Painted Coffin Interior
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Funerary Gallery 1, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
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.
MEDIUM
Wood, pigment
DATES
ca. 1070–945 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 21
PERIOD
Third Intermediate Period
DIMENSIONS
17 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 70 3/4 in. (43.8 x 3.8 x 179.7 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.1810E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1852, collected in Egypt by Henry Abbott of Cairo, Egypt and New York, NY; 1859, purchased from Henry Abbott by the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum; 1948, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Base of a coffin, with large figure of a god wearing a nemes (Amenhotep I?) facing right; before him, several registers of figures or text
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)
IMAGE
overall, 37.1810E_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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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.
