Funerary Papyrus of Tayuhenutmut (Third Intermediate Period, probably Dynasty 21 (about 1069-945 BCE)): Artwork and History

Funerary Papyrus of Tayuhenutmut (Third Intermediate Period, probably Dynasty 21 (about 1069-945 BCE)) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Egyptian; probably Thebes (now Luxor), Egypt.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Potent symbols, sacred words, and divine protection helped ancient Egyptians transition from the earthly realm to an eternal existence. Interactions between mortals and the gods were depicted on funerary objects including papyri, like this example made for temple singer Tayu-henut-Mut (“the mistress of [the goddess] Mut”). This papyrus shows Tayu-henut-Mut standing with raised hands before an offering table, praising the enthroned god Osiris, ruler of the afterlife. Behind Osiris a scribe has carefully copied spells from the Book of Going Forth by Day. First appearing during the New Kingdom (about 1550 BCE), this religious text is better known today as the Book of the Dead, because scrolls were buried with their owners. Tayu-henut-Mut’s copy includes five spells selected from nearly 200 known options to aid in her journey to eternity, including one for “causing a man to remember his name.” Egyptians believed that one would cease to exist in the afterlife if their name was forgotten or no longer spoken among the living.

Object facts

• Title: Funerary Papyrus of Tayuhenutmut
• Date: Third Intermediate Period, probably Dynasty 21 (about 1069-945 BCE)
• Artist attribution: Egyptian; probably Thebes (now Luxor), Egypt
• Place of origin: Egypt
• Medium: Papyrus and pigment
• Dimensions: 24.5 × 101 cm (9 11/16 × 39 7/8 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Arts of Africa
• Reference number: 1894.180

Collection credit

Gift of Henry H. Getty, Charles L. Hutchinson, Robert H. Fleming, and Norman W. Harris

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.