D E S C R I P T I O N OF THE PAPYRI.
T h e Chapters of the Book
of the Dead,
etc., printed
in this volume are edited from the following papyri
:-
I.
T
HE PAPYRUS OF
This papyrus was obtained
by Burton at Memphis and was acquired by the Trustees of the
British Museum at the sale of his collection in
1836.
It measures
77
ft.
7
in., by
I
ft.
in.
it is mounted, under glass, in
thirty-three sheets, and bears the
It is probably
the oldest known papyrus inscribed with the Theban Recension
of the
Book of the Dead, and we cannot be far wrong in
ascribing it t o the first half
of the period of the rule of the
kings of the
dynasty over Egypt,
e.,
about B.
C. 1600.
T h e vignettes and text are in black ink throughout, and only
the titles of the Chapters are given in red
;
the whole papyrus
is most carefully written and is, it would seem, the work of
Nebseni himself.
A s
an authority for the text
of the Theban
Recension it takes very high r a n k , and the Chapters which
M.
Naville selected from it for his edition of the Book of the
Dead form one third
of
the entire number which he has printed.
T h e deceased Nebseni was by profession a scribe, and he held
various offices connected with the architect and surveyor’s de-
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