Ancient Egyptians Used Correction Fluid to Fix Errors on Papyri
The ancient Egyptians used an early version of correction fluid to fix errors on artworks and documents, researchers have found. The news was first reported by the Times of London. While readying a 3,300-year-old papyrus for the exhibition “Made in Ancient Egypt” at the Fitzwilliam Museum in England, museum staff noticed that a painted figure of a jackal had been altered to make it appear slimmer. The jackal is part of a scene from a copy of the Book of the Dead—a scroll made to guide the deceased through the underworld—prepared for the tomb of the royal scribe Ramose. In the vignette, Ramose walks alongside the jackal, which likely symbolizes the jackal-headed god Wepwawet, a pathfinder for armies and guardian of the dead. Related Articles White lines can be seen along the top and bottom of the jackal’s body and down the fronts of its hind legs. “It’s as if someone saw the original way the jackal was painted and said, ‘It’s too fat—make it thinner,’ so the artist has made a kind of ancient …
