The papyrus was brought from Egypt
by an English traveller, and was purchased by the Berlin Museum from the
property of Lepsius, who had received it from the owner, Miss Westcar:
hence it is known as the Westcar papyrus. It was written probably in the
XIIth Dynasty, but doubtless embodied tales, which had been floating
for generations before, about the names of the early kings. It shows us
probably the kind of material that existed for the great recension of
the pre-monu-mental history, made in the time of Seti I. Those ages of
the first three dynasties were as long before that recension as we are
after it; and this must always be remembered in considering the
authority of the Egyptian records.
This papyrus has been more thoroughly studied than most, perhaps more
than any other. Erman has devoted two volumes to it; publishing the
whole in photographic facsimile, transcribed in hieroglyphs,
transcribed in the modern alphabet, translated literally, translated
freely, commented on and discussed word by word, and with a complete
glossary of all words used in it. This exhaustive publication is named
"Der Marchen des Papyrus Westcar." Moreover, Maspero has given a
current translation in the "Contes Populaires," 2nd edit. pp. 53-86.
The scheme of these tales is that they are all told to King Khufu by his
sons; and as the beginning is lost, eight lines are here added to
explain this and introduce the subject.
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