Snake Coffin (Atum)
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
Among the numerous varieties of animal coffins, one of the most interesting is a bronze coffin decorated with figurines depicting the animal inside. Bronze figurines could be used as offerings made to gods to accompany a request, just as animal mummies were used for this purpose.
These two coffins combine the figurine tradition with the animal mummy tradition.
MEDIUM
Bronze, lead
DATES
664–343 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 26 to Dynasty 31
PERIOD
Late Period, or later
DIMENSIONS
2 15/16 x 1 7/16 x 3 1/8 in. (7.5 x 3.6 x 7.9 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
16.600
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Oblong bronze container presumably for mummified reptile or similar with two lines of hieroglyphic inscription incised in the front. On top of container, in the round, uraeus serpent, Atum, with body arranged in figure 8 form. Front of body and head erect. Details of body incised. Inscriptions.
A small M3't feather connects hood to lower body.
Condition: Good. Small hole in rear of base, probably a casting detail. Small hole in top of base under body of serpent.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Snake Coffin (Atum), 664–343 B.C.E. Bronze, lead, 2 15/16 x 1 7/16 x 3 1/8 in. (7.5 x 3.6 x 7.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.600. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 16.600_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 16.600_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph (Gavin Ashworth, photographer), 2012
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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