A rare ancient Egyptian burial cloth more than 3,000 years old is to go under the hammer on Thursday in Paris, an exceptional sale of an artefact usually found only in museum collections. The small square of vividly painted fabric is among roughly 20 known to exist in the world, the majority of which are on display at museums like the Louvre and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. According to Piasa, the auction house hosting the sale, it is difficult to set a price estimate, given the unique nature of the item. The 29-by-21 centimetre (11-by-8 inch) shroud, which would have been placed on the deceased’s sarcophagus, bears the likeness of a man named ‘Ta-nedjem’ or ‘Gentle

Read More: Rare Egyptian shroud in first-of-kind auction at PIASA auction house in Paris