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Outer Sarcophagus of the Royal Prince, Count of Thebes, Pa-seba-khai-en-ipet

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 1, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
In the Twenty-first Dynasty, the Egyptian elites stopped building elaborate tombs. Instead, they transferred the scenes normally painted on tomb walls to the coffin. Pa-seba-khai-en-ipet’s outer coffin shows multiple scenes of the gods and the deceased worshipping them. Not only does the coffin present the deceased as Osiris, but it also illustrates the many gods he will confront in the afterlife.

The damage to the painted surface on the left side of the coffin has been left unrepaired to reveal how the carpenters pinned smaller pieces of wood together with wooden pegs to make a coffin. Artists then plastered and painted the surface to make it appear smooth.
MEDIUM Wood (cedar and acacia), gesso, pigment
  • Place Collected: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1075-945 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 21
    PERIOD Third Intermediate Period
    DIMENSIONS 37 x 30 1/4 x 83 3/8 in., 287 lb. (94 x 76.8 x 211.8 cm, 130.2kg) Lid: 117.5 lb. (53.3kg) Base: 169.5 lb. (76.9kg) mount (Support and display board, NMK loan): 39 × 93 × 38 in. (99.1 × 236.2 × 96.5 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 08.480.1a-b
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, Egypt; by 1893, unearthed by Emile Brugsch; 1894, purchased from Emile Brugsch by Armand de Potter of Belgium and New York, NY; 1905, inherited from Armand de Potter by Amy Beckwith (Mrs. Aimee S. de Potter) of New York, NY and Asheville, NC; March 1908, purchased from Amy Beckwith by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Large outer sarcophagus of the Royal Prince, Count of Thebes, etc. P3-s'b3-h'-n-ipt. Wood, overlaid with gesso, and painted yellow. Conventional decorations and inscriptions over entire base and cover. Portrait mask, and arms crossed on breast. Fragment A: Sarcophagus Fragment B: Lid
    CAPTION Outer Sarcophagus of the Royal Prince, Count of Thebes, Pa-seba-khai-en-ipet, ca. 1075-945 B.C.E. Wood (cedar and acacia), gesso, pigment, 37 x 30 1/4 x 83 3/8 in., 287 lb. (94 x 76.8 x 211.8 cm, 130.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.1a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 08.480.1a-b_profile_PS1.jpg)
    IMAGE side, profile, 08.480.1a-b_profile_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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