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1 Literary Person: Djedi Project Dedi Graucher
1 Literary Person: Djedi Project Dedi Graucher
This article is about the ctional magician. For the month of the schemu-season[9] and travels to Djedrobotic probe studying the pyramids, see Djedi Project. Sneferu. He nds Dedi and invites the old man to the
For the Orthodox Jewish singer, see Dedi Graucher.
kings palace with the words: Your condition is equal
to someone who lives from aging and to someone who
sleeps until dawn, free of illness and wheezing. For ag[3]
[4]
Dedi (also Djedi or Djedi of Djed-Sneferu ) is the
name of a ctional ancient Egyptian magician appear- ing is the time of dying, the time of the preparing the
burial and the time of being buried. This is the quesing in the fourth chapter of a story told in the legendary
Westcar Papyrus. He is said to have worked wonders dur- tioning about the condition of a noble man. I have come
to summon you in order of my father, justied, that you
ing the reign of king (pharaoh) Khufu (4th Dynasty).
may eat from the delicacies my father gives, the food of
his followers. And then he may guide you to the ancestors
which are in the necropolis now.[3] Dedi replies: Wel1 Literary person
come, welcome, Djedefhor, son of the king, beloved of
his father! May you be praised by your father, Khufu the
Dedi appears only in the fourth story of the Westcar Pa- justied. May he let your place be at the front of all timepyrus - there is no archeological or historical evidence that honored ones. May thine Ka successfully champion all
he existed. Nevertheless he is an object of great interest things against any enemy. May thine Ba know the ways
[3]
for historians and Egyptologists, since his magic tricks that lead to the gateway of the mummied deceased.
are connected to later cultural perceptions of the person- Djedefhor brings Dedi to the harbor and makes a boat
ality of king Khufu. Dedi is described as a commoner prepared for traveling. The old man promises to follow
of extraordinary age, endowed with magical powers and Djedefhor, on the condition that he may bring his books
and scholars with him. Djedefhor accepts, and both men
talented in making prophecies.[3][5][6]
travel to Khufus royal palace.
Modern analysis
REFERENCES
These novels show how popular the theme of prophesying already was during the Old Kingdom - just like in
the story of the Westcar Papyrus. And they both talk
about subalterns with magical powers similar to those of
Dedis. The Papyrus pBerlin 3023 contains the novel The
Eloquent Peasant, in which the following phrase appears:
See, these are artists who create the existing anew, who
even replace a severed head, which can be interpreted
as an allusion to the Westcar Papyrus. pBerlin 3023 contains another reference which strengthens the idea that
many ancient Egyptian novels were inuenced by Westcar
Papyrus: column 232 contains the phrase sleeping until
dawn, which appears nearly word-by-word in the Westcar
Papyrus. Since pAthen, pBerlin 3023 and The prophecy
of Neferti show the same manner of speaking and equal
picking up quaint phrases, Lepper and Lichtheim hold
that Dedi (and the other wise men from same papyrus)
must have been known to Egyptian authors for a long
time.[3][5]
4 References
[1] Westcar-Papyrus, column 7, rst row
[2] Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar.
Eine philologische und literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu)Analyse. In: gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 70.
Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 3-447-05651-7,
page 103.
[3] Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar.
Eine philologische und literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu)Analyse. In: gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 70.
Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 3-447-05651-7,
page 41 47, 103 & 308 310..
[4] Djed-Sneferu was the curatorial name of Dahshur during the Old Kingdom. See: Jean Claude Goyon, Christine
Cardin: Proceedings of the ninth International Congress of
Egyptologists, volume 1. page 1128.
[5] Miriam Lichtheim: Ancient Egyptian literature: a book of
readings. The Old and Middle Kingdoms, Band 1. University of California Press 2000, ISBN 0-520-02899-6, page
215 220.
[6] Alan B. Lloyd: Herodotus, book II: introduction, Band 1.
BRILL, Leiden 1975, ISBN 90-04-04179-6, page 104
106.
[7] A word of unsure meaning which may be translated as
sealed chamber or sanctuary"; Egyptologists dispute
the real meaning. See: Jenny Berggren: The Ipwt in Papyrus Westcar. Masters Thesis, Uppsala 2006 (PDF; 2,57
MB)
[8] In this case horizon is a quaint alteration for a royal
cemetery. See: Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar. Eine philologische und literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu-)Analyse. In: gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 70. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN
3-447-05651-7, page 42 & 114.
[9] Egyptian word for spring. See Rolf Krauss: Sothis- und
Monddaten: Studien zur astronomischen und technischen
Chronologie Altgyptens, Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985,
ISBN 3-8067-8086-X
[10] Its assumed by Egyptologists, that the alteration noble ock was a bad pun to the human race in general. See: Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar. Eine philologische und literaturwissenschaftliche
(Neu-)Analyse. In: gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band
70. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 3-447-056517, page 42 & 114.
[11] The bird in question is called khet-aa-bird which means
the bird with long, wooden legs. It is highly uncertain
which race of bird was meant in the papyrus. Verena Lepper thinks about a Eurasian bittern, which is mentioned in
oering lists of the Old Kingdom. See: Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar. Eine philologische und
literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu-)Analyse. In: gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 70. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden
2008, ISBN 3-447-05651-7, page 115.
[12] Ancient Egyptian name of the winter season. See: Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar. Eine philologische und literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu-)Analyse. In:
gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 70. Harrassowitz,
Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 3-447-05651-7, page 116.
[13] Ancient Egyptian name of the Nile. See: Verena M. Lepper: Untersuchungen zu pWestcar. Eine philologische und
literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu-)Analyse. In: gyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 70. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden
2008, ISBN 3-447-05651-7, page 116.
[14] Adolf Erman: Die Mrchen des Papyrus Westcar I. Einleitung und Commentar. In: Mitteilungen aus den Orientalischen Sammlungen. Heft V, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,
Berlin 1890. page 10 12.
[15] Udo Bartsch: Unterhaltungskunst A-Z (Taschenbuch der
Knste). Henschel, Leipzig 1977 (2. Ausgabe), page 85.
External links
Transcription and translating of Papyrus Westcar
(Berlin Papyrus 3033) into English by the transcription of A. M. Blackman (1988) (PDF-File)
Dedi in Papyrus Westcar at resham.org
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