1. Establish that the stories are using elements of mythological storytelling to convey astronomical data;
2. Offer a new understanding of what Khufu seeks for his horizon or Pyramid through a new translation of a critical phrase within the story of Djedi; and
3. Establish a timeframe based on the astronomical data encoded within the stories that has been interpreted to date.
I make extensive use of the translations provided by Nederhof and all quotes from the stories in this paper are attributable to Nederhof unless otherwise specified.
To establish that the stories of the Westcar Papyrus are using elements of mythological storytelling, I turn to Kelly who has studied indigenous knowledge systems and found that across a range of pre-literate cultures that mythological storytelling aids in the memorialisation of knowledge. Kelly relates this process to that of the Greek orators:
Kelly also notes that in Indigenous societies, these stories are often performed repetitively, in ritual at specific locations, making use of memory palace techniques. Despite being a literate culture, there is evidence within the Westcar Papyrus stories that they have been constructed in such a manner, perhaps to aid memorialisation of certain data contained within the stories.Quote
“The Rhetorica ad Herennium advises its orators that to make information most memorable, mental images should be as striking as possible with vibrant active characters displaying exceptional beauty or singular ugliness. They should be engaged in striking or comic effects involving heroes and trauma, disasters and great feats.”
The first story in the Westcar Papyrus has suffered from significant loss of content with only the end of the story available. There is a significant portion of the second story available and translated which has suffered from significant lacunae. Therefore, the analysis will commence with the third story “The Wonder of Djadjaemankh” which is set as though being told to the Pharaoh Khufu by his son Prince Baufre. It tells of a wonder or act of magic performed during the time of the IVth Dynasty Pharoah Snofru (Sneferu) by the Chief Lector Priest Djadjaemankh. The story is unusual in its treatment of the deceased Pharoah Snofru who is presented as petulant, starting out with his introduction as being bored or depressed and in need of cheering up, requiring the immediate attention of the Chief Lector Priest:
The Pharoah Sneferu and Chief Lector Priest Djadjaemankh are already being formed as vivid characters when the story takes a comical turn as Djadjaemankh prescribes that being rowed on his lake by the most beautiful women in his palace will cheer the Pharoah. The comical aspect of the story is ramped up when Pharoah Sneferu accepts Djadamankh’s prescription and mandates that these women be full breasted, have braided hair, take off their clothes and wear nets:Quote
[...] day, the things that have not happened every [room] of the palace (l.p.h.!) to seek distraction for himself, but he couldn't find any.
Then he said: "Go and bring me the chief lector priest and book-scribe Djadjaemankh."
And he was brought to him immediately. Then His Majesty said to him:
"I've gone through every room of the palace (l.p.h.!) to seek distraction for myself, but I couldn't find any."
The characters of Djadjaemankh and Pharoah Snofru in the story thus far have already become vivid, memorable and comical. The story is about to setup trauma through the loss experienced by one of the rowers:Quote
“Then Djadjaemankh said to him:
“may Your Majesty proceed to the lake of the palace (l.p.h.!), and man a ship with all beautiful women from inside your palace. The heart of Your Majesty will be gladdened by seeing them row a trip back and forth, and seeing the beautiful reeds of your lake, and seeing its (surrounding) fields and its beautiful watersides. Your heart will be gladdened by this."
"So I will arrange my rowing trip. Let me be brought twenty oars of ebony plated with gold, with handles of sqb-wood plated with electrum.
Let me be brought twenty women who have beautiful bodies, who have well-developed bosoms, who have braided hair, and who have not been opened by childbirth. And let me be brought twenty nets and let these nets be given to these women after their clothes have been taken off."
And one did as everything that His Majesty had ordered.”
This passage has setup more than the trauma of the young stroke rower losing her pendant as it also introduces the first hint of an astronomical theme. We are told she has become still and her entire side of rowers have stopped rowing. However, there is no information about the other side of rowers having stopped. Therefore, we must assume that they have continued to row and the consequence of rowing on one side only is that the boat will not be travelling in a straight line but will be constantly turning. As such, I propose that the boat is travelling in a circular motion on the lake and this motion of the boat on the lake is representative of the stars and constellations travelling at night as observed from sunset to sunrise.Quote
“Then they rowed back and forth, and the heart of His Majesty was gladdened by seeing them row. Then one woman who was at the stroke oar got entangled in her braids and a fish-pendant of new turquoise fell into the water. Then she became still, without rowing, and her side became still, without rowing.
