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Painted Coffin Interior

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 1, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
In the interior painting on this bottom half of a coffin, the large figure represents Osiris, king of the dead. The mummy would have originally lain on top of this figure, thereby associating the deceased with the king who was successfully reborn into the afterlife. Lesser figures here include three images, in the top and second registers, of the human-headed bird called the ba-soul, which acts on behalf of the deceased in our world; and deities such as Anubis and Horus, who here protect Osiris by supporting his legs.
MEDIUM Wood, pigment
  • Reportedly From: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1070–945 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 21
    PERIOD Third Intermediate Period
    DIMENSIONS 17 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 70 3/4 in. (43.8 x 3.8 x 179.7 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1810E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1852, collected in Egypt by Henry Abbott of Cairo, Egypt and New York, NY; 1859, purchased from Henry Abbott by the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum; 1948, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Base of a coffin, with large figure of a god wearing a nemes (Amenhotep I?) facing right; before him, several registers of figures or text
    CAPTION Painted Coffin Interior, ca. 1070–945 B.C.E. Wood, pigment, 17 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 70 3/4 in. (43.8 x 3.8 x 179.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1810E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1810E_PS1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.1810E_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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