Papyrus of Pjai

The fragment of papyrus, written in hieratic, preserves part of a funerary text written for Pjai, the son of Ta-sheret-Imen-hotep. The recto has 24 horizontal lines that contain a collection typical of the Late period: an anthology of formulas taken from the funerary texts of the previous period; in particular it conserves a part of the "Book of breathing," a funerary text of Theban origin that appeared in the Ptolemaic period and was designed to protect the deceased and facilitate safe passage to the underworld. On the verso there are 3 horizontal lines in hieratic bearing the title of the text presented on the front, as is clear from the first line: "Book to enter the underworld and to reach the Hall of Truth, the book of breathing of Thoth is your defense. " 

The register of the purchases of the museum for the years 1823 - 1833 states that it was purchased on May 28, 1830 and near at hand is written the name of Giuseppe Schiavi, who could be the donor or the seller. It is interesting the written annotation nearby where it is said that the papyrus was unrolled by Ippolito Rosellini.