The two coffins and three mummy covers you see here were made for a lady named Henettawy. Like many of the women we meet in this room, she was a chantress of the god Amun-Re. She died during the twenty-first dynasty, when she was very young—about eighteen to twenty-one years old.

The twenty-first dynasty brought difficult times for Egypt, and building activities were restricted. For their burials, the powerful priesthood of the god Amun either re-used earlier tombs or had simple rock-cut shafts and chambers. They did not decorate the walls of these tombs, but the art of coffin decoration flourished.

Look at the pieces in this case. Their masterful composition led the Museum’s excavator Herbert E. Winlock to compare them to the stained-glass windows in Medieval churches. In his excavation report, he wrote: "It was the mosaic of intricate patterns and the harmony of rich colors over the whole composition that gave the opulent effect..." The effect is heightened by an astonishing mastery of technique. The coffins are constructed of joined wood boards. The lids were carved—notice the beautifully rounded abdomens. The faces and sometimes the necks were made separately and attached. A base layer of gesso or gypsum lies under most of the painting, and in some places it is so thick that a relief effect is achieved. Finally, the coffins are covered with a varnish of tree resin.