Edition of Osirian ritual texts on fragmentary late hieratic papyri from the Tebtynis temple library

• Applicant: Dr. Andrea Kucharek
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410389338

The object of the present proposal, as announced in the original proposal, is the continuation of the current project . Ist foremost aim is to make available Osirian ritual texts from the temple archive of the Roman Period Tebtynis temple in the Fayum. Additionally, some smaller Graeco-Roman Period fragments or excerpts of Osirian rituals from other places are included, mostly such which may also derive from a temple context or are associated with excerpts of the liturgy The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys already published in the first volume of the projected series.A relatively large number of ritual texts on hieratic papyri is preserved from the Graeco-Roman era. These papyri were almost exclusively produced for the burial equipment of private individuals, as the rituals' purpose – to revivify the murdered god and provide for him in the netherworld – was applicable to any human deceased as well. Those papyri preserve the ritual texts, but their significance in regard to their proper frame of reference, the temple cult of Osiris, is severely limited.The current as well as the proposal submitted here intends to address this precise academic void, based on the singular character of the manuscripts at ist disposal. Ist aim is to publish the Osirian ritual papyri of the sole Egyptian temple library extant to any appreciable degree. The proposal, therefore, does not intend merely to publish further Osirian papyri; it is in the position to provide a corpus from a specific place and date from the original Sitz im Leben of these papyri, the cult of Osiris. This permits to address aspects like the practical organisation of the Osiris cult in both ist daily and ist festival manifestations, or the existence of a local theology of the god. The basis as well as the results of such a study would be expected to convey incentives for the study of other cults.The extensive preliminary work, funded by a Leibniz Award Project, has already resulted in the publication of a first volume. Volumes 2 and 3 are being prepared in the course of the current project. The object of the present proposal is the publication of two further volumes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants