Discovering the Longest Papyrus in history

6 July

Discovering the Longest Papyrus in history

Egypt has been always surprising us with new discoveries about Ancient Egypt. Today we will tell you about the most recent discovery in 2022 which will make you believe in the greatness of the ancient Egyptians more and more. Pharaohs were competing to create the biggest and the tallest objects in the world and surprisingly after thousands of years, these objects were still on top. Let’s begin the story of discovering the amazing and longest papyrus in history, which is called “Waziri Papyrus”.

Waziri Papyrus Discovery

The SCA mission did a great excavation work in Saqqara city in May 2022 which led to the discovery of the oldest and biggest papyrus in history. They named it ‘Waziry Papyrus’ after Mostafa waziry, the head of the expedition.

The papyrus was discovered wrapped in linen inside the coffin of someone called Ahmose which dates back to the beginning of the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BC).

What makes the papyrus unique is that it’s 16 meters long and contains 113 chapters of the Book of the Dead, and it’s found in very good condition. Most of the test was written in black clear ink, and a few lines were written in red ink.

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir was originally built in 1901, and today it has witnessed a newly renovated wing that hosts the newly discovered papyrus and presents it in the opening as the main attraction. You can now visit The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to enjoy visiting the ‘Waziry Papyrus’ plus over 120,000 other pieces of the Egyptian history.

About the Book of the Dead

Have you ever heard about the book of the dead? Or have you wondered what is inside this mysterious book? This book was the main text of the newly discovered papyrus, let’s tell you a summary about this book.

The book of the dead was created from the beginning to help the deceased in his journey to the underworld through some special religious spells and funerary texts. These spells or text were a way of calling the gods or chants and prayers, not spells to bring people back from the dead. Through the time, they have added more spells and texts and use them everywhere inside the tomb of the deceased like on the walls, coffins, or linen shrouds.
One of the famous spells of this book is the “Weighing of the Heart” where the god Anubis would lead the deceased before Osiris to make him swear that he didn’t commit any of the 42 sins listed for all humans. Then the god takes his heart and put it in one of a pair of scales against a feather, if his heart was lighter than the feather, then he will be worthy of a place in the afterlife.

This was an interesting part from the mysteries of Ancient Egypt, you can witness the greatness of this history by yourself while visiting each tomb and museum inside Egypt. This is to know more interesting stories and legends about the civilization of first human being of the earth.