The Solar Barque of Ra (Book of Gates)

This Egyptian wall painting features a central golden-yellow barque carrying a rectangular shrine. Inside the shrine stands Ra, a reddish-brown figure with a ram's head crowned by a solar disk, holding a staff. The shrine is encircled by the long, sinuous body of the serpent Mehen, whose head rises at the front. To the left and right of the shrine, two human figures in white kilts stand on the deck of the boat, their hands slightly extended. The background consists of blue-gray stone walls covered in vertical columns of black hieroglyphic text.

This scene is derived from the 'Book of Gates', an ancient Egyptian funerary text from the New Kingdom. It depicts Ra's nocturnal journey through the underworld, during which he must be protected by the deity Mehen to successfully pass through the twelve gates of the Duat.