Magical Papyrus of Butehamun

Among the papyri in Turin is a letter written to Butehamun by his father, Djehutymose, also a scribe of the royal necropolis. He writes that he has left his superior, a general, at Elephantine and is heading south into Nubia. He asks his son to pray to the gods that he come back safely, and he reminds him to keep pouring water for Amun. Letters between the two men, father away with the army and son at home in Thebes, survive among the documents of the late Ramesside age.

This sheet is a different kind of writing. It is small, about 21 by 12 centimetres, and it carries Chapter 100 of the Book of the Dead, a spell in which Butehamun asks to take part in the endless rebirth of the sun. The little pictures beside the text turn on the same theme of renewal. According to the museum, the papyrus was folded into a small packet and hung at the neck by a linen band, as an amulet for whoever carried it. On the back, among other notes, are drawn udjat eyes, the protective eye of Horus. The museum dates it to the 21st Dynasty, between 1076 and 944 BC.