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

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Coffin Lid of Neskashuti

AAT Object Techniqueinscribing

AAT Object Techniquepainting (image-making)

AAT Object Form/Functioncoffins

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period, Dynasty 25

Date722-655 BCE

MediumWood, pigment, gesso, linen

Credit LineCharlotte Lichirie Collection of Egyptian Art

Dimensions70 7/8 x 21 1/4 x 16 9/16 in. (180 x 54 x 42 cm)

Object number1999.001.009 B

Label TextThis coffin belonged to a man named Neskashuti, Chief of the singers of Min, son of Paenmiw, Divine Father of Min, and Overseer of the singers of Min. Possibly made in Akhmim, the primary cult center of Min, the coffin displays a rather eccentric and unrefined style typical of provincial artisans.
The broad facial features are typical of coffins of the Twenty-fifth, or Nubian, Dynasty, as is the sculptural design, with back pillar and plinth below the feet. The decoration relies heavily on inscriptions, and the bottom half is covered with rows of text on alternating yellow and white bands.

Neskashuti wears a heavy wig banded by a fillet and a floral broad collar. On the crown of the head, a figure of a goddess supports a solar disk between her upraised arms.

The representation of a goddess with spread wings kneels on the chest. Below her, a figure f the deceased worships Osiris, who leads a procession of mummiform deities. The lower portion of the body is divided by a column of text, with detailed, polychrome glyphs, in contrast to the cursorily executed signs on the rest of the coffin. Two columns of mummiform gods are depicted on either side of the central inscription. The horizontal orientation of the figures, along with the fact that both columns are oriented in the same direction, emphasizes the provincial origin of the coffin.

On the front of the pedestal, the mummy is portrayed on the lion-shaped embalming bed with the Canopic jars containing his viscera arranged below. Ten mummiform deities and a priest stand at either end of the bed. The bottom of the pedestal shows a figure of the Apis bull bearing the mummy on its back, as a ba-bird hovers overhead. Although these scenes are not uncommon on coffins of this period, the rather rough execution of certain figures, such as the ba-bird and the Canopic jars, highlights the less rigid artistic standards found outside of Thebes.

When this coffin arrived at the Carlos, its lid was almost completely smashed, and the pieces were heavily blackened by grime and soot. Fragments were even scattered among the other coffins in the collection. Following a lengthy, painstaking conservation effort, the coffin of Neskashuti has regained its original charm.
Exhibition HistoryCultural Sensations: Africa, Coca-Cola Company Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia, April 21 - June 20, 2003
Shown in conjunction with Excavating Egypt, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan, September 30, 2006 - January 7, 2007; Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 8, 2007 - January 13, 2008
Shown in conjunction with Lost Kingdoms of the Nile, Clay Center, Charleston, West Virginia, September 12, 2009 - April 26, 2010
Hall of Ancient Egypt, The Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas, May 1, 2013 - Present
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara, "The New Galleries of Egyptian and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum," Minerva (September/October 2001): 9-16.
Peter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 52.
Kea Johnston, "Reading and Writing in Retrograde on Late Coffins from Akhmim," in Current Research in Egyptology 2023: Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Symposium, University of Basel, 10-14 September 2023, ed. L. Dogaer et al. (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2024), 203, Figure 7.

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

Status

Not on view

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