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Source Description
The Book of the Faiyum is the modern name of a text that describes the Faiyum oasis as the mythical center of prosperity and ritual. The text was compiled during the Greco-Roman period, perhaps in the temple of the crocodile god Sobek in Shedet (Greek: Crocodilopolis; Arabic: Medinet el-Faiyum), but it may be based on precedents from earlier periods. The most famous copy of this text, known as the Boulaq/Hood/Amherst papyrus, consists of two papyrus scrolls with hieroglyphic text and illustrations. Portions of this papyrus are now in the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore), the Morgan Library & Museum (New York), and the Egyptian Museum (Cairo). Besides this and other hieroglyphic versions, there are also hieratic and Demotic copies on papyrus and an unillustrated hieroglyphic version inscribed on the walls of the Sobek temple in Kom Ombo (Upper Egypt).The focal point of the Walters Art Museum's section of the book of the Faiyum is a long oval representing the Faiyum lake itself. Inside the lake, images of mythological figures including the crocodile god Sobek-Re, Osiris, and the solar child allude to stories of the creation of the world as well as the nightly regeneration of the sun god. Around the lake, forty-two deities are depicted, each representing an important cult site in Egypt. In this way, the book functions as a map of a ceremonial landscape centered in the Faiyum.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
24264
label
The Book of the Faiyum
core
obj
dtoType
manuscript
citationUrl
pageCount
4
Source metadata
id
24264
sourceUrl
contentType
manuscript
stage
normalized
title
The Book of the Faiyum
description
The Book of the Faiyum is the modern name of a text that describes the Faiyum oasis as the mythical center of prosperity and ritual. The text was compiled during the Greco-Roman period, perhaps in the temple of the crocodile god Sobek in Shedet (Greek: Crocodilopolis; Arabic: Medinet el-Faiyum), but it may be based on precedents from earlier periods. The most famous copy of this text, known as the Boulaq/Hood/Amherst papyrus, consists of two papyrus scrolls with hieroglyphic text and illustrations. Portions of this papyrus are now in the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore), the Morgan Library & Museum (New York), and the Egyptian Museum (Cairo). Besides this and other hieroglyphic versions, there are also hieratic and Demotic copies on papyrus and an unillustrated hieroglyphic version inscribed on the walls of the Sobek temple in Kom Ombo (Upper Egypt).The focal point of the Walters Art Museum's section of the book of the Faiyum is a long oval representing the Faiyum lake itself. Inside the lake, images of mythological figures including the crocodile god Sobek-Re, Osiris, and the solar child allude to stories of the creation of the world as well as the nightly regeneration of the sun god. Around the lake, forty-two deities are depicted, each representing an important cult site in Egypt. In this way, the book functions as a map of a ceremonial landscape centered in the Faiyum.
provenance
Sections W.738.1A-E, W.738.2A, W.738.2B.1 and W.738.2C: purchased by Reverend William Frankland Hood [d. 1864], Deir el-Bahri. Sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, November 11, 1924, no. 134. Acquired by William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951], New York. Joseph Brummer, New York; Sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, May 11-13, 1949, no. 67; purchased by Walters Art Museum, 1949.Sections W.738.2B.2-.3: present in Thebes, Egypt, until 1859; Lord Amherst of Hackney, Didlington Hall, Norfolk, England; purchased by Morgan Library and Museum, New York, 1912 [1]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2012.[1] At this time, these sections were mounted with other fragments as part of Amherst Egyptian Papyrus VIII.5
date
1st century BCE-2nd century CE (Greco-Roman)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
manuscripts
papyri
scrolls
bookrolls
imageCount
4
pageCount
4
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
dimensions
dynasty
Ptolemaic Dynasty
med
red and black ink on papyrus
cul
Egyptian
creator_ids
6182
collection_ids
EGY
GRC
MSS
exhibition_ids
2037
2345
dimensionsRaw
H: 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm)
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
c9b4e8f44e1345d6
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
d2cbb1a793c69370
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
0318579c8f05b93e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
2d8ef6921277e33e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no