Back بردية وستكار Arabic بردية وستكار ARZ Папирус на Уесткар Bulgarian Papir Westcar Catalan Papyrus Westcar German Papiruso Westcar Esperanto Papiro Westcar Spanish Westcarren Papiroa Basque Papyrus Westcar French Papirus Westcar ID
| Westcar Papyrus | |
|---|---|
 Westcar Papyrus on display in the Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin | |
| Created | c. 1650 BC |
| Discovered | Egypt |
| Present location | Berlin, Germany |
The Westcar Papyrus (inventory-designation: P. Berlin 3033) is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the papyrus text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of king Khufu (Cheops) (Fourth Dynasty, 26th century BCE) by his sons. The story in the papyrus usually is rendered in English as, "King Cheops and the Magicians"[1] and "The Tale of King Cheops' Court".[2] In German, into which the text of the Westcar Papyrus was first translated, it is rendered as Die Märchen des Papyrus Westcar ("the fairy tales of Papyrus Westcar").[3][4]
The surviving material of the Westcar Papyrus consists of twelve columns written in hieratic script. Miriam Lichtheim dates the document to the Hyksos period (eighteenth to sixteenth century BC) and states that it is written in classical Middle Egyptian.[5] Linguist and Egyptologist Verena Lepper thinks it is possible that the Westcar Papyrus was written during the Thirteenth Dynasty. The papyrus has been used by historians as a literary resource for reconstituting the history of the Fourth Dynasty.
The papyrus is now on display under low-light conditions in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.[4]
- ^ Simpson, William Kelly. (1972). The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, and Poetry. Edited by William Kelly Simpson. Translations by R.O. Faulkner, Edward F. Wente Jr., and William Kelly Simpson. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01482-1. Page 15.
- ^ Parkinson, R.B. (2002). Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection. London: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-5637-5. p. 295–96.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
AdErwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
VeLewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol.1, University of California Press 1973, p.215