Two Papyrus Fragments with Historically Relevant Data

This small article is a foretaste of the richness in historical data provided by the thousands of papyrus fragments contained in the archives from the ancient workmen’s community of Deir el-Medina now gradually consultable in the online database TPOP. 
ملخص
هذه المقالة الصغيرة هي لمحة موجزة عن المعلومات التاريخية الغنيّة جداّ التي تحتويها آلاف قطع البردي حول المجتمع القديم للعمال في دير المدينة والمحفوظة في الأرشيف والتي يمكن في الوقت الحاضر الاطلاع عليها ضمن TPOP، وهي منصة البردي في تورينو على الإنترنت.

The recto of this fragment (Fig. 1) bears six incomplete lines of a list of commodities, most likely dating to the mid-20th Dynasty.The passage I am concerned with here is on the verso (Fig. 2).

Transcription
CP $%&/$() = Cat.%$.)/(/$ verso CP $(5/$&% verso   second document is the famous Adoption Papyrus, P. Ashmolean Museum 1945.96.In the words of its first editor, Alan Gardiner, the opening lines of this document record, on III Smw Day 20, a visit by Ramesses XI to the Temple of Karnak to announce his accession to the god Amun, followed by an offering to this deity. 7The text clearly only speaks of informing the god Amun of the accession of the king sr.t xa n nTr pn Sps n Imn. 8  CP37/092 verso https://papyri.museoegizio.it/o/474257 The recto of this fragment (Fig. 3) bears six incomplete lines of a journal text dating to the second half of the 20 th Dynasty.Again, the text we are concerned with here is on the verso (Fig. 4).

Transcription
CP $(5/$&% verso    18 The spelling of the word DA with the determinative D1 looks suspicious.This D1 is most likely a mistake for P1, the determinative of the verb DAi, "to cross".
tion.Many fragments will hopefully end up in publications of complete documents, but on account of their text passages with historically relevant information the versos of two fragments deserve preliminary advance publication.CP29/035 = Cat.2105/360verso https://papyri.museoegizio.it/o/473257

Translation(( 1 ) 3 (
x+1) of the two scribes of the river-[bank …] (x+2) retainer Userhatmose, retainer […] (x+3) This day: giving the remainder […] (x+4) Regnal Year 4 Month III […] (x+5) Entered (for) the left side from […] (x+6) Regnal Year 1 Month IV of Ax.t […] Commentary The two scribes are most likely members of the team of four rwDw-agents of the riverbank mentioned in O. Ashmolean Museum HO 53, rt.Černý-Gardiner, Hieratic Ostraca, 1957, pl.XLIX, 1).(2) A retainer Userhatmose is not known from other sources.The importance of the text on this fragment lies in lines 4 and 6.The few incomplete lines doubtlessly present fragmentary journal notes, 2 in view of the paleography dating to the second half of the 20 th Dynasty.The dates in lines 4 and 6 indicate a change in a monarch's reign between a Regnal Year 4 Month III of Ax.t and a Regnal Year 1 Month IV of Ax.t.The only king in the second half of the 20 th Dynasty who reigned for a brief period was Ramesses X.So far, this king was thought to have reigned for 3 years, based on the evidence of the so-called "Giornale" of Year 3. The last date mentioned in this journal text is Year 3 Month II of Ax.t, Day 2 (recto 7, 27), or Month IV of Ax.t, Day 24. 3 Based on the text of the fragment under discussion, his reign continued after Year 3 Month II of Ax.t for more than a year, until sometime between Month III and Month IV of Ax.t of Year 4. The accession date of Ramesses X fell on I pr.t 27.Consequently, his reign lasted almost 10 months into his fourth regnal year.The last date of the reign of Ramesses X coincides with the accession date of his successor Ramesses XI and therefore lies in the same period between Month III Ax.t and Month IV Ax.t.This then contradicts the proposed date of the latter king's accession, namely III Smw Day 20. 4 This date has been accepted by most authors until recently. 5Yet, the sources to support this suggested date can hardly be called decisive.The two key documents quoted are P. Turin Cat.1888 + Cat.2095 and P. Ashmolean Museum 1945.96, the Adoption Papyrus.The first is a journal text from the reign of Ramesses XI containing a series of dates spread over several months, with only one full date: Year 18 IV Smw Day 14 or 24. 6Considering this as certain indication of a recent year change is speculation and beyond proof.The
Contrary to the opinion of the scholars who first posited III Smw Day 20 as the coronation date, the accession of the king did not take place on that day at Karnak.This ceremony certainly had already taken place earlier either in the Delta residence or at Memphis, and as usual the king later had to pay visits to other state gods to inform them of his accession.A third source supporting an accession date on III Smw 20 was allegedly found in P. Turin Cat.2097/297 + Cat.2105/376, verso. 9This small fragment of a journal text most probably from the reign of Ramesses X or Ramesses XI only contains a few dates in the Smw season of a Year 2. There is no indication of a change in regnal year at all, and this also holds for a similar unpublished journal text on P. Turin CP21/004 containing dates in the same Year 2.

"
Crossing" may well be an earlier version for the term Xnw -"sailing" later used to indicate the date of death of a monarch.If so, we would have here a dated note observing the day of death of king Horemheb on III Smw 22.This finding allows for a possible reconstruction of the dated note in lines 4-5 of the journal fragment under discussion as: "Regnal Year 15, I Ax.t 18. Observing the accession day of King Horemheb".