Book of the Dead of Tapahay
The Book of the Dead papyrus was prepared for a woman named Tapahai, born to the “Lady of the House” Tasedjemet. The manuscript, reconstructed from about one thousand fragments, measures approximately 4.25 meters in length and consists of 21 sheets, whose recto bears 29 columns of text accompanied by 49 vignettes executed in black ink. The carefully written hieratic script displays a skilled and steady hand, while red ink is used for rubrics and chapter titles.
Preserved are mainly sections from the first third of the Book of the Dead in the Saite recension, containing chapters 1–15, 18, 21, 23, 25–27, 29–30, 43–47, 50–55, 57, 89, 91, 95, 108–110, 117, 121, 125, 155–158, and 162. The sequence largely follows the so-called Iuefankh order (as attested in P. Turin Cat. 1791), though it deviates in several places - for instance, Chapter 89 follows vignette 110. The large-scale scenes, especially the judgment vignette (V125) and the rare depiction of Anubis as psychopomp, are of remarkable artistic quality.
The heavily fragmented papyrus underwent complete conservation at the Museo Egizio in 2025: after cleaning, removal of old mounts, and consolidation with Tylose MH 300 P, the manuscript was remounted between three glass frames.
This manuscript ranks among the most significant hieratic Books of the Dead from the Ptolemaic period in the Museo Egizio. Its script, iconography, and composition illustrate the late phase of the Book of the Dead tradition and point to possible connections with Theban priestly families of Ankhefenkhonsu, whose members are attested in related papyri of the 2nd–1st centuries BCE.
Graeco-Roman Period (332 BC-565 AD)
Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BC)
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Thebes (?)
Acquisition: Unknown
|
Formula |
Title - Translation |
|
1V – 2 – 3 – 4 |
title not preserved |
|
5 |
“Formula for
preventing a man from having to do work in the underworld.” |
|
6 |
“Formula for making
Ushabti do work in the underworld.” |
|
7 – 8 |
title not preserved |
|
9 |
“Formula for opening
the west by day, for opening the Imehet-chamber.” |
|
10 |
“Formula for going out
justified.” |
|
11 – 12 |
title not preserved |
|
13 |
“Formula for going in
after going out.” |
|
14 |
“Formula for removing
anger from the heart.” |
|
15g |
“Worship Ra when he
sets in the Place of Life (= the West).” |
|
15h |
“Osiris NN, justified,
he speaks this as an act of worship to Ra-Horakhty, when he sets in the Place
of Life (= the West).” |
|
V16 |
Vignette |
|
18V |
Formulae for the court
of justice, recitation: |
|
21V |
Formula for giving the
mouth of a man to him in the underworld. |
|
23V |
Formula for opening
the mouth of a man to him in the underworld. |
|
25V |
Formula for giving the
memory of a man to him in the underworld. |
|
26V |
Formula for giving the
heart of a man to him in the underworld. |
|
27V |
Formula for preventing
the heart of a man being taken away from him in the underworld. |
|
29V |
Formula for preventing
the heart of a man being removed from him in the underworld. |
|
30V |
Formula for preventing
the chest-heart of a man being repelled in the underworld. |
|
43V |
Formula for preventing
the head of a man being cut off from him in the underworld. |
|
44V |
Formula for preventing
a second death in the underworld. |
|
45V |
Formula for preventing
decomposing in the underworld. |
|
46V |
Formula for preventing
a man from perishing, for being in the underworld, |
|
47V |
Formula for preventing
the place of a man being taken away in the underworld. |
|
50V |
Formula for not
entering the butchering hall of the god. |
|
51V |
Formula for not going
upside down in the underworld. |
|
52V |
Formula for not eating
excrement in the underworld. |
|
53V |
Formula for preventing
a man from eating excrement in
the underworld. |
|
54V |
Formula for preventing
a man from eating excrement (and)
