Early  Journal  Content  on  JSTOR,  Free  to  Anyone  in  the  World  
This  article  is  one  of  nearly  500,000  scholarly  works  digitized  and  made  freely  available  to  everyone  in  
the  world  by  JSTOR.    

Known  as  the  Early  Journal  Content,  this  set  of  works  include  research  articles,  news,  letters,  and  other  
writings  published  in  more  than  200  of  the  oldest  leading  academic  journals.  The  works  date  from  the  
mid-­‐seventeenth  to  the  early  twentieth  centuries.    

 We  encourage  people  to  read  and  share  the  Early  Journal  Content  openly  and  to  tell  others  that  this  
resource  exists.    People  may  post  this  content  online  or  redistribute  in  any  way  for  non-­‐commercial  
purposes.  

Read  more  about  Early  Journal  Content  at  http://about.jstor.org/participate-­‐jstor/individuals/early-­‐

journal-­‐content.    

JSTOR  is  a  digital  library  of  academic  journals,  books,  and  primary  source  objects.  JSTOR  helps  people  
discover,  use,  and  build  upon  a  wide  range  of  content  through  a  powerful  research  and  teaching  
platform,  and  preserves  this  content  for  future  generations.  JSTOR  is  part  of  ITHAKA,  a  not-­‐for-­‐profit  
organization  that  also  includes  Ithaka  S+R  and  Portico.  For  more  information  about  JSTOR,  please  
contact  support@jstor.org.  
 anb DiscoverV.
Exploration
THE WESTCAR PAPYRUS.
By J. HUNT COOKE,
London.
A telescopewhich could give a glimpseinto the past would be indeeda
prize. As yet lenses are made only for distance in space;unhappilyour
opticians do not supply them for distance in time. If this long-feltwant
weremet, forwhichhoweverwe discernvery little hope, it wouldcorrectmany
a historicalnotionnow accepted as unquestionedtruth. In the meanwhile,
the best substituteis an old manuscript,when one can be secured. In the
year 1886 the BerlinMuseumacquireda papyrus,in a somewhatshattered
condition,froma certainMissWestcar,an Englishlady. This was published
at Berlinin 1890,edited by Dr. A. Erman. It has a high value not in being
whatis generallytermeda historicalrecord,that is to say, a list of kings and
theirbattles,but in giving a collection of tales affordinga glimpse at the
prevalentthinkingof the periodwhen it was written. The age of the papy-
rus is almostcertainlythat of Moses,or perhapsa little earlier,a profoundly
interestingand importantera in the world'shistory. It was the time of the
birthof the greatHebrewnation. It evidentlywas one of the floweringperiods
of literature. Every age is important,but this must have been of especial
importanceas a time whenthe formativepowersof muchof the thought of
the ages since were germinated. Poetrytracesits descentfrom Pentaur,and
legislationfromMoses. Into a period like this any glimpse,howeverimper-
fect, awakens our curiosity. The Westcar Papyrushas been batterednot a
little in its morethan thirty centuries of existence. But the portionwhich
remainsis fairly legible and not difficultto understand. It consistsof two or
three tales of wonder,such as Josephmighthavetold, or Moses might have
heardrelatedby Pharaoh'sdaughter. Strange to think of the little bright-
eyed boy standingat the knee of the princess and eagerlylisteningto her
story,filling his little mind with wonder,as he eagerlyasked foranothertale.
More interestingto find out that human natureat the time of the Exodus
was not so marvelouslydifferentfromhumannaturetoday.
I. UBBA-ANIR AND THE WAX CROCODILE.
The first story, that is to say the first in the portion of the MS. recovered,
is in a very imperfect condition at the commencement. But froma word
here and thereon the brokenleaves the sense may be gathered. It is a tale
told to a prince,the son of KingChefu,abouta marvelouscircumstancewhich
49
50 THE BIBLICAL WORLD.

