AND THE BRITISH MUSEUM

The first volume of tlie Mariette publication' contains fac-similés of nine Papyri, only one of whicli (Pap. 8, pi. 39) belongs to the old. Egyptian empire, and was found at Saqciarah, near JMemphis; the otber eight came from varions parts of the ancient Thebes, Pap. 1, 2, 4, 5^ 1, from Lûqsor, Pap. 3 from Qùrnet-Murray, Pap. 6 and 9 from the Assassif.

The Papyrus assigned to the Old Empire bears the name of an unknown king, and seems to record some historical event, but I grieve to say that both name and text are almost illegible in their présent state : perhaps a close examination of the original would enable us to guess its meanning. H'eter's Papyrus (Pap. No. 3, pi. 6-14) contains a very precious work, afew manuscripts ofwhich — Papyrus Raifé and Papyrus No. 3155 of the Louvre, for instance — are now extant in Europe ; it gives at length the formulée and invocations recited during the préparation and the

1. Publié dans VAcadcmr/, du 1" août 1871, p. 385-387. Je prie les lecteurs anglais d'être indulgents pour les fautes de langage qu'ils pourront rencontrer dans cet article et dans les suivants.

2. Les Papj/rus éf/f/pticns du Musée de Boulaq, publiés en fac-similé sous les auspices de S. A. Ismail-Pacha, Khédive d'Egypte, par Auguste Mariette-Bey. Tome I" (Papyrus V 1 à 9). Paris : Librairie A. Franck,

funeral of tlie mummies\ Upon Papyrus 7 (pi. 36-38) are scrawled some portions of a most important document, liitherto unknown. Mariette lias styled it '* the Book of the twelve hours," because it seems to hold sundry prayers for ©ach of the twelve hours of the day. The medico-magic spells in Papyrus No. 6 (pi. 33-35) are very like those already published by Chabas, Birch, and Pleyte; Brugsch bas given in the Revue archéologique for September 1867, the translation of Papyrus No. 5 (pi. 29-32), the Demotic novel of Setnaû ; and Amen-mesiVs Papyrus (Pap. No. 9^ pi. 40-44) is a well-preserved "" Book of knowing whatever there is in the Lower Hémisphère of Heaven, " a copy of which workj found at Thebes in présence of the Prince of Wales, was translated by Birch seven years ago.

The Papyrî No. 1 and No. 2 are written in the fine hieroglyphic character of the Ptolemaic period. According to Mariette's statement they are not parts of the same M S. ; at ail eventSj they treat both of them the same matter^ and throw some light upon a most obscure point, of Egyptian geography. The fertile province of Fayûm, thougli it be therichest^ is the least known of Upper Egypt. Brugsch has identifiedit with the [Neh]-t xent and [Neli\-t peh'û of the lists '; its real name was Tci-sebakj the land of thegod Sebak, Td-she-t, the land of the basin or lake Meri-t (hence the MoTptî l'.\i.vi of the Greeks), also called H'ûnt. The town situated near the place where the Arsinoite canal discharged itself intothe lake was Ro-h'ûnt, al. Lo-h'ûnt, the mouth of the Wûnt; this M. Mariette very ingeniousky contrives to identify with the modem Illahûn. King Piànxi Meî-amûn, after storming the town of Xenensû, the Unes of the HebrewsandCopts, the -^erac/eo/)o//s of the Greeks, says: —

1. [On le trouvera traduit, ainsi que le Papyrus n" 7, dans mon Mèvwirc sur quelques papyrus du Loucrc, p. 14 sqq.]