Personalization of Amduat Papyri during the Third Intermediate Period

During the Third Intermediate Period, Amduat is regularly introduced in private burials, notably on papyri. Material analysis of these manuscripts highlights the fact that they are often written by different scribes. In many cases, even on luxurious or extremely original manuscripts, a second hand added the name of the deceased. The personalization can be elaborated with other elements—e.g. iconographic representations of the deceased and her ba (papyrus of Ankhesenaset, Paris, Louvre, N 3109); “metadiscourses” reformulating the text with the name of the deceased in place of this of the sun god (papyrus of Khonsumes, Paris, BnF Manuscrit Égyptien 154); or text(s) from the Book of the Dead (papyrus of Djedkhonsuiusankh, Paris, Louvre, N 3276; papyrus of Horemakhbit, Berlin, ÄMP P 3001). These additions could be a sign of an anonymous production of manuscripts. However, they are certainly meaningful. Presented as a cosmographic treatise, the Book of the Hidden Chamber has no clear funerary character. The inscription of the name and of funerary formulas underlines its significance for the regeneration of the deceased. It could therefore contribute to the ritual aspects of the papyri.