happened during the reign of his father, King Nebka, defunct. On one
occasion His Majesty went to the temple of Ptah and visited the house of the
chief reader, Ubba-Anir. The wife of Ubba-Anir noticed a young man in
the suite of the king. She sent a message to him to visit her. Ubba-Anir
had a country villa on a lake. His wife directed that it was to be put in
order, and made an assignation with the youth to meet her there, where "they
eat, drank, bathed, and took pleasure." This came to the ears of Ubba-Anir,
who became angry. He made a model of a crocodile in wax, and recited
over it magic words. This he gave to his steward. Here the narrative
becomes fairly perfect. "When the evening came the youth went to bathe
as was his custom each day. The steward cast the crocodile of wax after
him into the water, and it became a living crocodile seven cubits long, which
seized the youth. Ubba-Anir was detained with His Majesty King Nebka
seven days. The youth retained his breath. When the seventh day came
King Nebka ordered the chief reader, Ubba-Anir, before him, who said 'Your
Majesty would like to see a prodigy which has happened in the time of your
Majesty.' (They went to the lake.) Ubba-Anir called the crocodile and said
' Bring up the youth.' His Majesty King Nebka was alarmed at the croco-
dile. Ubba-Anir bowed at this and seized the creature, which in his hand
became a crocodile of wax. Then the chief reader told King Nebka what
the youth had done with his wife. Thereupon His Majesty said to the croco-
dile 'Take what is thine and go down.' This the crocodile did and went to
the bottom of the lake, and it is not known what became of him. Then King
Nebka had the wife of Ubba-Anir seized and taken to the north boundary of
the palace. There he gave her to the fire, and (her ashes) to the lake.
Behold a prodigy which happened in the time of King Nebka, performed by
the chief reader, Ubba-Anir. Then His Majesty King Chefu said, 'Now let
there be offered to the defunct I,ooo loaves and Ioo jugs of beer, one ox with
two measures of incense to King Nebka. And with it let there be given one
loaf and one jug of beer, a great piece of meat and a measure of incense to
the chief reader, Ubba-Anir; I have evidence of his skill.' All was done as
His Majesty commanded."
REMARKS.

These tales carry us back to a period anterior to the Exodus of the Child-
ren of Israel, from three to four thousand years ago. They show human
nature to be wonderfully the same then as now. We note the same interest in
what is extraordinary and surprising, and further may learn that marvels
were not of common occurrence, or the story-tellers would not have had to go
back so far into antiquity to find them. For between the age of Chefu and
that of the MS. as generally calculated there must have been 2,000 years.
Were they traditions or inventions ? In all probability the latter, for the lapse
of time between their transaction and narration was very great. They sug-
gest the same delight in fiction, where the good and great are rewarded and
 EXPL ORATION AND DISCO VER Y. 5I

the wicked punished. Had these people been educated like ourselves and
been surrounded with the same circumstances they would not have been dif-
ferent from us.
The story reveals an unexpected view of the state of society in those days
when we learn of that gentleman having a lake villa besides his ordinary
dwelling. This is not the only one in Egyptian literature of the faithlessness
of wives, which was regarded as a great wrong, calling for terrible vengeance.
The narrative indicates a great freedom in the life of ladies in those days and
hence a confidence in the propriety of their conduct. It shows a high moral
tone in this respect. It is worth noting that where an undefined number is
wanted seven is used. The reader was detained seven days, and the croco-
dile was seven cubits long. The foundation of the tale is a belief in magical
powers to be gained from the study of magical books. The power Ubba-
Anir possessed was not very dissimilar to that recorded of Egyptian magic-
ians in the Book of Exodus. Rather noteworthy too is the amount of offering.
The king is to have I,ooo loaves and oo jugs of beer. The magician,
who really should have the glory of the prodigy, only one of each. What
became of all that food, and what was the idea of its service to the departed,
opens up some curious questions. Possibly there was a notion that the corpse
had a Ka (spirit), and the food had a Ka, and so in some way the gifts
were helpful to the defunct. Anyhow the priests, as ever in religious fancies,
gained emolument by the rite.
II. ZAZAMANK AND THE LOST JEWEL.
"I have a tale to tell of a prodigy that happened at the time of thy father,
Seneferoo, concerning the chief reader, Zazamank. One day King Seneferoo
sent for the chief reader, Zazamank, and when he was brought His Majesty
said to him, ' I have sent for you to the palace to seek for me how I can be
happy (find a place of heart-refreshment). I cannot find out for myself.'
Zazamank replied, 'Ah! go to the lake of Pharaoh. Have a barge fitted
out with all the beautiful women of the court. Then the heart of Your Majesty
will be refreshed in seeing their movements in the barge. Thou wilt see the
beautiful prospect of thy lake. Thou wilt see beautiful fields and banks.
Then thy heart will be refreshed. I will sit at the rudder. Get twenty oars
of ebony tipped with gold ; the fittings of precious wood with wrought brass,
Let there be brought twenty beautiful women fair in shape and locks, that are
virgins, attired with lace veils.' This was all done by order of His Majesty.
They went in the boat and the heart of His Majesty was glad. Then a jewel
(a fish of malachite) belonging to one of them was caught in a veil and fell
into the water. The owner stopt rowing and her companions ceased rowing.
His Majesty said 'Why do you not row?' They answered ' Our companion
has ceased rowing.' Then His Majesty appealed to her and she said'My
jewel has fallen into the water.' Then His Majesty said to Zazamank 'My
brother, I have done what you said and the heart of His Majesty was refreshed
52 THE BIBLICAL WORLD.

