The famous “Shipwrecked Sailor” papyrus was kept in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (papyrus No. 1115) and named so by its first translator and researcher, Golenishchev. This title has become generally accepted in Egyptology. The work is characterized not by historical and everyday authenticity but by a description of the hero’s extraordinary adventures and an abundance of fantastic elements (hence, not a “story,” but a “tale”). The text also contains many expressive pictorial details that give it special persuasiveness, even in purely fantastic episodes. Golenishchev even compared it with Arabian “1001 Nights”, especially with “Sindbad the Sailor,” which also describes sea adventures (Ignatov, 2017). Indeed, in its uniqueness and vividness of imagination, it exhibits the reality perception of ancient Egyptians, thus, being similar to the “Odyssey.”
The events of the story are on behalf of a servant of an official whose expedition was unsuccessful. The servant wants to cheer up the nobleman and tells about his experience of a shipwreck. As a result, he finds himself on a distant mystical island, Punt. The island’s ruler is a serpent who narrates about the endured losses and suffering. The hero promises to tell the Serpent’s story to Pharaoh to reward him for this torment. However, the island dweller will explain that his world is already a source of all kinds of exuberance, and nothing could compensate for the loss of his loved ones (Lichtheim 211). In the end, despite the bewitching story at the junction of mysticism and reality, the nobleman is still depressed and afraid of the court.
Thus, this first Robinsonade, known in world literature, ends with a happy ending. Elements of entertainment are quite obviously combined in it with instructive ones. The beginning and ending testify that the main character tells the whole story to glorify a truthful and humble word that can save a person, and determine his fate (Mark). The tale illustrates how the sincere and accurate answer of the shipwrecked sailor rescued him and gained the sympathy of the wise and powerful Serpent.
The words of the Serpent once again confirm that the island is something unusual and mysterious. The definition of “KA island” possibly indicates that it contains “prototypes,” “doubles” of absolutely all things which are responsible for immortality. Then the hypothesis that Serpent Island is a blissful place associated with immortality seems even more likely. This is the typological parallel with Eden. The perversion of the ancient archetype in the Bible becomes even more apparent: a person with immortality loses it due to the snake’s wiles (Mark). By chance, a person gets to this place, but its paths are closed; leaving him he will never see him again. It is no coincidence that the Serpent claims: “And now you will part with this place – and you will never see it again, for it will turn into the water” (Lichtheim 224). One way or another, the semantic content of the mysterious “Serpent Island” remains controversial and not fully clarified by Egyptologists.
Thus, the tale tells the story of a brave and honest character who came into contact with another world and touched a serpent. It’s impressive how elements of ancient Egyptian culture intertwine with classic sailor adventure stories. One of the earliest stories told in such colors is that Shipwrecked Sailor is of great value to world literature, standing on the same shelf as Odyssey and similar epics.
Works Cited
Ignatov, Sergey. (2017). The Ancient Egyptian Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor.
Lichtheim, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian Literature. Vol. 1, Netherlands, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
Mark, Joshua. “The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Epic.”World History Encyclopedia, 2021.