Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Comic Papyrus during Pharaohs Era... by Dr. Hawass


Sun 12 Apr 2020 | 03:49 AM
Ahmad El-Assasy

We are always used to reading about the architecture of the Pharaohs, art, temples, and cemeteries, all of which talk about death and the other world, but here I will present to you interesting topics that the ancient Egyptian left us, including a papyrus known as the comic papyrus.

They are two animals that play macrophages, and this papyrus dates back to 3,000 years, that is, the Ramesses era, and this comic papyrus is being preserved in the British Museum in London.

It depicts comic cartoons that are animals making movements that are not performed by non-humans; so we see two friendly enemies participating together in the macrophages game, and it was one of the games loved by the Pharaohs.

It may resemble chess game currently, but the macrophages rules are still unknown. As for the two enemies, the artist represented them in the form of a lion and antelope, as well as the intense competition between them appeared in the game.

Another scene, dating back to the Ramesside era, depicts the procession of monsters and geese. This view is also present in the British Museum, and it is part of the previous papyrus.

This comic part includes a familiar view of the Pharaohs, a scene of a cat standing on its hind feet, and the cat next to it is another animal that may resemble a fox and stands behind the cat and holds a bundle on its shoulder and holds a stick.

It’s strange, the picture shows a lion on its hind feet. In addition, we see a cat holding a stick with its left hand as it makes goose walking behind the first lion, and it is strange that we see a small goose on its right hand.

Another comic scene is located at the Chicago University in America, and this scene shows two animals that harm a boy. This scene was painted in red and black, and it is depicted on a fissure of stone.

It may refer to the artist’s view of the inverted conditions in society, so he drew this view to express his vision of the situation in the country.

We know that the well-known scenes on the walls of the tombs depict the owner of the cemetery as employees or nobles sitting in his chair while his servant disciplines one of the workers or peasants working on his land.

This is one of the familiar scenes that we always see on cemeteries. Therefore, it is believed that this scene was depicted in this way to be an illustration of a story written for children, and the animals do the same stories that were used by the Adamites.

By Dr. Zahi Hawass