Coffin Box

This anthropoid mummy case is made of cartonnage, a material consisting of several layers of linen or papyrus pasted together and covered by a thin layer of plaster and painted. The case originally contained the mummy of a man named Nebnetcheru, who was a priest with the title of God’s Father of Amun at Karnak Temple.

A djed-pillar, a symbol of Osiris, decorates the back of this cartonnage case. Placed along the spine, the djed-pillar also represents stability. There is an ankh, the symbol for “life”, at the back of the head. Additional decorative elements include depictions of the four sons of Horus and tyet-amulets. Stitching down the center back indicates how the cartonnage was originally sealed around the mummy. When acquired in 1924, the case was intact and closed. It was opened in 1933 to remove the mummy (E14344A). The lid (E14344C) is now separate.