Translation of Papyrus #41, Batch #7, Site A

Translation by Dr. Sarah Mercer

Small people cut (grooves, channels) in the gallery and hung large staff between walls. Much noise and dust kept us inside chamber. For six days the noise continued, then all was quiet. Imhotep was the first person the cutters heard since the collapse. Imhotep entered the gallery from the floor. Kagemni, Harkhuf, Ehab, and Imhotep went to see and then escaped through a new tunnel and the old bottom chamber. The new tunnel is cut by a fine worker. The walls are smooth. Imhotep does not answer questions about small people and tools. The master builder warns Kagemni, Harkhuf, and Ehab not to talk about small people and tools. Reveal and die.
Most of the Everett papyri have proved to be an incredible find (if their authenticity can be verified). This one is not an exception. The purpose of the well has never been doubted, but how it was created was never truly known. Hany noticed the smooth walls of the well when we visited the site. These "small people" that Ehab describes could not have been ancient Egyptians. They cut the grooves in the gallery wall and they cut the well. I am certain of that.