The Deir el-Medina Database

P. Turin Cat. 1961

Other nos.: P. Turin Pleyte-Rossi pl. 098-099; P. Turin Cat. 1961 + P. Turin Cat. 2006 (see Remarks)

Description: Light and dark brown papyrus, 14.5 x 32.5 cm, 3 fragments joined (see Remarks ), sheet joins at ca. 5 and ca. 29 cm from the right hand border of the recto. Black and red ink (red now almost entirely faded away). Recto (H/V) bears the remains of 3 columns: col. I 10 lines (see Remarks), col. II 8 lines and col. III 9 lines. Verso (V/H) bears 3 columns: col. I 8 lines, col. II 9 lines (lines 1 and 2 continue above col. III), col. III 7 lines. Top recto = top verso. Damaged: only upper half of papyrus preserved; beginnings of all lines of recto I lost, recto I 1 and 2 hardly legible (red ink on reddish surface), recto II 8 slightly effaced, of recto III 8 and 9 the middle part is missing; verso I 1 is partly effaced and beginning and end of verso I 8 are missing, of. verso II 8 and 9 the middle part is missing, of verso III 7 the end is broken off.

Classification: account - journal : deficit - event - labour

Keywords: beans - beer - bread - carrying torches - dates - death - feast(?) (see Remarks) - firewood - gang - grain rations - inactivity - lentils - Necropolis - passing (guard posts) - plaster - side (of gang) - temple - term - tools - vegetables - working - xtm

Provenance: Presumably acquired by the government of Piedmont for the Turin museum from Bernardino Drovetti in 1823 (see e.g. S. Curto, Storia del Museo Egizio di Torino , 2nd ed., Turin 1976, 45).

Publication: Nassar, GM 257 (2019), 119-140 (photos, description, transcription, transliteration, translation, commentary); Pleyte-Rossi, Papyrus de Turin , 134 and 135 pls. XCVIII and XCIX (description and facsimile of most of recto II-III and verso II-III , commentary); see Remarks

Dates mentioned: sw 19-20 (recto I 1; see Remarks); III pr.t sw 2-5 (recto II 1, 2, 3, 8); III pr.t sw 11-18 (recto III 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9); III pr.t sw 14 (verso II 1?); rnp.t-sp 16 (verso II 2 ); IV pr.t sw 30 (verso II 4(?), for III pr.t sw 30?); IV pr.t sw [...] (verso II 8, 9); IV pr.t sw 16-19 (verso III 1, 4, 5, 7)

Dates attributed: Dyn. 20 (Pleyte-Rossi), year 29 - year 31 Ramesses III (Nassar); year 29 Ramesses III (Helck); see Remarks

Contents: On both recto and verso remains of three columns of journal entries mentioning i.a. days of working and inactivity, receiving grain rations, beer, bread, dates and other victuals, firewood and plaster. Notably recorded are several occasions of passing the guard posts and carrying torches, i.e. signs of protest, and a feast(?) of Amen hotep I on III pr.t sw 15 (see Remarks). In a separate note (added later in a larger handwriting) on the verso a scribe started to write down "the arrears of things/products of the Necropolis, right and left side, from year 16 until year [...] right side through the hand of the scribe Imn-nxt who is dead" (verso II 2-3).

Terminology: iw (verso II 7); iw m Dr.t NN (verso II 5); wp st (verso II 1, 1, 1); wnmy m Dr.t NN (verso II 3, 4); wsf (recto III 5; verso III 1); wsf di.t di.w (recto II 8); wsf m pA 2r (recto II 1); wDA.t n xt wnmy m Dr.t NN (verso I 6); bAk (recto III 1); m Dr.t NN (verso III 6); m Dr.t=f ( recto I 2 ?); nA wDA.w.t n nA ix.t pA 2r wnmy smHy r SAa rnp.t-sp ? r rnp.t-sp ? (verso II 2 - last regnal year not written); hrw pn m Dr.t=f (recto I 2); s.t tn (recto III 2, 3, 4); smHy m Dr.t NN (verso II 6); Ssp n xa.w (recto II 3); di.t diw (recto III 7) unclear: ... m Dr.t NN (verso II 1; see Remarks); nA wDA.w.t ... (verso I 1)

Names/Titles: an. ( pA od ; recto I ~ 4 #; verso II 5, 7); an. ( pA oD ; recto I 4 ; verso I ~8#, II 5, 7); an. ( Hr.y mDAy ; recto III 9); Any-nxt (verso II 8); Imn-nxt ( sS ; nty m Aw ; verso II 3); tA In.t (geo.; recto I ~10# ( ?) ; see Remarks) ; nswt Imn-Htp (king; recto III 5); Wsr-MAa.t-Ra 4tp-n-Ra (king; temple of; verso III 2 , 4 ); BAk-n-2nsw (verso I 6, II 5); PAy-iry (verso II 8); PtH-m-Hb (verso III 6); PtH-ms (verso II 4); 1r ( sS ; verso II 1, 6)

