History and find spot:
The papyrus P. 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 Todros Bolos, the Prussian consular agent, at Luxor in 1880. The papyrus comes from an unknown excavation in Thebes west, possibly in the Drabu el-Naga area.
Materiality:The papyrus is in good state of preservation. All Margins are preserved. The maximum height of the papyrus is approx. 17.5 cm, its maximum width approx. 17.2 cm.
Textlayout:
The papyrus is inscribed on both sides. The primary inscription on the recto shows a Greek register of tax revenue in kind from Dios Polis (TM 28180; BerlPap P. 1522 R) preserved in two columns (Col. I: remains; Col. II: 20 lines). This register was recorded on a formal longer papyrus, which was cut up for secondary use, the recording of the demotic funerary text on the verso discussed here. P. Berlin SM P. 1522 vso is subdivided into two sections without boundary lines. On the top 1/3 there is the demotic text written in 5 lines. Below the text is a vignette that occupies 2/3 of the height of the papyrus.
Text summary and date:
Demotic text:
The Demotic text (verso) is to be assigned to the group of funerary texts which are summarized under the term 'letter for breathing (tꜣ šꜥ.t n snsn)' (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 (synoptic translation); 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).). The papyrus was written for Pamonthes, son of Tai?-Patous?, who died in the age of 55. The scribe, who is not named in the text, most certainly also drew the vignette.
According to Vleeming, op.cit., 674-675, Smith, Traversing eternitySmith, M., Traversing eternity. Texts for the afterlife from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (Oxford, 2009)., 558-559, and Scalf, op.cit., 106-111, this text group can be dated in all probability to the 2^nd century AD. The remains of the first inscription in Greek on the recto unfortunately show no specific date, but can also be dated to the 2^nd century AD.
Vignette
Of the 46 formulaic texts that make part of the text type 'letter for breathing (tꜣ šꜥ.t n snsn)', 16 are illustrated. The vignette of P. Berlin SM P. 1522 rto, belongs to the iconographic type of the 'presentation before Osiris'. It is located in the centre below the text and takes the major part of the height of the papyrus sheet. The size of the scene allows a very detailed drawing. 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(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).