preventing him from drinking urine in the underworld. |
|
55V |
Another formula for
giving air to a man in the underworld. |
|
57V |
Formula for breathing
air and living from water in the underworld. |
|
91V |
Formula for preventing
the ba of a man being restrained in the underworld. |
|
95V |
Formula for being
beside Thoth. |
|
V110 |
Vignette |
|
89V |
Formula for joining
the Ba of a man to his corpse in the underworld. |
|
108V |
Formula for knowing
the Ba-powers of the west. |
|
109V |
Formula for knowing
the Ba-powers of the east. |
|
117V |
Formula for receiving
the way in Rosetau. |
|
121V |
Formula for going in
after going out. |
|
125V |
Scroll of entering the
Hall of the Two Maat, to separate a man from his sin he has committed, to
look at the faces of the gods; the Two Maat of Ra and
Osiris. |
|
V(Anubis) – V125 |
Vignette |
|
155V |
Formula for a
djed-pillar of gold placed at his neck. |
|
156V |
Formula for a tit-knot
of jasper placed at the neck of the glorified spirit. |
|
157V |
Formula for a vulture
of gold placed at the neck of the glorified spirit. |
|
158V |
Formula for a broad
collar of gold placed at the neck of the glorified spirit. |
|
162V |
Formula for creating
heat under the head of the glorified spirit. |
Susanne Töpfer (ST)
cursive hieroglyphs, hieratic
Book of the Dead, Funerary text
adoration, heart, judgement, justification, spell 002, spell 003, spell 004, spell 005, spell 006, spell 007, spell 008, spell 009, spell 010, spell 011, spell 012, spell 013, spell 014, spell 015, spell 016, spell 018, spell 021, spell 023, spell 025, spell 026, spell 027, spell 029, spell 030, spell 043, spell 044, spell 045, spell 046, spell 047, spell 050, spell 051, spell 052, spell 053, spell 054, spell 055, spell 057, spell 089, spell 091, spell 095, spell 108, spell 109, spell 110, spell 117, spell 121, spell 125, spell 155, spell 156, spell 157, spell 158, spell 162, weighing, spell 001
Rosetau (r'-sTA.w), Abydos (AbDw), Netherworld (dwA.t), Busiris (Dd.w), Heliopolis (iwnw), Pe (=Buto, pi), Letopolis (xm), Dep (=Buto, dp), Naref (n-Ar=f)
Graeco-Roman Period (332 BC-565 AD)
Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BC)
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Yes
Papyrus Turin CP201/001 contains 49 vignettes that thematically complement and visually separate the texts. The vignettes were rendered as black line drawings on a thick black baseline. Up to chapter V110, the baseline consists of a single line; after V110, it becomes double. The upper vignette band is bounded at the top by a single black line. The height of the vignettes above and within the text columns ranges from 6.6 to 6.9 cm (above) and from 3.0 to 4.6 cm (within). The dimensions of the large vignettes were (h x w): V16: 25.5 x 13.5 cm; V110: 27.5 x 77.6; Anubis+V125: 28.0 x 64.0 cm. A closer examination of the small vignettes within the columns reveals that they follow the flow of the text (see, for example, V44 and V50), and in some places, the lines of the figures even run over the text (see, for example, V18). This suggests that the vignettes were inserted after the text was completed. This is supported by the constantly varying height of the smaller vignettes, ranging from 3.0 to 4.6 cm. Red is used sparingly in the vignettes, appearing only on the headbands of the priests in V1, the deities in V16, and the sun disk and rays in V16. Figures have been executed with great care. In particular, the figures in the large-format vignettes are highly detailed, such as the baboons in V16 and the figure of Osiris in V125. The vignettes correspond to the types typically expected in attested texts. The standing and crouching figures of the gods can be clearly identified by their headdresses and anthropomorphic forms. The faded black preliminary drawings are still visible in some areas, especially in V125, on the two Maat figures and the baboon on the scales above Osiris.
