This face once belonged to a Middle Kingdom mummy-shaped coffin and was fixed to the lid by wooden dowels that fit into holes in the coffin lid.1 Remains of the wig frame the face. The face, painted Egyptian blue and covered with varnish, has darkened over time into a greenish-brown coating.2 The color green associated the owner with Osiris, symbolizing rebirth and vegetation.
The practice of varnishing polychrome Egyptian coffins began in the Middle Kingdom.3 Varnishing was associated with ritual actions undertaken on the coffin during mummification, in the workshop, or during anointing rites at the burial.4 The goal was to aid the preservation of the body and the transition of the dead into the afterlife as an Osiris.
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Hadidi, Nesrin el-, S. Darwish, Mohamed Ragab, Sabah Abd el-Razek, and M. Abd el-Rahman. 2019. “Beyond the Visible: Merging Scientific Analysis and Traditional Methods for the Documentation of the Anthropoid Coffin of Amenemhat.” In Ancient Egyptian Coffins: Past – Present – Future, edited by Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson, 13–21. London: Oxbow Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh9w0cw.6. ↩︎
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Daniels, Vincent, Rebecca Stacey, and Andrew Middleton. 2004. “The Blackening of Paint Containing Egyptian Blue.” Studies in Conservation 49: 217–230.. ↩︎
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Siffert, Uta. 2019. “Middle Kingdom mummy-shaped coffins: Investigating meaning and function.” In Ancient Egyptian Coffins: Past – Present – Future, edited by Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson, 22–29. London: Oxbow Books.. ↩︎
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Fulcher, Kate, Margaret Serpico, John H. Taylor, and Rebecca Stacey. 2021. “Molecular analysis of black coatings and anointing fluids from ancient Egyptian coffins, mummy cases, and funerary objects.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, no. 18. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100885118. ↩︎
Bibliography
- Daniels, Stacey, and Middleton 2004
- Daniels, Vincent, Rebecca Stacey, and Andrew Middleton. 2004. “The Blackening of Paint Containing Egyptian Blue.” Studies in Conservation 49: 217–230.
- Fulcher, Serpico, Taylor, and Stacey 2021
- Fulcher, Kate, Margaret Serpico, John H. Taylor, and Rebecca Stacey. 2021. “Molecular analysis of black coatings and anointing fluids from ancient Egyptian coffins, mummy cases, and funerary objects.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, no. 18. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100885118
- Hadidi et al. 2019
- Hadidi, Nesrin el-, S. Darwish, Mohamed Ragab, Sabah Abd el-Razek, and M. Abd el-Rahman. 2019. “Beyond the Visible: Merging Scientific Analysis and Traditional Methods for the Documentation of the Anthropoid Coffin of Amenemhat.” In Ancient Egyptian Coffins: Past – Present – Future, edited by Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson, 13–21. London: Oxbow Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh9w0cw.6
- Siffert 2019
- Siffert, Uta. 2019. “Middle Kingdom mummy-shaped coffins: Investigating meaning and function.” In Ancient Egyptian Coffins: Past – Present – Future, edited by Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson, 22–29. London: Oxbow Books.