Heni's coffin

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The coffin of Heni describes, strictly speaking, various coffin fragments of a "head of the house" named Heni, who probably served under Djefahapi , who in turn can be dated under Sesostris I (approx. 1956 to 1947 BC). The fragments are of particular importance because of an astronomical representation, as this is one of the oldest surviving representations of a starry sky from ancient Egypt .

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The fragments of Heni's coffin were found in a grave shaft in the forecourt of the tomb of Gau prince Djefahapi in Assiut in 1922, then drawn and published in 1926. The publication focuses on the pottery found in the grave and on the texts of the coffin reproduced in printed hieroglyphics . Only one astronomical representation was published in a sketch.

The general appearance of the coffin was quite easy to reconstruct. It was a rectangular wooden box, which was decorated on the outside with text ribbons, a horizontal ribbon on the top of each coffin wall and four columns on the long sides and two columns on the short sides. The lid had a single tape. There was a pair of eyes on the east side. The inside of the coffin was also decorated.

The underside of the lid, which showed the starry sky, is remarkable. On the left and right there were lines of text and in the middle the actual representation, which is, however, very poorly preserved. Stars and inscriptions can still be recognized, including the ancient Egyptian constellation Mesechtiu . Other fragments certainly belong to a second, either inner or outer coffin. This wore a diagonal star clock on the underside of the coffin, whereby, due to the fragmentary findings, it remains unclear whether the depictions of the sky are to be assigned to dean lists A1 or dean lists A2 .

The current whereabouts of the fragments is unknown. They are therefore only known to today's research through the sketches and printed hieroglyphs.

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