1. Introduction

88 The Museo Egizio holds one of the world’s most significant papyrus collections, comprising approximately 900 complete or reassembled manuscripts and over 25,000 disjointed papyrus fragments.1 Among these documents, the funerary papyri that describe the Netherworld – i.e., the Book of the Dead papyri, the Amduat papyri, and the so-called “mythological papyri” – are most relevant.2

This paper offers the first scholarly presentation of the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio.3 The first part of the essay introduces the Turin papyri within their current state of research. In the second part, the owners of these Amduat papyri are presented. The third part proposes a new conceptual framework for a philological and semiotic investigation of the Turin papyri.

2. The Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio

The Museo Egizio holds eighteen Amduat papyri:4

Preliminary descriptions, transcriptions, transliterations, and translations of these papyri are offered in English and Italian on the Turin Papyrus Online Platform (registration required) and in the Museo Egizio’s online Papyrus Collection (direct links from the present article).6

2.1 Acquisition and inventory numbers

At the beginning of the 19th century, most of the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio were purchased on the antiquities market by Bernardino Drovetti (1776–1852), consul of France in Egypt. In 1824, Drovetti’s collection of Egyptian antiquities was acquired by the government of Piedmont and given to the Accademia delle Scienze, the future Museo Egizio.7 The Amduat papyri bearing inventory numbers prefixed “Cat.” (“Catalogo”) – which means they are listed in the Catalogo Generale of the Museo Egizio8 – were probably originally part of the Drovetti collection. The Amduat papyri inventoried as “Provv.” (“Provvisorio”), instead, are specimens which have lost – for whatever reason – their original inventory number and were assigned a new one. The exact archaeological provenience of most “Cat.” and “Provv.” specimens is unknown.

2.2 Provenience

The Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio must have originated from Thebes between the mid Twenty-first and mid Twenty-second Dynasty. The owners of the Turin papyri all held civil and/or religious offices in the clergy of Amun and/or Mut and/or Khonsu.9 The large majority of the Turin papyri were acquired on the antiquities market, as noted above, and thus lack a known archaeological context.10 Despite this general loss of information, however, the Turin Amduat papyri can be easily contextualised within the Theban society.

3. The current state of research

3.1 The New Kingdom: The tomb of Tuthmosis III (KV 34)

Amduat – literally “What Is in the Netherworld” – was used in ancient Egypt as a generic name for descriptions of the netherworld.11 In modern Egyptology, the term “Amduat” designates the first New Kingdom cosmography, whose original title is “The Book of the 90 Hidden Chamber”.12 At the beginning of the New Kingdom, the Amduat is attested for the first time on some decorated limestone slabs from the burial chamber of Tuthmosis I (KV 38)13 in the Valley of the Kings, but the first complete edition of the Amduat is attested only in the tomb of Tuthmosis III (KV 34).14 In this tomb, the Amduat consist of a Long Version (the Langfassung), an Abridged Version (the Kurzfassung), and a Catalogue of Divine Entities (the Katalog). The Amduat describes the Sun’s night journey through the Netherworld through the text, iconography, and architecture of the tomb.15 The Netherworld is divided into twelve “hours” or “regions”, arranged on the walls of the sarcophagus chamber.16 Scholars have defined the Book of the Hidden Chamber as an iconotexte17 or a Bild-Text-Komposition18 because the texts and the images of the Amduat are so closely intertwined that they form “an indissoluble unit”.19 Tuthmosis III’s unified architectural-decorative program constitutes an elaborate, three-dimensional expression of the Netherworld that perfectly matches the structure of the tomb.20 In other words, Tuthmosis III’s Amduat consists of a microcosm of the Netherworld in which the afterlife of the king was assimilated (Fig. 1).21

At the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the Amduat constituted a new genre in royal funerary literature: cosmography. During the New Kingdom, cosmographies were widely used to decorate the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.22 The difference between New Kingdom cosmographies (Amduat, Book of Gates23, Book of Caverns,24 Books of the Earth,25 Book of the Day,26 Book of the Night,27 and Book of Nut)28 and the corpora of mortuary spells of the Old and Middle Kingdom (Pyramid Texts,29 Coffin Texts,30 and Book of the Dead)31 is that the latter state that the person reciting the spell is legitimized to do so, while the former provide “the very substance of this knowledge in its pure form without mentioning a user for it, just its usefulness as such”.32 Thus, the purpose of the Amduat – the description of the Netherworld – is purely ontological.33

In Tuthmosis III’s tomb, the success of the Sun’s journey through the Netherworld is guaranteed by the Litany of Re34 – a ritual placed on the pillars of the sarcophagus chamber – which introduces the user of the cosmographic knowledge, the king.35 During the Sixth Hour of the night,36 the Litany of Re – which addresses the seventy-five forms of the Sun – ensures the union between Re and Osiris – the mummy of Tuthmosis III – and the parthenogenesis of the Sun.37 In the process, the presence of the ruler is fundamental to guarantee that the Sun will emerge from the Netherworld to secure life in the world, day after day.38

