Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · papyrus

Fragments from a Book of the Dead

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

New Kingdom, Ramesside, Dynasty 19–20, ca. 1295–1070 B.C. Papyrus, ink. Framed: H. 28 × L. 38 cm (11 × 14 15/16 in.). From: Tomb MMA 801, Deir el-Bahri, west of Priests' Cemetery, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1927–28. Subject: Hieroglyphs. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1928.

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.

A photograph of numerous small, irregular fragments of an inscribed papyrus sheet, arranged on a pale backing board. The fragments contain black hieroglyphic text with some red ink elements.

The image shows a rectangular display mount with the papyrus fragments laid out in two main clusters. The fragments vary in size and shape, suggesting breakage and loss of most of the original manuscript. Many pieces preserve portions of black hieroglyphic signs arranged in short, compact lines; several fragments also show red-painted horizontal bands or accent marks near the sign groupings. No clear vignettes or full spell illustrations are preserved; the visible content is dominated by hieroglyphic writing in ink. No cartouche borders or complete royal titulary are clearly readable in the presented fragment set. The overall appearance is consistent with reused or broken funerary papyrus leaf(s) from a Late New Kingdom context.

funerary New Kingdom (Ramesside period), late 19th–20th Dynasty (based on catalogue; exact date unclear from image). fragmentary
Materials papyrusinkred ink accentsblack ink hieroglyphs
Signs unknown hieroglyphic signs (fragmentary, not fully readable)
Visible text "Fragmentary black hieroglyphic text; individual signs not fully legible at this resolution."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Fragmentary black hieroglyphic text; individual signs not fully legible at this resolution.
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • 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.