Friendship and Frustration: A Study in Papyri Deir el-Medina IV-VI

Papyri Deir el-Medina IV, V and VI illustrate different problems between friends in the Ramesside Period. This article presents new translations of these texts and discusses them in the context of friendship, social obligation and reconciliation in ancient Egypt. Although these three letters have sometimes been presented as a group, they are probably the work of three distinct correspondents. The hieratic palaeography of these texts is analysed in an appendix. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.