The publication “Book of the Dead of Nesshu (P. Yverdon)” by Malcolm Mosher Jr. has recently been released in the SPBDStudies series. It was conceived as part of the Swiss Coffin Project and I’m delighted to present it on this blog.

The publication provides the first detailed study of the funerary papyrus of the Ptolemaic priest Nesshu, who lived in the town of Akhmim in Upper Egypt. The papyrus is part of Nesshu’s burial equipment, which has been kept in the Musée d’Yverdon et région (Yverdon and Region Museum) in Switzerland since 1896. Consisting of the mummified body of Nesshu, the intact coffin, the mask and the cartonnage coverings, as well as a lengthy funerary papyrus and amulets for magical protection, it is the most complete burial equipment in a Swiss museum.

After the Swiss Coffin Project was set up in 2004, the Yverdon and Region Museum was one of the first museums to join in and there has been a long-standing collaboration ever since: Nesshu’s funerary assemblage was photographed in detail and presented in several publications, paying special attention to the iconography and inscriptions on the coffin.

 

In 2024, the Swiss Coffin Project initiated a new series called “SCP Publications”, which will feature a separate volume on Nesshu. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to resume research on the funerary ensemble. Within the scope of this research, Malcom Mosher Jr. conducted the first in-depth examination of all the remaining parts of the papyrus. His study has yielded a wealth of new and valuable information, which is presented in detail in the newly published “Book of the Dead of Nesshu (P. Yverdon)”. The publication also includes contributions on the history of Nesshu’s burial equipment by Alexandra Küffer, head of the Swiss Coffin Project, and Corinne Sandoz, curator of collections at the Musée d’Yverdon et région.

The publication “Book of the Dead of Nesshu (P. Yverdon)” will be followed by the volume in the “SCP Publications” series, featuring each item of Nesshu’s funerary assemblage alongside the latest research findings on its provenance and acquisition. The volume, directed by Alexandra Küffer and Corinne Sandoz, is scheduled for late 2027. Together, these two publications will provide a comprehensive insight into the previously unknown stories behind the remarkable burial equipment of the priest Nesshu.

Before concluding this blog post, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Malcolm Mosher Jr. for his enthusiastic engagement with the Nesshu Papyrus, and for presenting his detailed findings in the SPBDSeries.