Iconography and Texts of the Headboard and Footboard of the Inner Coffin of Ta-Bes at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Gadallah, Islam Hussein; Abdelaal, Aisha Mahmoud

doi:10.21608/misj.2024.325686.1065

Iconography and Texts of the Headboard and Footboard of the Inner Coffin of Ta-Bes at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ History Department, Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University, Egypt

² Head of History Department, Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University, Egypt

10.21608/misj.2024.325686.1065

Abstract

This study discusses the iconography and texts that are depicted on the headboard and footboard of the anthropoid wooden coffin of Ta-Bes at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, TR. 5/10/16/11, which has never been published before. Neither the provenance nor the date of this coffin was identified before this study. This coffin is distinguished by its yellow inscriptions on a black background. The present study will deal with the description of both goddesses Isis and Nephthys that are depicted on the headboard and footboard, translation of the texts, and then comment on the date, parallels, and provenance. This study concludes that the coffin can be dated to the late Twenty-fifth or early Twenty-sixth Dynasty and designated its provenance to Akhmim. Furthermore, the different representations of the two goddesses on the headboard and footboard of coffins from the same period have been discussed. In addition to, the religious purpose of the scenes. Finally, epigraphical notes will be made at the end of this paper to enhance the date of the coffin.

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Islam Hussein GadAllah

A Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University, Egypt. He received his bachelor’s degree in Egyptology from Ain Shams University in 2018 and is pursuing an MA with a thesis entitled "An Unpublished Anthropoid Wooden Coffin from the Late Period at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo." His research interests focus on the development of ancient Egyptian coffins, as well as ancient Egyptian arts and funerary texts.

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