Inventory number

General description

Book of the Dead

Cat. 1768 is a Book of the Dead papyrus, now claimed by Nebhepet son of the famous Deir el-Medina scribe Butehamun. The papyrus was first made for a different person, but his name was erased and the names and titles of Nebhepet were put in its place instead. This was a common practice in this period.

The papyrus is decorated in many colours and depicts the deceased on the right-hand side adoring the gods Osiris and Isis. Following this scene are six vignettes on the top of the papyrus with text underneath them. These are spells (from right to left) to repel snakes, repel crocodiles, three vignettes related to mounds of the underworld, and a spell to sail in the bark of the sun god Re. The right side of the papyrus concludes with a scene of four baboons guarding the lake of fire. On the left side of the papyrus, we see a depiction of the Elysian fields where Nebhepet is seen plowing, harvesting, and traveling on a river by boat. The scene is interrupted in the middle by a row of 16 demons in mummiform.