Inventory number

General description

Textual amulet with BoD chapter 89, V100

Cat.1821/002 is a papyrus dated to the Ptolemaic period and preserved in two large fragments containing a cursive hieroglyphic text and a vignette. Following an introduction on behalf of the owner Tameduknum, daughter of Tasepedet, the papyrus contains chapter 89 of the Book of the Dead: "Formula to reunite one’s Ba with one’s body in the netherworld". The chapter allows the deceased to preserve his body and the return of his Ba, one of the human spiritual components, to the body of the deceased by reuniting it with him.

Contrary to what can be expected, the text is unaccompanied by the vignette of chapter 89 but the one of chapter 100/129 of the Book of the Dead. The deceased is depicted on a boat with the Benu-phoenix between the Djed-pillar, emblem of the West and the Iabet-standard, emblem of the East. Across from the Djed-pillar Osiris is depicted standing with the white crown on his head and the Was-scepter in his hands. The chapter to which the vignette refers allows the deceased to become a "glorified spirit" and to enter the boat of Ra joining " the ones who belong in his entourage". In other words, the formula or its vignette provided protection.

The papyrus Cat.1821/002 has a protective function as an amulet for the deceased. The papyrus amulets, known as "textual amulets", were folded, or wrapped and placed on the body of the deceased, generally tied around the neck. According to archeological evidence, they are in use since the New Kingdom until the Graeco-Romand period.

The dating of Cat.1821/002 to the Graeco-Roman period and more specifically, to the Ptolemaic Dynasty is based on paleographic and typological comparisons with other papyrus amulets.