The Will of Mery

This papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 is one of the oldest legal documents found in Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖! The papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛, which is the Will of Mery, is dated to about 1818 B.C.E., which was during the Middle Kingdom. It is currently on display at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at UCL in London! 

You may notice that this papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 is not written in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 or even cursive hieroglyphs! Like most papyri 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛𓏦, it is written using a script called Hieratic. Hieratic is a script that was used on papyri 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛𓏦 and the symbols do not match their hieroglyphic counterparts! I cannot read Hieratic and I have found it quite difficult to learn! Plus the Hieratic symbols have evolved over time so they have changed a lot which only makes it more difficult! 

Luckily, the UCL website has a wonderful translation of this papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 so I was able to read what was being said! This is a will in which a man named Mery (a very popular name 𓂋𓈖 in ancient Egypt) asks for his son 𓅭 Intef to be appointed to his job in the temple of Senwosret II. It also reveals some presumed family drama – Mery cancels the previous will that left things to Intef’s mother 𓅐𓏏𓁐 and then leaves it instead to his children 𓐍𓇌𓀔𓏪 that were born by another woman. 

The UCL website poses some questions such as “Did Intef’s mother die or did Mery divorce her?” – there are some things we will never know! It’s amazing how documents such as these can give us such insight into ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 but still leave us with so many questions! 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

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