Inventory number

General description

Textual amulet with BoD 100/129

Cat. 1829/1 is a papyrus fragment realised for Pa-Hor, son of Nes-Min and Ta-Tefnun, which bears on the recto a cursive-hieroglyphic text containing the spell 100 of the Book of the Dead . The spell protected the deceased, allowing him to become an ‘’excellent spirit’’ and to enter the solar boat of Ra joining ‘’the ones who belong in his entourage’’. The original vignette, of which very little remains, certainly depicted the solar boat of Ra.

The papyrus had most likely a protective function as an amulet. So-called textual amulets, in use from the beginning of the New Kingdom, were apotropaic texts, generally singular chapters of the Book of the Dead, written on papyrus or on strips of linen. Those were folded or wrapped and placed on the body, usually tied around the neck.