How to find the oldest papyrus in Egypt
Egypt of the past! The Bedouins were advancing on camels in the midst of the dhudhu desert and the scorching sun. Even the shadow of a huge pyramid standing in the distance may suddenly come to mind. But the thread of imagination bursts there. Because we don't know much about the life of the people of ancient Egypt.
The discovery of antiquities in Egypt is not a very important subject.Because of the civilization that began about four thousand years ago, it is only natural to find traces of the nation's long history from time to time. But in the meantime, some discoveries have highlighted parts of this ancient civilization that have forced everyone from archaeologists to ordinary people to move.
That is what happened in 2013, when a team of French and Egyptian archaeologists found several pieces of papyrus in an ancient cave.In terms of age, these papyri are the oldest papyri found in Egypt. These oldest documents are found in the archaeological site of Wadi El-Jarf, an ancient Egyptian port, off the coast of the Red Sea. It is possible to know something new from any readable document. If that document is thousands of years old, then the handful of histories can excite any archaeologist.
This discovery is known in detail from the accounts of Egyptian experts Pierre Tallet and Gregory Maruard. Their team discovered this treasure of papyrus. According to the report, a team of archaeologists recovered hundreds of pieces of papyrus from the cave. Some of the papyrus there were almost intact, even the rope tied to it was intact! These ancient documents were later placed in a glass frame and submitted to the Egyptian Ministry of Archeology.What was written on these papyri that have been hidden from human sight for thousands of years? How was this ancient archive found? Let's try to know them one by one.
Pierre Tallet and his team were working on the wreckage of an ancient naval base called Wadi El-Jarf. They were really working in the middle of the vast desert. The nearest town is Saffron, about 25 kilometers or 15 miles away.In the first phase of the excavation, which began in 2011, the team discovered several clues that provide evidence that the Wadi El-Jarf naval base was used about 4,600 years ago. Neither Toulette nor his party had a clear idea of what exactly was being done through this port, built during the Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
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In 2013, the third phase of the excavation was carried out by Tolet and his team digging a small road leading to the Wadi El-Jarf watercraft gallery section. Then they find a cave mouth stuck with two giant stone chai. The huge collection of ancient papyrus was recovered from that cave. Written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and hierarchical language, these papyrus fragments reveal the relationship between the Wadi El-Jarf and the Pyramid of Giza.At the same time, the details of the daily work of the workers of four thousand years ago can be found in these ancient documents.
Although Tallitt brought this unprecedented discovery to the forefront of the world, few have interpreted the region before. It is from such an article that Toulette's interest in this region arose. That article was written by British investigator John Gardner Wilkinson. He arrived in the area in 1823, and spent some time crossing the desert near the Red Sea.