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Painted wooden coffin panels
Two long planks of wood from the sides of a wooden box coffin of Middle Kingdom date.
The coffin was found in tomb 94 at Beni Hasan by John Garstang in 1903. It is dated by Wolfram Grajetzki to the mid- to late 12th Dynasty (about 1985-1750 BC). The decoration on one plank includes a pair of wedjat eyes, enabling the body inside to see out. This side would also have faced to the East to enable the deceased to see the rising sun and thus have new life each day. The other plank comes from the back of the coffin. The remainder of the decoration is very colourful and shows what is known as a palace facade, thought to indicate that the dead person inside was a form of Osiris, who was considered the king of the underworld and thus needed to be housed in a royal enclosure.
The texts are offering formulae, ensuring that the dead person, named as Senumutef received bread, beer, cattle, fowl, amongst other things that would keep him nourished in the afterlife.
Method of acquisition: Given (1903) by The Beni Hasan Excavation Committee
12th Dynasty#
Middle Kingdom
Beni Hasan
-1985
BCE
-
-1773
BCE
Accession number: E.69.1903
Primary reference Number: 50674
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Antiquities
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IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Painted wooden coffin panels" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/50674 Accessed: 2024-12-23 19:26:07
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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/50674
|title=Painted wooden coffin panels
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-23 19:26:07|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Painted wooden coffin panels</figcaption>
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