Box coffin of the night
The richly decorated coffin of the night from the Middle Kingdom (11th / 12th dynasty, 2050–1794 BC) is in the Egyptian collection of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim . The inner lid decoration with one of the very rare star clocks is particularly interesting. (Inventory number: PM 5999).
Location
The exact location of the coffin is not documented, but the type of decoration and the use of certain divine names indicate the origin of the coffin from the necropolis of Assiut in Middle Egypt. Certain sacrificial formulas, mentions of Assiut gods and horizontal double lines on the outside of the coffin are just as much part of the typical design of the coffins from Assiut as the selection of the coffin texts . The coffin was acquired in the Swiss art trade in 1989 and verifiably comes from the former collection of Khashaba, Assiut.
size
The length of the coffin is 191 cm, the height 47 cm and the width 41 cm.
description
The wooden coffin of the night is - apart from the lack of a floor today - in an excellent state of preservation. The representations should have the effect that the deceased night could continue to exist safely and without worries in the hereafter. The coffin decoration shows objects that were also important to him in the afterlife. They are summarized visually in the device frieze and in writing in the list of victims. In addition, the coffin was provided with sayings from the so-called coffin texts, which were supposed to counteract dangers that one did not want to depict graphically. These include B. the fear of the deceased to lose the physical integrity, to get into the net of a demon or to be turned upside down.
While the outside of the coffin only has simple bands of inscription with prayers and speeches from the gods, the inside is decorated over a large area according to a standardized scheme for the Middle Kingdom. The coffin is set up in the museum so that the decorated insides of the five coffin parts are unfolded and clearly visible. The headboard can be easily distinguished from one another by the representation of the headrest and the footboard with the representation of two pairs of sandals. On the headboard, above the headrest, there is a box with five vases on it. The text above refers to it: "The box is open and the oils are brought in". The nine writing fields provide information about the contents of the vessels, which contained seven sacred oils and two bags of eye make-up. The deceased is recommended to the embalming god Anubis . The remaining inscriptions quote a saying from the coffin texts that evoke the resuscitation and happy continued existence of the deceased. In the foot of the headrest there is a three-line sacrificial text in vertical writing. In the center of the footboard above the two pairs of sandals, a grain magazine is shown. Three pillars support a roof over which it is written: “Contents of the two barns”. To the left of the pillars you can see the entrance door and next to it three filled silos for sufficient supplies. The facing east longitudinal side was on the outside by a udjat in -Augenpaar. This should enable the dead to see the divine plane and the all-invigorating sun god. The inside of this board is particularly colorful with pictures of grave goods, it forms the point of contact with this world. After a six-line text, the device frieze begins with the essential elements of the grave goods, such as a false door at the top left . In the grave, the false door serves as the main sacrificial site and is at the same time the place where the deceased could come into contact with this world in order to be provided with prayers and offerings. Next to the false door hang three vases for the water donation in a stand.
The next eye-catcher is a sacrificial table , the base of which is identified as stone by the black and white speckles. In the top row there is a decorative belt with a pearl hanging, which was worn over the apron on special occasions. A low bed with an unpadded headrest is depicted under the decorative belt. Two tied clothes bags fill the space between the pearl hanging and the wooden box, the contents of which are laid out on the lid. These are two wide collars. The top row is rounded off by a pen palette with indentations that contain the red and black paint. Six writing rushes are in a side pocket. A selection of pieces of meat and lettuce salad is shown directly below the writer's palette. The counterweights for the wide collars and two pairs of bracelets are on a low box next to it . On the right long board, on the right side of the coffin, 120 kneeling victims can be seen on a small scale, each belonging to an entry in the list of victims. This is divided into three rows of 40 entries each. Food and drinks, ointments and eye make-up are listed, all the "beautiful things" that the deceased does not want to do without.
Star calendars on the inside of the lid are typical of coffins from Assiut, but only a few have survived. The star calendar in the grave of the night is well preserved and easy to read. A line of hieroglyphs leads continuously from right to left . It contains a text that offers sacrifices to various star deities. In the center left there is a pictorial representation of three deities and a large thigh of beef. The sky goddess Nut holds her arms raised in the sky. The beef thigh contains seven stars that correspond to the constellation of the Great Bear . This is the content of the text. The striding god below can be identified by the hieroglyph on his head as Orion in the southern sky. The last, female figure symbolizes the Sirius star. There are a total of 27 columns, separated by beige lines. Since each column stands for a period of ten days, the Egyptian star calendar would have to contain 36 columns. Star calendars were a means of telling time during the night; a list of the stars in the order of their rising in the night sky, with the help of which the Egyptians were able to divide the night into segments of 40 minutes each.
literature
- Rainer Hannig : coffin of the night . In: Arne Eggebrecht (Hrsg.): Search for immortality. Cult of the dead and belief in the afterlife in ancient Egypt . von Zabern, Mainz 1990, ISBN 3-8053-1224-5 , p. 58–61 (catalog manual).
- Arne Eggebrecht (ed.), Matthias Seidel: The Egyptian Collection / Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1579-1 , pp. 41-43.
- Jochem Kahl : Critical comments on the diagonal star clocks of the Middle Kingdom. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Volume 20, 1993, pp. 95-107 ( online ).
- Christian Leitz : Ancient Egyptian star clocks (= Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta. Volume 62). Peeters, Leuven 1995, p. 61 (note 15).
- Silke Grallert: The joint inscriptions on coffins of the Middle Kingdom. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture. Volume 23, 1996, pp. 147–165 (p. 150: note 13; p. 151–152: text A; p. 152–153: text B; p. 154–155: text C; p. 158– 159: Text G).
Web links
- Entry as well as pictures and description at The Global Egyptian Museum
- Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim: Highlights and Death in the Desert