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Papyrus Westcar

The document known as Papyrus Westcar (P.  Berlin 3033, named after its collector) preserves the only extant copy of  the  Tales  of  the  Court  of King Khufu.  Its  provenance  is  unknown;  the  manuscript  is  usually  dated  to  the  Second  Intermediate  Period  on  the  basis  of  the  Hieratic  hand,  but  it  may  be  slightly  later.  The  date  of  composition  is  uncertain  but  is  perhaps  at  the  end  of  the Middle Kingdom. Twelve columns survive, of around twenty-six lines each, and there are probably at least two columns missing from the start.  The extant text opens with a series of tales set in various Old Kingdom  courts (Djoser, Nebka, Sneferu), which are being told to King Khufu by  his  sons.  The  first  tale  is  lost  apart  from  Khufu's  response,  but  it  was  probably preceded by a narrative prologue in which the king requested  entertainment  to  avoid  boredom.  Each  of  the  tales  involves  a  magical  wonder performed by a lector-priest, such as the movement of a body of  water.

Westcar Papyrus on display in the Ägyptisches Museum - Berlin
Westcar Papyrus on display in the Ägyptisches Museum - Berlin

Instead of a fourth tale, there is a narrative about wonders done in the  presence  of  Khufu  himself  by  a  commoner  called  Djedi,  in  which  Khufu's  behavior  is  less  than  ideal.  Khufu is  seeking  some  esoteric  information for use in his great pyramid, but he is told that access to this  is possible only for the eldest of three children of the sun god, who will  be born to a woman and who will succeed Khufu's dynasty.  After this  comes an account of the birth of the first three kings of the fifth dynasty.  The end of the tale is lost; the manuscript breaks off in the middle of the  episode  recounting  the  events  following  the  triplets'  birth. The  manuscript is incomplete, although the lost final portion may have been  short.

The  royal  characters  are  historical  (although  the  identity  of  one  prince,  Bauefre,  is  problematic).  With  one  exception,  the  nonroyal  characters  are  otherwise  unknown  and  are  presumably  fictional:  the  actual mother of the first two fifth dynasty kings was Khentkawes, while  in  the  Tales  the  mother  is  the  wife  of  a  priest,  Rudjdjedet.  The  Tales  rewrite  history,  but  apparently  in  order  to  entertain  rather  than  for  propagandistic motives.  The Tales are usually analyzed as prose, but they are probably loosely  structured verse; the extant text comprises around 530 metrical lines. The  language and style suggest a later date than that of other Middle Egyptian  fictional narratives, such as the Story of Sinuhe, but the looser structure  and the "lower," more frivolous tone may represent a contemporaneous  tradition of narrative art that was more culturally peripheral, and that is  otherwise attested only in small fragmentary papyri.  Many elements of  parody have been detected, including allusions to the royal birth-cycle of  kings,  rituals  of  the goddess Hathor,  and  royal  commemorative  inscriptions. Nevertheless, the Tales also include the themes of good as  opposed to bad kings, and of true as opposed to false wonders, although  the serious aspects of these are not fully developed. In many respects, the  Tales can be seen as a forerunner of the Ramessid late Egyptian stories.

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