writing-box / model

writing-box / model

• EA35878

• Description

  Model of a scribe's writing-box: made of wood, slightly worn and abraded. The rectangular chest has two feet, and is painted white, with red and black bands. The sliding lid of the chest is white with red bands at the two ends, and is shown open to reveal five papyrus rolls laid lengthways inside. On the open lid is the scribe's palette, painted in red and black. Beside it are the remains of a peg with which a circular object, perhaps a pot or another
  
  
  

  • Height: 3.1 centimetres
  • Width: 4.7 centimetres
  • Depth: 9.1 centimetres (max)

  
  This is a unique depiction of how papyrus rolls were placed in chests for storage.
  The chest was presumably part of an elaborate model manufactured to be placed in an official's tomb, showing the tomb owner's scribes at work.
  
  britishmuseum.org