Illustrated Papyrus
Description
Object Label: Because papyrus was a costly material, it was normally reserved for important documents such as administrative records and funerary literature. For the same reason, talented artists usually drew the illustrations. This crudely drawn parade of important Egyptian deities is therefore quite surprising. Caption: Illustrated Papyrus, 4th–3rd century B.C.E.. Papyrus, pigment, ink, 37.1647Ea1: 13 9/16 × 6 9/16 in. (34.5 × 16.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1647Ea1. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Fragmentary illustrated Egyptian papyrus shows multiple figures in ancient Egyptian attire and gestures, alongside small areas of hieroglyphic text.
The image displays several joined papyrus fragments (some edges torn and missing) with painted scenes. On the left, a male-presenting figure with a curly wig/blue-black hairstyle stands or advances, raising one hand toward the face and holding a staff or implement with the other; the figure wears a reddish-brown garment and patterned collar/skirt. Near the center, a standing figure faces left, holding a staff-like object and wearing a short, reddish garment. On the right, additional standing figures appear; one wears a dark, patterned kilt and raises a hand, while another holds a staff. Between/around the figures are small, faint marks consistent with hieroglyphic writing, but the signs are too incomplete to read reliably. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible. A painted yellow-beige background and polychrome figures (red/brown, black/blue-black, and some yellow highlights) are present. No royal cartouche is clearly legible in the provided image.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.1647Ea1 tier-2
- BKM-Object 4174 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.