ancientpeoples:
Base and lid of an anthropoid outer coffin of...
Base and lid of an anthropoid outer coffin of Seshepenmehyt
Late Period, ca. 600 BC
Found at Thebes, Upper Egypt; donated to the museum by King Edward VII in 1869
The inscriptions tell us little of Seshepenmehyt beyond the fact that
she was ‘lady of the house’ and that she played the sistrum to accompany
rituals in the temple of Amun-Ra at Thebes. X-rays of the mummy show
that beneath the wrappings, is the body of an adult, who died between 25
and 40 years of age.Made of
sycomore fig wood, with elaborate polychrome painted decoration. A
winged solar disc covers the right breast, and below, a narrow scene
showing the weighing of the deceased’s heart (at right). At the level of
the knees, Anubis is represented mummifying the deceased as she lies on
a bier, while figures of other deities give symbolic protection. The
area is densely inscribed with short columns of text interspersed among
these images, and there is a large painted inscription around the sides
and the base. On the interior of the case is a large mummiform figure
grasping a ‘was’ sceptre and wearing the 'atef’ crown. The deity
represented is Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. He is flanked by Isis and Nephthys and
has a solar disc above his head. The thickness of the coffin is painted
with a checkered pattern.
