Why is the Turin King List (Turin Royal Canon) special in Egyptology?Īll the other lists were recorded on hard surfaces meant to last many lifetimes, such as a tomb, temple walls, or rocks. Royal List of Thutmosis III from Karnak.The King Lists we know of so far include: It is said that these lists were not meant to provide historical information so much as a form of “ancestor worship.” If you remember, we know the ancient Egyptians believed the pharaoh was a reincarnation of Horus on earth and would be identified with Osiris after death.Įgyptologists used the lists by comparing them to each other as well as to data collected through other means and then reconstructing the most logical historical record. Though at first, this may seem to be the most helpful way of tracking the ruling of different pharaohs, it wasn’t very accurate because the ancient Egyptians were famous for omitting information they didn’t like or exaggerating information they felt made them look good. Pharaohs usually commissioned these lists to show how old their royal blood was by listing all the pharaohs in it in an unbroken lineage (a dynasty). It’s believed that the name of the Turin King List’s scribe could be found in the introduction part.Īncient Egyptian King Lists are lists of royal names recorded by the ancient Egyptians in some order. Now made of 160 fragments, the Turin King List lacks two essential parts: the introduction of the list and the ending. But in 1959, Gardiner, the British Egyptologist, proposed another placement of the fragments, including the newly recovered pieces in 2009. One of the essential restorations was made in 1938 by Giulio Farina, the museum’s director. Historians are still finding and piecing together the missing pieces of the Turin King List. Later, some other hundred fragments were pieced together by German and American archaeologist Gustavus Seyffarth (1796-1885). Some 48 pieces of the puzzle were first assembled by French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832). Written in an ancient Egyptian cursive writing system called hieratic, the Turin Royal Canon Papyrus was purchased in Thebes by the Italian diplomat and explorer Bernardino Drovetti in 1822, during his travels to Luxor.Īlthough it was mostly intact and was placed in a box along with other papyri, the parchment crumbled into many fragments by the time it arrived in Italy and had to be reconstructed and deciphered with much difficulty. Although it has sustained much damage, it provides beneficial information for Egyptologists and somewhat aligns with Manetho’s historical compilation on ancient Egypt. Of all the so-called king lists of ancient Egypt, the Turin King List is possibly the most significant. The term comes from a Greek word meaning “rule” or “measuring stick.” A “canon” is a collection or list of scriptures or general laws. The Turin King List is a scriptural canon from the Ramesside period. These mysterious beings are called Gods or Demigods who lived and ruled ancient Egypt for thousands of years. According to ancient texts, there was a time in ancient Egypt before the land of the Pharaohs was ruled by mortals where beings that came from the heavens reigned over the land.
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