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RARE ANTIQUE LETTER ON PAPYRUS
Letter from Maâtka to her sis…
See original version (French)
89
-
RARE ANTIQUE LETTER ON PAPYRUS
Letter from Maâtka to her sis…
See original version (French)
Estimate €8,000 - €10,000
Voluntary lot
Description
RARE ANTIQUE LETTER ON PAPYRUS
Letter from Maâtka to her sister Iryt
A letter on papyrus sent from Heliopolis to Thebes by a woman named Maâtka to her sister Iryt. On the front, in black ink: nine lines of text in Hieratic, of very uniform length (between the first and second lines, a short annotation of four quadrats appears to have been added). The entire original text is preserved, with the exception of a few signs in the last third of line 5, which have been lost due to a horizontal tear in the document (presumably caused by the original folding of the sheet at the time of dispatch). On the reverse, the sender and recipient of the letter are identified in black ink (the annotations appear upside down on the unfolded document, but must originally have been written on the document whilst it was folded, prior to dispatch).
Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty (Amarnian period, 14th century BC)
Height: 12.7 cm – Length: 17.1 cm
(Minor damage and visible losses)
Provenance:
– Auction of 27 October 2017, Ancient Resource Auctions (USA), lot no. 83. Presented untranslated; stated as coming from the collection of Alex Anckonie III (1937–2003), acquired whilst he was serving in the Navy in the 1960s and 1970s, and subsequently part of the Hamdy Sakr collection.
– Private French collection.
Bibliography:
Chloé RAGAZZOLI and Pierre TALLET, “Bons baisers d’Héliopolis”: the letter from Lady Maâtka to her sister Iryt [article], in Bulletin de la Société française d’égyptologie, Year 2017, No. 198, pp. 62–76.
Description:
An important and extremely rare, almost intact papyrus preserving a complete private letter from the New Kingdom. Written in neat hieratic script across nine lines on the front, with the sender’s and recipient’s names noted on the reverse, this letter was sent from Heliopolis to Thebes by a woman named Maâtka to her sister Iryt.
Appearing on the art market in October 2017, this papyrus had previously remained unpublished and undeciphered. It has been the subject of a comprehensive scholarly publication by Chloé Ragazzoli and Pierre Tallet in the *Bulletin de la Société française d’égyptologie*, no. 198, 2017, pp. 62–76, including a facsimile, hieroglyphic transcription, annotated translation and a detailed philological, historical and palaeographic study. The letter was evidently dictated to a scribe, as the style attests.
Here is the translation of the document based on the aforementioned work:
On the reverse:
Maâtka of Heliopolis to his sister / Iryt, in the City of the South
On the front:
Maâtka enquires after his sister Iryt: ‘(May you be) alive, strong and in good health! In the favour of Atum, lord of the Two Lands and of Heliopolis, of Re-Horakhty, of Lousâas – the uraeus of Re –, of Hathor, of Nebet-Hetepet of Mut, Mistress of Acheru, of Wadjet, Mistress of the Two Lands, of Hathor, Mistress of Tep-Ihu, of Sep-a, and of the Ba’u of Heliopolis, that they may grant you favour, love and insight in all things! ’. And she said: ‘How are you? Are you [in good health]? I am well, and every day I pray to Atum, lord of Heliopolis, that you may be in good health. The divine father of Per-Hâpy Kaemouaset enquires after his sister Iryt: ‘May you live, be strong and in good health!’ And he says: ‘How are you? Are you in good health? For I, myself, am in good health.’ And he says: “Truly, I have arranged for a bouquet of offerings from Atum, Lord of Heliopolis, to be brought to you, so that he may protect you.”
This document is an exceptional example of private correspondence from ancient Egypt.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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