Fig. 1

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The burial chamber of Tuthmosis III (KV 34). From Ritcher, JARCE 44 (2008), p. 89, fig. 12 (photograph by the Egyptian Expedition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art ©The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

3.2. The transition from the New Kingdom to the Third Intermediate Period

3.2.1 Historical background

Until the end of the New Kingdom, royal tombs were decorated with excerpta from the Book of the Hidden Chamber.39 Later, from the middle of the Twenty-first Dynasty,40 excerpta from the 9th–12th Hours of the Amduat and the Abridged Version were transcribed on the coffins and papyri of Theban citizens.41 The Amduat was transferred from royal tombs to non-royal burial assemblages for various reasons.42 The political and economic turmoil at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty caused the abandonment of the Valley of the Kings, the relocation of the court and the royal necropolis to Tanis,43 and the adoption of undecorated cachettes to bury the deceased.44 At Deir el-Bahari, coffins and papyri – not tombs – became the media for the transmission of mortuary literature.45

3.2.2 Transcribing the Amduat

Scholars have diverging opinions regarding the appearance of the Amduat on coffins and papyri.46 To transfer the Amduat from tombs to burial assemblages, Theban ateliers had first to find a source to draw from.

According to Sadek, Theban workshops copied the 9th–12th Hours of the Amduat and the Abridged Version from the northern, eastern and southern walls of Amenhotep III’s (KV 22) sarcophagus chamber.47 According to Niwiński, instead, Theban ateliers copied the same four hours from the eastern wall of the burial chamber of Amenhotep II (KV 35).48 Whereas Sadek’s thesis is based on philological analysis, Niwiński’s is more practical: for the scribes, the Amduat would have been easier to copy from the tomb of Amenhotep II.49 Besides, Niwiński claims that during the Twenty-first Dynasty this tomb would have been accessible, since it was used as a cachette to hide several royal mummies.50 The contents of the Amduat papyri are also explained by Niwiński as follows:

The rule pars pro toto, always applicable, meant that the last four Hours of the Night, comprising, among others, the motives of the final triumph of the Great God over his eternal enemy Apopis, represented very efficiently the whole Amduat-Book in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians.51

The main theme of the 9th–12th Hours of the Amduat – Re’s triumph over Apophis – is eschatological: 91-92 the rebirth of the Sun at dawn.52 By adding the Abridged Version (1st–8th Hour) to the last four hours (9th–12th Hours) of the Amduat, Theban workshops were able to create manuscripts that fulfilled the function of this composition – the description of the Netherworld and the rebirth of the Sun.53

Von Lieven, on her side, argues that the Amduat papyri were not copied from royal tombs, but from their original papyrus model,54 and identifies two “master copies”.55 According to her, all the Eighteenth Dynasty versions of the Amduat in the Valley of the Kings originate from one manuscript, the Vorlage. After the Amarna period, another “master copy” was used to decorate the Ramesside royal tombs, but in the Twenty-first Dynasty the Eighteenth Dynasty Vorlage resurfaced, and was faithfully copied for the family members of the high priests “with all its defects”.56 Von Lieven claims that this may be a perfect example of a high degree of canonicity in ancient Egyptian mortuary literature,57 because the Vorlage may have belonged to some important figure worshipped in Thebes in the Twenty-first Dynasty, particularly Amenhotep I or Tuthmosis III – or even have been written by some god – and was therefore held in the highest esteem.58

In the mid Twenty-first Dynasty, model manuscripts were used in Theban workshops to prepare the funerary papyri of the deceased. From “primary models”, “secondary models” were made, and from these further manuscripts, with different contents and scribal practices.59 Despite the strict rules regulating the circulation of the Netherworld Books – reflecting a high level of standardisation of cosmographic knowledge – 60 the owners of the Turin papyri demonstrate deep understanding of temple and mortuary rituals, and commissioned innovative papyri, such as, e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1778 or p. Turin Cat. 1781, which bear versions of the Amduat contrasting with the traditional ones (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

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P. Turin Cat. 1778, recto. Scan by Museo Egizio.

3.3. The Third Intermediate Period funerary papyri

3.3.1 The current situation

Through the years, the New Kingdom Amduat and the Late Period Amduat have been studied by many scholars.61 By contrast, the current state of research on the Third Intermediate Period Amduat is based on a much smaller body of work, comprising studies from the 19th century, the 1950s and the 1980s.62 These publications have mostly focused on the typology of Amduat manuscripts, whereas the function and religious context of Amduat papyri have not been thoroughly examined.63 As Régen has rightly pointed out, Amduat papyri “pâtissent de l’absence d’une analyse d’ensemble tenant compte de l’avancée des connaissances sur l’histoire de la Troisième Période intermédiaire”.64 Recent publications on this topic are rare and focus on isolated specimens rather than striving for a general understanding of the subject.65 Given this scarcity of studies, most of the Amduat excerpta on coffins and papyri are currently unpublished.

