new kingdom egypt amarnanew kingdom egypt

Book of the Dead of Hunefer

Illustrated papyrus scroll (c. 1275 BCE) created for Hunefer, a royal scribe and steward under Seti I. One of the finest and most complete surviving examples of the Book of the Dead. Contains 18 sheets of illustrated spells including the famous Weighing of the Heart (Judgment of Osiris) scene. Held at the British Museum, London.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor the Egyptian New Kingdom cluster with the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, one of the finest surviving examples of New Kingdom papyrus painting and a key document of Egyptian funerary belief.

Notes

·Hunefer was a royal scribe and steward of Pharaoh Seti I (r. c. 1294–1279 BCE), 19th Dynasty. His name and title are inscribed throughout the papyrus.
·The Weighing of the Heart scene (Sheet 3) is the most celebrated illustration: Hunefer's heart (in a jar) is weighed against the feather of Ma'at (truth/justice) on a balance scale. Anubis tends the scale; Thoth records the verdict; the Ammit monster waits to devour the heart if found heavier than the feather. Horus then presents the justified Hunefer to Osiris enthroned.
·The scroll contains Spells 1, 6, 17, 18 (with vignettes), 26, 30B, 38A, 43, 44, 45, 110, 125 (the Hall of Two Truths/Judgment), 148, and 151.
·The quality of the vignettes is exceptionally high: colour-washed figures outlined in hieratic script with vivid pigments (Egyptian blue, orpiment yellow, red ochre, carbon black, white).
·Purchased by the British Museum in 1852 from Henry Abbott's collection. Previously in the collection of Giovanni d'Athanasi (Yanni), an Egyptian antiquities dealer, who is thought to have purchased it at Thebes.
·One of the best-known works of ancient art in Britain; the Weighing of the Heart scene is widely reproduced and used as a symbol of Egyptian civilisation.