Ancient Egyptian Scribes Used 3,000-Year-Old 'Tippex' to Correct Papyrus Errors
Long before modern writers could delete typos with a simple keystroke, or even use sticky tubes of white Tippex, clumsy scribes in Ancient Egypt were already employing their own version of correction fluid. Archaeologists have now revealed that this practice dates back at least 3,000 years, with a remarkable discovery in a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
The Discovery of Ancient White-Out
Researchers from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge made the breakthrough while examining a papyrus scroll created for a senior royal scribe named Ramose in 1278 BC. This particular copy of the Book of the Dead – a collection of spells intended to guide the deceased through the afterlife – contains an illustrated scene showing a scribe standing with a jackal-headed god.
While the jackal's fine details were originally painted in deep black, archaeologists noticed thick white stripes on either side of the body. According to Helen Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, these white lines were added after the painting was completed to make the jackal appear skinnier.
'It’s as if someone saw the original way the jackal was painted and said: “It’s too fat; make it thinner”,' Ms Strudwick explains. 'So the artist has made a kind of ancient Egyptian ‘tippex’ – also known as ‘Wite-out’ or ‘Liquid Paper’ – to fix it.'
Scientific Analysis Reveals Ancient Techniques
Using transmitted light infrared photography, researchers were able to peer through the upper layers of white pigment to see the original painting beneath. This confirmed that the white lines were deliberately painted over parts of the black body and back legs, altering the jackal's appearance.
Further analysis revealed the exact composition of this ancient correction fluid. The white pigment was largely made of huntite, a white crystal, combined with calcite – a common mineral found in limestone and marble. Interestingly, the white paint on Ramose's robe contained only huntite, while the correction pigment included calcite to make it thicker and more effective at covering the black paint.
Images taken with a 3D digital microscope showed that the Tippex-like pigment also contained flecks of orpiment, a highly toxic yellow mineral known as 'King's Yellow'. These flecks likely helped the paint blend with the surrounding papyrus, which would have originally been a pale cream colour.
The Remarkable Preservation of Ramose's Book of the Dead
This particular copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead has an extraordinary history. Discovered in 1922 inside a tomb in Sedment, Egypt, by archaeologist Sir William Flinders Petrie, it was found scattered into hundreds of pieces and remained that way for nearly a century.
In 2006, conservators began the painstaking process of treating each fragment, cleaning, humidifying, repairing and joining pieces to reconstruct most of the original layout. The scroll, which would have been more than 65 feet (20 metres) long in its original form, has been kept in storage for most of the last century, leaving it in remarkably good condition for its age.
The jackal accompanying Ramose is believed to represent Wepwawet – the god known as the 'opener of the ways' who guided armies and led the dead through the underworld, which the Egyptians called 'Duat'.
Not an Isolated Incident
This discovery represents more than just an interesting curiosity. Ms Strudwick has identified similar corrections on other important Egyptian artefacts, including the Book of the Dead of Nakht in the British Museum and the papyrus of Yuya, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
'When I have pointed them out to curators, they’ve been astonished,' she says. 'It’s the kind of thing that you don’t notice at first.'
Parts of the Book of the Dead of Ramose will be on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum until April 12, as part of the Made in Egypt Exhibition, offering visitors a rare glimpse into both ancient Egyptian beliefs and the very human tendency to correct mistakes.
Understanding the Egyptian Book of the Dead
The term 'Book of the Dead' is a modern designation for collections of spells that ancient Egyptians believed would help them navigate the afterlife. They viewed the afterlife as a journey through a hostile and dangerous land that could lead to paradise if successfully completed.
Due to the perils of the underworld (Duat), they believed magical assistance was essential for a safe journey. Without the correct spells, the spirits of the dead could face gruesome torments or be killed again, preventing them from reaching the afterlife.
These books were typically rolls of papyrus covered with spells written in hieroglyphics and often richly illustrated. Wealthier individuals could commission elaborate, personalised versions with special spells of their choosing, while those with more modest means might purchase pre-written scrolls with spaces to add their names to various spells.