3.3.2 Creating complexity: The representation of the Netherworld

The Third Intermediate Period funerary papyri are heterogeneous. This heterogeneity is due to the social status of the owners, and to the wide range of sources the ateliers producing the burial assemblages drew upon.66 These ateliers decorated coffins and papyri with excerpta from different genres (mortuary/ritual texts) and corpora (groups of spells/books of cosmographic knowledge) – the Amduat,67 the Book of the Dead,68 the Litany of Re,69 the Books of the Earth,70 the Book of Gates,71 the Book of Caverns,72 the Book of the Day, and the Book of the Night.73 As Manassa states, Theban ateliers “did not slavishly copy earlier texts, but rather continued to edit and augment the religious treatises of the past”.74 Thus, the main features of Third Intermediate Period burial assemblages are the reuse of the New Kingdom funerary repertoire, and the unique arrangement of this repertoire on coffins and papyri (Table 1).75 In the process, the standardisation of the Netherworld Books was lost and the Amduat transformed.

Fig. 3

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P. Turin Cat. 1782, recto. Scan by Museo Egizio.

Table 1

The hours of the night in the Turin Amduat papyri.

93 Inv. 9th Hour 10th Hour 11th Hour 12th Hour
p. Turin Cat. 1776 A, B, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1777 E, F, G, H C, D, E, F, G
p. Turin Cat. 1778 F, G, I B, G, J B, C, G, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1779 B, H, I E A, G, I, K
p. Turin Cat. 1780 D, H, J F, G, J
p. Turin Cat. 1781 A
p. Turin Cat. 1782 C, D, G F, G, I A, B, G, I, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1783 A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1784 B, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1785 I J B, C, D, E, F, G, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1786 I B, E, J A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, J, K
p. Turin Cat. 1787 C, D G
p. Turin Cat. 1788 J C, D, E
p. Turin Cat. 1789 C, D, E, F, G
p. Turin Cat. 1790 A, B, C, E, I D, E, G, H, I, K
p. Turin Provv. 5077 J
p. Turin Provv. 5078 A, B, C, D, E
p. Turin Provv. 6260 A, B, E, H, J A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K

Legend

  • 9th Hour
  • A. First scene: The Court of the Gods
  • B. Second scene: Twelve Goddesses in the Wake of Osiris
  • C. Third scene: The Solar Barque
  • D. Fourth scene: Twelve Rowers in Front of the Barque
  • E. Fifth scene: The Simulacra Who Make Sacrifices
  • F. Sixth scene: Twelve Uraeus-Snakes on Fabric-Signs
  • G. Seventh scene: Nine “Field Gods” with Horus
  • 10th Hour
  • A. First scene: The God and the Scarab
  • B. Second scene: The Eyes of the Sun
  • C. Third scene: The Powerful
  • D. Fourth scene: The Punishment
  • E. Fifth scene: The Solar Barque
  • F. Sixth scene: The bꜣ of Sokar
  • G. Seventh scene: The bꜣ of Osiris
  • H. Eighth scene: The Armed
  • I. Ninth scene: The Drowned
  • J. Tenth scene: The Goddesses and Seth’s Staff
  • 11th Hour
  • A. First scene: The Doubleheader
  • B. Second scene: Atum and the Winged Serpent
  • C. Third scene: The Snake of Time
  • D. Fourth scene: Twelve Gods
  • E. Fifth scene: The Goddesses on Snakes
  • F. Sixth scene: The Solar Barque
  • G. Seventh scene: The Bearers of Mehen
  • H. Eighth scene: Isis and Nephthys as Uraei
  • I. Ninth scene: Images of Neith
  • J. Tenth scene: The Punishment of the Damned
  • K. Eleventh scene: The Goddesses of the Desert
  • 12th Hour
  • A. First scene: Twelve Goddesses with Snakes
  • B. Second scene: Twelve Worshippers
  • C. Third scene: The Solar Barque
  • D. Fourth scene: Twelve Gods of Towing
  • E. Fifth scene: The Serpent of Rejuvenation
  • F. Sixth scene: Twelve Goddesses of Towing
  • G. Seventh scene: Khepri and Shu
  • H. Eighth scene: Primordial Deities
  • I. Ninth scene: The Rowers
  • J. Tenth scene: Ten Worshippers
  • K. Eleventh scene: The Mummy of Osiris

In general, Third Intermediate Period funerary papyri fall into two groups: those that use large excerpta of a single composition (i.e., the Amduat or the Book of the Dead), and those that combine small excerpta from several compositions.76 Traditionally, scholars have considered pars pro toto the leading principle in the decoration of Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasty funerary ensembles. According to Niwiński, the pars pro toto principle “enable[s] the application of various abbreviations, textual amalgamations and textual-figural combinations” to transfer large excerpta from New Kingdom tomb decoration onto smaller media such as coffins and papyri (Fig. 3).77 However, as Manassa argues,

The decoration of Third Intermediate (Period) funerary objects is not theologically less sophisticated, but the great variety of iconographic programs and the frequent lack of annotations often conceals the motivations behind the choice of particular scenes. 78

Despite this “great variety of iconographic programs”, in-depth analyses of Third Intermediate Period funerary ensembles can provide insights into “the motivations behind the choice of particular 94 scenes”.79 Specifically, analysis of Amduat papyri shows that between the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties there were two fundamental ways of representing the Netherworld: a traditional one and a non-traditional one (see below, § 6. The Amduat papyri between tradition and innovation). Texts and scenes that were previously misunderstood are now explained, demonstrating the flourishing of theological speculation in Third Intermediate Period ateliers.

