“The tale of the sailor on the Snake Island” (pHermitage 1115): A commented translation

The subject of this article is the Hermitage papyrus No. 1115. The article presents analysis of the form and composition of the text on the papyrus, and its translation into Ukrainian accompanied by comments and transliteration. This text is known as “The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor”. This story is about a sailor stranded on a magical island as a result of a shipwreck. It is an example of the classical literature of Ancient Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. The text was written down during the Twelfth Dynasty with only one surviving copy – a hieratic papyrus discovered by V. S. Golenishchev in 1880–1881. The author of the text, its origin and general purpose remain unknown. The text reflects certain historical realities, e.g. spice expeditions to Punt, navigation in the Red Sea, the presence of copper deposits in Sinai, etc. But at the same time, in terms of formal features, this text is an example of the structure of a fairy tale: entering the Other World, encountering a magical creature (a serpent). Thus, the translation of the text is important both from the linguistic and literary points of view, and as a historical document. The article is the first academic commented translation into Ukrainian from the original language (Middle Egyptian).