Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Panel from the Coffin of a Woman

ca. 2008–1875 B.C.E.

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Object Label

This coffin is decorated with hieroglyphic texts invoking both national gods and the local gods of Asyut. The texts also include a prayer for bread, beer, and other offerings in the afterlife. A stand with five jars of oil, a bed with seven linen bags of materials for mummification, a mirror, and a pair of sandals are all depicted on the coffin’s side, magically ensuring their presence in the tomb and with the deceased forever.

Caption

Panel from the Coffin of a Woman, ca. 2008–1875 B.C.E.. Wood, pigment, 17 1/2 x 71 1/2 x 1 1/4 in., 22 lb. (44.5 x 181.6 x 3.2 cm, 9.98kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 1995.112. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.112_PS1.jpg)

Title

Panel from the Coffin of a Woman

Date

ca. 2008–1875 B.C.E.

Dynasty

late Dynasty 11 to early Dynasty 12

Period

Middle Kingdom

Geography

Possible place collected: Asyut, Egypt

Medium

Wood, pigment

Classification

Funerary Object

Dimensions

17 1/2 x 71 1/2 x 1 1/4 in., 22 lb. (44.5 x 181.6 x 3.2 cm, 9.98kg)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

1995.112

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.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    The images on this panel represent things the deceased would need in the afterlife. The objects are not gender specific, it is the inscription that identifies this as from a woman's coffin.
    In the left section: Jars on a table are understood as containing "unguents," scented ointments. The jars themselves are decorated like imitation-stone which is, itself, based on real, early, carved stone vessels.
    In the middle section: On a bed, bundles of embalming materials including linen sit, labeled. Underneath the bed, there are three objects: a canopic chest, a man-made pool, and a sieve or jar stopper.
    In the right section: These two are the most every-day items on the panel. On the left is a mirror in a protective sleeve and to the right is a pair of sandals. The mirror has a typical, lotus-shaped handle.

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