The Papyrus of Ipuwer, as you probably already know, has been seen by many as 'evidence' for the Exodus curses that God used through the Prophet Moses. In my opinion however, this is a leap to far, and it is quite obvious that the quotes refer to other events, and cannot be linked convincingly to the biblical accounts. Anyway- I shan't bother arguing that one, unless you disagree with me.
I have been scanning the web for a hieroglyphic version of the Admonitions, so that I can actually retranslate the line for you. It would seem (from the context) that the line refers to the idea of many sons dying and then being placed onto the ground. If the original Egpytian used the word 'm' then it could mean 'into' as well as 'on', thus indicating some sort of burial. The paragraph reads,
"Certainly, men are few, and he who places his brother on (into?) the ground is in all places. When the wise man speaks, he flees. (i.e. he flees in terror, not waiting to see what the reaction to his words will be)
Other lines support this idea of death and so on:
"pestilence is throughout the land, blood is everywhere, death is not lacking. . ."
"Indeed, many dead are buried in the river"
If you could help me to find the actual hieroglyphic (or transliterated) text then it would help a lot, as really it is quite hopeless trying to interpret other peoples translations, most of which were done when the text was discovered. Also, it'll be more fun that way!
