Pyner papyrus – Turin 14

Pyner – py-nr
Probably from Thebes, 21th Dynasty, acquisition in 1824

No title mentioned

This papyrus presents scenes from the Amduat’s Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Hours. The so-called etiquette reports an offering formula between Re Horakhty, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and the papyrus’ owner

This composition perfectly represents the 21st Dynasty funerary beliefs and the deceased’s desire to be reborn in the Solar-Osirian unity.

The treatise’s structure consists of three horizontal registers describing the Netherworld’s Twelfth Hour; on the manuscripts’ left-hand side, the scribe also includes the Tenth and Eleventh Hour’s two main episodes. These episodes are the first scenes in the top and bottom registers, respectively The Drowned (Tenth Hour) and The Punishment of the Damned (Eleventh Hour). Their function is to recollect the last phases of the Sun-god Re’s journey by applying the pars pro toto’s rule (a part of something taken as a representative of the whole)

The Twelfth Hour describes the end of the Sun-god’s nocturnal journey through the Netherworld. Here, the Sun’s rejuvenation process takes place inside the (here missing) life-regenerating serpent anx-nTr.w (Life of the gods), as we see on the manuscript’s far right-hand side a beetle, Khepri, representing the Sun-god’s rebirthed form. Hence, Re in his renewed form exits the Netherworld travelling through the air-god Shu’s outstretched arms to be reborn as the sun disk at dawn. In the top and bottom registers, many deities witness the end of the Sun-god’s journey, praising the Great God. This hour of the night presents the following scenes: The Twelve Worshipers, The Solar Boat, The Twelve Gods of Tow, The Thirteen Goddesses of Tow, Khepri and Shu, The Ten Worshipers and The Mummy of Osiris

On the manuscript’s right-hand side, the etiquette reports an offering formula with the deceased’s name, Pyner. It is interesting to notice how Pyner’s name is in a palimpsest covering the manuscript’s previous owner’s identity. In fact, in three different areas the scribe had erased the name of the previous owner and replaced it with that of Pyner’s (source Museo Egizio Papyri, research Enrico Pozzi, Shenali Boange)