3.3.3 Was the Theban society an enlightened community?

Funerary papyri that belong to members of the religious élite – i.e., high priests and members of their families (the highest political offices in Thebes) – are attested together with papyri that belong to members of non-religious classes – such as scribes or administrators of the Theban estate.80 From a social perspective, there were no differences between the funerary paraphernalia of the priestly élite and those of the civil offices. From the gender perspective, it has been observed that male and female citizens shared the same funerary repertoire, consisting mainly of Book of the Dead spells, Amduat excerpta and Litany of Re addresses.81 During the New Kingdom, the Amduat and the Litany of Re were intended only for rulers,82 but in the Twenty-first Dynasty these compositions were shared among the Theban society. Even though his tomb has not yet been found, high priest Menkheperre A was probably the first non-royal person to use a royal funerary composition – the Amduat – in his burial assemblage.83

Having adopted royal status, Menkheperre obtained some royal privileges, the most important for our concern being his right to use an old royal funerary composition, the Amduat. […] Menkheperre’s papyrus is not known, but precisely towards the end of his reign a number of high functionaries of the Theban State of Amun used the same composition for their private burials. To my understanding, this privilege was probably the price paid by Menkheperre in order to have his royal status accepted by the Theban priests. 84

From Year 48 of Menkheperre, the Amduat “ceased to be an exclusively royal privilege” and was used in the funerary ensembles of the Theban citizens.85 Scholars have called this process a “democratisation” of the Netherworld.86

3.3.4 Equipment for eternity: The burial assemblage of Nauny

According to Niwiński, the tomb of Meritamun (TT 358 = MMA 65) – discovered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1928–1929 – provides an ideal model for Third Intermediate Period burial assemblages.87 In this tomb, the burial assemblage of Nauny, daughter of a king (Pinedjem I or Smendes I) and chantress of Amun, was found.88 Nauny was buried in a set of nesting yellow coffins which included an outer coffin (30.3.23), an inner coffin (30.3.24), and a mummy board (30.3.25). On the chest of Nauny’s mummy was a Litany of Re papyrus (p. New York 30.3.32).89 Nauny’s funerary equipment also included a hollow wooden Osiris figure, which contained a Book of the Dead papyrus (p. New York 30.3.31).90 Two important aspects of Third Intermediate Period burial assemblages are observable in Nauny’s burial: the custom of placing an Amduat/Litany of Re papyrus between the mummy bandages (on the chest or the legs), and the custom of placing a Book of the Dead papyrus inside an Osirian statuette.

4. Owners and titles in the Amduat papyri of the Museo Egizio

The owners of the Amduat papyri of the Museo Egizio, and their titles, are listed in Table 2.

Table 2

Names and titles in the Turin Amduat papyri.

95 Inv. Names PN, I Titles Genre
p. Turin Cat. 1776 Anonymous /
p. Turin Cat. 1777 pꜣ-dj⸗f 123,14 ꞽt-nṯr mrj-n-jmn … n pr-jmn M
p. Turin Cat. 1778 […] […] /
p. Turin Cat. 1779 ḏd-ḫnsw-ꞽw⸗f-ꜥnḫ 412,4 wꜥb n jmn ḥry sꜣw(.w) (n) tꜣ šnw.t ḥtp.w-nṯr n pr-jmn M
p. Turin Cat. 1780 ns-jmn 173,19 ꞽt-nṯr n jmn-rꜥ ꞽt-nṯr n mw.t ꞽt-nṯr n ḫnsw M
p. Turin Cat. 1781 ḏḥw.tj-msj(.w) 408,05 wꜥb n ꞽmn-rꜥ nswt-nṯr.w wꜥb n ḥꜣ.t n mw.t sš ḥsb jt n … pr-(jmn) M
p. Turin Cat. 1782 ny-sw-ꜣs.t 173,17 nb.t pr šmꜥy.t n (jmn) F
p. Turin Cat. 1783 šps.t-hry.t 327,2 nb(.t) pr šmꜥy.t n jmn F
ns-ḏḥw.tj 180,1 ḥm-nṯr n jmn-rꜥ nswt-nṯr(.w) jmj-rꜥ pr-ḥḏ n pr-jmn M
p. Turin Cat. 1784 tꜣ-nḏm.t 364,11 nb.t pr šmꜥy.t n jmn-rꜥ nswt-nṯr.w ḫnmm ḫnsw-pꜣ-ẖrd F
p. Turin Cat. 1785 pn-pḳr M
jꜥḥ-wbn(.w) 12,16 M
p. Turin Cat. 1786 /
p. Turin Cat. 1787 mw.t-rwḏ nb.t pr šmꜥy.t n jmn F
p. Turin Cat. 1788 /
p. Turin Cat. 1789 ꞽmn-ḫꜥj.w 30,19 wꜥb n jmn šwy.ty n pr-jmn M
p. Turin Cat. 1790 ꜥnḫ⸗f-n-ḫnsw 67,9 sš ḥtp(.w)-nṯr sš … M
p. Turin Provv. 5077 /
p. Turin Provv. 5078 /
p. Turin Provv. 6260 […] nb.t pr šmꜥy.t n jmn-rꜥ F

