Inner Coffin of Tiye
The burial of the Chantress of Amun Tiye was found in the pit of Tomb MMA 60. It included an outer coffin, which had been badly damaged by fallen stones and rotted by exposure to water; this inner coffin; a mummy board (25.3.16); an Osiris shroud (25.3.26); a group of amulets (see 25.3.172); an Osirid figure (now in Cairo); and two funerary papyri (25.3.33 and 25.3.34).
The coffins were part of a "stock" set, constructed and decorated ahead of time with the eventual owner's name added later. Tiye's name appears only on the mummy board, written in blue paint over varnish. Her titles appear on this inner coffin, but the blank spaces for her name were never filled in.
The lid depicts the deceased in a long wig adorned with a floral fillet above her forehead and decorative bands holding the locks in the front. The tips of her breasts, the nipples covered by rosettes, are visible below the lappets of the wig. Her arms are crossed below her breasts, with her hands held flat and her palms turned inward. She wears large round earrings, a long floral collar, a scarab pectoral, bracelets, and rings. The lower part of the coffin is divided into panels filled with figures of the deceased before various gods, and an inscription covers her feet. The floor of the box interior is dominated by a large figure of a goddess standing on the sign for gold.
The coffins were part of a "stock" set, constructed and decorated ahead of time with the eventual owner's name added later. Tiye's name appears only on the mummy board, written in blue paint over varnish. Her titles appear on this inner coffin, but the blank spaces for her name were never filled in.
The lid depicts the deceased in a long wig adorned with a floral fillet above her forehead and decorative bands holding the locks in the front. The tips of her breasts, the nipples covered by rosettes, are visible below the lappets of the wig. Her arms are crossed below her breasts, with her hands held flat and her palms turned inward. She wears large round earrings, a long floral collar, a scarab pectoral, bracelets, and rings. The lower part of the coffin is divided into panels filled with figures of the deceased before various gods, and an inscription covers her feet. The floor of the box interior is dominated by a large figure of a goddess standing on the sign for gold.
Artwork Details
- Title: Inner Coffin of Tiye
- Period: Third Intermediate Period
- Dynasty: Dynasty 21
- Date: ca. 1070–945 B.C.
- Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb MMA 60, Pit, Burial of Tiye (P3), MMA excavations, 1923–24
- Medium: Wood, paint, gesso
- Dimensions: L. 191 cm (75 3/16 in)
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925
- Object Number: 25.3.15a, b
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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