FAQ
Thothirdes
Thothirdes may be familiar to those of you who have seen her on display in the 3rd floor Egyptian Galleries. She was deinstalled and brought up to the lab this week so that we could prepare her for a trip to the hospital. Fortunately, her mummy seems to not have been disturbed, and she is a good candidate for the CT (computed tomography scanning) we are planning on doing at North Shore University Hospital.
X-radiographs were take in the 1930’s of this mummy. Unfortunately, those radiographs were made using nitrate based filmed and are no longer in a state of preservation to be of use.
When we removed her body from the coffin, the beautiful painting below was revealed. The coffin, without the body, is now on back on display in the 3rd floor galleries. You can come by and see this painting until the end of June when we plan on returning Thothirdes’s body to her coffin.
In addition to the painting on the inside, her coffin is painted on all sides, including the underside as seen here in this image.
We look forward to sharing the information about Thothirdes that might be revealed in the CT scans.
Lisa Bruno
Objects Conservator
RSS 
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum
May 7th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
What a great surprise! I can’t wait to visit the museum to see it. Are there any preservation measures that can be taken to preserve the painted wood?
May 11th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Samantha - As a matter of fact, I did do a small amount of consolidation to make sure that loose pieces of paint will remain secure to the wood. Besides trying to maintain a stable climate, applying adhesive below paint flakes is the next most common preservation measure. The paint in this case was fairly stable, but a few areas needed to be secured with adhesive before returning to display. Lisa
May 28th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Do we know if that is a goddess painted on the bottom and who she is? I’ve looked at her, but could not make out details. Also, is the beard on her cover a sign of royalty or is there another reason?
May 28th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Great question, Pat. I wish I could be sure of the answer. You would expect the sky goddess Nut inside a coffin. This figure seems to be dressed as Isis, however. The beard is broken, but is most likely the curved beard of Osiris. The decoration seems to emphasize the relationship the deceased wants to have with the divine couple Osiris and Isis.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Thanks, Ed. Someone on one of my tours asked about the beard, which I had not noticed. Also, got a copy of the Collier/Manley hieroglyphs book and find it easier to reference than my Gardiner’s-and a lot lighter!