The Greenfield Papyrus

So I am in the process of putting together a broad introduction to the history of Illustration for students at Camberwell. In order to try to do this manageably it is necessary to define the term, or at least attempt to come to some understanding of what Illustration is. I have referred to A History of Book Illustration by David Bland [Faber and Faber Ltd 1958], a mighty tome focusing on the relationship between image and text and the development of the book. In a way this is helping to frame the inquiry in its early stages and allows me to identify key points in the historical development of the applied image, wayfinders that help establish a lineage for contemporary Illustration. Thank you Mr Bland.
My own approach however does not bear scrutiny, this will be a shallow and insubstantial affair. Apologies.

Illustration, then, is:
An act of clarification.
Visual communication of textual content.
Pictures to go with words.
Pictures to explain words.
Pictures to support words.
Pictures to contradict words.
It is NOT Illumination which is 'the art of beautifying the object rather than clarifying the content' Morey
It is the reproduction, the mediated original, the thing which is broadcast, transmittable, ephemeral.
But sometimes it is the original [see above] and sometimes it is NOT ephemeral and sometimes it is particular and unique and obscure.
It is all of these things.
Life is not simple.

Let us start by having a look at the image above, The Greenfield Papyrus. So named after the person who donated the piece to the British Museum, Mrs Edith Greenfield wife to Mr Greenfield who acquired it in Egypt in 1880.

'It is one of the best surviving examples of a funerary papyrus. The original document was over thirty-seven metres long, with spells illustrated by a series of vignettes. One of the most important scenes shows an episode in the creation of the world, according to the Heliopolitan myth. The myth centres on the Heliopolitan god Atum as the creator. He and three generations of his descendants are known as the Great Ennead. According to the myth Atum created his two offspring Tefnut (moisture) and Shu (air) by sneezing and spitting. They in turn gave birth to Nut (heaven) and Geb (earth). This vignette shows Nut stretched over the earth, represented by Geb, who lies below her. The toes of the goddess are at the eastern horizon, and her fingertips at the western horizon. She is separated from Geb by her father Shu, who holds her up with both hands. This separation did not prevent Geb and Nut having four children: Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. The myths surrounding these four deities relate to the emergence of human society; the separation of earth and sky constitutes the creation of the world.'
courtesy of here

Importantly this image forms part of the Book of the Dead of the priestess Nesitanebtashru, daughter of High Priest Pinudjem. The Book of the Dead was a term used to describe funerary texts, papyrus scrolls that were interred with the bodies of important Egyptians to assist with the passage to the afterlife. They included spells and incantations, stories relating to the creation myth, references to astrology and general instruction on how to avoid getting lost. Rough Guides to Heaven.