ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Relief of an Entombment Ritual

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom

Date1539-1077 BCE

MediumLimestone

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Elliff Snyder

Dimensions21 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 13/16 in. (54.6 x 26.7 x 2 cm)

Object number2001.021.001

Label TextAfter the body was mummified, it went through a series of rituals before its interment in the tomb. During the New Kingdom, the coffin was often depicted as standing upright in the courtyard of the tomb while rituals of purification and renewal took place. The most important ritual, the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, allowed the mummy to regain the ability to use its mouth, eyes, nose, and ears in the next life.

This relief depicts a coffin receiving a final offering of water before it is placed in the tomb. A priest holds the mummiform coffin upright, while another priest pours a libation from a ritual vessel. The deceased's son, named Userhet, is shown grasping the bottom of the coffin mourning, crouched behind a table laden with offerings.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - Present
Published ReferencesSotheby's New York, Antiquities (June 12, 2001), 166, lot 323.
Peter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 33.
Rune Nyord, Seeing Perfection: Ancient Egyptian Images beyond Representation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 42, Figure 11.

ProvenanceWith Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, New York, January 28, 1966, number 68. Ex Estate of Dr. Bruce L. Ralston. Purchased by MCCM from Sotheby's New York, June 12, 2001, lot 323.

Status

On view

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