Then His Majesty said: "Can't you row?"
And they said: "Our stroke has become still, without rowing."
Then His Majesty said to her: "Why aren't you rowing?"
And she said: "This fish-pendant of new turquoise has fallen into the water."
We are treated to a further comical scene where Pharoah Sneferu attempts to convince the stroke rower that he will replace the fish pendant but fails and summons Djadjaemankh setting the Pharoah up as a fool and the priest to become the hero of the story:
Having established the elements of a mythological tale including vivid characters, trauma and a hero performing an incredible act, lets examine whether the characters of the story could also have an astronomical meaning to them.Quote
“Then the chief lector priest Djadjaemankh said his magic spell and put one side of the water of the lake on top of the other, and found the fish-pendant lying on a shard.
He then fetched it and gave it to its owner. Now, as for the water, it was twelve cubits in its middle, and it ended up being twenty-four cubits after its folding up.
Then he said his magic spell and returned the parts of water of the lake to their positions.”
The fish pendant is described in the story as of new turquoise. My initial research led me to believe that the colour turquoise is typically associated by the ancient Egyptians with a Talapia fish. Talapia being an important enough species of fish to the Ancient Egyptians to have a specific hieroglyph which is denoted as K1 in Gardiner’s list. Reviewing Nederhof’s conversion of the Westcar Papyrus original hieratic into equivalent heiroglyphs, I was curious to find that no instance of the fish in fish pendant uses the K1 glyph. Instead, the glyph is K5.
Reviewing Lull and Belmonte, the K5 glyph makes an appearance the Zodiac of Dendera in figures 6.16 and 6.17. On p183, Lull and Belmonte identify one of the constellations containing this fish as Pisces and the other as Piscis Austrinus under the water pouring Hapi (Aquarius).
The K5 glyph is representative of a variety of elephant fish worshipped in a town known as Oxyrhynchus. The Oxyrunchus fish has a connection to the Egyptian god Osiris According to Roca and Mellado,
Plutarch also tells us of a constellation of a ship related to Osiris:Quote
“The oxyrhynchus fish is also of central importance in Plutarch’s account of Set’s fratricidal fight with Osiris in order to wrestle from him the throne of Egypt. After cutting Osiris ́s body into fourteen pieces he spread the pieces throughout Egypt. The phallus was thrown into the river and devoured by three fish”
At the time of telling this story to Khufu, Sneferu would be deceased and as such is linked to Osiris. The rowers are provided with oars made of ebony and plated in gold which I argue is symbolic that they are intended for a mythical boat of the sky. The story tells us that the rower that lost the fish pendant was the stroke for her side. The stroke rower is typically at the stern or rear of the boat. Looking to the rear of Argo, the Southern Cross or Crux appears which is a constellation known the Egyptians as the “Twins and Two Ladies” according to Table 6.1 in Lull and Belmonte. This gives us a clue as to who the rowers represent - the Two Ladies Wadjet and Nekhbet, or the twins Isis and Nepthys. The nets that were given to the rowers offer a clue - bead net dresses are known as far back as the Old Kingdom such as the example from the Museum of Fine Arts demonstrates. These dresses are particularly known in a funerary context which would point to the professional mourners Isis and Nepthys.Quote
“The Egyptians, in fact, have a tradition that Hermes had thin arms and big elbows, that Typhon was red in complexion, Horus white, and Osiris dark, as if they had been in their nature but mortal men. Moreover, they give to Osiris the title of general, and the title of pilot to Canopus, from whom they say that the star derives its name;
also that the vessel which the Greeks call Argo, in form like the ship of Osiris, has been set among the constellations in his honour, and its course lies not far from that of Orion and the Dog-star; of these the Egyptians believe that one is sacred to Horus and the other to Isis.”
There is additional evidence the rowers symbolise Isis and Nepthys. Remembering that Sneferu specifies that the rowers have beautiful bodies that have not been opened by childbirth, the following instructions left by the priests for the performance of the Lamentations of Isis and Nepthys provide a match.
Now, when this is recited the place is to be completely secluded, not seen and not heard by anyone except the chief lector-priest and the setem-priest. One shall bring two women with beautiful bodies. They shall be made to sit on the ground at the main portal of the Hall of Appearings. On their arms shall be written the names of Isis and Nephthys. Jars of faience filled with water shall be placed in their right hands, offering loaves made in Memphis in their left hands, and their faces shall be bowed.
