Dismantled Coffin of Khety

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The rectangular wooden coffin of the Overseer of the Storehouse, Khety, is of a type known from the mid-12th Dynasty on. The exterior decoration is relatively simple, with horizontal bands of inscription around the sides just below the lid and four vertical bands on each long side. There would have been a pair of wedjat eyes on the east side, but this panel has been damaged. The lid, made of two planks pegged to battens, is inscribed (like the lower part of all four sides) with religious spells known as Coffin Texts in a cursive script. On the long east side is a false door, an offering table piled with food , an offering list, and stands bearing scepters, staves, and jewelry. The west side depicts clothing, toilet objects, and a headrest, also laid out on tables and stands. The floor of the coffin is covered with texts in two "islands" surrounded by blue bands signifying water. Painted on the head and foot end are sacred oil vessels and sandals.

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