Fragment of an Egyptian Book of the Dead Papyrus

The image shows a close-up detail of a light brown, fibrous papyrus surface covered in black ink hieroglyphics organized into distinct vertical columns separated by thin lines. The symbols include various Egyptian pictographs such as birds (including ibises and hawks), seated figures, serpents, eyes, and geometric shapes. A sliver of a painted horizontal border featuring blue and yellow pigments is visible at the very top edge of the frame.

This fragment serves as an example of the funerary literature used in ancient Egypt to guide the deceased through the underworld and into the afterlife, known collectively as the Book of the Dead (Spells of Going Forth by Day).