Zur Frühentstehung der Osirisliturgien an den Beispielen der Kapellen des Osiris Ptah Neb Anch und Osiris Neb Anch in Karnak

Abstract

Summary Papyrus Schmitt, dated in early Ptolemaic times, offers a clue to the earliest date of the writing of the mortuary liturgies of the Old and Middle Kingdom, which were transformed into Osiris liturgies. Mortuary liturgies were always recited from papyrus scrolls, as attested for example by the ritual Papyrus BM EA 10819 from the New Kingdom. Examples of Osiris liturgies on papyrus as part of the grave goods of private individuals are generally attested from the early Ptolemaic period onwards. At the same time, there can be no doubt that parts of the mortuary liturgies from the Old and Middle Kingdom were already performed in temples as part of the Osiris cult before their later canonisation on papyrus. In the following, ways of transmission will be presented that can explain the introduction of Osirian recitation texts into the temple cult before the beginning of the Ptolemaic period and thus before the point of time universally accepted for the canonisation of Osiris liturgies.