Embalmer's Bed

Late Period

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130

Discovered in a cache of material associated with the embalming process, this bed would have been used to support the body during mummification. The top is made from a re-used door leaf comprised of two planks of sycomore, and the lion-headed legs, of a fine harder wood, might have come from a piece of furniture. Such beds frequently appear in scenes of embalming depicted on the walls of tombs or on coffins.

Also found in this deposit was a "shrine" coffin (Cairo JE 55194) belonging to the High Priest of Amun and son of the Kushite pharaoh Shabaqo, Horemakhet.

Embalmer's Bed, Wood (fig and tamarisk)

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