Collection Item – Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

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From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleShroud

About this objectThis fragment of a shroud or mummy wrapping is made of finely woven pale brown linen, and dates to the early Ptolemaic period around 300 BC. Depicted on the linen are scenes from the Book of the Dead, showing a funeral procession. Beneath the funeral scene is an inscription, with the text written in Egyptian hieratic.

The illustration, from left to right, includes: butchers cutting up an ox as an offering; men carrying furniture for the after-life; four standard bearers with nome signs (hawk, ibis and jackals); a funerary boat with the figures of Isis and Nepthys on either side; and a man pulling a sledge bearing an image of Anubis, Protector of the Dead.

A similar scene occurs at the beginning of the copy of the Book of the Dead on the Turin Papyrus.

Date Madeca. 300 BC

PeriodEarly Ptolemaic

Place MadeEgypt

Medium and MaterialsTextile; Linen

Style and IconographyEgyptian (ancient)

TechniqueInscriptions

MeasurementsHeight 60mm; Length 485mm

Subject and Association KeywordsAnimals in art

Subject and Association KeywordsClothing and dress

Subject and Association KeywordsHieroglyphs

Subject and Association KeywordsWriting and art

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Object TypeFunerary Objects

Object number121.73