4.1 Women

Women’s titles can be divided into two main categories: household titles, and temple titles. Among household titles, “lady of the house” is the most common (e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1782, p. Turin Cat. 1783). This title suggests “a married status wherein the woman is considered the head of the domestic household”.91 Among temple titles – which, during the Third Intermediate Period “largely revolve around the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu” – “chantress of Amun(-Re)” is by far the most frequent (Fig. 4).92 Women’s titles are mostly generic, implying that several women may have shared the same roles and performed the same functions in temple cults.93 However, some titles highlight specific religious functions, such as “first great chief of the musical troupe of Amun”, “god’s wife of Amun”, or – among the Turin papyri – “nurse of Khonsu the Child” (p. Turin Cat. 1784).94 Swart summarises the role of women in temple offices as follows:

Women performed crucial duties within the temple cult and had authority over male workers. They functioned as administrators, receiving and distributing goods that were destined for the altar, and were charged with coordinating temple ritual, for example, organizing and leading the musical troupe in temple services. 95

The women’s titles in the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio are the following:

Fig. 4

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P. Turin Cat. 1782 of Nesuaset, lady of the house and chantress of (Amun), recto. Etiquette. Scan by Museo Egizio.

4.2. Men

Men’s titles are more specific, but can be likewise divided into two groups: religious titles, and administrative titles.

4.2.1 Religious titles

Men’s religious titles designate several offices and orders. Each order could involve different degrees of initiation into the liturgical mysteries and the sacred areas of the temples, e.g., “priest of the Doors of Karnak”, “priest at the Entrance to the House of Amun”, and “priest of the Doors of Amun-Re, King of 96 the Gods”. Some titles also highlight particular roles in festivities and processions, such as “wꜥb-priest in front of Mut” (p. Turin Cat. 1781). Among male religious titles, the most popular is “god’s father” (p. Turin Cat. 1777, p. Turin Cat. 1780), followed by “wꜥb-priest” (e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1781). A less common title is that of “ḥm-nṯr–priest” (p. Turin Cat. 1783).96 God’s fathers, wꜥb-priests and ḥm-nṯr–priests performed services on behalf of the Theban triad.97 Most of the titles in the Turin papyri refer specifically to Amun (see, e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1789), but one document (p. Turin Cat. 1780) shows that the owner performed at the same time offices for Amun, Mut and Khonsu, confirming the hypothesis that “there were certain spheres within the cult organization where the servants of Amun, Mut and Khonsu acted jointly” as a single institution.98

4.2.2 Administrative titles

Among administrative titles, positions are related to temple functions – e.g., “overseer of the treasury of the Temple of Amun” (p. Turin Cat. 1783), “scribe of the divine offering” (p. Turin Cat. 1790), and “head of the guardians (of) the granary of the divine offerings of the Temple of Amun” (p. Turin Cat. 1779) –, or to the civil administration, e.g., “accountant scribe” (p. Turin Cat. 1781) or “trader” (p. Turin Cat. 1789) (Fig. 5). Other administrative positions could be related to military or funerary services.99

The male titles in the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio are the following:

  • jt-nṯr mrj-n-jmn, “god’s father, beloved of Amun”: p. Turin Cat. 1777
  • jt-nṯr n jmn-rꜥ jt-nṯr n mw.t jt-nṯr n ḫnsw, “god’s father of Amun-Re, god’s father of Mut, god’s father of Khonsu”: p. Turin Cat. 1780
  • wꜥb n jmn, “wꜥb-priest of Amun”: p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1789
  • wꜥb n jmn-rꜥ nswt-nṯr.w, “wꜥb-priest of Amun-Re, king of the gods”: p. Turin Cat. 1781
  • wꜥb n ḥꜣ.t n mw.t, “wꜥb-priest in front of Mut”: p. Turin Cat. 1781
  • ḥm-nṯr n jmn-rꜥ nswt-nṯr(.w) jmj-rꜣ pr-ḥḏ n pr-jmn, “priest of Amun-Re, King of the Gods, overseer of the treasury of the Temple of Amun”: p. Turin Cat. 1783
  • ḥry sꜣw(.w) (n) tꜣ šnw.t ḥtp.w-nṯr n pr-jmn, “head of the guardians (of) the granary of the divine offerings of the Temple of Amun”: p. Turin Cat. 1779
  • sš …, “scribe …”: p. Turin Cat. 1790
  • sš ḥtp(.w)-nṯr, “scribe of the divine offerings”: p. Turin Cat. 1790
  • sš ḥsb jt n … pr(-jmn), “accountant scribe of the grain … of the Domain (of Amun)”: p. Turin Cat. 1781
  • šwy.ty n pr-jmn, “trader of the Domain of Amun”: p. Turin Cat. 1789

Fig. 5

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P. Turin Cat. 1783 of Shepesetherit, lady of the house and chantress of Amun, daughter of the priest of Amun-Re, King of the Gods, overseer of the treasury of the Temple of Amun, Nesdjehuty, verso. Etiquette. Scan by Museo Egizio.

