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Object 1: The Lament of Artemisia
Papyrus, 4th century BC

This document is one of the oldest Greek papyrus texts ever written. In it, Artemisia, a Greek woman living in Memphis, invokes God’s judgment to obtain just punishment for an outrage she has suffered: Her deceased daugh­ter’s father had refused to provide a grave for her, endangering her life in the other world. As punishment, God should likewise refuse the man a grave, and he and his property should be visited by all kinds of evil. The extraordinary text contains elements of a curse, but with­ out recourse to magic, thus resembling a legal action. However, Artemisia does not address her letter to a court of law, because the evil is not unlawful. All the more insistent is therefore her complaint to the Egyptian tribunal of the gods.