Timekeeping at Akhet Khufu, as shown by the Diary of Merer
Abstract
The discovery of the Diary of Merer (papyri Wadi al-Jarf) allows us to see the Egyptian calendar applied in a logbook. The diary is dated to the 26th year of reign of Khufu and describes Merer and his crew transporting the limestone blocks from the Tura quarries to Akhet Khufu, that is, the pyramid of Khufu (Old Kingdom). We find a calendar with 30-day months, 10-day weeks, five epagomenal days (Tallet, 2017) and Merer's job adapted to the seasons of the year. Seasons and epagomenal days have names according to inscriptions on the east wall of the Tehne tomb of Nj-k'-'nh (Nikaiankh), end of Fourth Dynasty or early Fifth Dynasty. The Diary gives us an overall impression of extreme modernity in the logistics of ancient Egypt. And Merer looks like a person with a reputation for good timekeeping at Akhet Khufu.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2411.08061,
title = {Timekeeping at Akhet Khufu, as shown by the Diary of Merer},
author = {Amelia Carolina Sparavigna},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.08061},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
In this new layout, it is inserted a section about Pierre Tallet's paper regarding the Papyrus H, which is evidencing the epagomenal days. According to Pierre Tallet, 2017, the Wadi el-Jarf papyrus are the first attestation of the epagomenal days and, consequently, of the Egyptian Civil Calendar. A discussion about Ne-User-Re is also given