Book of the Dead of Nehem-es-Rataui
The Book of the Dead of Nehem-es-Rataui is, along with the Papyrus Brocklehurst, the most important papyrus in the collection of the Museum August Kestner in Hanover. It contains one of the many traditional versions of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which differs most significantly from similar papyri in the style of the central scene of the Judgement of the dead.

The papyrus was part of the collection of August Kestner and is now located in the Museum August Kestner in Hanover (inventory number 3454), where it is displayed in Room II of the Egyptological collection with other gravegoods and artefacts from the death cult.

The book derives from Thebes and is dated to the Ptolemaic period, probably around 200 BC. The papyrus was among the grave goods of the Singer of Amun, Nehem-es-Rataui. The Papyrus was written in Hieratic script, completely in black ink. Originally the 21 centimetre high document had a length of 715 centimetres - that is, 15 pages. As a result of damage in the Second World War, when the central city of Hanover was bombed and the Kestner Museum took heavy damage, it only survives in the form of three fragments with a length of 1.64 m, which includes the central scene. The very tight combination of the important Egyptian deities in the central scene is notable. Osiris sits in judgement, Anubis and Horus weigh the heart of the deceased, Thoth records the result and the monstrous Ammit waits to devour the ba of the deceased in the event of a negative judgement. On a lotus bloom between Osiris and Thoth stand the four sons of Horus. The deceased is at the right, accompanied by two goddesses. At other points, the text is broken up by small images, mostly of the Horus falcon. Another large image is located to the left of the main image, divided into four smaller images.
None
Papyrus Brocklehurst
UNK
Q125576
papyrus
Concept
Q457671
Museum August Kestner
LOC
Q1715
Hanover
LOC
Q174361
Book of the Dead
MEDIA
Q1236322
Judgement of the dead
UNK
Q97466
August Kestner
PER
Q101583
Thebes
LOC
Q2320005
Ptolemaic period
ORG
Q58373
Amun
Concept
Q208111
Hieratic
Concept
Q362
Second World War
EVE
Q46491
Osiris
MISC
Q47534
Anubis
MISC
Q84122
Horus
MISC
Q146921
Thoth
MISC
Q131483
Ammit
MISC
Q853611
ba
Concept
Q727053
sons of Horus
Concept
Q14541222
Book of the Dead of Nehem-es-Rataui
Concept
3454-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
3454
DATE
+21^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
21
NUMBER
+15^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
15
NUMBER
+1.64^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1.64
NUMBER
made from material
collection
located in the administrative territorial entity