A Study Of The Wilbour Papyrus

The Wilbour Papyrus is a land list, which was recorded in the Reign of Ramesse V, the king of the Twentieth Dynasty. This papyrus is separated into text A and text B, and text A is longer than text B. Text A records landowning institutions, landholders, and the measurement as well as the assessment of plots of cultivable land. In this dissertation, the study is mainly based on the text A.It consists of preface, six chapters, the finale and appendices.In the preface, I give an introduction to the Wilbour Papyrus and review previous researches on it undertaken by scholars. Then, this part also gives the idea and framework of the thesis.Chapter ? briefly summarizes the land types and land stewards. Based on the record of the Wilbour Papyrus, land types can be divided into crown land, temple land, special land and private land. Furthermore, land stewards are held by officials and priests. To explain this, it is necessary to talk about the arrangements of agricultural personnel and land administration according to the titles of land stewards.Chapter ? analyzes landholders and their features. In the papyrus, there are more than fifty kinds of landholders described, but this chapter only undertakes detailed research on five kinds of them due to their representativeness, i.e. stable-master, soldier, wcb priest, lady and cultivator. Therefore, we can reveal the characteristics of landholders during that period of time, especially their diversity in a multi-layered society.Chapter ? mainly describes the different forms of land management. According to the text, there are three kinds of land managements during the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, i.e. crown land, temple land and personal land management.Chapter ? talks about the tax revenue on land. Although the Wilbour Papyrus is a taxation document, it records nothing about the concrete procedure of levying taxes. Thus, to elucidate the text and the system of taxation further, it is important to examine the Turin Taxation Papyrus and other texts.Chapter ? focuses on the temple economy. In accordance with the record of the Wilbour Papyrus, temples owned masses of land. So, during the New Kingdom, temples were important departments of agricultural production. The temple economy is also an important part of the economic system of ancient Egypt. For a particular study of the temple economy, the Wilbour Papyrus is the best document to start with. Based on the text, this chapter discusses from a socio-economic point of view the concept of temple economy, the modes of management and the specific economic system established by the temple authorities as well as the relationship between temple and government regarding economic activities.Chapter ? makes translation and commentary on Wilbour Papyrus.Based on these specific studies of the Wilbour Papyrus and examination of other important documents, at last conclusions on the whole framework of the land system of the New Kingdom can be drawn. The land system of ancient Egypt appears to be very complicated as it reflects long term developments and traditions. According to the development of productive forces and several reforms of the social system, land property rights changed from time to time while older rights often remained effective. In ancient Egypt, land could be owned by institutions and persons for a long time, but could also be sold by landholders regularly. However, Egypt was also the country that knew only one specific ownership, and the pharaoh was this owner.