The papyrus Berlin SM P. 1522, was purchased by Ludwig Julius Christian Stern, Egyptologist and librarian of the newly founded royal manuscript department at Berlin, from the antiquities trader Todrus Bulos in Luxor in 1880.
It shows a Demotic inscription on one and a Greek inscription on the other side.
The Demotic text, the first inscription, whose scribe is not named, is a "letter for breathing" (tꜣ šꜥ.t n snsn), which possess the usual letter layout in recording the text on the papyrus sheet in transversa. Contrary to the indication in other text editings and also in Trismegistos, I would therefore like to follow
Vleeming, Mummy labels (Short Texts II)Vleeming, S., Demotic and Greek-Demotic mummy labels and other short texts (Short Texts II; Studia Demotica 9; Leuven, 2012)., No. 1145, 675, 678, by changing the localization of the inscriptions on the papyrus into:
recto: Demotic inscription.
verso: Greek inscription.
The
Greek inscription (TM 28180) on the verso, the secondary inscription, is a register of tax revenue in kind from Diso Polis (Thebes east) which dates from the 2
nd century AD.
Demotic text:
The Demotic texte thas the layout of a letter and was thus recorded on the papyrus sheet in transversa. It shows two clues for its dating: 1
st: The
Greek inscription (TM 28180) on the verso, the secondary inscription from Dios Polis (Thebes east), dates from the 2
nd century AD and marks the terminus ante quem of the Demotic inscription. 2
nd: The remarks of
Scalf, Passport to EternityScalf, F.D., Passport to Eternity. Formulaic Demotic Funerary Texts and the Final Phase of Egyptian Funerary Literature in Roman Egypt (Chicago, 2014)., 108, show that due to the earliest evidence of Demotic funerary texts on papyrus from 57/56 A.D. a terminus post quem can be suggested. As already mentioned, the text belongs to the group of funerary texts which are summarized under the term 'letter for breathing' (see references, but especially:
Vleeming, Mummy labels (Short Texts II)Vleeming, S., Demotic and Greek-Demotic mummy labels and other short texts (Short Texts II; Studia Demotica 9; Leuven, 2012)., 639-646 (no. 1097-1101), 674-699, (no. 1144-1157), 779-792;
Scalf, Passport to EternityScalf, F.D., Passport to Eternity. Formulaic Demotic Funerary Texts and the Final Phase of Egyptian Funerary Literature in Roman Egypt (Chicago, 2014).,
111-149).
A detailed list of the direct parallels to the present text can be found in the editing of P. Cairo CG 31172 in the corpus of the DPDP's digital text editions.
Vignette:
Of the 46 formulaic texts of the type funerary literature, which were treated by
Scalf there are 16 which have an illustration. The vignette of P. Berlin SM P. 1522 rto (cf.
Scalf, Passport to EternityScalf, F.D., Passport to Eternity. Formulaic Demotic Funerary Texts and the Final Phase of Egyptian Funerary Literature in Roman Egypt (Chicago, 2014).,
150-167, esp. 154 fig 3.1) belongs to the iconographic type of the 'presentation before Osiris' (further types after
Scalf: 'embalming ritual', 'orantes figures', 'falcon imagery'). It is located in the centre below the text and takes about 2/3 of the height of the papyrus sheet. The size of the scene allows a very detailed drawing, which according to Scalf was also made by the scribe of the text. The scene is flanked on both sides by lotus plants. On the right side, Anubis presents the body of Pamonthes, who has a bead net covering draped over the mummified body, to the mummy-shaped Osiris, which stands opposite. Directly in front of Osiris there is an offering table with bread and a vessel.
(1) ꜥnḫ pꜣy⸗f by r nḥḥ rpy⸗f ḏ.t Pa-mnṱ r:msỉ Tꜣỉ-?...?. mtw pꜣy⸗f by
(2) šmsi̯ Wsỉr mtw⸗f ḫpr ẖn nꜣ ḥsꜥe.w n Wsỉr mtw⸗f ṯꜣi̯ mw ⸢ḥr⸣ tꜣ ḥtp(.t) m-sꜣ Wsỉr
(3) pꜣ šy m-sꜣ Wn-nfr mtw⸗f ⸢ḥsꜥ⸣e nꜣ ỉ:ỉri̯ ⸢ḳs⸣⸗f m-bꜣḥ Wsỉr Ḫnṱ.ṱ-ỉmnṱ
(4) nṯr-ꜥꜣ nb-ỉbde.ṱ mtw nꜣy⸗f ẖrṱ.w smn m-sꜣ⸗f ḥr pꜣ tꜣ šꜥ ḏ.t rnp.t-n-ꜥnḫ
(5) r:ỉri̯⸗f ḥr pꜣ tꜣ 55 rpy⸗f ḏ.t rp pꜣy{⸗s}<⸗f> by šꜥ ḏ.t
(1) Möge sein Ba leben bis in die Ewigkeit (und) möge er sich verjüngen ewiglich, Pamonthes, den Diese-?...? geboren hat, und möge sein Ba
(2) Osiris folgen, und möge er unter den Gelobten des Osiris sein, und möge er Wasser empfangen ⸢von⸣ dem Opfertisch hinter Osiris
(3) (und vom) See hinter Onnophris, und möge er die ⸢lobprei⸣sen, die ihn ⸢begraben⸣ haben vor Osiris-Chontamenti,
(4) dem großen Gott, Herrn von Abydos, und mögen seine Kinder nach ihm fortdauern auf Erden bis in Ewigkeit. Lebensjahre
(5) die er auf der Erde verbracht hat: 55. Möge {sie} <er> sich verjüngen ewiglich (und) möge sich sein Ba verjüngen bis in Ewigkeit.