The Ipuwer Papyrus dated to c. 1250 B.C., the height of the Egyptian Empire.
Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto, also known as The Admonitions of Ipuwer, is the complaint of an Egyptian priest about the loss of central authority as Egypt extended its political influence far beyond the Nile Valley. This was a time of syncretism when the old religion of the Nilotic Hebrew priests was subsumed in order to sustain an empire of multiple deities.
The papyrus describes a time of chaos in contrast to a former age of peace and prosperity when Re (Father God) and Horus/HR (Re's Son) were the principal deities for the people of the Nile Valley. It is a political treatise and an ethical lesson about the loss of governmental authority, social reversals, and anarchy expressed in the desecration of sacred sites and royal tombs. Slaves turned against their masters. Robbers achieved wealth and status. The stabilizing influence of the Nilotic priests was denigrated.
Some have attempted to link Ipuwer's description of rivers of blood, darkness, and social upheaval to the Ten Plagues of Exodus. However, the timeline and literary conventions of the text do not support a direct connection to the Exodus narrative.
The Nile water looking like blood relates to the fact that the Nilotic priests mixed red ochre powder and barley with the water to make it look like blood (See James B. Pritchard's The Ancient Near East, Vol. I, page 4). This "blood water" was ritually consumed in their "communion" with Re, whose solar rays gave light, sustained life, and helped to purify the Hebrew priests of the Nile.
You may find the translation here: The Admonitions of Ipuwer: A Tale of Chaos and the Importance of Government - World History Encyclopedia
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