Coffin of Nefnefret

Middle Kingdom
ca. 1802–1640 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 109
In 1919, the Museum's Egyptian Expedition found a large deposit of coffins and objects in a fill below the causeway of Thutmose III in the central part of the Asasif Valley, in an area known as "East of Pabasa." The coffin of Nefnefret is one of the more than fifty coffins that were part of this deposit, which seems to have been made up of the contents of tombs that were destroyed by the cutting of the Dynasty 18 causeway to the royal memorial temples at Deir el-Bahri and represents a significant number of burials of the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period in Thebes.
The Museum has four black-painted coffins from this find including the coffin of Nefnefret, all on display in gallery 109. These include the coffin of a wab-priest named Entemaemsaf (32.3.428a, b); the coffin of a wab-priest named Ikhet (32.3.430a, b); and the coffin of an un-named owner (32.3.431a, b).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Coffin of Nefnefret
  • Period: Middle Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 13
  • Date: ca. 1802–1640 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Asasif, East of Pabasa and north of Padiamenemopet, MMA excavations, 1919–20
  • Medium: Sycomore wood, paint
  • Dimensions: Coffin box: L. 195 cm (76 3/4 in); W. 48 cm (18 7/8 in); H. 61 cm (24 in)
    Lid: L. 174 cm (68 1/2 in); W. 43 cm (16 15/16 in); H. 15 cm (5 7/8 in)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1932
  • Object Number: 32.3.429a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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