Palimpsest, Papyrus

Papyrus was an integral feature of the ancient Nilotic landscape, and it was essential to ancient Egyptians in both practical and symbolic realms.
Explore its many uses and meanings on the #MetTimeline → met.org/3sfWiE5
Unknown ancient Egyptian maker. Book of the Dead for the Chantress of Amun, Nany, ca. 1050 B.C. Papyrus, paint.






palimpsest (păl'ĭmp-sĕst')

n. A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible.
An object, place, or area that reflects its history: “Spaniards in the sixteenth century . . . saw an ocean moving south . . . through a palimpsest of bayous and distributary streams in forested paludal basins” (John McPhee).[Latin palimpsēstum, from Greek palimpsēston, neuter of palimpsēstos, scraped again : palin, again + psēn, to scrape.]