The Book of the Faiyum is an exquisitely illustrated papyrus from Greco-Roman Egypt. One of the most intriguing ancient representations of a place ever found, the papyrus depicts the Faiyum oasis, located to the west of the Nile, as a center of prosperity and ritual. For the first time in over 150 years, major sections owned by the Walters Art Museum and the Morgan Library & Museum, separated since the manuscript was divided and sold in the 19th century, will be reunited. Egyptian jewelry, papyri, statues, reliefs and ritual objects will illuminate the religious context that gave rise to this enigmatic text, which celebrates the crocodile god Sobek and his special relationship with the Faiyum. The exhibition will travel to the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim, Germany.
This exhibition has been generously supported by grants from The Selz Foundation, the Women’s Committee of the Walters Art Museum, Transamerica, and the John J. Leidy Foundation; and by gifts from Frances and Rick Rockwell, Douglas and Tsognie Hamilton/Hamilton Associates, the Peter Bowe and Barbara Stewart Fund, Nancy and Henry Hopkins, Diana and Frederick Elghanayan, and an anonymous donor.