Coffin knob (?)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This object of painted wood has been identified as a “knob” that would have protruded from one of the short sides of the lid of a rectangular coffin and used to lower it into place during the funerary ceremonies. After the burial, the projecting part of the knob would have been sawn off, leaving a cylindrical shape, as can be seen on a number of Middle Kingdom coffins (see for example, 32.3.427. For a clear example of such a knob, belonging to the steward Wah and found in his tomb, see 20.3.202c. The cylindrical surface of this object is painted a solid blue. One end shows lotus flowers enhanced with geometric patterns and green leaves arranged symmetrically around a central disc in red. This iconography would be suitable for a funerary object, as the lotus is associated with the regeneration or rebirth of the deceased. However, Wah’s knob and other known examples of this type are unpainted, and it is difficult to find Middle Kingdom parallels to the style of the floral decoration. Research on this unusual piece and a similar example (29.2.7), purchased at the same time, is ongoing.

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