P. Oxy 1826--The Sesonchosis Romance

The Sesonchosis Romance denotes a particular text, known from papyrus fragments, which exploits legendary material to create a fictional narrative. The title was first applied to P. Oxy. 1826, a codex fragment dated to the late 3rd or early 4th century. Written in Demotic, the fragment was found in the ancient dumps of the city Oxyrhynchus, located roughly 150 miles south of Alexandria on the branch of the Nile that ends at the Fayum Oasis. The city flourished under its Hellenistic and Roman rulers. In the dumps were found thousands of papyrus scraps containing information on everyday life in the city--grocery lists, poetry, and other fictional writings, such as P. Oxy 1826.
The Sesonchosis Romance applies to the legendary conquests of Sesonchosis, the Egyptian pharaoh. This story combines the history of two pharaohs of the 12th dynasty (Senwosret I and Senwosret III) with additions from later rulers such as Ramses II, and ideals of kingship. It is an early example of the koenigsnovelle in that it praises the youthful Sesonchosis and provides divine justification for his rule, as is evident on the back of fragment 1826 in the last few lines when it mentions a god “assisting” Sesonchosis “into the country.”
The events of the Sesonchosis Romance and its themes of romance and intrigue (in later fragments) are significant because of their use in the Alexander Romance. In the story Alexander cites Sesonchosis as the ruler of the world and declares himself the "New Sesonchosis."