Stevens has recently argued that the titles of Theban citizens were transmitted along gender lines.100 While men inherited the administrative and/or religious 97 offices of their fathers, women shared the positions of their mothers. The inheritance of male titles might also have come with legacies of physical property and wealth endowed by the temples. During the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties, such inheritances were strictly regulated, making the titles associated with each inheritance an arena of social competition.101 In this context, the patrilineal line of inheritance became the prime means to establish one’s identity.102 This type of mindset is confirmed by the relations displayed on the “etiquettes” of funerary papyri.103 In these vignettes, the male line of inheritance is highlighted by means of long genealogies,104 alongside the connection between father and daughter (see, e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1783), while the association between husband and wife has lost importance.105 If inheritance was meant to be passed from an older generation to a younger one, marriage would not have held any significance in this regard.

5. Analysis

A general analysis of the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio is presented below. The development of a conceptual framework is discussed, providing textual and visual insights into Third Intermediate Period funerary traditions.

5.1 Philological analysis

Based on the text they carry, the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio can be divided into two main groups: traditional Amduat papyri, and non-traditional Amduat papyri.

5.1.1 Traditional Amduat papyri

Traditional Amduat papyri are manuscripts with excerpta of the Book of the Hidden Chamber written in retrograde text or retrograde texts reverse-copied (i.e., starting from the right) from New Kingdom royal tombs (Fig. 6). Traditional Amduat papyri are attested from the mid Twenty-first Dynasty (around the time of high priest Menkheperre),106 throughout the late Twenty-first Dynasty until the early Twenty-second Dynasty (Sheshonq I – Osorkon II).107

The Museo Egizio holds the following traditional Amduat papyri: 98-99 Turin Cat. 1776, p. Turin Cat. 1777, p. Turin Cat. 1780, p. Turin Cat. 1783, p. Turin Cat. 1784, p. Turin Cat. 1787, p. Turin Cat. 1790, p. Turin Provv. 5077, p. Turin Provv. 5078.

Fig. 6

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P. Turin Cat. 1783, recto. Scan by Museo Egizio.

In traditional Amduat papyri, a distinctive feature of Third Intermediate Period mortuary literature can be observed. Some texts, e.g. p. Turin Cat. 1780, are difficult to read (Fig. 7). This problem is due to a particular scribal practice, the reverse copying of retrograde writing.108 Retrograde texts are oriented in the opposite direction to the direction of reading. In cosmographic treatises, retrograde texts allow “the signs to ‘advance’ in the same direction as their figurative counterparts”, i.e., the solar entourage.109 During the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties, Theban workshops came up with an escamotage to curb the difficulties of transcribing retrograde texts, such as the Amduat. This escamotage consisted of reverse-copying the text – from right to left instead of from left to right. This practice soon became a fil rouge that connects Amduat papyri.110 However, reverse-copying of the Amduat caused several problems: syntax disorder, sign alteration, and column disruption (Fig. 8).111 The Amduat papyri copied in this way shed light on the chaine opératoire of Third Intermediate Period workshops, and particularly on the modus operandi of non-experienced editors in some ateliers.

The Turin Amduat papyri written according to this scribal practise are the following:

Turin Cat. 1780, p. Turin Cat. 1783, p. Turin Cat. 1784, p. Turin Cat. 1790.112

Fig. 7

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P. Turin Cat. 1780, recto. Excerpta of reverse-copied retrograde text: 10th Hour, Scene D, H (left); 11th Hour, Introduction (center); 11th Hour, Scene F (right). Scan by Museo Egizio.

Fig. 8

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P. Turin Cat. 1780, 11th Hour, Introduction, with reconstruction of the backward-copied original template.

5.1.2 Non-traditional Amduat papyri

100 Non-traditional Amduat papyri are inscribed with a miscellanea of hymns, pleadings/invocations, offering formulas, and Book of the Dead spells (Fig. 9).113 These papyri are attested from the late Twenty-first Dynasty (high priest Pinedjem II – high priest Psusennes II)114 to the mid Twenty-second Dynasty (Sheshonq III – Iput I).115 They bear witness to the development of New Kingdom mortuary literature during the Third Intermediate Period.

The non-traditional Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio are the following:

Turin Cat. 1778, p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1781, p. Turin Cat. 1782, p. Turin Cat. 1785, p. Turin Cat. 1786, p. Turin Cat. 1788, p. Turin Cat. 1789, p. Turin Provv. 6260.

