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Original fileNun Raising the Sun Disk (Book of the Dead)
Nun Raises the Sun d1
About This Work
The image features a large, solid red circle representing the sun, centrally positioned. A stylized, elongated figure of the god Nun, painted in a brownish-red hue, stands vertically behind the disk, holding it aloft with his arms raised. He wears a simple kilt or loincloth. The figure is flanked by vertical columns of Egyptian hieroglyphs on papyrus, which show signs of age, wear, and slight discoloration. The style is that of a funerary papyrus, with the figures rendered in the classic two-dimensional profile characteristic of ancient Egyptian art.
This scene depicts the solar birth and the daily rejuvenation of the sun, a central theme in the Egyptian 'Book of the Dead' and cosmogonic texts concerning the emergence of Ra from the primordial ocean of Nun. It illustrates the role of the creator deity in establishing cosmic order (Ma'at) through the sunrise.
Inscriptions(Egyptian (Hieroglyphic))
Multiple columns of vertical Egyptian hieroglyphs, including signs for the sun (Ra), the scarab (Khepri), the emblem of the East (iabet), and various grammatical determinants.
Translation
General funerary and liturgical formulas referring to the rising sun and the deceased's passage into the afterlife.
Connected Texts
Book of the Dead
This image is a standard illustration found within various funerary papyri detailing the transition of the deceased into the afterlife.
Collections
Provenance & Source
Object
painting
papyrus
Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian
manuscript-illumination
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
1259 × 748 px
Linked Data