Part of a coffin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The decoration on this piece of wood indicates that it comes from the lower part (box) of a coffin. On the exterior surface a male figure, presumably meant to represent the deceased, offers a crown to the god Osiris. The scene is framed by a border of blue and red squares; above this, along the upper edge of the coffin box, is a frieze of rearing cobras (uraei) alternating with maat feathers. On the inside two deities are preserved, one with a human head and the other with the head of a hare. The decoration on the outside of the box is painted directly on the wood, and none of the varnish commonly used on coffins of this era is present. The interior has been plastered and then painted, with varnish selectively applied to the images. A slight curve at one end of this piece suggests that it might come from the shoulder area of the box.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art