Story of Wenamun

Story of Wenamun
Pushkin Museum
Also known asMoscow Papyrus 120
TypePapyrus
Datec. 1000 BCE
Place of original-Hibah, Egypt
Language(s)Egyptian
Scribe(s)Unknown
Discovered1890
Wenamun in hieroglyphs



wn.jmn

The Story of Wenamun (alternately known as the Report of Wenamun, The Misadventures of Wenamun, Voyage of Unamūn, or [informally] as just Wenamun) is a literary text written in hieratic in the Late Egyptian language. It is only known from one incomplete copy discovered in 1890 at al-Hibah, Egypt, and subsequently purchased in 1891 in Cairo by the Russian Egyptologist Vladimir Golenishchev. It was found in a jar together with the Onomasticon of Amenope and the Tale of Woe. The story features a mixture of literary tropes along with an administrative writing style, which has led to a longstanding uncertainty about whether it is a fictitious account or a genuine historical document. Despite this, what scholars can agree on is its importance in showing the political and religious state of Egypt during the transition between the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period.

The papyrus is now in the collection of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, and officially designated as Papyrus Pushkin 120. The hieratic text was published globally after finding new ownership in 1960, and the hieroglyphic text was published by Gardiner 1932. The text itself was fully digitized in 2007.