The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys were also regularly performed in temples as part of services. The two young women, who were always beautiful virgins, sang the Lamentations to the accompaniment of tambourines and other musical instruments.
The height of the lake being 12 cubits in the middle and 24 cubits when folded by Djadjaemankh represents the equal number of daylight and nighttime hours of the Egyptian civil calendar. These hours are of varying duration and as such, I do not believe they represent an equinox. For reasons that will become clear as we analyse the story of Djedi, I believe the story is setting up a scene similar to the one seen below where the fish constellation is below the horizon.
The story of Djedi the magician immediately follows that of the Wonder of Djadjaemankh. In this story, it is Prince Hordedef telling the story to Khufu. Almost immediately, this story turns to introduce Djedi a vivid, highly memorable character as he is of an advanced age and yet has a ferocious appetite and is able to perform tricks such as the mending of a severed head:
'There is a commoner called Djedi who lives in Djed-Snofru. He is a commoner a hundred and ten years old, who eats five hundred loaves of bread, a shoulder of beef for meat, and drinks a hundred jars of beer, up to this day. He knows how to mend a severed head. He knows how to make a lion walk behind him, with its leash on the ground.”
The elements of mythological story grow with the trauma of two geese and a bull being decapitated. Djedi an already vivid character is setup as the hero by reanimating these animals.
'Is it the truth what they say, that you know how to mend a severed head?'
And Djedi said:
'Yes, I know how to, sovereign (l.p.h.!), my lord.'
Then His Majesty said:
'Let me be brought a criminal who is in prison, and let his sentence be executed.'
Whereupon Djedi said:
'But not to a human, sovereign (l.p.h.!), my lord! Look, doing something like that to the 'noble flock' is not ordained.'
Then a goose was brought to him and its head was cut off.
The goose was placed at the west side of the audience hall and its head at the east side of the audience hall.
Then Djedi said his magic spell, and the goose stood up, waddling, its head likewise. After one had reached the other, the goose stood up, cackling.
Then he had a hts3-goose brought to him, and the same was done to it.
Then His Majesty had a bull brought to him, and its head was felled to the ground.
Then Djedi said his magic spell, and the bull stood up behind him, its leash having fallen on the ground.
Referring to the bull, we would also expect to find a lion nearby to the Bull which is why I initially identified the bull to Taurus. However, In the tomb of Seti I, there is a magnificent astronomical ceiling depicting the Northern skies.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
The bull shown here is identified in the ceiling as mshtyw Meskhetyu or the Bulls Foreleg. This is known to be the Plough or Ursa Major. The bull is shown with a leash fallen to the ground. Arguably, the best fit from this astronomical ceiling for someone standing in front of the bull is the standing man below the bull with one arm in front of the crocodile and one arm in front. Lull and Belmonte call this unidentified character “Standing Man”. Lull and Belmonte have not reached consensus on standing man’s identification. Lull identifies standing man to Gemini but Belmonte disagrees. The Lion is identified to Leo on p166 of Lull and Belmonte, when discussing the position of the Lion constellations, they are in agreement the Lion constellations in Ancient Egyptian star charts refers to Leo.
Continuing the story, Djedi tells the Pharoah Khufu that he doesn’t know the numbers Khufu seeks setting up a new trauma for Khufu, the resolution of which requires triplets to be born to a hereto unknown priests wife called Ruddjedet. The eldest child will bring the numbers to Khufu setting up something of a tragic comedy which continues to the story following Djedi, where we learn that Ruddjedet lives in a house with another character Reusre. The sun god Re has sent the gods Isis, Nepthsys, Heqet and, Khnum disguised as musicians arrive to assist Ruddjedet, they find Reusre standing with his kilt upside down. In this third story, immediately there are elements of vivid characters, comedy and the trauma of the birth of triplets.
I suggest Reusre is representative of Osiris, whose name according to Mark is the Latinized form of the Egyptian Usir which is interpreted as 'powerful' or 'mighty'. Evidence for an alternative transliteration is found in Unterhaltungsblätter für Welt- und Menschenkunde, which states “Osiris, Gemahl der Isis, geschrieben: Usre oder Usri;” which translates to “Osiris, husband of Isis, written Usre or Usri”.
Further support of Reusre’s connection to Osiris is found in the gift of barley that he gives to the gods following their assistance with the birth. According to Smith, Osiris is associated to barley which is regarded as having sprung from his body. Reusre having relationship to Osiris may be connected to the Egyptian constellation Sah which is made up of a portion of Orion.
