GEMF 30/PGM II (P. 5026)
Dreams played an important role in ancient Egypt and the ancient world in general. Only in a dream could a dead person appear to a living one. Furthermore, people believed that dreams could predict the future. For this purpose, priests would perform rituals, which contained various anthems to the gods, in order to receive an oracle. However, for these rituals to be successful, the priests had to follow certain instructions, which were written down in magical texts. Such a text is in the exhibition at the “Neues Museum” in Berlin.
The Greek papyrus dates to the late second or the early third century AD and was most likely written in the city of Thebes, located by the Nile River. In 1857, Richard Lepsius bought the papyrus from the collection of Giovanni Anastasi, a Greek salesperson in Paris, for the collection in Berlin. The papyrus is a fragment of what was originally an entire scroll, and includes the end of a magical guide. Another fragment of this magical guide, which has been directly linked to the papyrus in Berlin, is in the British Library in London at the moment. It appears that the once coherent text was cut apart at an unknown date before the sale.
Four columns of text remain on the papyrus in Berlin. The first three of these span the entire height of the papyrus, while the fourth is notably shorter. However, the papyrus mainly includes a drawing of a headless spirit of the dead (akephalos). There are more little drawings scattered throughout the rest of the text, either directly in the text, along the edge or, in the case of the scarab in the third column, under the text. These drawings are not merely illustrations but served as a template for magical drawings, which had to be adapted to different mediums. Additionally, the fourth column was written in a different ink than the previous columns. The reason behind this is still being investigated. Apart from a crack spreading the length of the papyrus and obscuring a few letters in the first column, the text on the papyrus in Berlin is complete.
The text at hand includes a collection of instructions, anthems and prayers. They seem to be an attachment to a description of a ceremony, which intends to summon a dream oracle from the god of the sun Apollo-Helios-Harpocrates and the ghost of a person, who died a violent death, in one´s sleep. The ghost of a dead person may seem confusing at first. However, dead people and gods, who appear in the dreams, were given almost the same level of meaning and importance. The power of a human grew significantly after his death and even his knowledge became nearly unlimited. Humans, who had died very early, unmarried or violent deaths, were assumed to be more vengeful and vicious. However, if one managed to convince a violently murdered dead soul to provide help in the shape of an oracle, this oracle was considered to be of greater value.
The remaining section of text enumerates many instructions for the process of the oracle-ritual. It includes, for example, a description of a recipe for remembering the words said in the dream. First, the mouth had to be cleaned with frankincense. The next step was to make a balm out of honey, the forb Artemisia and a loadstone from the heart of a Eurasian hoopoe, and apply this on the lips of the oracle´s intended recipient. Another recipe to help memorize the dream used a mixture of water with laurel, caraway and solanum. This mixture had to be drizzled in the right ear of the oracle´s intended recipient on the evening of the dream oracle. In addition to this, there are a few directives detailing how to sketch magical drawings. The ink used to write down the magical words had to be made out of the herbs myrrh, potentilla reptans and Artemisia vulgaris. Even the location of the ritual needed to be appropriately prepared. The mattress had to lay on the floor under the open sky and the place would be cleansed with the milk of a donkey. Furthermore, the sacrificial offerings had to be brought to the altar prior to sleeping. The person seeking the oracle was to lay on their right side, holding a laurel crown in their right hand. The laurel crown also needed to be produced in accordance with specific instructions.
When looking at the papyrus, the large drawing of the headless spirit of the dead, in Greek akephalos, catches the eye. According to ancient understanding, he was a figure representing neither good nor bad. This differs from the more ominous interpretations prevalent in many other cultures. Surrounding the spirit of the dead human are magical words, so-called voces magicae, which were believed to strengthen the spell. Written on his body are Greek vowels with further magical significance. This drawing was placed next to the head of the sleeper.
During the dream-ritual, anthems were sung to a specific god, in order to compel him to send the soul of the respective dead person, of which the sleeper would have a body-part or some clothes, and let his soul appear in the dream of the sleeper. This particular magical text includes two anthems, dedicated to Apollo, the god of light and wisdom, and Helios, the god of the sun. In regards to a meeting with the gods, specific directives and even means of coercive action are provided. Initially, the god was asked to permit the sleeper an oracle. Should the ritual fail, it would be repeated the following day with additional sacrificial offerings. For every following failure of the ritual, another sacrifice would be placed upon the altar until the god brings the dead soul from the underworld and into the dream of the sleeper. When meeting the god, the sleeper would have to offer him the sacrifices. Now he was able to talk to the dead soul. After hearing everything he needed to know, the god was released and the last magical words spoken. Upon waking, the sleeper would share his dream and be counselled by special priests.
Many oracles were received in this manner and frequently influenced the course of ancient history. Therefore, this text provides us with a valuable insight on ancient dream-literature.
