Open-and-shut-cases
Coffins of Amenemope,Late Dynasty 21-Early 22,circa 975-909 BC, Wood,gesso,paint
Amenemope was a god's Father of Amun,Scribe of the Double Treasury of the Lord of the Two Lands and the House of Amun,and a member of a prominent priestly family in Thebes and had retained the same offices for generations.The two coffins are said to come from Gurna in Western Thebes.
The outer and inner coffins are similar in shape and decoration. The lids each feature a well modeled face and the curved beard indicative of the deified dead.The exposed hands hold the makes,or document case associated with royalty.The body is slim and the kneecaps protuberant,and each figure wears a bright red cloth,or stola,that encircles the neck and whose ends emerge beneath the folded arms.The stola,mekes,and oversized collar are among the features that scholars have,in recent decades,recognize as distinctive of the era between 975 and 909 BC.
The figural decoration of each lid is in miniature,finely executed in polychrome palette.For the most part the scenes illustrated are those of adoration and presentation.The gods usually appear in raised relief,while the deceased is shown in painted line only.
Open-and-shut-cases
Coffins of Amenemope,Late Dynasty 21-Early 22,circa 975-909 BC, Wood,gesso,paint
Amenemope was a god's Father of Amun,Scribe of the Double Treasury of the Lord of the Two Lands and the House of Amun,and a member of a prominent priestly family in Thebes and had retained the same offices for generations.The two coffins are said to come from Gurna in Western Thebes.
The outer and inner coffins are similar in shape and decoration. The lids each feature a well modeled face and the curved beard indicative of the deified dead.The exposed hands hold the makes,or document case associated with royalty.The body is slim and the kneecaps protuberant,and each figure wears a bright red cloth,or stola,that encircles the neck and whose ends emerge beneath the folded arms.The stola,mekes,and oversized collar are among the features that scholars have,in recent decades,recognize as distinctive of the era between 975 and 909 BC.
The figural decoration of each lid is in miniature,finely executed in polychrome palette.For the most part the scenes illustrated are those of adoration and presentation.The gods usually appear in raised relief,while the deceased is shown in painted line only.