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Historical Document

Ipuwer Papyrus

Also Known As Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto
Ancient Inscriptions and Epigraphic Records

The Ipuwer Papyrus, also known as the Admonitions of Ipuwer, is an ancient Egyptian text, now held in Leiden, that survives as a later copy of an earlier composition. It takes the form of a lament in which a figure named Ipuwer describes a society thrown into chaos, with social order overturned, the poor and the wealthy exchanging places, and the land afflicted by disorder. Egyptologists generally read it as a work of reflective or admonitory literature about societal breakdown rather than a strict historical chronicle, though it has drawn wide popular attention for the parallels some observers have drawn to other ancient Near Eastern narratives of catastrophe.

Facts
Document Type
Papyrus containing a literary work (the Admonitions of Ipuwer) 1
Creation Year
1250 BCE 1
Current Location
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, Netherlands 1
Original Language
Ancient Egyptian (hieratic script) 1
Classification
Medium or Support
Papyrus 1
Document Type
Document Type (category)
Manuscript 1
FAQs

Is the Ipuwer Papyrus an eyewitness record of a real catastrophe in Egypt?

Reputable scholars read it as literature, not as a chronicle of real events.

No, scholars today do not treat it that way. World History Encyclopedia describes the Admonitions of Ipuwer as historical fiction, written by Egyptian scribes of the Middle Kingdom, using the First Intermediate Period to express the loss of a golden age when a central government preserved order. The Egyptologist A. H. Gardiner understood the text as history in 1909, and some historians have repeated that reading uncritically. Today the piece is understood as fiction by reputable scholars and should not be regarded as any kind of historical account.
Connections

In Era

The Ancient Near East and Bronze Age World, Eras
Source Ipuwer Papyrus, Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases

Used In

Ancient Egyptian

Also in Language Atlas: which uses this subject.

Source Ipuwer Papyrus, WikipediaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
The Ipuwer Papyrus (officially Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto) is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus made during the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, and now held in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands.
Sources
1. Ipuwer Papyrus, Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph 1, sentence 2
    It contains the Admonitions of Ipuwer, an incomplete literary work
  • Lead paragraph 1, sentence 1, descriptor
    an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus
  • Lead paragraph 1, sentence 1, location clause
    and now held in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands
  • Lead paragraph 1, sentence 1, official designation
    (officially Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto)
  • Ipuwer Papyrus: Medium
    The Ipuwer Papyrus, also known as the Admonitions of Ipuwer, is an ancient Egyptian text, now held in Leiden, that survives as a later copy of an earlier composition.
  • Lead paragraph
    is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus made during the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
  • lead paragraph and infobox
    Infobox date: circa 1250 BCE
  • Lead
    is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus
  • In Era: The Ancient Near East and Bronze Age World, lead paragraph and infobox, date
    Infobox date: circa 1250 BCE
  • In Group: Ancient Inscriptions of Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Article text
    The Ipuwer Papyrus has been dated no earlier than the Nineteenth Dynasty, around 1250 BCE but the text itself is much older, and dated back no earlier than the late Twelfth Dynasty of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom.
View the Source
Wikidata: Ipuwer Papyrus
Wikidata Q1474863, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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