When Prisse d'Avennes bought the Cairo papyrus he could not obtain any reliable information about its origin or where it was discovered. Since he himself was conducting his own archaeological excavations at
Dra' Abu el-Naga and the seller was one of his former workers, he was convinced, as he told the Egyptologist
Chabas, that the manuscript was part of the funerary equipment of one of the Intef kings of the
11th Dynasty, whose tomb he had recently discovered in the necropolis of El-Tarif. has shown, undeniably somewhat older than the known literary manuscripts of the
12th Dynasty and the papyrus can be assigned to the beginnings of the era of the first
Theban Empire. The second text of the
Maxims of Ptahhotep, (columns 4–19), occupies the rest of the papyrus. While the Instructions of Kagemni is unique, the second text of the Maxims of Ptahhotep is known from several other copies, two in the
British Museum, dating to the
Middle Kingdom, and one in the
Egyptian Museum, but they differ somewhat in text from of the original Prisse.
Scriber immortality Be a scribe, put it in thy heart. That thy name may far similarly. More profitable is a book than a graven tombstone, then a chapel wall firmly established. This serves as chapels and pyramids to the a man’s name may be pronounced Assuredly profitable in the necropolis is a name on the lips of mankind. A man hath perished and is corps is become dirt. All his kindred have crumbled to dust but writings cause him to be remembered in the mouth of the reciter. More profitable is a book then the house of the builder, then chapels in the West. Better is then a stabilshed castle and then a memorial-stone in a temple. The Prisse Papyrus composition there is a picture of the socio-cultural relations in the upper strata of Egyptian society in the peak period of the Old Kingdom and then also in the considered time of the creation of the copy in the 11th to 12th dynasty, when the empire was reunified after the
First Intermediate Period ( 2118–1980 BC). The newly established dynasty sought its legitimacy by referring to the legacy of their famous ancestors, where similar elements of learning appear as in the Prisse Papyrus, described here, many copies occurred from the
New Kingdom were found in
Deir el-Medina in the local scribal school. , the last raw hieroglyphic transcription: "
King Huni died and king Snefrue become beneficent king i this entire land and Kagemni was promoted to mayor and vizir" ==Gallery==