Djedi is made more memorable through his rumoured possession of knowledge of the number of chambers of the sanctuary of Thoth. This knowledge is presented as highly valuable to Khufu who wants to use it for his horizon (Pyramid). On the sanctuary of Thoth, Gardiner informs us “I have no light to throw on the whereabouts of the wnt; it may be the name of the sanctuary of Hermopolis Magna, or it may be the name of an earlier sanctuary of Thoth in the Delta; or it may be a purely mythical building”. Examining Thoth as a lunar deity, Boylan interprets that “Thoth is Iooh, the moon." Boylan also tells us The Egyptians had setup a lunar calendar, based on the regular cycles of the moon and that this calendar was important for agricultural purposes. In keeping with the mythological storyline with encoded astronomical data, the sanctuary of Thoth therefore could be the station of the moon, a concept used in the establishment of lunar calendars.Quote
“ He knows the number of chambers of the sanctuary of Thoth. Now, the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt Cheops, justified, spent the day seeking for himself these chambers of the sanctuary of Thoth, in order to make something similar for himself, for his 'horizon'.'
With an understanding of the sanctuary of Thoth to mean the station of the moon, we can examine whether the translation of the word chambers is valid. Nederhof has followed the prior translation of Gardiner for the specific phrase Ipwt to mean “chambers”. Berrgren identifies that this translation is not conclusive and presents on p12 various meanings of one of the roots of the word Ipwt "ip means to 1) count, reckon up, make reckoning (with), assess (dues), pay, allot (to), exact (from), detail (s’one for work), claim (from), examine (persons), recognize (s’one), revise (schedules), take heed of, set in order (bones of decapitated body), muster, assemble (of persons)."
Placing the sentence in context now with the clear astronomical theme of the Papyrus established from the story of Djadjaemankh with the lunar station interpretation of the sanctuary of Thoth, a valid interpretation of the sentence is that “Khufu is seeking the numbers from the <reckoning|details|examination|assessment> of the stations of the moon Khufu wants to use these numbers in his Horizon (aka Pyramid). This could also refer to measurements of some kind.
It is important to identify the children appropriately as in the story of Djedi, Djedi tells Cheops/Khufu that the eldest of the three children will bring him the number of chambers of the sanctuary of Thoth. Reviewing the children that are born to Ruddjedet, the utterances of Isis at their birth tell us:
Nederhof, in his translation includes a footnote that to be historically accurate, Userref should be Userkaf and Keku should be Neferirkare. It is assumed that Sahure is correct as Sahure is the name of a Pharoah that follows Khufu. However, let's examine the evidence in Isis’ utterances that may indicate otherwise. Taking the first child, Isis utters 'May you not be powerful in her womb, in this name of yours of Userref!’ User is a name for Osiris as established above in the discussion on Reusre. Osiris is also connected to the concept of power and of re-birth. As such, I suggest that Userref is a re-birthing of Osiris.Quote
'May you not be powerful in her womb, in this name of yours of Userref!'
'May you not kick in her womb, in this name of yours of Sahure!’
'May you not stay dark in her womb, in this name of yours of Keku!'
Supporting this notion, Budge in discussing the Tuat on p179 “As the sun passed though the Tuat large numbers of souls made their way into his boat, and although it was only the dead sun that was their guide and protector, and his passage was through the realms of the dead which were under the sovereignty of Osiris, the god of the dead, they were brought forth at length to renewed life and light as soon as the boat passed out from the eastern end of the Tuat into the day.”. Budge further expands upon this by discussing the Tuat [pp 259-260] from the perspective of the cult of Osiris and identifies that there “lies a mummified form, representing Osiris, and called Sem-Ȧf, i.e., the “Image (or Form) of “Ȧf”” Further “As Ȧf, the dead body of Ra, passes into our world, his new life begins, and for men and women the night passes away, and a new day is born.” I argue therefore that Userref is in fact Osiris in the form of Ȧf and represents the rising sun in the morning.
Returning to the Westcar story, Isis utters 'May you not stay dark in her womb, in this name of yours of Keku!’ for the third child. Keku is the Egyptian god of darkness, which aligns to Isis invocation. According to Budge, “Kekui represents that period of the night which immediately precedes the day”. Budge further notes that Kekui was at one point considered an Elephantine god identified with Khnemu which came about due to considering Kekui a personification of the Nile god Hapi.
