The Semna Despatches are a group of papyri that deals with observations of people in and around the forts of the Semna gorge.^[1] The fortresses were positioned at Semna because of the expansion of Egypt into Lower Nubia by Senusret III, and were a means of protecting and controlling access into Egypt.^[2] The Semna Despatches record the movements of people around the Semna Gorge, and reports their activity's back to an unnamed official in Thebes.^[3] Many of the Despatches deal with people who had come to the forts to trade with the Egyptians while others talk about patrols that had gone out and found people in the surrounding desert.^[3] The Semna Despatches provides the bulk of information that pertains to the administrative functions of the forts around the Semna Gorge.^[1]

The Semna Despatches form one of very few records that tell us about what the forts around the Semna Gorge did, and what life was like in the forts. These Despatches are therefore very important to us historically, and give us a glimpse into the forts. The Despatches also provide a look at the Egyptians attitudes towards the people of Nubia to the south as they record the interactions between Egyptians and Nubians. These Despatches are now housed in the British Museum.

The Semna Despatches are now part of the British Museums collection; after being gifted by Alan Gardiner who had acquired them around 1900 in return for his financial help with preservation and publishing the papyri.^[4] The collection is cataloged as AE10752.1, AE10752.2, AE1075.3, AE10752.4, AE10752.5, AE10771.1, AE10771.2, AE10772.2.^[5] Unfortunately, two of the Despatches suffered significant damage from the use of cellulose nitrate film with both of the papyri being seriously damaged^[4]

During the reign of Senusret I the Egyptians started to push further south into lower Nubia and by the reign of Senusret III it became necessary to build forts around Semna Gorge; this area would provide a defensive position in case of attack by Nubia, who were still a powerful enemy.^[6] The forts also served a second purpose which was to control access into Egypt. The people whom they were trying to keep out were Nubians as you can clearly see in the boundary stela of Senusret III which speaks of the Nubians as a wretched vile people.^[7] To accomplish the task of keeping the Nubians out the Egyptians would send patrols into the desert to find people who may be trying to cross the border clandestinely and report those movements to the other forts as well as to officials in Thebes which is the main reason the Semna Despatches were created.^[3] Nubian's Egyptian attitudes towards Nubians was based more on stereotypes and religious feeling then actual facts.^[6] The Egyptians saw the outside world as one being of disorder which must be controlled to preserve Maat (or order) with this extending to outside country's particularly Nubia.^[2] Because the Egyptians saw Nubia as disordered its people were considered disordered and therefore it was good to destroy and control them as we see in the Boundary Stela of Senusret III.^[7] We can see in the Semna Despatches the Egyptians upholding Maat by keeping the Nubians out.^[3]

The Semna Despatches were found in a Theban tomb which was below the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses II by J.E.Quibell in 1895–1896.^[8] The Despatches were found in a wooden box in a very poor state of decomposition with estimates that around two thirds of the Papyri having been already lost when Quibell found them.^[4] The Despatches suffered another mishap as when they were being hoisted out of the tomb they fell from the basket back down the shaft potentially damaging more of the already fragile papyri.^[4] After Quibell got them back to England they sat on a shelf in the Edwards Library at University College, London until they were given to the esteemed Egyptologist Alan Gardiner to preserve and publish around 1900.^[4]

The Job of translating the Semna Despatches fell to Paul C. Smithers who worked on them in early 1940 until his death in 1943. Unfortunately, because it was war time, and because Smithers died in September 1943 from a lingering illness he was unable to consult the original plates containing the Semna Despatches so instead he worked from photographs.^[3] Because of the difficulty in working from photographs, Smithers encountered some errors in translation resolved by Dr Bryan Kraemer and Dr Kate Liszka in 2016.^[1] Kraemer and Liszka also made a translation of two separate papyri found with the Semna Despatches which also related to the Semna Forts.^[1] Unlike the Semna Despatches which dealt with monitoring the movements of people around the Semna Gorge these papyri dealt with administration and talk about the inspection of officials in the fort of Elephantine.^[1]

SENT TO HIM ABOUT THE ... NUBIANS (9) WHO ARRIVED AT THE FORTRESS ‘(THE-LATE-) KHA’KAWRE-IS-

Given the poor state of preservation the Semna Despatches were in when they were discovered it was inevitable that they would need to be preserved. Alan Gardiner funded the preservation with Hugo Ibscher doing the actual preservation work which was begun in 1903 and lasted until around 1939.^[4] Ibscher used several different methods for preserving the papyri which included attaching them to cellulose nitrate flm, gelatin film, and cardboard then sandwiching them between glass. Unfortunately, the use of celluloid nitrate film can be very unstable and in the case of two of the papyri burning has been caused because of its use.^[4] Fortunately, only the two damaged papyri were found to contain celluloid nitrate film with the rest being gelatin film that is far more stable. The way the preserved papyri were mounted has caused damage however.^[4] Because the papyri were mounted in-between two sheets of glass when the frame is moved the papyrus moves slightly causing damage. To stop further damage the British Museum started in 2006 to remove the frames and the gelatin film then remount the papyrus to fine tissue paper to ensure their continued preservation. This recent preservation could only be carried out on some of the papyri however as the adhesive used on the others, Celluloid nitrate adhesive, is very difficult to remove and because of the papyrus’ already fragile state the British museum decided to not try and remount those.^[7]