Merer

**Merer** ( 25th century BC) was a Ancient Egyptian diarist and middle ranking official who kept the first known diaries.
His diaries mostly consists of the daily activities of him and his crew. The diaries also documents the transportation of white limestone blocks from Tura to Giza by boat. The blocks may have been presumably used to built the Great Pyramid of Giza. Merer also mentions in his diaries that Khufu (the Egyptian pharaoh, at the time) was in his 26th or 27th year of reign, at the time. According to the diaries, around forty boatmen worked under Merer. The diaries were discovered in 2013.

### First and second diaries

The first and second diaries reveal that Merer and his crew work for several months transporting limestone from Tura to Giza in the 26th or 27th year of the reign of Egyptian pharaoh Khufu. About every ten days, two or three round trips were done, shipping approximately 30 blocks of 2—3 tonnes each, amounting to approximately 200 blocks per month. In the diaries, Merer mentions that he and his crew opened giant dykes to divert water from the Nile, channeling it into canals leading it into the Great Pyramid of Giza. Around forty boatmen worked under Merer. The period covered in the diaries spans a few months.

The entries in those two diaries are all arranged in the same line.
At the top of every entry is a heading naming the month and season.
Under that there is a horizontal line listing the days of the months. Under the entries for the days, there are always two vertical columns describing what happened on these days (Section B II): _[Day 1] The director of 6 Idjeru casts for Heliopolis in a transport boat to bring us food from Heliopolis while the elite is in Tura_, _Day 2 Inspector Merer spends the day with his troop hauling stones in Tura North; spending the night at Tura North._

The diaries also mention the original name of the Great Pyramid of Giza: Akhet–Khufu (English: Horizon of Khufu).

In addition to Merer and his crew, a few other people are mentioned in the two diaries. The most important one is Ankhhaf, a half-brother of Khufu. Ankhhaf is known from other Ancient Egyptian sources dating to around his time. It is highly speculated that Ankhaf was a prince and vizier under Khufu and/or Khafre. In the diaries, Merer mentions that Ankhhaf is a nobleman and a overseer of a ship harbor at Giza.
It is highly speculated that the limestone blocks used to build the Great Pyramid were transported to the harbor.

In the first two diaries, Merer writes mostly about his work.

### Third diary

The third diary reveals that Merer is working as a construction builder in the Nile Delta and is building a "double djadja" in the region.

### Fourth diary

The fourth diary reveals that Merer is working at the residence and the (?) of Khufu.

### Other diaries

Other diaries (5 and 6) and associated accounts (7 to 12 and other accounts) are in a state of severe putrefaction and their texts have yet to be translated and/or published.

## Discovery

In 2013, French archaeologists unearthed Merer's diaries during a excavation in a Ancient Egyptian man-made cave.
The archaeologists unearthed six diaries and more than six associated accounts. All of the papyri had text written in the pages, as far as we know.
The original copy of the diaries are exhibited at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

## Related pages

- Anne Frank, a famous Jewish diarist who was killed in a Nazi concentration camp during World War 2
- Zlata Filipović, a diarist from Sarajevo called the "Bosnian Anne Frank"

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Merer
- **occupation**: Diarist
- **years active**: 25th century BC
- **nationality**: Ancient Egyptian
- **known for**: First known diarist