Sarcophagus of Usermontu

Sarcophagus of Usermontu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This anthropoid sarcophagus belonged to Usermontu, High Priest of Montu and Priest of Amun during the latter part of the reign of Ramesses II. A large sarcophagus of black granite was found inside his tomb in the Theban necropolis; presumably, this pink granite sarcophagus lay inside the larger one. This is an unusual object, as it was rare for private individuals in the New Kingdom to have stone sarcophagi. Here Usermontu wears a long striated wig bound with a floral fillet and the long curved beard of divinity. His crossed hands hold a djed pillar, the symbol of stability associated with the god Osiris, and a tit amulet, invoking protection and sacred to Osiris's sister-wife Isis. Across Usermontu's chest is a broad festival collar. The inscriptions on the exterior are utterances of the protective funerary deities depicted on the sides: Thoth, Anubis and the Four Sons of Horus. On the interior, spells are inscribed for the protection of the body by the sky goddess, Nut, who is carved full-length on the floor of the box.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.