Ancient Traditions

It appears that even the most skilled scribes of ancient Egypt made mistakes. A recent discovery at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has revealed that ancient Egyptian artisans used a correction fluid - much like a modern-day 'Tipp-Ex' - to fix errors in sacred texts. The finding, made while preparing one of the best-preserved Egyptian scrolls for public display, sheds new light on the meticulous standards to which these craftspeople were held, and the sophisticated techniques they developed to meet them. The vignette of Spell 117, showing the papyrus owner Ramose with the jackal god Wepwawet. The white correction fluid can be seen on either side of the jackal’s body and on the front of the thighs of its back