Turin erotic papyrus (also Turin satirical-erotic papyrus and Papyrus No. 55001 [1] ) is an ancient Egyptian illustrated papyrus of secular content of the Ramessids period (c. 1150 BC) [2] . Exhibited at the Egyptian Museum of Turin (Italy).
| Turin erotic papyrus | |
|---|---|
| Genre | softcore , satire |
| Original language | ancient egyptian |
| Date of writing | |
| Date of first publication | 1973 |
Content
Discovery
It was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century in Deir al-Medina [3] and was studied for the first time in the 1830s by Zh. Champollion attracted by animalistic plots. The Egyptologist called the other part of the papyrus "monstrous obscenity." Due to the peculiar content, papyrus caused rejection of early European researchers. Copies of the papyrus did not appear in print until 1973 [1] .
Description
Papyrus dates back presumably to the New Kingdom , the reign of Ramses III or his son Ramses IV - about XII-XI centuries BC. e.
The papyrus is 2.6 m by 25 cm in size and consists of two parts, on one of which 12 erotic images are presented, on the other - satirical stories involving animals. The size of the papyrus does not correspond to the traditional size of several meters administrative or religious papyrus. In addition, papyrus in the designated period cost relatively less. The painting is done in black paint. The artifact is poorly preserved [1] .
The drawings were created by the hand of a professional well-read scribe and designed in the style characteristic of the artists of the west coast of Thebes ( Medinet-Abu ). The author lived between the late New Kingdom and the Third Transition , as the Deir al-Medina society stopped working after the 20th dynasty . Images of women and a lion on the Turin papyrus are similar to similar drawings on the Papyrus of Lady Heruben [1] .
Contents
The surviving fragments contain 27 illustrations, 15 of which have satirical content.
On the right are animals with musical instruments and a sequence of other animalistic plots without textual additions. Scenes with animal musicians repeat similar scenes on discovered ostracons , vessels, cosmetics and figures of the New Kingdom . On the papyrus you can also see a lion and a gazelle playing in the Senet , a monkey with a flute, a lion with a harp, storming a cat’s fortress, a talking swallow with a hippo who eats figs from a sycamore [1] , a donkey in the form of a judge.
Animal drawings can refer to proverbs or stories lost today. In ancient Egyptian literature, animals are often endowed with the gift of speaking: " Doomed Prince " or " The Tale of the Shipwrecked ." The absence of explanatory inscriptions indicates common plots [1] .
On the left, the papyrus contains erotic scenes of coitus and accompanying texts. Men are depicted with exaggerated genitals; women are represented by dancers and musicians. One chariot in clothes different from the others could be a military man . An untidy smaller man runs away from him, who may have been left by the woman for the sake of a charioter. Another interpretation of the military with a woman sitting on the edge of the chariot: allegorical designation of an intimate posture [1] . Stefan Wenig saw an image of a brothel in the erotic part of the Turin papyrus, as one of the men has a wallet on his belt [4] .
The exact meaning of the scenes for modern man is not clarified, but was obvious to the ancient Egyptians. Some researchers believe that the scenes contain political satire, perhaps ridiculed by Ramses III and his harem, or priests ; others see an irony directed at the gods themselves or their official representatives, especially in funeral art . There is also an assumption that the erotic part of the Turin papyrus was a kind of leadership - the genre most common in the Far East . However, while Chinese and Japanese ( shunga ) manuals were created with faith in the importance of sexuality for a healthy and harmonious life, then among the ancient Egyptian texts there was no evidence of such beliefs. Supposedly, erotic scenes are comical and anecdotal [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Carolyn Graves-Brown. Sex and Gender in Ancient Egypt: 'Don Your Wig for a Joyful Hour' . - ISD LLC, 2008 .-- S. 63-69. - 243 p. - ISBN 9781910589410 .
- ↑ MI Hussein, AA Shokeir. Sexual life in Pharaonic Egypt: towards a urological view (Eng.) // International Journal of Impotence Research. - 2004-10. - Vol. 16 , iss. 5 . - P. 385-388 . - ISSN 1476-5489 . - DOI : 10.1038 / sj.ijir . 3901195 .
- ↑ ML Bierbrier. the tomb- builders of the pharaohs . - American Univ in Cairo Press, 1989 .-- S. 77 .-- 166 p. - ISBN 9789774242106 .
- ↑ Steffen Wenig. The Woman in Egyptian Art. - New York, 1969.