Tulli Papyrus
Encyclopedia
The Tulli Papyrus is an oft-cited document of questionable origins that some have interpreted as evidence of ancient UFOs.
During a visit to Cairo
in 1933, Alberto Tulli, a director of the Egyptian section of the Vatican museum, supposedly found an interesting papyrus
in an antique shop. The price was too high, however, and a copy was made of the text, which was then re-copied, replacing the original hieratic
script with hieroglyphic. It is this copy of a copy, i.e.
that has been translated and widely reproduced. The copy is characterized by "deletions", where parts of the text are elided. These may be deliberate attempts to make the content appear mysterious; or they may be legitimate notation
s showing gaps or holes in the original manuscript.
An Italian nobleman, Prince Boris de Rachewiltz
, claimed to have found the original papyrus, "untranslated and unpublished," among the papers which had been left by the deceased Tulli. In introducing his find to Doubt magazine in 1953, he described the original fragment as written in hieratic, that the script was faded, and that it had several lacunae (gaps) in the text.
He named an Egyptologist, Étienne Drioton
of the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo
, as the one who had actually retranscribed it from the original hieratic script into the more familiar hieroglyphics. Drioton was not only on staff at the Cairo Museum, he was also an authority in his own right
and is routinely referenced by others in the field. While de Rachewiltz asserts that the papyrus forms part of the library of Thutmosis III
, nothing in the document
refers to a pharaoh
by name - somewhat regrettable, but not without precedent.
The resulting transcription
has been translated by Boris de Rachewiltz
and several others. The content seems to revolve around "circles of fire" that flew through the sky on two separate occasions, separated by a few days. While some sources discount Rachewiltz's credentials, he was a well-known scholar, and some of his works are still used today (e.g., "Maxims of the Ancient Egyptians," translated by Guy Davenport in 1987). The quality of his translation
is considered acceptable; moreover, the transcribed Egyptian text that survives stands up to scrutiny and does not appear to be an obvious hoax
.
Rachewiltz's translation caused some controversy. In recent years it has been a subject of discussion in UFO literature. The Vatican
denies having either copy made by Tulli. It is currently believed that the document had never been a part of the Vatican's collection, and remained Tulli's personal property. Upon Tulli's death it was supposedly left to a relative and lost. Lately a copy of the original transcript, as published by de Rachewiltz, is reported to have been found in an American library by anthropologist and UFO proponent R. Cedric Leonard
, who proceeded to translate it (see Leonard's translation below).
In summary, the Tulli Papyrus is not a papyrus, but rather a translation of a modern transcription of an alleged Egyptian document, the location of which is currently unknown, and has only been reported by three individuals (i.e., Tulli, Drioton and Rachewiltz). No scientific analysis can be made without examining the original for authenticity. The so-called 'circles of fire' might possibly be explained by natural phenomena; however Leonard's preferred rendering 'fiery disks' makes this interpretation a little more problematic.
A recent study by Franco Brussino, published in Egittologia.net web pages, revealed that the Tulli Papyrus is a forgery, made up by a kind of collage of fragments taken from nine different papyruses. The source was the Egyptian Grammar
by Sir Alan Gardiner
, considered the most thorough textbook of the Egyptian language, published in 1927.
After several days had passed, they became more numerous in the sky than ever. They shined in the sky more than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits of the four supports of heaven [...] Powerful was the position of the Fiery Disks.
The army of the King looked on, with His Majesty in their midst. It was after the evening meal when the Disks ascended even higher in the sky to the south. Fish and other volatiles rained down from the sky: a marvel never before known since the foundation of the country. And His Majesty caused incense to be brought to appease the heart of Amun-Re, the god of the Two Lands. And it was [ordered] that the event [be recorded for] His Majesty in the Annals of the House of Life [to be remembered] for ever."'
During a visit to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in 1933, Alberto Tulli, a director of the Egyptian section of the Vatican museum, supposedly found an interesting papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
in an antique shop. The price was too high, however, and a copy was made of the text, which was then re-copied, replacing the original hieratic
Hieratic
Hieratic refers to a cursive writing system that was used in the provenance of the pharaohs in Egypt and Nubia that developed alongside the hieroglyphic system, to which it is intimately related...
script with hieroglyphic. It is this copy of a copy, i.e.
- hieratic original → hieratic copy → hieroglyphic copy
that has been translated and widely reproduced. The copy is characterized by "deletions", where parts of the text are elided. These may be deliberate attempts to make the content appear mysterious; or they may be legitimate notation
Notation
-Written communication:* Phonographic writing systems, by definition, use symbols to represent components of auditory language, i.e. speech, which in turn refers to things or ideas. The two main kinds of phonographic notational system are the alphabet and syllabary...
s showing gaps or holes in the original manuscript.
An Italian nobleman, Prince Boris de Rachewiltz
Boris de Rachewiltz
Prince Boris de Rachewiltz was an Italian-Russian Egyptologist and writer on Africa and the ancient world. He studied Egyptology at the Pontifical Biblical Institute ....
, claimed to have found the original papyrus, "untranslated and unpublished," among the papers which had been left by the deceased Tulli. In introducing his find to Doubt magazine in 1953, he described the original fragment as written in hieratic, that the script was faded, and that it had several lacunae (gaps) in the text.
