Papyrus UC 32191 is a highly fragmentary accountancy table from Lahun, recording in three sections the attendance of singers and dancers at festivals in year 35 of an unnamed king, probably Amenemhat III. The exact findspot is not recorded, but the festival name 'cloth of Khakheperra' in the account incorporates the throne-name of king Senusret II, whose pyramid dominates the site at Lahun; indeed, the only securely attested religious architecture at Lahun is the pyramid complex of king Senusret II, with the cult focus in the Valley Temple beside the town site at Lahun.

Temple staff were recruited each month from a pool of labour divided into groups, five in the Old Kingdom and Ptolemaic Period, four in the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom. The Egyptian word for such a group was sA meaning 'protection', 'guard', 'watch'; Egyptologists often use the Greek translation phyle. The three sections give (1) attendance at the 'five days over the year', (2) attendance for the twelve months by singers and dancers from the first, second and third of the four 'watches', and the dancers from the fourth 'watch', and, carried over onto the back of the papyrus for space, (3) attendance by singers from the fourth 'watch'.

The names of the performers are written in one column, grouped into 'watches' and divided into singers and dancers; the festivals at which they performed are written in the headings to each of the other vertical columns with attendance marked in each column level with each name.

A notable feature of the document is the prominence of foreigners among the dancers, with Asiatic and Medjay men outnumbering the Egyptians. No singer is identified as a foreigner.

This document records only the supply of singers and dancers from the four 'watches'; it provides no evidence for or against broader participation in the 'festivals'. Some may be small-scale secluded ceremonies within the temple, rather than more 'public' festivals.

There is also no visible distinction here between (1) festivals celebrated throughout Egypt, (2) those celebrated within one region of Egypt, and (3) festivals local to Lahun. Here the presence or absence of parallels may help:

1. the festivals of Sokar and Nehebkau are attested throughout Egypt and from the Old Kingdom to the Roman Period, and can therefore be identified as national festivals
2. the festival named the sailing of Hathor recalls the Ptolemaic Period 'marriage' between Hathor of Dendera and Horus of Edfu, two widely separated cities of southern Upper Egypt; the festival name identifies the goddess as 'Hathor of Hutnennesut' (Ihnasya), and therefore this may be a regional festival involving the transport of a temple image from Ihnasya to Lahun and back
3. the 'cloth of Khakheperra' festival incorporates the throne name of king Senusret II, and were therefore local to Lahun

Translation of second and third sections of UC 32191.

Second section of UC 32191

Key to festivals in the second section of the account: the number of each festival is that given in the table below, and is followed by the Egyptian name of the festival as it appears in the original document, in transliteration and, in single quotation marks, translation

Month 1 Flood

1 wp rnpt 'opening of the year'

2 HAt rnpt 'front of the year'

3 ihhy 'jubilation'

The names of perhaps four other festivals from this month are lost in the gaps between fragments.

Month 2 Flood

4 xnp Sa 'pouring the sand'

5 mnxt xa-xpr-ra 'cloth of Khakheperra (Senusret II)'

Month 3 Flood

6 xt xAwy m Ssp itrw 'evening offering in taking the river'

7 Ssp itrw 'taking the river'

8 Abd 'month'

9 axw [...] (reading and translation uncertain)

Month 4 Flood

10 Xnt Hwt-Hr 'sailing of Hathor'

11 Hb skr 'festival of Sokar'

Month 1 Winter

12 nHb-kAw Nehebkau

13 fAt aHt (?) 'raising the field (?)

Month 2 Winter

14 Hb skr sTA skr 'festival of Sokar - dragging Sokar' (over two consecutive days)

15 Abd 'month'

16 mddnt 'half-month'

Month 3 Winter

17 Xnt nt tA 'sailing of the land'

Month 4 Winter

no festivals recorded for this month

Month 1 Summer

18 mddnt 'half-month

Month 2 Summer

19 Hb HqA anx wDA snb 'festival of the ruler may he live, be healthy and well'

Month 3 Summer

no entries preserved for this month

Month 4 Summer

no entries preserved for this month

Tabulated translation of second section of UC 32191.

For numbers of festivals see key above; for attendance P = present, A = absent (Egyptian wS), empty square = not preserved.

Third section of UC 32191

Key to festivals in the third section of the account: the number of each festival is that given in the table below (numbers 1-19 from second section where identifiable there; numbers 20-23 only found in this third section), and is followed by the Egyptian name of the festival as it appears in the original document, in transliteration and, in single quotation marks, translation

Month 1 Flood

1 wp rnpt 'opening of the year'

3 ihhy 'jubilation'

The names of perhaps four other festivals from this and/or subsequent months are lost in the gaps between fragments.

At least two months (from recurrence of 15 and 16) between Month 1 Flood and Month 2 Winter

15 mddnt 'half-month'

16 Abd 'month'

20 hrw n sfT nTr 'day of butchery for the god'

The name of perhaps one other festival lost between 20 and 21

21 wrH nTrw 'anointing of the gods'

The name of perhaps one other festival lost between 21 and second occurrence of 20

20 hrw n sfT nTr 'day of butchery for the god'

15 mddnt 'half-month'

16 Abd 'month'

22 Xnt nt HwtHr nbt Hwt-nn-nswt 'sailing of Hathor lady of Hutnennesut'

Month 3 Winter

17 Xnt nt tA 'sailing of the land'

Month 4 Winter

16 Abd 'month'

23 rnpwt 'year'

Tabulated translation of third section of UC 32191, being continuation of second on the back of the manuscript.

For numbers of festivals see key above; for attendance P = present, A = absent (Egyptian wS), empty square = not preserved.

Copyright © 2003 University College London. All rights reserved.