THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, DYNASTY XXI, CIRCA 1069-945 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN POLYCHROME PAINTED WOOD SARCOPHAGUS
THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, DYNASTY XXI, CIRCA 1069-945 B.C.
The base of the interior decorated in four registers, the uppermost with large Isis-knot (Tit) flanked by two crouching deities, probably Isis and Nephthys, below a winged sun-disc with two uraei wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt and flanking a scarab, with two confronting reclining jackals holding Shm-scepters, decorative hieroglyphs for the Great God; the main register with seated Osiris on the right, protected by a winged uraeus, holding Heka-scepter and flail, facing a goddess wearing Ba-bird and feather, pouring a libation over an offering table, with two columns of text reading: 'Libations have been poured and offerings have been made by the Lord of the temple, Great God who resides in the Necropolis', the third register with two deities facing a cartouche reading 'Osiris, Lord of the Horizon,' with a falcon and crane perched on Isis-knots, the last register with two standing mummiform deities with wedjat-eyes, sun-disc, uraei and ankh-signs above lotus flower offerings, the interior left side decorated with a funerary snake-headed deity, the two others now missing, below two human and feather-headed deities, the interior right side with, from top to bottom, a kneeling deity holding ankh-sign protected by a large wing, a frieze of uraei surmounting three funerary human and falcon-headed deities and altars, a jackal, snake and human-headed deities and altars, and a human and feather-headed deities; the exterior decorated with offering scenes, seven on the left and six on the right, accompanied with hieroglyphic text
74 in. (188 cm.) long

Provenance

Private collection, Australia, 1970s; acquired from Mohammed Hussani, Luxor.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

This style of polychrome coffin appeared in the New Kingdom and continued into the 21st Dynasty, where the themes represented were greatly expanded. Tomb building almost ceased at this period, therefore the importance of coffins increased for most private people in their hopes for the afterlife. Only anthropomorphic coffins are known in this period, mostly from Thebes, and the lids were made from one piece of wood and usually represent the deceased as Osiris. The last decade of Ramesses XI's reign brought revolutionary changes in iconography and while other motifs, such as the Four Sons of Horus, Isis and Nephthys as mourners never really disappeared, a great number of new scenes were introduced. New compositions were added, often with emphasis on solar religion combined with the myth of Osiris, with illustrations of the god's journey through the Netherworld and the revival of the mummy. These scenes were supplemented by various offering scenes covering every surface of the coffin except the exterior of the underside, as in this example.

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