These papyri contain solar hymns (p. Turin Cat. 1781), offering formulas (p. Turin Cat. 1785, p. Turin Provv. 6260), new texts (p. Turin Cat. 1778, p. Turin Cat. 1782, p. Turin Cat. 1786, p. Turin Cat. 1789) and labels (p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1788). Their theme is not cosmographical/ontological, but rather funerary, and their aim is the assimilation of the deceased within the Solar-Osirian union through assemblages of funerary texts and cosmological vignettes.116

Fig. 9

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P. Turin Cat. 1785, recto. It carries offering formulas instead of the Amduat texts. Scan by Museo Egizio.

5.2 Semiotic analysis

According to their iconography, the Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio can be divided into two similar groups. To establish this division, the following semiotic definitions, highlighted in italics, are used here: Amduat papyri representing the Netherworld through a narrative structure, and Amduat papyri representing the Netherworld through a conceptual structure.117

5.2.1 Narrative structure

In the Amduat papyri adopting a narrative structure of composition, the deities of the Netherworld are represented as interactive participants involved in processes of mutual interaction that can be visually realised by vectors (Fig. 10).118 The Amduat describes the transaction processes between the sun god and the dwellers of the Netherworld through texts and dialogues between the participants.119 These transaction processes emphasise the dynamism of the Amduat, e.g., the progression of the solar barque through the serpent of regeneration in the 12th Hour, scene D, no. 869 of p. Turin Cat. 1776.120 In these papyri, the description of the Netherworld is achieved through the traditional cosmographic construction.121

The Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio that describe the Netherworld through a narrative structure are the following: 101

p.Turin Cat. 1776, p. Turin Cat. 1777, p. Turin Cat. 1780, p. Turin Cat. 1783, p. Turin Cat. 1784, p. Turin Cat. 1787, p. Turin Cat. 1790, p. Turin Provv. 5077, p. Turin Provv. 5078, p. Turin Provv. 6260.

Fig. 10

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P. Turin Cat. 1776, recto. Interactive participants and vectors are highlighted. Scan by Museo Egizio.

5.2.2 Conceptual structure

In the Amduat papyri adopting a conceptual structure of composition, the deities of the Netherworld are not connected through vectors, because the scenes/vignettes originate from different compositions, e.g., the Book of the Dead (p. Turin Cat. 1779), the Books of the Earth (p. Turin Cat. 1789), or the Book of the Day/Night (p. Turin Cat. 1781) (Fig. 11). In addition, the written dialogues between the participants are missing, as is the relation between Re and the dwellers of the Netherworld. 102 The subjects of these manuscripts – the represented participants – are not represented through transaction processes, but through analytical, symbolic, and classification processes.122 These processes represent participants who convey specific motifs to the manuscripts, e.g., apotropaic (p. Turin Cat. 1781), regenerative (p. Turin Cat. 1789), or both (p. Turin Cat. 1779). As a result, the aim of these papyri is not cosmographical/ontological, but funerary, because they represent aspects of the Netherworld useful to the deceased in the afterlife, e.g., scenes of adoration, healing or resurrection (see, e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1785).123

The following Turin Amduat papyri represent the Netherworld through a conceptual structure:

p.Turin Cat. 1778, p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1781, p. Turin Cat. 1782, p. Turin Cat. 1785, p. Turin Cat. 1786, p. Turin Cat. 1788, p. Turin Cat. 1789.

Fig. 11

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P. Turin Cat. 1781, recto. Represented participants are highlighted; note the absence of vectors. Scan by Museo Egizio.

6. The Amduat papyri between tradition and innovation

A philological and semiotic analysis is fundamental to grasp the full meaning of the Amduat papyri. This allows two funerary traditions to be distinguished in the Turin papyri: a New Kingdom tradition and a Third Intermediate Period tradition.

6.1 The New Kingdom tradition

The New Kingdom tradition Amduat papyri attest to the transmission of the Amduat from the New Kingdom to the Third Intermediate Period. These papyri range in date from the mid Twenty-first Dynasty (around the time of the high priest Menkheperre) to the early Twenty-second Dynasty (Sheshonq I – Osorkon II). The New Kingdom tradition Amduat papyri are inscribed with excerpta from the 9th–12th Hours of the Amduat and from the Abridged Version. The aim of these papyri is to provide the deceased with a description of the Netherworld, like the Book of the Hidden Chamber does in the New Kingdom. From a philological perspective, the most common feature is the reverse-copied retrograde text, which bears witness to the inexperience of some ateliers in transcribing cosmographical texts. From an iconographical perspective, these papyri feature the traditional narrative structure of the Eighteenth Dynasty Netherworld Books (Fig. 12).

The Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio belonging to the New Kingdom tradition are the following: p. Turin Cat. 1776, p. Turin Cat. 1777, p. Turin Cat. 1780, p. Turin Cat. 1783, p. Turin Cat. 1784, p. Turin Cat. 1787, p. Turin Cat. 1790, p. Turin Provv. 5077, p. Turin Provv. 5078.

Fig. 12

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P. Turin Cat. 1777, recto. Scan by Museo Egizio.

