Insinger Papyrus (Papyrus Insinger) is a papyrus find from ancient Egypt and contains one of the oldest extant writings about Egyptian wisdom teachings (Sebayt). The manuscript is dated to around the 1st century BC according to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden where the main part is kept. [1] [2] Other sources suggest it dates to the 1st century AD, and to the 3rd century BC. [3] [4] [5] Fragments have also been found in other collections.
The Insinger Papyrus is a fragmented papyrus scroll with the beginning and end of the scroll missing, the size is about 612 × 27.5 cm (241 × 10,5 inches). The text is written on the rectoside. [3] [1]
The text is an example of the ancient Egyptian literature genre wisdom teachings (Sebayt) and shows that Egyptian traditions persisted even under foreign rule and how they were adapted to the requirements of new times. [3]
The manuscript is a collection of writings and includes 25 surviving chapters. [3] [2] [4]
The scripture is broken down into different themes with numbered chapters and contains over 800 maxims. [4]
The maxims are written as one-liners similar to a proverb, examples are: [6] [5]
The text is written in demotic and the manuscript is dated between year 0 and 100 AD around the Greek period and the Roman period. [3] [1] [2] It is probably a transcript of an earlier manuscript. [4]
It is not known when the scroll was discovered. In 1895, the scroll was sold in Akhmim [1] by French businessman Frenay to Dutch photographer and antique dealer Jan Herman Insinger. [3] [4] Insinger then lived in Luxor where he among other things worked with Gaston Maspero. [7]
The manuscript is the most comprehensive and significant of the preserved texts in the genre of wisdom teachings, one of the oldest genres in ancient Egyptian literature.[ citation needed ] In contrast to other extant wisdom teachings emphasizing proper social behavior, the Insinger Papyrus puts the emphasis on ethically correct behavior. [3] [4]
In 1922, the Dutchman Pieter Adriaan Aart Boeser published the first transcription and translation in the article "Transkription und Übersetzung des Papyrus Insinger" in Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie (OMRO, vol 26).
In 1926, the Czech František Lexa published a transcription with commentaries and interpretations in French in the book Papyrus Insinger.
In the late 1970s, Karl-Theodor Zauzich (attendant for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology – Penn Museum) discovered three additional fragments in the Museum's collections belonging to the Insinger Papyrus. These were bought for the museum in Egypt in 1910.[ citation needed ]
The archive number of the papyrus at Rijksmuseum van Oudheden is F 95 / 5.1 and E 16333 A-C at the Penn Museum.
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 can also refer to a document written on sheets of such material, joined side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early form of a book.
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The Teaching for King Merykara, alt. Instruction Addressed to King Merikare, is a literary composition in Middle Egyptian, the classical phase of the Egyptian language, probably of Middle Kingdom date.
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Instruction of Amenemope is a literary work composed in Ancient Egypt, most likely during the Ramesside Period ; it contains thirty chapters of advice for successful living, ostensibly written by the scribe Amenemope son of Kanakht as a legacy for his son. A characteristic product of the New Kingdom "Age of Personal Piety", the work reflects on the inner qualities, attitudes, and behaviors required for a happy life in the face of increasingly difficult social and economic circumstances. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of ancient near-eastern wisdom literature and has been of particular interest to modern scholars because of its similarity to the later biblical Book of Proverbs.
The Maxims of Ptahhotep or Instruction of Ptahhotep is an ancient Egyptian literary composition by the Vizier Ptahhotep around 2375–2350 BC, during the rule of King Djedkare Isesi of the Fifth Dynasty. The text was discovered in Thebes in 1847 by Egyptologist M. Prisse d'Avennes. The Instructions of Ptahhotep are considered didactic wisdom literature belonging to the genre of sebayt. There are four copies of the Instructions, and the only complete version, Papyrus Prisse, is located in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. According to William Kelly Simpson, scholars tend to believe that the Instructions of Ptahhotep were originally composed during the Middle Kingdom, specifically the Twelfth Dynasty. The earliest extant copies of the text were altered to make them understandable for the Egyptians of the New Kingdom. The text presents a very good picture of the general attitudes of that period. The Instructions of Ptahhotep addresses various virtues that are necessary to live a good life and how to live accordingly to Maat, which was an important part of the Egyptian culture.
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Sebayt is the ancient Egyptian term for a genre of pharaonic literature. sbꜣyt literally means "teachings" or "instructions" and refers to formally written ethical teachings focused on the "way of living truly". Sebayt is considered an Egyptian form of wisdom literature.
The Prisse Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian papyrus datable to the Middle Kingdom which was discovered by the inhabitants of Kurna and given to French orientalist Émile Prisse d'Avennes at Thebes and published in 1847 and is now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
Inhabitants of Kurna originally found the papyrus inside the rishi coffin of pharaoh Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef of the 17th Dynasty, whose tomb was probably located in Dra' Abu el-Naga' near Thebes.
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