Details

Object type

coffin

Place Associated

Africa, Egypt, Middle Egypt, Beni Hasan, Tomb 130 (place found)

Date

12th Dynasty, 1985-1797 BC

Dimensions

overall: 213 x 1000 x 245 mm

Description

This wooden rectangular coffin, complete with lid, was excavated by Garstang in tomb 130, Beni Hasan. Its small size shows it was intended for a child. It contains the skeleton of an adult man, Nakht, whose mummy must have decayed and been reburied.

The box is painted to resemble the recesses and buttresses of the walls of a mudbrick palace - a house for him in the afterlife. The eyes on the left side allow the deceased to be reborn daily by watching the rising sun. Bands of hieroglyphs give the offering formula and identify the coffin as being for Nakht. The leopard skin painted on the lid shows Nakht was a sem-priest.

A sem-priest was a major figure in the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ceremony. This intricate ritual took place after the deceased had been mummified. A ritual was performed on funerary statutory or coffins representing the dead to magically open up the mouth, allowing the deceased to breathe, speak, and receive food and drink.

Credit Line/Donor

Gifted by the Egyptian Research Students' Association (Glasgow Branch), 1923

Collection

The J May Buchanan Collection

ID Number

1923.33.a.1

Location

Kelvingrove Ancient Egypt Gallery