by seeing these row. But the jewel of a little one has fallen into the water,
and she has ceased to row.' The king promised to replace it, but the girl
replied that it was a favorite jewel. Then the chief reader, Zazamank, recited
an incantation. Thereupon there was lifted up all the water of the lake from
one side to the other, and the jewel was found lying in a potsherd (or shell).
Then he took it to his mistress. Now the water was twelve cubits deep and
fourteen at the bend of the lake. Then he uttered the incantationand brought
the waters of the lake to their proper place. Then His Majesty passed a
happy day, and recompensed Zazamank with all good gifts. Behold the
prodigy which happened in the time of thy father, King Seneferoo, performed
by the chief reader, the Scribe Zazamank. His Majesty King Chefu com-
manded,' Let there be given I,ooo loaves of bread, an ioo jugs of beer,
an ox, two measures of incense to His Majesty King Seneferoo. And also let
there be given a loaf of bread, a jug of beer, and a measure of incense to the
chief reader, the Scribe Zazamank, for I have seen an evidence of his skill.'
And it was done as His Majesty commanded."
REMARKS.

Here again we see how human nature is about the same in all ages. The
king, like great people of today, has his fits of ennui. He seeks the counsel
of the chief reader, a religious officer. This indicates that there were scrip-
tures considered holy in those days, for the reading of which there were officers
-it the temples. The king is to find refreshment in a lake trip, to view the
scenes of nature. Added to this there is something charming in the descrip-
tion of the royal barge, of which Zazamank takes care to have charge of the
helm, to be rowed by twenty fair damsels with beautiful heads of hair and oars
of ebony tipped with gold, whose rythmic movements (for that is probably the
meaning of the curious phrase, literally, seeing them go up and down), in their
lace veils, must have been really very pretty. To be rowed in this fashion all
day long on a sunlit stream would be interesting to most of us now-a-days.
Five thousand years of evolution, or say half that period, has not destroyed
the possibility of enjoyment of such a holiday. There is something very nat-
ural, too, in the young lady's pettish stop at the loss of the jewel. It is rather
a pretty feature in the story that the magician used his power for such an act
of gallantry as to restore to the girl the amulet she prized.
III. THE THIRD STORY.

The third story is incomplete so far as it goes, and is inferior in interest.

The broken lines suggest that it is a tale told by the son of the King Dadafor,
in which he says that the former stories belonged to another age and were not
proven, but there was.a living magician who might be sent for. The man
Dada by name was I Io years of age, and had for food 500 loaves and the leg
of an ox, and for drink Ioo jugs of beer each day. He knew how to replace
a head when cut off, to chase a lion, and the secrets of Thot. He was sent
 EXPLORATION AND DISCO VERY. 53

for by the king. When the messenger arrived he found Dada lying in his
private apartment with one slave to feed him and another to rub his feet.
An interesting instance of the antiquity of massage. He was brought to the
king, who received him in state in the saloon of Pharaoh. The king proposed
that a criminal should be sent for to be beheaded in the court, so as to give
Dada an opportunity of showing his skill. The magician objected to having
a human being thus treated. A goose was brought in, its head was cut off,
the body and head laid on different sides of the hall. As Dada recited his
incantations the two moved together; the head was replaced and the goose
began to cackle. A similar experiment was tried on another bird and then on
an ox. In each case after beheading the head was restored. Then came the
question of the secrets of Thot. Those, however, could only be disclosed by
the eldest of a triplet about to be born. There follows an account of the birth
of the three children attended by a party of goddesses under the direction of
Ra, and the narrative is broken off just when it seems impossible to guess
what was about to happen. Unhappily it is vain to send to any library
for the completion of the novel.