One of the greatest aspects of the Brooklyn Museumโs Egyptian collection is The Book of the Dead ๐๐๐๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐บ๐ผ๐บ for a man named Sobekmose, who had the title โGoldworker of Amun.โ Sobekmose was buried in Memphis ๐ ๐๐ค๐๐๐ด๐ and that is where this papyrus ๐ ๐๐๐ was found. This Book of the Dead ๐๐๐๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐บ๐ผ๐บ dates to the 18th Dynasty (early New Kingdom 1500-1480 B.C.E.).ย

This Book of the Dead ๐๐๐๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐บ๐ผ๐บ is displayed as one complete papyrus ๐ ๐๐๐ which is incredible to see! The papyrus ๐ ๐๐๐ is curved, due to either 1) being made that way or 2) getting warped over thousands of years being rolled up in a tomb ๐๐ฉ๐๐!
The Book of the Dead ๐๐๐๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐บ๐ผ๐บ is interesting because it doesn’t follow a particular story.ย The spells ๐๐๐๐ฆ do seem to be grouped by theme, and sometimes pictures ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ can be representative of the spells ๐๐๐๐ฆ as well.

Hieratic is the script that this Book of the Dead ๐๐๐๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐บ๐ผ๐บ is written in – don’t ask me to translate, because I can’t read Hieratic well at all! While Hieratic is another way to write the Middle Egyptian language, some of the symbols look VERY different and have evolved over time – it is definitely difficult to learn! Much like hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช, Hieratic can be read from top to bottom, right to left or left to right.ย

Some of the Hieratic is in black ๐๐ ink while some of it is in red ๐ง๐๐๐ . The red ๐ง๐๐๐ ink seems to symbolize either the beginning or the end ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ of a spell ๐๐๐, or it could highlight a word for a noun that was considered “bad” in Egyptian culture. However, sometimes even “offering table ๐๐๐ ก๐ฟ๐” could have been written/drawn in red ๐ง๐๐๐ and offering tables ๐๐๐ ก๐ฟ๐ were not bad at all! So, some of the red ๐ง๐๐๐ ink seems kinda random.
This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost.