coffin mummy.coffin Thesaberu

Wooden coffin of Thesaberu, lid painted and inscribed, mask of head raised. Contains mummy of female (24-30yrs), in brown linen swathings. X-ray of mummy shows arms folded over chest.

Early: -332 Late: -30, Period: Ptolemaic or Greek period

wood sycamore.wood

L: 1800 mm

Africa Egypt Ekhmim

In Egypt from the Pre-Dynastic period in the 4th millenium BC until the 1st millenium AD it was normal for bodies to be mummified before burial, to accord with beliefs about the well-being of the deceased after death. The technique was developed from early desiccation and wrapping to more elaborate embalming procedures and removal of the viscera, accompanied by the development of coffins of decorated wood and, later, cartonnage. This mummy case of the period 300-40 BC encloses the mummy of a female, shown by X-ray to be between 24 and 30 years old. It also shows that her arms are crossed over her chest. She is named as Thesaberu. The case is made of sycamore wood and plaster , inscribed and painted in white, green and red and yellow with stripes figures and hieroglyphs, in a pattern that gives a banded appearance to the coffin body. The face and hair are shown in a stylized manner, the face is painted in a dramatic contrast in red/brown with white eyes outlined in black. The mummy is wrapped in brown linen and a net of tubular turquoise and white round faience beads was laid over the chest of the wrapped mummy. There is a record in the catalogue of other tomb furniture with this mummy, a figure of Nephthys, four canopic jars, a figure of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, a box containing ushabti figures and a figure of Isis. It is not stated whether these were found together. See also 22114.