Turin Royal Canon

Papyrus dating to the reign of Ramesses II (1279-1213) inscribed in Hieratic ith a !ist
of the names of "gyptian ru!ers (origina!!y numbering about three hundred)# e$ident!y
copied from a more comp!ete origina!%
&hen it as first ac'uired by (ernardino )ro$etti in the ear!y nineteenth century# it
seems to ha$e been !arge!y intact# but by the time it had become part of the co!!ection of
the *useo "gi+io di ,urin# its condition had deteriorated% ,he di!igent or- of
egypto!ogists .ean-/rancois 0hampo!!ion and 1usta$us 2eyffarth ensured that the many
fragments ere p!aced in the correct order# but many parts are missing%
,he !ist inc!uded the Hy-os ru!ers (often !eft out of other 3ing 4ists)# a!though they ere
not gi$en 0artouches and a hierog!yphic sign as added to indicate that they ere
foreigners% 5part from the names of each of the ru!ers# the !ist a!so cited the precise
duration of each reign# and occasiona!!y pro$ided a summary of the numbers of years that
had e!apsed since the time of the semi-mythica! ru!er *emes% ,here as a!so an attempt
to go bac- beyond the reigns of -non -ings and to assign regna! !engths to the series of
unnamed spirits and gods ho had ru!ed before the appearance of the human pharaohs% It
as presumab!y this type of document that pro$ided *anetho to ith the basis for the
history that he compi!ed in the ear!y third century bc# hich has supp!ied the se'uence of
dynasties sti!! used by "gypto!ogists%
.ean-/rancois 0hampo!!ion
0hampo!!ion arri$ed in ,urin# at the in$itation of 0ount 0osta 2ecretary of 2tate for
2ardinia-Piedmont# on 7th .une 1627 after a 8ourney through the 5!ps that as peri!ous%
0hampo!!ion as then the on!y person to ha$e mastered the trans!ation of hierog!yphs
and as ab!e to read much of the huge co!!ection in ,urin (purchased from )ro$etti by
0har!es /e!i9 3ing of 2ardinia in 1627)%
0hampo!!ion as sent to a room that he!d pieces of papyri that ere considered unusab!e
because they ere fragmented% &riting to his brother# .ac'ues-.oseph# he reported :on
entering the room hich I i!! henceforth ca!! the *auso!eum of History I as sei+ed by
a morta! chi!! in seeing a tab!e 1; feet in !ength co$ered in its entire e9panse ith a bed of
debris of papyri at !east ha!f a foot deep:% ,he papyri had fragmented during their 8ourney
from "gypt to Ita!y and had been !arge!y comp!ete hen )ro$etti purchased it% <$er the
coming months he rote :I ha$e seen ro!! in my hand the names of years hose history
as a tota!!y forgotten= names of gods ho ha$e not had a!ters for fifteen centuries%%% the
!ast refuge of a memory of a -ing ho in his !ifetime perhaps found himse!f cramped in
the immense pa!ace of 3arna-:%
5mong the remains he found >; pieces of a manuscript he dubbed the ?roya! canon?% ,he
,urin Roya! 0anon# as it is no -non# !ists o$er 3;; "gyptian ru!ers% ,he !ist inc!udes
foreign ru!ers# e9c!udes others and has the !ength of reigns% "$en more staggering is that
he recogni+ed the importance of this document# to estab!ish a chrono!ogy# ith his uni'ue
abi!ity to trans!ate - ithout hich these scraps of history ou!d ha$e been !ost fore$er%
@o other pieces of the papyri cou!d be found# and this has caused gaps in the !ist# he
rote :I confess that the greatest disappointment of my !iterary !ife is to ha$e disco$ered
this manuscript in such a desperate state% I i!! ne$er conso!e myse!f - it is a ound
hich b!eed for a !ong time:%
Presentation at the *useo "gi+io di ,urin
,he museum has the 0anon disp!ayed in a sma!! room off of the main area% (ecause the
papyrus has hieratic script on both the Recto and Aerso the is presented in a g!ass case
ith a mirror at it?s rear% ,his a!!os a $ie of both the 3ing-4ist and the ,a9-4ist%

*anetho
*odern chrono!ogy of ancient "gypt rests partia!!y on the ritings of *anetho in his
5egyptiaca (History of "gypt)% He ou!d ha$e had access to a number of sources for his
or- and e can specu!ate that the ,urin 0anon as one of those%


2ources )ictionary of 5ncient "gypt# Ian 2ha and Pau! @icho!son
,he 3eys of "gypt# 4es!ey and Roy 5d-ins
Roya! 0anon of ,urin# 5!an 1ardiner
*useo "gi+io di ,orino# Ita!y%