© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Coffin Lid of Tanakhtnettahat/Ta-Aset

AAT Object Form/Functioncoffins

AAT Object Techniqueinscribing

AAT Object Techniquepainting (image-making)

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodThird Intermediate Period, Dynasty 21

Date1076-944 BCE

MediumWood, pigment

Credit LineCharlotte Lichirie Collection of Egyptian Art

Dimensions71 7/16 x 20 1/2 x 21 7/8 in. (181.5 x 52.1 x 55.6 cm)

Object number1999.001.017C

Label TextThis coffin lid, made for the lady Tanakhtnettahat, a chantress in the temple of the god Amun at Karnak, depicts her outfitted in a full wig adorned with her finest jewelry. A fillet of lotus flowers and petals encircles the top of her head, and round earrings peek out from beneath her wig. The lappets of the wig are gathered in beaded bands and overlay a shawl-like broad collar. A winged goddess is spread across the chest of the coffin lid, and below are twinned scenes of an enthroned Osiris receiving offerings from Tanakhtnettahat. Below this is a composition of Isis and Nephthys worshipping the fetish of Abydos, which is flanked by Tanakhtnettahat adoring a ram-headed deity. The pattern of a central pattern of amuletic devices and gods and goddesses being venerated by the coffin owner continues on the remainder of the base of the coffin. At the foot end of the lid, goddesses are shown mourning a mummified figure.
A 3D model of the coffin's 3 elements is available here

Exhibition HistoryJuly Egyptian Preview, Michael C. Carlos Museum, July 18 - 20, 1999
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - December 8, 2014
African Cosmos: Stellar Arts, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 31 - June 21, 2015
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, July 13, 2015 - Present
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara, "The New Galleries of Egyptian and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum," Minerva 12 (September/October 2001): 9-16.
Peter Lacovara, Sue D'Auria, and Therese O'Gorman, "New Life for the Dead," Archaeology (September/October 2001): 22-27.
Peter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 49-50.
Jennifer Ritchey, "Eye on Antiquity," Where Atlanta (November 2001): 20.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 22-23.
Susan Jaques, A Love for the Beautiful: Discovering America's Hidden Art Museums (Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2012), 43.
Yasmin El Shazly, American Research Center in Egypt. "Coffin of Tanakhtnettahat". (October 2020). https://www.arce.org/coffin-tanakhtnettahat
Associated 3D Model: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/coffin-of-the-lady-tanakhtnettahat-3bee7fdea04e49eb889aa840dd2c4d08

ProvenanceEx coll. Niagara Falls Museum, Niagara Falls, Canada. Purchased by MCCM from William Jamieson (1954-2011) [Golden Chariot Productions], Toronto, Canada.

Status

On view

Collections