Budge, Ernest A. Wallis [Hrsg.]: The book of the dead: facsimiles of the papyri of Hunefer, Anhai, Kerāsher and Netchemet ; with supplementary text from the papyrus of Nu with transcripts, etc. (London, 1899)

THE

PAPYRUS OF THE ROYAL

MOTHER NETCPIEMET.

Ti-ie papyrus of Netchemet, was founcl

at D er el-bahari, a district of Thebes, and was
purchased in 1894 by the Trustees of the British
Museum at the sale of the Egyptian collection of
the late General Sir Edwarcl Stanton, K.C.B. It
measures 13 feet 3 inches by 9 inches, and the
material is composed of three layers of papyrus of
a fine, light colour.

It contains a number of Chapters of the
Boolc of the Dead, some accompanied by
vignettes, which, curiously enough, are taken,
not from the long, illustrated papyri of the
XVIIIth and XlXth dynasties, but from an
important funeral book entitled, “ The Book of
knowing what is in the Underworld,” with scenes
and Chapters from which the priests of Amen
ancl their royal patrons loved to decorate the walls
of their tombs. The titles of the Chapters,
rubrics, catchwords, etc., are in red ; and the text
of the Chapters, which is written in a goocl but
small hieratic hand, is in black. A portion of the
papyrus was left blank at the beginning and end,
but most of the blank portion has been broken
badly and lost. The text written in black is
perfect, but several words of the first rubric are
wanting, chiefly on account of the flaking off
of portions of the papyrus which have been
touchecl by the recl ink. It is tolerably certain
that the various sections of the papyrus were
written about the same time, ancl all the vignettes,
except the first, which is the work of the scnbe,
were drawn by one artist. The texture of those
parts of the papyrus upon which the vignettes
are drawn is finer than that of the sections which

contain the hieratic texts ; indeed, it seems as if
the acldition of the largest vignettes had been the
result of an afterthought.

We can, fortunately, fix with tolerable
certainty the exact place in the series of the
papyri of the Theban Book of the Deacl
which the papyrus of Netchemet occupies, for
in more than one passage we are given her full
titles, which read :—

neb taiu Net'einet niaatxeni sat suten

Lady of the two lands, Netchemct, triumphant, daughter of the royal

5biA 24q 5b ^

mut Hurere suten mut mest ka neXt neb

mother Hurere. Royal mother, begotten of the mighty bull, lady

taiu Net'emet mest en

of the two lands, Netchemet, begotten of

I I

Hurere

Hurere,

niaatyetu

triumphant

©

xer

before

1 11
neter aa
the great god.

It is clear that Netchemet was of royal birth ;
but the name of her father, the “ mighty bull,”
mentioned in the second extract, is not ofiven, ancl

1 o 7

of her mother Hurere we know nothing’ clefinite.
Since she is called “lacly of the two lands,” it
seems that Netchemet must have occupied the
position of queen of Egypt, but although she is
often described as “ royal mother,” she never,
in this papyrus, has the title of “ royal wife.”
All the palaeographical evidence afforded by this
papyrus indicates that her Book of the Dead was