Fragment of a tomb wall
Plaster, straw, pigment
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Reigns of Thutmose IV-Amenhotep III, ca. 1400-1352 B.C.
Thebes, Tomb of Huy, TT 54
Purchased, 1920

Walls of tombs were often roughly hewn, then smoothed with a thick layer of coarse plaster which in turn was covered with another coat of fine plaster. Here, in a scene from Book of the Dead Spell 1, the funerary cortege is drawn by oxen as an attendant purifies the funeral route with a sprinkling of milk.