Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Coffin and Cover of Princess Mayet

• Download
• Add to set
• Favorite
• Posse icon
• Share
• Print

Coffin and Cover of Princess Mayet

This rectangular coffin contained the mummy of a young girl named Mayet ("Kitty"), who died at the age of five or six. She was one of six wives of King Mentuhotep II buried in his funerary temple. A single line of text is painted on all four sides of the coffin and down the center of the lid. Each line asks a deity to provide sustenance and other essentials in the afterlife. Mayet was buried lying on her left side, facing east, so that she could observe the rising sun through the two wedjat-eyes painted on the exterior of the coffin.


• Medium: Wood, painted
• Place Excavated: Thebes (Deir el Bahri), Egypt
• Dates: ca. 2008-1957 B.C.E.
• Dynasty: XI Dynasty
• Period: Middle Kingdom
• Dimensions: 16 15/16 x 15 1/2 x 71 3/4 in. (43 x 39.4 x 182.2 cm)
• Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
• Accession Number: 52.127a-b
• Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
• Image: Overall, 52.127a-b_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Coffin and Cover of Princess Mayet, ca. 2008-1957 B.C.E. Wood, painted, 16 15/16 x 15 1/2 x 71 3/4 in. (43 x 39.4 x 182.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 52.127a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.127a-b_print_bw.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Wooden coffin (A) and cover (B) of the Princess Mayet. Rectangular shape, flat cover with single line of painted inscription down center. Single line of painted (blue-green) inscription around upper sides of box. Pair of magical eyes painted at end on one long side. Four struts across base. Condition: Intact: Cover slightly warped. Box split through center along all four sides, perhaps along original joinings.