06b: The Diary of Merer

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2013

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Building the Giza monuments. In the last years of Khufu’s reign, work on the Great Pyramid was nearing completion. From this period, the Diary of Merer provides unexpected testimony: a record of workers contributing to the Giza project… Episode Details Date: c. 2600 BCE. The Diary of Merer: English translation and commentary by Prof. Pierre Tallet available in Open Access. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Music by Bettina Joy de Guzman www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Music interludes by Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos. Support the Show at www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com and patreon.com. Audio editing and processing by yourpodcastpal.com. Select References: Lehner and Hawass, Giza and the Pyramids (2017). Monnier and Lightbody, The Great Pyramid 2590 BC Onwards (2019). Tallet, Les Papyrus de la Mer Rouge I: Le "Journal de Merer" (Papyrus Jarf A et B) (2017). Tallet and Lehner, The Red Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids (2021). Verner, The Pyramids: The Archaeology and History of Egypt’s Iconic Monuments (2020). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode was recorded in March 2022.
0:04.0	It includes new information published after my original episodes.
0:09.0	I am currently working on a full revision and rewrite of The Great Pyramid story, but that is taking a while.
0:15.8	I am recording this episode in Cairo, not far from the Giza Plateau, so this tail comes as close to the source as possible.
0:26.1	Enjoy! And the Hello everyone and welcome back to the History of Egypt podcast.
0:55.0	Today I tell the story of a bureaucrat, an accountant.
0:59.0	His name was Merrhehr and he contributed to the enormous construction project that took place at Giza in the reign of Kufu.
1:08.0	Merrhe and a team of workers whom he supervised were involved in the Great Pyramids Construction.
1:15.1	Their story survives in a set of diaries, and these diaries came to light quite recently.
1:22.2	Let's explore.
1:24.0	On the shores of the Red Sea,
1:30.0	on the shores of the Red Sea, far from the Nile Valley, sandy hills meet sparkling waters.
1:38.0	The cool breeze blowing from the north fills the sails of pleasure boats and mammoth vessels cargo ships traverse the horizon
1:47.2	as they leave the Suez Canal and head for distant lands. This coast seems a world away from the Nile, the land of the
1:55.7	pharaohs and the great monuments of ancient Egypt. But looks can be deceiving. Out here, archaeologists are discovering wonders,
2:06.0	amazing records of labor and accomplishment.
2:09.0	On the shores of the Red Sea,
2:11.0	scientists are resurrecting a long forgotten world.
2:17.0	Our story begins at a site called Wadi al-Jarf.
2:21.2	This is a riverbed, or W in the eastern deserts near the coast.
2:26.1	The Wadi al-Jaf emerges in the hills and then flows down towards the sea.
2:32.1	Today it is sandy and dry, but when the rains come the dry soil turns to mud or even floods,
	...

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