Ancient coffin
Detail from the Wooden coffin of Djedkhonsefankh.
The colour black was closely associated by the Egyptians with death and resurrection.
At several periods, coffins and other funerary objects were colored black, often with inscriptions and decoration in gold leaf, or yellow or white paint. The coffin of Djedkhonsefankh typifies this colour-scheme. The face is covered with gold leaf, and has inlaid eyes, while the main features of the decoration are executed in cream-coloured paint. On the lid are figures of the goddess Nut and a scene of a child-god shaking a sistrum before the jackal-deity Anubis. The compartments below contain depictions of the dead man in the presence of various gods, including the deified king Amenhotep I.
22nd dynasty, from Thebes
EA 6662
British Museum
Ancient coffin
Detail from the Wooden coffin of Djedkhonsefankh.
The colour black was closely associated by the Egyptians with death and resurrection.
At several periods, coffins and other funerary objects were colored black, often with inscriptions and decoration in gold leaf, or yellow or white paint. The coffin of Djedkhonsefankh typifies this colour-scheme. The face is covered with gold leaf, and has inlaid eyes, while the main features of the decoration are executed in cream-coloured paint. On the lid are figures of the goddess Nut and a scene of a child-god shaking a sistrum before the jackal-deity Anubis. The compartments below contain depictions of the dead man in the presence of various gods, including the deified king Amenhotep I.
22nd dynasty, from Thebes
EA 6662
British Museum