongs to the ''sebayt'' ('teaching') genre. Although the earliest evidence of its compilation dates to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, its authors ...

'', who purportedly served under pharaoh

Sneferu Sneferu or Soris (c. 2600 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch and the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, during the earlier half of the Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). He introduced major innovations in the design and constructio ...

of the

4th Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to c. 2498 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with othe ...

, and is a compilation of moral maxims and admonitions on the practice of virtue (''

sebayt Sebayt (Egyptian '' sbꜣyt'', Coptic ⲥⲃⲱ "instruction, teaching") is the ancient Egyptian term for a genre of pharaonic literature. ''sbꜣyt'' literally means "teachings" or "instructions" and refers to formally written ethical teachings ...

''). The conclusion of the ''Instructions of Kagemni'' is followed by the only complete surviving copy of the '' Instruction of Ptahhotep''.

Battiscombe Gunn Battiscombe George "Jack" Gunn (30 June 1883 – 27 February 1950) was an English Egyptologist and philologist. He published his first translation from Egyptian in 1906. He translated inscriptions for many important excavations and sites, inc ...

, "THE WISDOM OF THE EAST, THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAH-HOTEP AND THE INSTRUCTION OF KE'GEMNI: THE OLDEST BOOKS IN THE WORLD", LONDON, JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, 1906, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30508/30508-h/30508-h.htm

References

Literature

*''The Instruction addressed to Kagemni'' in M. Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature'', Volume I, 1973, pp.59ff. *''The Instruction of Ptahhotep'' in M. Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature'', Volume I, 1973, pp. 61ff.
"Papyrus Prisse"
by

Franz Joseph Lauth Franz Joseph Lauth (18 February 1822, Landau, Germany – 11 February 1895, Munich), was a German Egyptologist. Career From 1842 to 1845 he studied classical philology. In 1849 he became a teacher at the Wilhelmsgymnasium (Munich). *From 1863 t ...

retrieved 10:53 24/9/11
papyrus "Prisse" JW Bone (1887)
retrieved 11:34GMT 24/9/11
text written-Isaac Meyer
retrieved 13:36GMT 25.9.11

External links

University College London Papyri from ancient Egypt 2nd-millennium BC manuscripts Bibliothèque nationale de France collections 1847 archaeological discoveries {{papyrus-stub

See also

References

Literature

External links