Following , started from the XIXth century , our knownledge was enlarged from acceded documents thanks to Champollion in hieroglyphes ; I want to speak about Tables and of the famous papyrus of Turin
About tables I want to notice to you two types :Starting the middle of XIXth century , our knowledge was increased , due to the decepherement of cuneiform and the access to assyrian annals , persians and so on....
Main references are found in Old Testament .
Books to be quoted are :
* Genesis .
* Exodus .
* Kings .
* Chronicles .
Grecs was in relationship with Egypte under the reign of Pharaoh Psametique Ist , where
first contacts was with ioniens ' s pirates and also cariens . They was famous bronze men from who "
revenge " against Assyrians , " would come from the sea and when would appear men of bronze " , according to an oracle of the city
of Buto . We are in 663 B . C . and Psametique decided to make alliance withthis ioniens grecs and
cariens , too . Psametique make alliance with Gyges an usurpator in Lydia . Soon after expulsion of
Assyrians the power of the King was this new force bronze men who was grecs mercenaries .
This attitude permit an equilibre against the influence of egyptian army , always under the libyans , who
are at the origin of the XXIIth dynasty, and following one . Grecs are inveted to built a
castle in the oriental delta , in Daphne .
Later they founded a town called Naucratis , in the western delta . This town became very flowrish .
Numerous graffiti were engraved in Egypte and they give us many informations on this period ; we could found ,
an exemple in Abu Simbel .
For the following period we find the Father of History Herodote .
Herodotos was borm in Halicarnasse about 484 B . C . and dead in Thourioi about 420 B . C . He
wrote many books concerniong many journeys in Europe , Asia and Africa . His main work , very known , is his Histotires
in 9 books , he wa enable to achieve his work . For the study of Egypte , book II and III are largest used .
Book II or Euterpe is divided in two parts : from chapter 2 to chapterr 98 he described Egypte 's geographia ,
and from chapiter 99 he described the history .
To him we due names Kheops , Khephren and Mykerinus ?
We are indebt also by description of centuries before his epoch , mainly events precised
which started in the XXXVIth dynasty .
For other grecs authors we could find :Aristodémus , Aristophanos , Diodorus , Hesychius , Isocrates , Justin , Ktesias ,
Menandros , Philocorus , Pline , Plutarque , Polyen , Pseudo-Aristote , Theopompos , Theucydites et Xenophon .
From certainly , De Iside of Plutarque we could obtain precise informations .
Manéton was an egyptian priest who lived under the reign of Ptolemee II , the Lagide . He was
born from city of Sebennytos in central delta . He wrote about 271 B . C . his
Aiguptiaka or chronicles where he classified Pharaohs in thirty one dynasties .
We possess , at the present time , only quotations from fragments or summary breadth . It is necessary to us to
use the version from Flavius Joseph , or Julius Africanus or from Georges the Syncelle .
-1°)-Official Tables :
* Palermo stone .
* Abydos Tables , one in Sethy Ier 's temple , and the other one
is from his son 's temple , that is Ramses II , this last one
is situated , now in London , in the British Museum ( Nbr 117 ) .
* The table from Karnak .
* List in the second pylon of Ramesseum and dated from Ramses II .
-2°)-Private tables :
* TheSaqqarah 's table .
* The Table of Marseilles , or offering table .
* List from Khâbekhnet 's tomb in Deir el Medineh .
* List from Inherkhâ 's tomb , in Deir el Medineh too .
* List from Iymiseba 's tomb , which date from XXth dynasty .
* List from Irdjanen 's tomb , which date from XIXth dynasty .
This papyrus , wrote in hieratic , in possession of the Turin Museum . It was descovered by
Bernardino Drovetti , around 1816 , it was in good state and a very bad use during the transport ( used like
a under horse saddle ! ) damaged it defenitly .
Champollion started his study in november 1824 in the height of the Museum of Turin in fact he called it :
"the columbarium of the History " , he was then ( according to a letter writed 6 November 1824 ) " seized like
a cold mortal when seeing on the table of ten feet of length recovered ... a layer of papyrus remains " . He
continues a little bit after, always in the same letter : " But the most important papyrus , that whose I will regret
always the complete mutilation and that it was a real treasure for the history it is a chronological table , in
fact a real Royal Canon " .
On 15 november he wrote to his brother : " eventually , I have collected among remains of this royal canon that it was
was a real Manéthon hieratic handwriting , approximately one hundred sixty to one hundred heighty royal names
; a lot are complete , but a lot also are curtailed.. ... .. I confess the greatest disappointment of my literary life
that I have discovered this manuscript in a state spo despairing . I never be console . It is an
injury that will no bleed long ."
He reports in a small fragmentary notebook that occupied 37 pages in -8° . He classified them according to our
alphabet from the letter " A " to " Uu " .
The final publication was realized by the brother of Champollion, Champollion - Figeac , in 1850 , in the " Archaeological Review " , plate 149 .
It seems that the papyrus was no longer degraded since 1824 , and K . Lepsius published it , in its editio princeps around 1842 ( Auswahl , plats 3 to 6 ) .
It was from this period that the papyrus was studied particulary from hieroglyphic Text , according to the disposition of fibers and also by tax list , back of
this papyrus . This Tax list is dated from Ramses II . Wilkinson intervened in publication , too .
The most important work , after those of Champollion is due to German Gustav Seyffarth who studied more particularly the joints
fragments , we are in 1826 .
A new arrangement was undertaken by the Italian Farina and by Ibscher , work that ends to be published in 1938 : Il papyro dei Re restaurato .
Finally in 1953 Sir Alan Gardiner studied it , after three travels in Turin . This study ends in 1959 and a large hand hieroglyphic book was published
under title " The Royal Canon of Turin" by " Oxford University Press ".
To see some photographs of this CANON , let's click !
To those who want to know more , connect you to pages The Ancient Egypt Site ; Turin Canon .