Four fragments of the Book of the Dead of Senemnetjer were identified at Trento's Castello del Buonconsiglio, according to ANSA.
The newly discovered fragments belong to the papyrus of Senemnetjer, who was the admiral of the fleet and chief oarsman of the temple of Ptah located at Memphis. The papyrus is datable to the reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE) and was found at Saqqara. Until now, only two fragments of this papyrus were known: one preserved at the Archaeological Museum in Florence, and another that was lost but known thanks to a drawing copied by Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius.
Papyri of the Book of the Dead ascribable to the Memphite necropolis are rare. Most of the papyri dating to the same period come from Thebes, where the text was developed during the 18th Dynasty (1539–1292 BCE). The papyrus of Senemnetjer is among the earliest known examples of this funerary text, which was used to guide the soul of the deceased on its journey to the afterlife.
What makes the Senemnetjer papyrus notable is its compositional variant with text organized in two registers, a format attested only at Saqqara. Few examples in the world exhibit this arrangement. Only two other manuscripts bearing this particular layout are complete: the papyrus of the royal nurse Bakai, kept at the National Museum in Warsaw, and the papyrus of Nebseni, housed at the British Museum in London.
The discovery of these fragments enhances the significance of the Trentino Egyptian collection. The collection at the Buonconsiglio Castle was donated in the 19th century by Taddeo de Tonelli, an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a collector, and a passionate admirer of ancient Egypt. Between 1821 and 1827, Major de Tonelli served as commander of the Austrian troops in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, a role that facilitated his acquisition of artifacts. During his command, the port of Livorno was the arrival point for shipments of Egyptian artifacts that had departed from Alexandria, as detailed by ANSA.
De Tonelli's proximity to Michele Arcangelo Migliarini, the director of the Florentine collections, and his presence in Tuscany during that period suggest that he may have acquired the papyrus fragments through the second expedition organized by Giuseppe Nizzoli, the consular chancellor of Austria in Egypt. Many objects in the Trentino collection correspond with those preserved in Florence, supporting this theory.
The hieroglyphic text of the papyrus of Senemnetjer, along with its illustration, identifies it as a funerary writing of a magical-funerary nature that served to guide and aid the deceased in the afterlife. In ancient Egyptian, the Book of the Dead is called "Formulas for Going Forth by Day." The composition of magical-funerary texts offers a new key to understanding the history of Ancient Egyptian funerary practices.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
