dimensions of the hill, but only of the serpent. The earliest papyri
give the dimensions of both, but make the hill so absurdly small that
the serpent could not rest upon it. Later papyri beginning with _Pf_
have corrected the texts so as to give the hill a length of 300 cubits,
or ⁂ (each of which is 100 cubits long). They omit the statement
that the cubit in question is of 7½ palms (the Royal cubit being of 7
palms), and also the interesting mention of the ⁂⁂⁂ “balance
(or measurement) of the earth.” The relation of this ‘balance’ to the
rest of the sentence is not clear, because the MSS. differ as to the
preposition which precedes.
The Papyrus of Nebseni gives the hill 300 cubits in breadth. The
_Todtenbuch_ of Turin reads 370 ⁂ in length, and 140 cubits in
breadth.