Remarks: Numbers, Description: Pleyte-Rossi pl. 98-99 = 'Cat. 2006' according to Cern MSS.3.572A, with additional fragment Cat. 1961 (Cern MSS.3.551 and 552) and another unnumbered fragment (Cern Nb. 15.82), but these joined fragments together are currently registered in the Museo Egizio as Cat. 1961 (communication S. Toepfer, July 2019). Nassar, GM 257 (2019), 120 counts 12 lines in recto I, but 'recto 3' and '8' are actually blank. Recto II and III are numbered I and II by Pleyte-Rossi, Papyrus de Turin , pl. 9 8 . Keywords/Content: mention of feast(?) of Amenhotep I (recto III 5) discussed by Cern BIFAO 27 (1927), 183 with note 2; Gardiner, JEA 31 (1945), 25 with note 5; Schmitz, Amenophis I. , 24 (no. 8), 26 and 27. Publication: see also Helck, Die datierten und datierbaren Ostraka , 311-314. Date(s) mentioned: sw 19 III <...> sw 20 (recto I 2) corrected into sw 19 900 sw 20 in Černý MSS 3.551. Date(s) attributed: Černý, Community of Workmen , 217, proposes a date between year 16 and year 29 of Ramesses III, but on p. 344 he opts for a date in the reign of Ramesses VI because of the mentioning of the late scribe Imn-nxt . Valbelle, Ouvriers , 34, prefers year 29 of Ramesses III mainly because of the strikes mentioned. Gutgesell, Datierung , 312, rightly remarks that if in verso II 8 the date is to be read as IV pr.t sw 1, it would be the day in year 29 when the mentioned workman Any-nxt was on duty. See also Janssen, BSEG 16 (1992), 42 with notes 10 and 16. Terminology: Gardiner (Notebook 145.29) read xAa (?) m Dr.t NN in verso II 1). Names, Titles: tA In.t (recto I ~10#?) read by Cern MSS.3.551.

