Footboard of Pakherenkhonsu's Cartonnage Case
This footboard, which would have been attached to the bottom of Pakherenkhonsu's cartonnage mummy case, is divided into two registers. On the top are Isis and Nephthys with close-cropped hair, wearing sheath dresses that leave their breasts uncovered. The goddesses, who are labeled with their names and epithets, flank a column of text that reads: "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, Lord of Abydos." Below is a figure of a galloping "Apis" bull, sacred to the god Ptah, carrying the mummified body of Pakherkhonsu on his back.
The cartonnage itself was too badly damaged to be saved, but photographs taken in the field show that it represented the deceased with a striped, tripartite wig (falling to below the shoulders in the back and over each shoulder), with the goddess Nephthys on top of the head. The face was painted a light pinkish red, and the eyes were inlaid.
Adorning the mummiform body, which had been shaped on a form and then cut in half up the back, were rows of deities, 20 in all, each identified with a part of the body and the name of the god. On the back was a large djed pillar with a feather crown, symbol of the god Osiris. The goddess Isis, sister of Nephthys and sister-wife of Osiris, was depicted on the feet.
The cartonnage itself was too badly damaged to be saved, but photographs taken in the field show that it represented the deceased with a striped, tripartite wig (falling to below the shoulders in the back and over each shoulder), with the goddess Nephthys on top of the head. The face was painted a light pinkish red, and the eyes were inlaid.
Adorning the mummiform body, which had been shaped on a form and then cut in half up the back, were rows of deities, 20 in all, each identified with a part of the body and the name of the god. On the back was a large djed pillar with a feather crown, symbol of the god Osiris. The goddess Isis, sister of Nephthys and sister-wife of Osiris, was depicted on the feet.
Artwork Details
- Title: Footboard of Pakherenkhonsu's Cartonnage Case
- Period: Third Intermediate Period
- Dynasty: Dynasty 25 (Kushite)
- Date: ca. 750–700 B.C.
- Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, el-Khokha, Tomb MMA 832 (H 3), Pit 1, Burial of Pakherenkhonsu, MMA excavations, 1914–15
- Medium: Wood, paste, paint
- Dimensions: H. 31.5 × W. 23 × D. 1 cm (12 3/8 × 9 1/16 × 3/8 in.)
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1928
- Object Number: 28.3.54
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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