Snake Coffin with Mummy

664–332 B.C.E.

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Object Label

Shrews and ichneumons both prey on snakes and therefore won the Egyptians’ admiration and worship. Though snakes could turn their powers to protecting kings and queens, serpents also threatened the sun god Re on his journey through the next world. Egyptian religion made room for both the positive and negative aspects of certain animals.

The shrew mummy bundle shows that more than one animal was sometimes included in one package.

Caption

Snake Coffin with Mummy, 664–332 B.C.E.. Wood, animal remains, linen, 2 5/8 x 2 1/16 x 8 1/16 in. (6.7 x 5.2 x 20.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1358Ea-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1358Ea-b_PS2.jpg)

Title

Snake Coffin with Mummy

Date

664–332 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 26 to Dynasty 31

Period

Late Period

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Wood, animal remains, linen

Classification

Remains, Animal

Dimensions

2 5/8 x 2 1/16 x 8 1/16 in. (6.7 x 5.2 x 20.5 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

37.1358Ea-c

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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