The second child’s name of Sahure is considered to mean “He who is close to Re” with respect to the Pharoah Sahure. This combination of the third child Keku being the period of the night which immediately precedes the day, 2nd child Sahure being close to Re lends support to the notion that the first and therefore eldest child of Ruddjedet Userref is a form of Osiris-Ȧf and therefore represents the rising sun.
The season of growing or Peret roughly translates to October in our calendar. The temple of Re, lord of Sakhbu could refer to the position of the sun. According to Wikipedia on Sachebu:
Letopolis (Egyptian Khem) was in turn associated with the worship of the deity Khenty-Irty. Khenty-Irty is a form of Horus the Elder and is sometimes shown as having the sun and the moon as his eyes.Quote
“Sachebu (also Sachbu) was the ancient Egyptian name of an administrative center in the 2nd Upper Egyptian district of Letopolis. The city was occupied since the Old Kingdom. Her name plays an important role in the tales of the Papyrus Westcar.”
Then His Majesty said:
'When will Ruddjedet give birth?'
(And Djedi said:) 'She will give birth on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Season of Growing.'
Then His Majesty said:
'But that's when the sandbanks of Two-Fish Canal are cut off. Might I visit it myself, so that I could see the temple of Re, lord of Sakhbu!'
This information can in turn be used to attempt to date the event in the story using astronomy software such as Sky Safari or Stellarium, In the epoch expected, each of the constellations may be found in
. The 15th day of the Season of Growing (Peret) will occur 135 days after the start of the Egyptian Civil Calendar year. Each of the constellations identified will be visible in the night sky immediately prior to dawn between mid-late October and mid November in the expected timeframe of Khufu. That is except for Piscis Austrinus, the fish which will be below the horizon directly beneath Argo. If we accept the constellation mapping I have identified, it points to a time of year around starting mid October to mid-late November. This allows a very broad strokes dating of Khufu's pyramid as highlighted in bold below (2725 BCE - 2577 BCE).
According to Wikipedia on the Egyptian Civil Calendar:
Wikipedia - Sothic Cycle
However, because the civil calendar was exactly 365 days long and did not incorporate leap years until 22 BC, its months "wandered" backwards through the solar year at the rate of about one day in every four years.
In order to determine the date of 1 Thoth 1 for a given year, we need to establish a baseline - the Wikipedia article again offers:
Wikipedia - Sothic Cycle
Most scholars either move the observation upon which he based this forward by one cycle of Sirius to 19 July 2781 BC or reject the assumption that the document in question indicates a rise of Sirius at all.
I assume this is a Julian date and not Gregorian. Schaefer calculates that in the epoch described the heliacal rise of Sirius would occur about three days earlier.
What are the uncertainties in these dates? A variation in the extinction co-efficient by one sigma (0.09 magnitudes per air mass) results in a variation in the heliacal rise dates of typically 2 days. The year to year variation in the optimal longitude will result in variations of up to one day, with the typical variation being half a day. Any change in the observers latitude from 30 degrees North will result in close to 1 day change for every degree of difference in latitude (the heliacal rise date becomes later as the observer moves north. If the Egyptians were basing their calendar on the requirement of first sighting for a single year then clouds will provide a variable delay perhaps averaging a day or so. On top of this will be observational error, both with false alarms and missed sightings, which is a few percent of the time for similar observational tasks. In all, the observational task of recording the date of the heliacal rise of Sirius has a one-sigma scatter of a few days.
I used the Sothic Cycle set forth in the Wikipedia article to calculate certain data such as:
Egyptian Calendar Start (ECS) representing New Years day in the Egyptian Civil Calendar
Target Date - being 135 days post the Egyptian Calendar Start to target the 15th day of the first month of the season of growing;
Error range of +/- 3 days. Years presented are BCE.