Record last updated 2024-07-15

	P. Turin Cat. 1961
Other nos.:	P. Turin Pleyte-Rossi pl. 098-099; P. Turin Cat. 1961 + P. Turin Cat. 2006 (see Remarks)

Description:	Light and dark brown papyrus, 14.5 x 32.5 cm, 3 fragments joined (see Remarks ), sheet joins at ca. 5 and ca. 29 cm from the right hand border of the recto. Black and red ink (red now almost entirely faded away). Recto (H/V) bears the remains of 3 columns: col. I 10 lines (see Remarks), col. II 8 lines and col. III 9 lines. Verso (V/H) bears 3 columns: col. I 8 lines, col. II 9 lines (lines 1 and 2 continue above col. III), col. III 7 lines. Top recto = top verso. Damaged: only upper half of papyrus preserved; beginnings of all lines of recto I lost, recto I 1 and 2 hardly legible (red ink on reddish surface), recto II 8 slightly effaced, of recto III 8 and 9 the middle part is missing; verso I 1 is partly effaced and beginning and end of verso I 8 are missing, of. verso II 8 and 9 the middle part is missing, of verso III 7 the end is broken off.
Classification:	account - journal : deficit - event - labour
Keywords:	beans - beer - bread - carrying torches - dates - death - feast(?) (see Remarks) - firewood - gang - grain rations - inactivity - lentils - Necropolis - passing (guard posts) - plaster - side (of gang) - temple - term - tools - vegetables - working - xtm
Provenance:	Presumably acquired by the government of Piedmont for the Turin museum from Bernardino Drovetti in 1823 (see e.g. S. Curto, Storia del Museo Egizio di Torino , 2nd ed., Turin 1976, 45).
Publication:	Nassar, GM 257 (2019), 119-140 (photos, description, transcription, transliteration, translation, commentary); Pleyte-Rossi, Papyrus de Turin , 134 and 135 pls. XCVIII and XCIX (description and facsimile of most of recto II-III and verso II-III , commentary); see Remarks
Dates mentioned:	sw 19-20 (recto I 1; see Remarks); III pr.t sw 2-5 (recto II 1, 2, 3, 8); III pr.t sw 11-18 (recto III 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9); III pr.t sw 14 (verso II 1?); rnp.t-sp 16 (verso II 2 ); IV pr.t sw 30 (verso II 4(?), for III pr.t sw 30?); IV pr.t sw [...] (verso II 8, 9); IV pr.t sw 16-19 (verso III 1, 4, 5, 7)
Dates attributed:	Dyn. 20 (Pleyte-Rossi), year 29 - year 31 Ramesses III (Nassar); year 29 Ramesses III (Helck); see Remarks
Contents:	On both recto and verso remains of three columns of journal entries mentioning i.a. days of working and inactivity, receiving grain rations, beer, bread, dates and other victuals, firewood and plaster. Notably recorded are several occasions of passing the guard posts and carrying torches, i.e. signs of protest, and a feast(?) of Amen hotep I on III pr.t sw 15 (see Remarks). In a separate note (added later in a larger handwriting) on the verso a scribe started to write down "the arrears of things/products of the Necropolis, right and left side, from year 16 until year [...] right side through the hand of the scribe Imn-nxt who is dead" (verso II 2-3).
Terminology:	iw (verso II 7); iw m Dr.t NN (verso II 5); wp st (verso II 1, 1, 1); wnmy m Dr.t NN (verso II 3, 4); wsf (recto III 5; verso III 1); wsf di.t di.w (recto II 8); wsf m pA 2r (recto II 1); wDA.t n xt wnmy m Dr.t NN (verso I 6); bAk (recto III 1); m Dr.t NN (verso III 6); m Dr.t=f ( recto I 2 ?); nA wDA.w.t n nA ix.t pA 2r wnmy smHy r SAa rnp.t-sp ? r rnp.t-sp ? (verso II 2 - last regnal year not written); hrw pn m Dr.t=f (recto I 2); s.t tn (recto III 2, 3, 4); smHy m Dr.t NN (verso II 6); Ssp n xa.w (recto II 3); di.t diw (recto III 7) unclear: ... m Dr.t NN (verso II 1; see Remarks); nA wDA.w.t ... (verso I 1)
Names/Titles:	an. ( pA od ; recto I ~ 4 #; verso II 5, 7); an. ( pA oD ; recto I 4 ; verso I ~8#, II 5, 7); an. ( Hr.y mDAy ; recto III 9); Any-nxt (verso II 8); Imn-nxt ( sS ; nty m Aw ; verso II 3); tA In.t (geo.; recto I ~10# ( ?) ; see Remarks) ; nswt Imn-Htp (king; recto III 5); Wsr-MAa.t-Ra 4tp-n-Ra (king; temple of; verso III 2 , 4 ); BAk-n-2nsw (verso I 6, II 5); PAy-iry (verso II 8); PtH-m-Hb (verso III 6); PtH-ms (verso II 4); 1r ( sS ; verso II 1, 6)
Remarks:	Numbers, Description: Pleyte-Rossi pl. 98-99 = 'Cat. 2006' according to Cern MSS.3.572A, with additional fragment Cat. 1961 (Cern MSS.3.551 and 552) and another unnumbered fragment (Cern Nb. 15.82), but these joined fragments together are currently registered in the Museo Egizio as Cat. 1961 (communication S. Toepfer, July 2019). Nassar, GM 257 (2019), 120 counts 12 lines in recto I, but 'recto 3' and '8' are actually blank. Recto II and III are numbered I and II by Pleyte-Rossi, Papyrus de Turin , pl. 9 8 . Keywords/Content: mention of feast(?) of Amenhotep I (recto III 5) discussed by Cern BIFAO 27 (1927), 183 with note 2; Gardiner, JEA 31 (1945), 25 with note 5; Schmitz, Amenophis I. , 24 (no. 8), 26 and 27. Publication: see also Helck, Die datierten und datierbaren Ostraka , 311-314. Date(s) mentioned: sw 19 III <...> sw 20 (recto I 2) corrected into sw 19 900 sw 20 in Černý MSS 3.551. Date(s) attributed: Černý, Community of Workmen , 217, proposes a date between year 16 and year 29 of Ramesses III, but on p. 344 he opts for a date in the reign of Ramesses VI because of the mentioning of the late scribe Imn-nxt . Valbelle, Ouvriers , 34, prefers year 29 of Ramesses III mainly because of the strikes mentioned. Gutgesell, Datierung , 312, rightly remarks that if in verso II 8 the date is to be read as IV pr.t sw 1, it would be the day in year 29 when the mentioned workman Any-nxt was on duty. See also Janssen, BSEG 16 (1992), 42 with notes 10 and 16. Terminology: Gardiner (Notebook 145.29) read xAa (?) m Dr.t NN in verso II 1). Names, Titles: tA In.t (recto I ~10#?) read by Cern MSS.3.551.