March 01, 2023
Papyrus Waziri 1 is now on display at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir. It is considered the largest and most complete papyrus in hieratic script discovered in the Saqqara necropolis. The papyrus was found inside the coffin of an individual called Ahmose from the Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BCE), during the excavations of an Egyptian mission headed by Dr. Mostafa Waziry, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in May 2022.
The papyrus contains texts from the Book of the Dead and measures almost 16 meters. The name of its owner, Ahmose, is mentioned around 260 times in a hieratic inscription and includes 113 chapters from the Book of the Dead. The text is also supplemented with various depictions and representations such as a scene showing Ahmose worshiping the god of the netherworld Osiris in his shrine.
The Book of the Dead is a collection of religious and funerary texts that were used in ancient Egypt as a guide for the deceased during their journey in the netherworld.
