Skip Navigation

Coffin and Mummy Board of Pasebakhaemipet

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Magical decoration ensuring the deceased’s wishes was at first put on tomb walls, but in Dynasty 21, the most elaborate decoration began to appear primarily on coffins.

The lid of this coffin shows Osiris, the god of the dead, depicted multiple times; Nut, the sky goddess; and, on the interior, the goddess of the afterlife—three deities who together create a miniature universe for the mummy to inhabit. The outsides of the box depict the deceased’s journey to the afterlife, including the final judgment by weighing his heart against the feather of truth, while the mummy board shows him as a living presence arrived in the next world.

Carbon-14 dating conducted in 2009 indicates that Pasebakhaienipet, who was the mayor of Thebes, died between 1110 and 939 B.C.E., a date supported by the Twenty-first Dynasty style of his coffin. His elaborate coffin and mummification in the most expensive style suggest his high status in Egyptian society.
MEDIUM Wood, pigment
DATES ca. 1075–945 B.C.E.
DYNASTY Dynasty 21
PERIOD Third Intermediate Period
DIMENSIONS 12 5/8 x 21 5/8 x 76 3/8 in. (32 x 55 x 194 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 08.480.2a-c
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
CAPTION Coffin and Mummy Board of Pasebakhaemipet, ca. 1075–945 B.C.E. Wood, pigment, 12 5/8 x 21 5/8 x 76 3/8 in. (32 x 55 x 194 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.2a-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 08.480.2a-c_inner_detail_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE detail, inner lid, 08.480.2a-c_inner_detail_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT 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.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.