Painted Coffin Interior
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Object Label
In the interior painting on this bottom half of a coffin, the large figure represents Osiris, king of the dead. The mummy would have originally lain on top of this figure, thereby associating the deceased with the king who was successfully reborn into the afterlife. Lesser figures here include three images, in the top and second registers, of the human-headed bird called the ba-soul, which acts on behalf of the deceased in our world; and deities such as Anubis and Horus, who here protect Osiris by supporting his legs.
Caption
Painted Coffin Interior, ca. 1070–945 B.C.E.. Wood, pigment, 17 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 70 3/4 in. (43.8 x 3.8 x 179.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1810E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1810E_PS1.jpg)
Title
Painted Coffin Interior
Date
ca. 1070–945 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 21
Period
Third Intermediate Period
Geography
Reportedly from: Thebes, Egypt
Medium
Wood, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
17 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 70 3/4 in. (43.8 x 3.8 x 179.7 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
37.1810E
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
Question: where are the mummy bodies? I see the cases, but not the bodies.
There are currently four mummies in the galleries: Thothrides, Hor, Gautseshenu, and the Anonymous Man. We have some in storage and there are also examples of coffins/cartonnages that have been separated from their mummies before coming to the museum.Can you tell me about this?
This 'Bottom of Coffin' is typical of the Third Intermediate Period where typical adornments included a large goddess or a djed-pillar while around this and on the internal walls were many smaller figures. The large figure is Osiris, king of the dead, supported by Anubis and Horus.How come the colours are preserved so well?
These coffins would have been placed in dark tombs in the desert. The dry climate and the lack of light is what allowed so much of Egyptian funerary material to be relatively well preserved!Does each image have a meaning?
Yes! The central figure is the god Osiris, king of the dead and lord of the afterlife. It's typical for coffins to have imagery which emphasizes the deceased's relationship with Osiris, to ensure successful passage into the afterlife.What do these four cobras on this coffin represent?
They are all part of Osiris’s headdress. You’ll often find at least one cobra, known as a uraeus, on the headdresses of Egyptian deities and royalty. They represent the goddess Wadjet, a protective deity especially associated with Lower Egypt or the Delta region. Multiple uraei, like we see here, became popular in the later New Kingdom period.
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