Year ECS Target -3 days +3 days 2781 19-Jul 1-Dec 28-Nov 4-Dec 2777 18-Jul 30-Nov 27-Nov 3-Dec 2773 17-Jul 29-Nov 26-Nov 2-Dec 2769 16-Jul 28-Nov 25-Nov 1-Dec 2765 15-Jul 27-Nov 24-Nov 30-Nov 2761 14-Jul 26-Nov 23-Nov 29-Nov 2757 13-Jul 25-Nov 22-Nov 28-Nov 2753 12-Jul 24-Nov 21-Nov 27-Nov 2749 11-Jul 23-Nov 20-Nov 26-Nov 2745 10-Jul 22-Nov 19-Nov 25-Nov 2741 9-Jul 21-Nov 18-Nov 24-Nov 2737 8-Jul 20-Nov 17-Nov 23-Nov 2733 7-Jul 19-Nov 16-Nov 22-Nov 2729 6-Jul 18-Nov 15-Nov 21-Nov 2725 5-Jul 17-Nov 14-Nov 20-Nov 2721 4-Jul 16-Nov 13-Nov 19-Nov 2717 3-Jul 15-Nov 12-Nov 18-Nov 2713 2-Jul 14-Nov 11-Nov 17-Nov 2709 1-Jul 13-Nov 10-Nov 16-Nov 2705 30-Jun 12-Nov 9-Nov 15-Nov 2701 29-Jun 11-Nov 8-Nov 14-Nov 2697 28-Jun 10-Nov 7-Nov 13-Nov 2693 27-Jun 9-Nov 6-Nov 12-Nov 2689 26-Jun 8-Nov 5-Nov 11-Nov 2685 25-Jun 7-Nov 4-Nov 10-Nov 2681 24-Jun 6-Nov 3-Nov 9-Nov 2677 23-Jun 5-Nov 2-Nov 8-Nov 2673 22-Jun 4-Nov 1-Nov 7-Nov 2669 21-Jun 3-Nov 31-Oct 6-Nov 2665 20-Jun 2-Nov 30-Oct 5-Nov 2661 19-Jun 1-Nov 29-Oct 4-Nov 2657 18-Jun 31-Oct 28-Oct 3-Nov 2653 17-Jun 30-Oct 27-Oct 2-Nov 2649 16-Jun 29-Oct 26-Oct 1-Nov 2645 15-Jun 28-Oct 25-Oct 31-Oct 2641 14-Jun 27-Oct 24-Oct 30-Oct 2637 13-Jun 26-Oct 23-Oct 29-Oct 2633 12-Jun 25-Oct 22-Oct 28-Oct 2629 11-Jun 24-Oct 21-Oct 27-Oct 2625 10-Jun 23-Oct 20-Oct 26-Oct 2621 9-Jun 22-Oct 19-Oct 25-Oct 2617 8-Jun 21-Oct 18-Oct 24-Oct 2613 7-Jun 20-Oct 17-Oct 23-Oct 2609 6-Jun 19-Oct 16-Oct 22-Oct 2605 5-Jun 18-Oct 15-Oct 21-Oct 2601 4-Jun 17-Oct 14-Oct 20-Oct 2597 3-Jun 16-Oct 13-Oct 19-Oct 2593 2-Jun 15-Oct 12-Oct 18-Oct 2589 1-Jun 14-Oct 11-Oct 17-Oct 2585 31-May 13-Oct 10-Oct 16-Oct 2581 30-May 12-Oct 9-Oct 15-Oct 2577 29-May 11-Oct 8-Oct 14-Oct 2573 28-May 10-Oct 7-Oct 13-Oct 2569 27-May 9-Oct 6-Oct 12-Oct 2565 26-May 8-Oct 5-Oct 11-Oct 2561 25-May 7-Oct 4-Oct 10-Oct 2557 24-May 6-Oct 3-Oct 9-Oct 2553 23-May 5-Oct 2-Oct 8-Oct 2549 22-May 4-Oct 1-Oct 7-Oct 2545 21-May 3-Oct 30-Sep 6-Oct 2541 20-May 2-Oct 29-Sep 5-Oct 2537 19-May 1-Oct 28-Sep 4-Oct 2533 18-May 30-Sep 27-Sep 3-Oct 2529 17-May 29-Sep 26-Sep 2-Oct 2525 16-May 28-Sep 25-Sep 1-Oct 2521 15-May 27-Sep 24-Sep 30-Sep 2517 14-May 26-Sep 23-Sep 29-Sep 2513 13-May 25-Sep 22-Sep 28-Sep 2509 12-May 24-Sep 21-Sep 27-Sep 2505 11-May 23-Sep 20-Sep 26-Sep 2501 10-May 22-Sep 19-Sep 25-Sep 2497 9-May 21-Sep 18-Sep 24-Sep 2493 8-May 20-Sep 17-Sep 23-Sep 2489 7-May 19-Sep 16-Sep 22-Sep
Thus the timeframe established based on the astronomical decoding of the papyrus in conjunction with the Sothic Cycle would be between circa 2725 BCE and 2577BCE.
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