Papyrus

Edwin Smith Medical papyrus

The Edwin Smith medical papyrus is undoubtedly one of the most important of the medical papyri. It was sold by Mustafa Agha, an Egyptian merchant, dealer and Consular Agent in Luxor to the American, Edwin Smith, a resident in Luxor 1858-1876. Unusually for his time, he had an extensive knowledge of hieratic, which enabled him...

Female Mourners from the Papyrus of Ani

Ani, held numerous titles including, “True Scribe of the King; His Beloved Scribe”, as well as “Overseer of the Double Granary of the Lord of Tawer”. Ani’s famous papyrus is one of the best preserved documents from Ancient Egypt, and is known as the Book of the Dead. A Book of the Dead is a...

Amduat of Tanetshedkhons

Amduat of Tanetshedkhons

This papyrus belonged to the Mistress of the House and Chantress of Amun, Tanetshedkhons, a Theban noblewoman of the 21st Dynasty. The scroll is inscribed with portions of two funerary texts known as the “Litany of Re” and the “Amduat,” or “Book of that which is in the Underworld.” The “Amduat”, like the “Book of...

Funerary Papyrus of Djehutymes

Funerary Papyrus of Djehutymes

Vignette from the funerary papyrus of the scribe Djehutymes. In ancient Egypt, jackals and dogs were very common in the land between desert and urban areas, so they were associated with the world of necropolis and the dead. Specifically, their wandering among the tombs was interpreted as a perpetual guard service to the deceased. The...

The God Nun Raises the Sun

God Nun Raises the Sun

Nun or Nu, god of the primeval waters, origin of all life and chaos, lifts the barque of the sun god Re (represented by both the scarab and the sun disk) into the sky at the beginning of time. Nut, goddess of the Sky, is hanging from above, holding the god Osiris, also hanging from...

Book of the Dead of Nestanebetisheru

Book of the Dead of Nestanebetisheru

Vignette from Book of the Dead of Nestanebetisheru; frame 87. Full page black line vignette of Geb, Nut and Shu with three registers either side of adoring ancient Egyptian gatekeepers, ba’s and deities including Thoth. Every figure has an accompanying hieroglyphic label written in black ink. Geb is shown as a semi-recumbent figure stretching out...

Weighing of the Heart in the court of Osiris

The Weighing of the Heart in the court of Osiris

One of the best-known vignettes in the Book of the Dead is that of the weighing of the heart (“psychostasia”) in the tribunal of the Double Truth, in the presence of Osiris and other gods of the netherworld. Chapter 125 of Book of Dead, Papyrus of Taysnakht, daughter of Taymes. The heart of the deceased...

Pair of Shoes

Pair of Shoes

A pair of flat, fiber, open shoes. Curled, pointed toe and round heel. Brittle. Treadsole: Swayed. Reed forming main sole sewn together with nine rows of thinner fiber, possibly papyrus. Rows end where the toe starts to curl and go all the way to heel’s end. Crown sinnet/toe knot protrudes. Perimeter sewn with a plait...

The Ebers Papyrus

The Ebers Papyrus

The Ebers Papyrus is written in hieratic Egyptian writing and represents the most extensive and best-preserved record of ancient Egyptian medicine known. An ancient Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal knowledge combining herbal remedies with magic spells. Among the oldest and most important medical papyri of ancient Egypt.  The scroll contains some 700 magical formulas and folk...

Papyrus of Ani

The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani

The ‘Book of the Dead’, Papyrus of Ani (sheet 3): Ani’s Judgment: the scene is the Hall of Judgment. The Weighing of the Heart Ceremony. Centrally placed is a balance, holding in its two pans Ani’s heart (on the left) and a feather (on the right) representing Maat, the divine personification of truth and order....