The Art of Ancient Egypt | Publications for Educators | Explore & Learn

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Coffin of a Middle Kingdom official
Asy-ut, tomb of Khnumnakht, Dynasty 12, 1900-1783 B.C.
Painted wood, l. 82 in.
Rogers Fund, 1915
15.2.3

The most noticeable features on this painted wooden coffin of the official Khnumnakht (kh-noom-nockt) are the goddess at the head (identified by the inscriptions as either Isis or Neith, two of the four goddesses who protected the mummy), her hands raised in a gesture of protection, and the eye panel on the long side to the left. Eyes were powerful symbols of protection, guaranteeing that the deceased's body would remain undisturbed. Eyes painted on coffins had further significance. Coffins were always placed in the tomb with the eye side facing east. Inside the coffin the mummy, lying on its side, could look through the painted eyes at the rising sun, symbol of rebirth. Below the eyes is an elaborate version of the so-called false door, through which the spirit could come and go, spending the night in the mummy but leaving at dawn to live again in the world.

The colorful vertical patterns arranged symmetrically on each side of the door are derived from the reed matting used in very early Egyptian architecture. Over the eye panel and along the upper edge of the coffin is a pattern called kheker frieze, derived from the open knotted fringes of hanging rugs.The hieroglyphic inscriptions contain spells and prayers for Khnumnakht's eternal protection and sustenance and identify the coffin as his burial place.

Notice: shape of coffin, goddess, hieroglyphs, material, colors

Discuss: symbolism, gesture, relation of writing to art, why wood and paint have survived

Compare with: Tomb of Perneb and Section from a Book of the Dead

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Horus eyes were painted on coffin panels for the deceased to look through

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