Westcar Papyrus
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" and "The Tale of King Cheops' Court". 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").
| Westcar Papyrus | |
|---|---|
Westcar Papyrus on display in the Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin | |
| Created | c. 1650 BC |
| Discovered | Egypt |
| Present location | Berlin, Germany |
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. 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.