He named an Egyptologist, Étienne Drioton
Etienne Drioton
Étienne Drioton was a French Egyptologist, archaeologist, and Catholic canon.-Biography:...
of the Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms....
in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, as the one who had actually retranscribed it from the original hieratic script into the more familiar hieroglyphics. Drioton was not only on staff at the Cairo Museum, he was also an authority in his own right
and is routinely referenced by others in the field. While de Rachewiltz asserts that the papyrus forms part of the library of Thutmosis III
Thutmose III
Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...
, nothing in the document
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
refers to a pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
by name - somewhat regrettable, but not without precedent.
The resulting transcription
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
has been translated by Boris de Rachewiltz
Boris de Rachewiltz
Prince Boris de Rachewiltz was an Italian-Russian Egyptologist and writer on Africa and the ancient world. He studied Egyptology at the Pontifical Biblical Institute ....
and several others. The content seems to revolve around "circles of fire" that flew through the sky on two separate occasions, separated by a few days. While some sources discount Rachewiltz's credentials, he was a well-known scholar, and some of his works are still used today (e.g., "Maxims of the Ancient Egyptians," translated by Guy Davenport in 1987). The quality of his translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
is considered acceptable; moreover, the transcribed Egyptian text that survives stands up to scrutiny and does not appear to be an obvious hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
.
Rachewiltz's translation caused some controversy. In recent years it has been a subject of discussion in UFO literature. The Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
denies having either copy made by Tulli. It is currently believed that the document had never been a part of the Vatican's collection, and remained Tulli's personal property. Upon Tulli's death it was supposedly left to a relative and lost. Lately a copy of the original transcript, as published by de Rachewiltz, is reported to have been found in an American library by anthropologist and UFO proponent R. Cedric Leonard
R. Cedric Leonard
Richard Cedric Leonard is an author and lecturer on the pseudohistorical belief in ancient astronauts and the mythical city of Atlantis.-Biography:...
, who proceeded to translate it (see Leonard's translation below).
In summary, the Tulli Papyrus is not a papyrus, but rather a translation of a modern transcription of an alleged Egyptian document, the location of which is currently unknown, and has only been reported by three individuals (i.e., Tulli, Drioton and Rachewiltz). No scientific analysis can be made without examining the original for authenticity. The so-called 'circles of fire' might possibly be explained by natural phenomena; however Leonard's preferred rendering 'fiery disks' makes this interpretation a little more problematic.
A recent study by Franco Brussino, published in Egittologia.net web pages, revealed that the Tulli Papyrus is a forgery, made up by a kind of collage of fragments taken from nine different papyruses. The source was the Egyptian Grammar
Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs
Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs was written by Alan Gardiner and first published in 1927 in London by the Clarendon Press. It has been reprinted several times since. The third edition published in 1957 is the most widely-used version for the subject...
by Sir Alan Gardiner
Alan Gardiner
Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner was one of the premier British Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century...
, considered the most thorough textbook of the Egyptian language, published in 1927.
Rachewiltz's Translation
- In the year 22 third month of winter, sixth hour of the day (...2...) the scribas of the House of Life found it was a circle of fire that was coming in the sky (Though) it had no head, the breadth of its mouth (had) a foul odour. Its body 1 rod long (about 150 feet) and 1 rod large, It had no voice... They hearts become confused through it, then they laid themselves on the bellies (...3...) They went to the King ..?) to report it. His Majesty ordered (...4...) has been examined (...5...) as to all which is written in the papyrus-rolls of the House Of Life His Majesty was meditating upon what happened. Now, after some days had passed over these things, Lo! they were more numerous than anything. They were shining in the sky more than the sun to the limits of the four supports of heaven. (...6...) Powerful was the position of the fire circles. The army of the king looked on and His Majesty was in the midst of it. It was after supper. Thereupon, they (i.e. the fire circles) went up higher directed to South. Fishes and volatiles fell down from the sky. (It was) a marvel never occurred since the foundation of this Land! Caused His Majesty to be brought incense to pacify the hearth (...9... to write?) what happened in the book of the House of Life (...10... to be remembered?) for the Eternity.
R. Cedric Leonard's Translation
"In the year 22, of the third month of winter, sixth hour of the day [...] among the scribes of the House of Life it was found that a strange Fiery Disk was coming in the sky. It had no head. The breath of its mouth emitted a foul odor. Its body was one rod in length and one rod in width. It had no voice. It came toward His Majesty's house. Their heart became confused through it, and they fell upon their bellies. They [went] to the king, to report it. His Majesty [ordered that] the scrolls [located] in the House of Life be consulted. His Majesty meditated on all these events which were now going on.After several days had passed, they became more numerous in the sky than ever. They shined in the sky more than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits of the four supports of heaven [...] Powerful was the position of the Fiery Disks.
The army of the King looked on, with His Majesty in their midst. It was after the evening meal when the Disks ascended even higher in the sky to the south. Fish and other volatiles rained down from the sky: a marvel never before known since the foundation of the country. And His Majesty caused incense to be brought to appease the heart of Amun-Re, the god of the Two Lands. And it was [ordered] that the event [be recorded for] His Majesty in the Annals of the House of Life [to be remembered] for ever."'
Further reading
- Trench, Brinsley Le Poer, "The Sky People," Neville Spearman Limited, London, 1960.
- Rosenberg, Samuel, “UFOs in History” in Edward U. Condon's, Final Report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, Conducted by the University of Colorado, Bantam Books, New York, 1968.