Papyrus Fragment of Deities in a Boat
Late Period or later
Not on view
Drawn in black on this scrap of papyrus is a boat with neither mast nor oars. Seated inside, their knees drawn to their chests, are the gods Khepri (embodiment of the rising sun); Shu (the god of the sky); Tefnut (Shu's wife and goddess of moisture); ibis-headed Thoth (god of wisdom and writing); and Isis (goddess of magic and granddaughter of Shu and Tefnut). This is an amulet papyrus, perhaps meant to be placed on an embalmed body (see also 24.2.18.19). The illustration relates to Spells 100/129 of the Book of the Dead, for "making a transfigured spirit excellent, and letting him/her go down to the boat of Re (the sun god) with his entourage."
The papyrus was found inside a pot that was part of an "embalming cache," a collection of material that had been used during mummification or the funeral rites.
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