Inventory number

General description

Papyrus fragment with drawings of animals

This  papyrus fragment of very fine quality bears, on the front, a drawing of four animals in black on a grid of squares in red. Drawn in the upper register are a cobra, recognisable due to its bulky head and the tail, followed by the drawing of a lion. The representation of the mane is characteristic of a young lion; it is less voluminous around the head and longer on the chest. A sort of rosette is depicted on his shoulder. The second register contains the depiction of a quail chick with a well-drawn rendering of the plumage and the anterior half of a goat’s body. All four animals are depicted in excellent quality with careful attention to detail. The back is empty. 

The animal sketches on the papyrus fragment can be understood as templates for the actual realisation of the figures as reliefs or drawings on e.g. stelae, temple or tomb walls. The quail chick could have been used, perhaps, as a template for the hieroglyphic sign, which stands for the alphabetic vowel letter “w” or “u”.

The draughtsman ruled not a single grid but two for each register. The upper register with faint red lines comprises six squares from top to bottom, the second animal register, five squares. The guidelines keep the figures in proportion and allows  the draughtsman to calculate scale when the time comes to copy the signs on an object or wall.

Papyrus is an uncommon material for sketches or templates of this kind, rather widespread is the use of pieces of limestone or pottery as they are less costly and easier to produce. Ostraca, as the pieces are called, were used by draughtsman most likely only once or twice for sketches prior to the decoration of walls or objects. The fine quality of the Turin papyrus fragment with its excellently conducted drawings suggests that it was used as a master copy, probably utilized for students to study the drawing of signs. The storage in a workshop or even the temple library is conceivable, however, nothing is known about the provenance of Cat. 2036.