Egyptian Funerary Linen Fragment with Hieratic Text from the Book of the Dead for Ta-sherit-n-ta-ihet

Modelled seated on a tongue-shaped base, with simple facial detailing and a suspension loop to the back. 5.76 grams, 21 mm



UK private collection before 2000. London collection, acquired on the UK art market.

The goddess Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun god and was shown with the features of a lion up until about 1000 B.C., when she was first portrayed as a cat or human with a cat head. As the daughter of Ra, she was associated with the rage inherent in the sun god's eye, which was considered to be his instrument of vengeance. Her development into a cat goddess occurred during the New Kingdom, but did not fully develop until the Late Period. She was still associated with the destructive power of the sun and was shown on the prow of the solar boat, decapitating the evil serpent Apophis in the Book of the Dead. The maternal, protective and hunting characteristics of the cat are obvious in Bastet, and she was seen as a protector of pregnant women and young children. In the Pyramid Texts, she is invoked by the deceased king to act as his protector and to help him reach the sky to join the sun god; the king proclaims that Bastet is his mother and nurse. Like her counterpart, Sekhmet, Bastet has an aggressive side and, in a text from Karnak, Amenhotep II described his enemies being slaughtered like the victims of Bastet. The goddess had a shrine at Karnak, where she is known as the 'Lady of Asheru', which aligns her closely with the goddess Mut, the consort of Amun-Ra. Her most famous shrine was in the north-east Delta region, at Bubastis, and was known as Per-Bastet or 'the House of Bastet.' Herodotus describes the festival of Bastet as one of the most elaborate in all of Egypt and identifies her with the Greek Artemis. Cemeteries of cats have been excavated at Bubastis, and at Saqqara and Memphis.

Openwork beaded panel depicting a winged scarab with the Four Sons of Horus, Hapy, Imsety, Qebehsenuef, and Duamutef below; restrung. 22.9 grams, 11.3 cm wide



Ex Mariaud de Serres collection, Paris, France, 1980s-1990s. Accompanied by a previously illustrated catalogue card with provenance.

Winged scarabs were often used as funerary amulets and believed to symbolise the deceased's rebirth and regeneration. The Four Sons of Horus were deities responsible for protecting the deceased's internal organs. Here, on the left, is the baboon-headed Hapy, protector of the lungs, then the human-headed Imsety, protector of the liver, followed by the falcon-headed Qebehsenuef, who protected the intestines and, finally, the erect-eared jackal-headed Duamutef on the right, who protected the stomach.

Bearing a portion of Chapter 17, a spell written in late hieratic script executed in black ink on woven linen, consistent with funerary bandages of the Graeco-Roman period; the inscription identifies the owner as a woman named Ta-sherit-n-ta-ihet, with her mother named Iset-(m-)khebit; as is typical for funerary manuscripts of this period, the father’s name is not recorded. 5.08 grams, 22 cm wide



Found inside an 18th-century Bible and believed to be a souvenir acquired in the 19th century. From the private collection of a North American lady. An academically identified and unpublished fragment, offering potential for further scholarly study and publication. Accompanied by a report in progress dated 28 April 2026 by Holly Lund.

Spell 17 is among the most important and widely transmitted compositions in the Book of the Dead, concerned with cosmology, divine knowledge, and the transformation of the deceased in the afterlife. Even in fragmentary form, such texts provide valuable insight into funerary belief and scribal practice during the later phases of ancient Egyptian religion. This description was prepared using information provided by Dr Ann-Katrin Gill, Academic Assistant at the Egyptological Institute, University of Leipzig, and a separate assessment by Steve Vinson, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington. The linen fragment may derive from a nineteenth-century mummy unwrapping, a practise widely attested in this period.