W867
Papyrus sheet from the Book of the Dead. This particular piece depicts the hymn to the rising sun, Chapter 15 of the Book of the Dead. The scroll belonged to Ankh-Hapi, son of Pa-Khered-en-Min and Ta-di-Aset.
The illustration at the top shows a funeral ceremony in front of the tomb, a vignette which usually illustrates Chapter 1 of the Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom but which by the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic Period can be used to illustrate Chapters 1-15.
To the left can be seen Re seated on a throne in front of an offering table. One can then see a tomb with offerings in front of it. Two obelisks and a stela appear near the Centre with the god Anubis holding up the mummy. A female mourner is shown in front of the mummy and behind her a priest making a libation or purification. To the right of that priest is a table on which are placed several implements used in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. A priest stands at the table performing the Opening of the Mouth ritual. Behind him is a lector priest wearing a headdress of two feathers and holding a scroll . To his right is another priest pouring a libation over an offering table, and then a butcher cuts off the foreleg of a trussed bull or cow. The offering of a foreleg was part of the Opening of the Mouth ritual. A cow and calf can be seen on the far right and the calf defecates (presumably in anguish at its fate).
This particular piece is Late Dynastic-Ptolemaic. It was sold to Wellcome in the Sotheby’s sale of 1932.
Published by Kate Bosse-Griffiths in ZAS 123 (1996) p97-102.
Other Book of the Dead items in the Egypt Centre.
