- Museum number
- EA10016,1
- Description
-
Papyrus with satirical vignettes: a figured scene in which animals ape human activities, but in a topsy-turvy world, they act against their natural instincts. The lion does not attack the gazelle but plays a board game, probably 'senet', with her. The pair grasps the playing pieces with great difficulty; the lion also holds a dice made from an animal bone. Even when the lion wins, he claims his reward in the bedroom: although the end of the papyrus is damaged, it is surely the same gazelle who is depicted there lying on her back on the bed. The rampant lion who overwhelms her certainly wears the same triumphant expression. Framed by this scene is one in which goats and geese are driven along by their natural predators the hyena, fox, and wild cat who walk upright like human herdsmen, wielding a goad, carrying their possessions in a bag slung over a pole carried on the shoulder, leaning on a staff or playing a double flute. As a further irony the cat cradles a gosling.
- Production date
- 1250BC-1150BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 13 centimetres
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Width: 59 centimetres (frame)
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Depth: 12 millimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Bibliography:
R. Parkinson, ‘ Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment’ (London, 1999), cat 81;
'Egyptian Treasures' [exhibition catalogue] (Shanghai, 1999), 230-231 No 69;
P. Nicholson and I. Shaw, 'Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology' (Cambridge 2000), p. 269.
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See L. Morenz, 'Karnevaleske Fest in der altaegyptischen Kultur' in R. Lucarelli et al (ed.), Heraugehen am Tage: Gesammelte Schriften zum altaegyptischen Totenbuch (SAT 17; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2012), p. 92-111.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1977 London, BM, Animals in Art
1990 24 Mar-10 Jun, Australia, Canberra, National Gallery of Australia, Civilization: Ancient Treasures from the British Museum, cat no.34
1990 28 Jun-23 Sep, Australia, Melbourne, Museum of Victoria, Civilization: Ancient Treasures from the British Museum, cat no.34
1990 20 Oct-9 Dec, Japan, Tokyo, Setagaya Art Museum, Treasures of the British Museum, cat. no.61
1991 5 Jan-20 Feb, Japan, Yamaguchi, Prefectural Museum of Art, Treasures of the British Museum, cat. no.61
1991 9 Mar-7 May, Japan, Osaka, National Museum of Art, Treasures of the British Museum, cat. no.61
2008 Jul-Sep, Monaco, Grimaldi Forum, Reines de Egyptes
2010 4th Nov-2011 6th March, Round Reading Room BM, Book of the Dead
2012 July -September, Tokyo, Mori museum, The Book of the Dead: Journey Through the Afterlife
2012, October - November, Fukuoka Museum of Art, The Book of the Dead
2013, May - September, Perth, Western Australian Museum, The Book of the Dead
2018 -2019, 6 Sep - 20 Jan, London, BM, G35, I Object
- Condition
- Papyrus Survey:
Condition Details:
Papyrus: fractured, loss, bleached, offsetting of media
Pigment: loss, faded
Backed: brown paper
Checked for loan to Australia 1988
Checked for loan to France 1988
Checked for loan to Far East 1997
checked for loan to USA 1999
Checked for loan to USA 1999 (AFA)
Displayed in Room 62 until 1997
Displayed in Room 61 2000 to 2001
Checked for loan to Monaco 2008
Mount Details:
Sandwich: glass
Binding: Filmoplast T self adhesive linen tape
Object Priority: B
Mount Priority: A
Overall Condition: A
Curatorial condition comment:
good
- Acquisition date
- 1834
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA10016,1
- Registration number
- .10016.1
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 10061 (frame incorrectly numbered as 10061)
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Miscellaneous number: Frame.1
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Miscellaneous number: Sams 23
