The Ipuwer Papyrus (officially Papyrus Leiden I 344 ''recto'') 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

hieratic Hieratic (; ) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BCE until the rise of Demotic in the mid-first millennium BCE ...

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 ...

made during the

Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty an ...

, and now held in the

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden The (English language, English: National Museum of Antiquities) is the national archaeology, archaeological museum of the Netherlands, located in Leiden. It grew out of the collection of Leiden University and still closely co-operates with ...

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It contains the ''Admonitions of Ipuwer'', an incomplete

literary work Literary work is a generic term for works of literature, i.e. texts such as fiction and non-fiction books, essays, screenplays''.'' In the philosophy of art and the field of aesthetics there is some debate about what that means, precisely. What a ...

whose original composition is dated no earlier than the late

Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty period ...

( 1991–1803 BCE).

Discovery

During the first half of the 19th century, many Egyptian ancient artifacts were discovered in Egypt by either scholars or merchants who tried to make a quick profit. The Ipuwer Papyrus was discovered by such unprofessional traders, who sold it to Giovanni Anastasi, who served as

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

in Egypt for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In 1828, Anastasi sold the papyrus to the Dutch government.Anne Habermehl, "The Ipuwer Papyrus and the Exodus" in J.H. Whitmore (ed.) ''Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism'' (Pittsburgh, 2018), pp. 1-6
/ref>

Content

In the poem, Ipuwer – a name typical of the period 1850–1450 BCE – complains that the world has been turned upside-down: a woman who had not a single box now owns furniture, a girl who used to look at her face in the water now has a mirror, while the once-rich man is now in rags. He demands that the Lord of All (a title which could refer to either the king or the creator sun-god) destroy his enemies and remember his religious duties. This is followed by a vivid description of the disorders: there is no longer any respect for the law and even the king's burial inside the

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

has been desecrated. The story continues with the recalling of better days until it abruptly ends due to the missing final part of the papyrus. It is likely that the poem concluded with a reply of the Lord of All, or prophesying the coming of a powerful king who would restore order.

Discussion

The Ipuwer Papyrus has been dated no earlier than the

Nineteenth Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty fu ...

, around 1250 BCE but the text itself is much older, and dated back no earlier than the late Twelfth Dynasty of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. The ''Admonitions'' is considered the world's earliest known treatise on

political ethics Political ethics (also known as political morality or public ethics) is the practice of making moral judgments about political action and political agents. It covers two areas: the ethics of process (or the ethics of office), which covers public off ...

, suggesting that a good king is one who controls unjust officials, thus carrying out the will of the gods. It is a textual

lamentation A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

, close to Sumerian

City Lament A City Lament is a poetic elegy for a lost or fallen city. This literary genre, from around 2000 BCE onwards, was particularly prevalent in the Mesopotamian region of the Ancient Near East. The Bible's Book of Lamentations concerning Jerusalem aro ...

s and to Egyptian laments for the dead, using the past (the destruction of Memphis at the end of the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...

) as a gloomy backdrop to an ideal future. It was previously thought that the ''Admonitions of Ipuwer'' presents an objective portrait of Egypt in the

First Intermediate Period The First Intermediate Period, described as a 'dark period' in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately 125 years, c. 2181–2055 BC, after the end of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. It comprises the seventh Dynasty, Seventh (altho ...

. In more recent times, it was found that the ''Admonitions'', along with the '' Complaints of Khakheperraseneb'', are most likely works of royal

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, both inspired by the earlier '' Prophecy of Neferti'': the three compositions have in common the theme of a nation that has been plunged into chaos and disarray and the need for an intransigent king who would defeat chaos and restore '' maat''. Toby Wilkinson suggested that the ''Admonitions'' and ''Khakheperresenb'' may thus have been composed during the reign of

Senusret III Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth ...

, a pharaoh well known for his use of propaganda. Ian Shaw does not consider the ''Admonitions'' to be a reliable account of early Egyptian history, because of the long time interval between its original composition and the writing of the Leiden Papyrus.

Ipuwer and the Book of Exodus

Ipuwer has often been put forward in popular literature as confirmation of the biblical account of

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...

, most notably because of its statement that " the river is blood" and its frequent references to servants running away. This assertion has not gained acceptance among the majority of scholars. There are disparities between Ipuwer and the narrative in the Book of Exodus, such as that the papyrus describes the Asiatics as ''arriving'' in Egypt rather than leaving. The papyrus' statement that the "river is blood" phrase may refer to the red sediment colouring the Nile during disastrous floods, or simply be a poetic image of turmoil.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

''The Admonitions of Ipuwer''
an English translation of the Ipuwer Papyrus {{Authority control Dialogues Papyri from ancient Egypt 2nd-millennium BC manuscripts Archaeological discoveries in Egypt 13th-century BC literature 19th-century archaeological discoveries