6.2 The Third Intermediate Period tradition

The Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri elaborate on the New Kingdom versions of the Book of the Hidden Chamber. These papyri are attested from the late Twenty-first Dynasty (high priest Pinedjem II – high priest Psusennes II) to the 103 middle of the Twenty-second Dynasty (Sheshonq III – Iput I). The aim of the Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri is to represent specific aspects of the Netherworld that are useful to the deceased in the afterlife (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13

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P. Turin Cat. 1779, recto. Vignettes from: Book of the Dead: Spell 85, 130, 148, 149 (left); Amduat: 10th Hour, Scene B, H, I; 11th Hour, Scene E; 12th Hour, Scene A, I, G, K (center). Scan by Museo Egizio.

These manuscripts are inscribed with a miscellanea of short texts – hymns, invocations/pleadings, offering formulas, and Book of the Dead spells – emphasizing the resurrection of the deceased.124 Scholars have suggested that the lack of excerpta from royal compositions – e.g., the Amduat or the Litany of Re – is probably due to a reaction to the excessive use of royal motifs by Theban citizens during the middle of the Twenty-first Dynasty, and a shift in mortuary theology, promoted by the Libyan party.125

  • […] it may be construed that the regulation of representation during the early 22nd Dynasty reflects strong controls on religious and funerary practices as a political tool, as the Theban citizens’ mortuary choices were severely limited. 126

104 The Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri rarely have the narrative structure of the Eighteenth Dynasty cosmographies; more often, they have a conceptual structure consisting of an ad hoc assemblage of symbols and vignettes from a shared repertoire, comprising the Amduat, the Book of the Dead, the Litany of Re, the Books of the Earth, the Book of Gates, and the Book of the Day/Night (Fig. 14). This non-systematic, non-structured way of representing the Netherworld contrasts with “those compositions that derived from attested ‘standard’ recensions”, that are characterised by established sequences of places and events (e.g., the Amduat, the Book of Gates, and the Books of Sky).127 “Abbreviated versions [of these] might appear [e.g., p. Turin Cat. 1780], and new elements might occasionally be introduced [e.g., the vignettes from BD 148 in p. Turin Cat. 1786], but the fundamental structure of these ‘fixed’ compositions remained tied to their original template.”128 On the contrary, the Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri avoid standardised iconographical sequences (see p. Turin Cat. 1779).129 The principles underlying the creation of these manuscripts are in some ways similar to those proposed by Roberson for the Books of the Earth in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, although the context is rather different.130 Whereas the Ramesside Books of the Earth reinforce the akhet-symbolism in the sarcophagus chamber, the Amduat papyri act directly in favour of the deceased, supporting them with provisions (p. Turin Cat. 1785), apotropaic (p. Turin Cat. 1781), and regenerative scenes (p. Turin Cat. 1789) from the cosmological realm.

During the mid-to-late Twenty-first Dynasty, the New Kingdom tradition Amduat papyri provided ontological, cosmographical knowledge of the Netherworld to the deceased. In contrast, in the Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri,

  • the emphasis was transferred from the progress of the soul through the realm of the dead to the deceased themselves in the presence of the gods, as if they had already successfully attained eternal life. It can be construed further that the manuscripts containing complex iconography were no longer deemed necessary, as only the end result need be recorded […]. 131

The Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri are concerned with practical aspects of death, such as providing supplies and protection to the deceased, and “invite the deity to make himself responsible for the prosperity of the deceased in the afterlife”.132

The Third Intermediate Period tradition Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio are the following:

p. Turin Cat. 1778, p. Turin Cat. 1779, p. Turin Cat. 1781, p. Turin Cat. 1782, p. Turin Cat. 1785, p. Turin Cat. 1786, p. Turin Cat. 1788, p. Turin Cat. 1789, p. Turin Provv. 6260.

Fig. 14

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P. Turin Cat. 1789, recto. Scenes from: Books of the Earth: Aker Group 6, 7 (left); Amduat: 12th Hour, Scene C, D, E, F, G (center). Scan by Museo Egizio.

7. Final remarks

This paper has provided textual and visual insight into Third Intermediate Period funerary practises. The present writer argues that this conceptual framework can shed new light on the intellectual context of the transmission of the Amduat during the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties.

During the Third Intermediate Period, the Amduat lost its constitutive elements – first, its architecture (at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty), and then its text and its iconography (in the late Twenty-first Dynasty, around the time of the high priests Pinedjem II and Psusennes II) – and its aim was reconsidered.133 In fact, From the late Twenty-first Dynasty onward, the Amduat became a non-canonical representation of “What Is in the Netherworld” related to the process of Osirification and solarisation of the deceased. The Amduat papyri in the Museo Egizio are a valuable source of information and vehicles of the vibrancy of a funerary tradition in continuous evolution.134

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Susanne Töpfer (Museo Egizio) for kindly granting me the opportunity to study the Turin Amduat papyri. I would also like to express my gratitude to Giuseppina Lenzo (Université de Lausanne) for her precious support and proofreading. Acknowledgements are also extended to Emanuele Ciampini (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), for discussions and supervision on this topic, and Federico Poole (Museo Egizio), for editing the article. Lastly, I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers of this paper for allowing me to improve it thanks to their useful suggestions.

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