Fifteen frames containing fragments of ink inscribed papyri with remains of polychrome vignettes and hieroglyphic text from the Book of the Dead for Qed-Mut
New Kingdom, mid 18th-early 19th Dynasty, early 14th-mid 13th Century B.C.
Each frame containing multiple fragments, inscribed with polychrome vignettes and hieroglyphic text, colour remaining, the subjects of the fragmentary vignettes are read from right to left within each frame:
Frame 1: from Chapter 17; the head of the cow-form sky goddess Mehet-Weret; a pool with water; a left-facing seated lion, one of the two representing the horizon, and traces of a figure of the owner Qed-Mut, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 2: from Chapter 17; a wild cat of Re cuts-off the head of the evil serpent Apophis with a knife, before the sacred Ished tree of Heliopolis; canopic chest surmounted by a human head and containing the recumbent black jackal Anubis; a large sun disc surmounting a falcon's head, and another bird's head, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 3: from Chapter 17; a flail; three flames; a bird with out-stretched wings; human-headed Shu wearing a feather; the beak of ibis-headed Thoth; seated jackal-headed Anubis with a human deity behind, perhaps Imsety, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 4: from the end of Chapter 17 and part of Chapter 18; Isis facing right; Qed-Mut facing left, hand raised, kneeling before a human-headed deity; then Qed- Mut facing left towards a lion recumbent on a platform,; two baboons seated on a plinth and a walking jackal-headed Anubis, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 5: from Chapter 18 with text from Chapter 83: Qed-Mut kneeling in adoration before Anubis, Osiris and Thoth; Qed-Mut before Osiris and Thoth; Qed-Mut before Hapy and another deity, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 6: from Chapters 83 and 84; with Qed-Mut kneeling in adoration before an offering table facing a heron, beneath which is the beginning of the text for Chapter 84 and the end of the text for Chapter 83, 30cm x 40cm;
Frame 7: from Chapters 77, 84, 86; at the right edge is the beginning of the full height vignette of the Hall of Two Truths (Maat); two vignettes above of a swallow on a mound above Chapter 86; then a falcon of gold perched on a platform, above the end of Chapter 77, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 8: from Chapter 125; the Hall of the Two Truths (Maat), the 21 judges of the Qed-Mut papyrus, more usually a representation of forty-two, sit between the open doors of the shrine, surmounted by a row of uraei, the text is the 'negative confession' in which the deceased addresses each of the judges individually stating she has not committed a particular sin, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 9: from the introduction of Chapter 110 (the Field of Offerings and coming forth by day); a large vignette of Qed-Mut standing on the left facing right, wearing a long wig and heavily pleated gown, the columns of text to be read left to right, though written as though right to left, 30cm x 40cm;
Frame 10: Chapter 110; with Qed-Mut on the right, turned towards the previous scene, the Field of Offerings behind her, where Qed-Mut is shown ploughing, this scene is flanked by three seated deities and the boat of Wennefer; in the top row she worships three unnamed deities, the next scene shows her paddling across the Lake of Offerings, the central scene shows Qed-Mut adoring the Heron of Plenty; the whole scene set within a water-filled border with tributaries crossing, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 11: from Chapter 148 containing the spell for making provision of food and drink for the deceased, depicting the celestial cows and a bull, with the four steering oars of the sky on the right of the vignette, the elbow of Qed-Mut on the far left of the vignette,30cm x 40cm;
Frame 12: Chapter 146; representing the portals of the House of Osiris, each addressed individually and shown as an elaborate entrance containing the remains of the squatting figure of its doorkeeper; the top row depicts Portals 1 and 5, the lower row Portal 2 and 6, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 13: Chapter 72 marking the end of the Book of the Dead, with Qed-Mut standing on the left and facing right towards a heaped offering table, then a standing figure of the hippopotamus goddess Opet facing left, behind her is the cow Hathor, presumably emerging from the western mountain, 50cm x 40cm;
Frame 14: part of Chapter 1 'to be spoken on the day of the burial', with a row of professional female mourners along the top row, with a panther-skin priest libating [before a mummy]; behind him the remains of a lector priest holding up a sheet of papyrus on which the words: 'opening the mouth' are written; below is the chest containing the objects used in the ritual intended to restore to the mummy all her earthly faculties; 30cm x 40cm;
Frame 15: contains fragments from the funeral procession of Chapter 1, the head of oxen, probably helping to draw a coffin are depicted in the top row; the middle row, with a mummy in a coffin carried on a boat-shaped bier drawn by men in front; the lake of fire below, perhaps the vignette of Chapter 126, 30cm x 40cm; and twenty smaller frames
each containing fragments of ink inscribed papyri with remains of polychrome vignettes and hieroglyphic text, 19 frames measuring 24cm x 18cm, 1 frame measuring 15cm x 10cm (35)
Footnotes:
Provenance:
French private collection Mr C, acquired in 1967.
French private collection, acquired from the above in 2013, as three boxes of fragments, then painstakingly conserved and framed.

The fragments have been positioned within the frames, using Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead of Iuiya as a template, it provides the closest parallel to the papyrus of Qed-Mut (see Theodore M. Davis, The Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou with The Funeral Papyrus of Iouiya, Duckworth Egyptology, London 2000). Although there are too many gaps for the place of the fragments on these columns to be determined exactly. Similarly, some of the vignettes bear a close resemblance to the Papyrus of Ani, which has been used as a template for placing some of the fragments within the frames (see Dr Raymond O. Faulkner & Dr Ogden Goelet, JR (translation), The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day: The complete Papyrus of Ani Featuring Integrated Texts and Full-Color Images, 2015).

The collection of spells and magic formulae contained in the Book of the Dead, were believed by the ancient Egyptians to protect and assist the deceased in their afterlife. They were compiled by scribes who copied and illustrated the text, usually highlighted with much colour, as the Qed-Mut papyrus demonstrates. Many copies of the book have been found but none of them contain all of the approximate 200 known chapters.
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