Amduat Papyrus Painting — Framed, Signed, Egyptian Funerary Art

The Amduat — "That Which Is in the Underworld" — is among the oldest of Egypt's funerary texts, predating the Book of the Dead and originally reserved exclusively for royalty, painted on the walls of royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. This large-format hand-painted papyrus renders the complete twelve-hour solar journey of Ra through the Duat in extraordinary density: dozens of horizontal registers filled with ranked processions of souls, divine solar barques, columns of hieroglyphic text, and the mummiform figures of the underworld's inhabitants. The composition is framed on all sides by the elongated arms of the sun god — the characteristic oval vignette form documented in museum examples from the Met, Brooklyn Museum, and Michael C. Carlos Museum — with paired winged solar discs and serpent-coiled suns anchoring the border in deep amber and vermilion. The cobalt-blue ground, a hallmark of New Kingdom funerary painting tradition, intensifies the gold and ochre of the figure work throughout. Signed in the lower left margin of the papyrus sheet.

Presented in a black-profile frame with black mat and plexiglass glazing, this is a substantial work — 31" × 48" visible — depicting a complete cosmological diagram of the Egyptian afterlife at a scale and detail level rarely encountered in the market for modern Egyptian papyrus painting.

CONDITION

Good. Colors are vivid and consistent across the full composition with no visible tears, fading, or significant pigment loss; the papyrus surface shows natural reed-fiber texture as expected. Frame and plexiglass appear intact; minor wear to frame profile consistent with handling.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall (Framed): 35¾" H × 52½" W × 1" D
• Visible Image Area: 31" H × 48" W
• Frame Profile: Black, flat
• Mat: Black
• Glazing: Plexiglass
• Medium: Hand-painted natural papyrus
• Subject: Amduat (Book of That Which Is in the Underworld) — complete twelve-hour solar journey
• Signature: Lower left, papyrus margin — artist unidentified
• Origin: Modern Egyptian papyrus painting