Artefact created 2300 years ago contains text from the Book of the Dead
The adjoining piece is held at Getty Institute in Los Angeles and the discovery was made after the Christchurch fragment was catalogued online.
It once wrapped an Egyptian mummy and includes spells from the Book of the Dead. Now a 2300-year-old piece of linen held in a Christchurch museum has been matched with a fragment in the United States.
The ancient cloth dates back to 300BC and was taken from the tomb of Petosiris, located 340 kilometres south of Cairo.
Pieces of the shroud are in museums and private collections around the world but exactly how the 52 fragments came to be separated remains a mystery.
The Christchurch section was bought at auction by University of Canterbury in 1972 and is housed at Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities, one of the most significant collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern artefacts in New Zealand.
As well as Egyptian hieratic script, the wrapping features scenes of life from the early Ptolemaic period (305 to 30BC), such as butchers cutting up an ox as an offering, men carrying furniture for the afterlife and a man pulling a sledge bearing an image of Anubis, the Protector of the Dead.
University of Canterbury classics associate professor Alison Griffith said it was "just amazing" to be able to piece the fragments.
"We put our collection online on an open-source database called eHive. When you do this the whole world can see what you have.That started the process," she said.
"The Getty Museum has a piece of the same wrapping and started to look at the pictures and the script on it, and they figured out that the text was continuous from one piece to another."
Although there was a gap in the two pieces, the pictures and text indicated they were adjoining fragments, she said.
Another fragment was held at the RD Milns Antiquities Museum at University Of Queensland and staff were investigating whether it also fit.
In earlier periods, Egyptians wrote directly on the walls of the tomb, however they later wrote on papyrus, a material similar to paper.
Other images on the fragment include a hawk, an ibis and jackals, as well as a funerary boat with the figures of goddess-sisters Isis and Nepthys on either side.
The text, which is read from right to left, contained passages from The Book of the Dead, an Egyptian textthat included spells and instructions "to ensure the deceased person makes it into the afterlife", Griffith said.
"It shows us about funerary customs and beliefs and the critical importance of making sure the deceased is properly buried and the right rituals get them to the afterlife.
"The reason people were mummified was so that the body provides a place for the soul, or ka, to return to."
Dr Foy Scalf, head of Research Archives at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, said the fact fragments were now scattered around the world "is an unfortunate fate for Petosiris, who took such care and expense for his burial".
"And, of course, it raises all sorts of ethical issues about the origins of these collections and our continued collecting practices."
The shroud originally came from the collection of Charles Augustus Murray, who was British Consul General in Egypt from 1846-63, and later became part of the collection of Sir Thomas Phillips (1883-1966).
Terri Elder, curator at the Teece Museum, said the discovery showed how valuable the Logie Collection was for teaching and research.
"It also shows how valuable it has been to put our collection online," she said.
"The story, like the shroud, is being slowly pieced together."
The Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities, at the University of Canterbury Arts city campus (in the Christchurch Arts Centre), is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 3pm.
The Christchurch fragment is not on public display but can be viewed by appointment.
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