NEW KINGDOM, RAMESSIDE PERIOD, 19TH-20TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1292-1069 B.C.

During the Ramesside period, elite individuals commissioned elaborate sets of coffin equipment for their burials, featuring extensive polychromy and depictions of themselves in elegant clothing that they would have worn during life. These fragments represent the male deceased in a long kilt and bare chest adorned with jewelry, while the figure facing right can be identified as a representation of the human-headed god Imsety from the text panel attached to his arm. A number of examples of this type of openwork mummy cover are known, usually forming the lower portion of a two-piece mummy board covering the body, and decorated as here with images of the deceased before the gods. The upper portion usually formed a mask incorporating the collar and crossed arms of the owner, while the openwork lower portion covered the area from abdomen to the feet. Most of this type of openwork mummy-cover seem to date within Dynasty 19, though a date into Dynasty 20 cannot be excluded. For intact examples, see A. Bettum, “Faces Within Faces: The Symbolic Function of Nested Yellow Coffins in Ancient Egypt.” (PhD. dissertation, University of Oslo, 2012), especially the coffin-covers of Tamutnofret (Louvre N2623, 2620), Henutmehyet (British Museum EA 48001), and Weretwahset (Brooklyn 37.47E a-b).