Inversed Writing (‘Mirror Writing’) on the Hieratic Papyrus MMA 28.3.113

Summary

This contribution examines the inversed hieratic inscriptions of pMMA 28.3.113 (26 ^th Dynasty), a small sheet of papyrus intended to be used in a ritual against Apophis. The papyrus displays a grid with six sections, each containing an Apophis snake with a hieratic caption written normally on the verso (standard right-to-left) but in mirror script on the recto (left-to-right). In this contribution, these inversed hieratic captions are compared to the other known examples of hieratic and demotic mirror inscriptions from ancient Egypt, namely hieratic inversions on a Middle Kingdom coffin from the Qubbet el-Hawa (Cairo JE 36418) and two demotic examples from the quarries of Wadi el-Nakhla (Deir el-Bersha; Nectanebo I) and Gebel Toukh (Ptolemais Hermiou; Ptolemaios II). These inversed inscriptions allow the observer to consider questions about how and to what extent hieratic and demotic graphemes changed their shape under the influence of an inversion, and to discuss the reasons for producing a hieratic or demotic mirror inscription. For pMMA 28.3.113, it is argued that the twofold and identical decoration of the recto and verso served to emphasize the figurative aspects of this papyrus so that the act of piercing Apophis would be visible on both sides and at the same spot. In this case, inversing the hieratic caption followed the basic rule of Egyptian art according to which caption and figure shared the same orientation, thus overriding the basic norm of the hieratic script’s right-to-left orientation.