Inscriptions on the Interior of the 30th Dynasty Coffin of Nefer-renepet from Akhmim
Abstract
The anthropoid wooden coffin with plinth (L. 183.5 cm), datable to the mid-4th century B.C. (30th Dynasty), names Nefer-renepet, a dancer of Min from Akhmim. This object represents one of the artistically and technically superior coffins produced by Late Period Egyptian coffin workshops. It was formerly part of the Amherst collection, and was purchased by Ernest Brummer at a Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge auction in London in 1921, then donated the same year to the National Museum in Belgrade. The interior of the lid is distinguished by a remarkable 'gliding Nut motif with upward streaming hair' (an extremely important iconographic element) while the interior of the trough is dominated by a line drawing of Imentet wearing a diagonally-veined maat-feather on her head. The interior decoration includes inscriptions written on the side facets. Written hastily in whitish-yellow line on a rough ground of thick black pigment (in contrast to the fine outer decoration of the coffin) these barely le...gible Stundenwachen texts, are nonetheless significant, and are to be identified as abbreviated texts derived from the Book of Day and Book of Night. They are a manifestation of Late Period magical symbolism stemming from New Kingdom funerary compositions. Their presence on the coffin, however hurried, was intended to ease Nefer-renepet's passage through the netherworld. Since 1992 the coffin of Nefer-renepet is kept in the Archaeological Collection of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.
Keywords:
Stundenwachen texts / Nefer-renepet / coffin's interior decoration / Book of Night / Book of Day / Akhmim / 30th DynastySource:
Etnoantropološki problemi, 2015, 10, 3, 701-716Publisher:
- Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd
Funding / projects:
- Archaeological culture and identity in the Western Balkans (RS-MESTD-Basic Research (BR or ON)-177008)
Institution/Community
Arheologija / ArchaeologyTY - JOUR AU - Anđelković, Branislav AU - Elias, Jonathan P. PY - 2015 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/2017 AB - The anthropoid wooden coffin with plinth (L. 183.5 cm), datable to the mid-4th century B.C. (30th Dynasty), names Nefer-renepet, a dancer of Min from Akhmim. This object represents one of the artistically and technically superior coffins produced by Late Period Egyptian coffin workshops. It was formerly part of the Amherst collection, and was purchased by Ernest Brummer at a Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge auction in London in 1921, then donated the same year to the National Museum in Belgrade. The interior of the lid is distinguished by a remarkable 'gliding Nut motif with upward streaming hair' (an extremely important iconographic element) while the interior of the trough is dominated by a line drawing of Imentet wearing a diagonally-veined maat-feather on her head. The interior decoration includes inscriptions written on the side facets. Written hastily in whitish-yellow line on a rough ground of thick black pigment (in contrast to the fine outer decoration of the coffin) these barely legible Stundenwachen texts, are nonetheless significant, and are to be identified as abbreviated texts derived from the Book of Day and Book of Night. They are a manifestation of Late Period magical symbolism stemming from New Kingdom funerary compositions. Their presence on the coffin, however hurried, was intended to ease Nefer-renepet's passage through the netherworld. Since 1992 the coffin of Nefer-renepet is kept in the Archaeological Collection of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. PB - Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd T2 - Etnoantropološki problemi T1 - Inscriptions on the Interior of the 30th Dynasty Coffin of Nefer-renepet from Akhmim EP - 716 IS - 3 SP - 701 VL - 10 DO - 10.21301/eap.v10i3.7 ER -
@article{ author = "Anđelković, Branislav and Elias, Jonathan P.", year = "2015", abstract = "The anthropoid wooden coffin with plinth (L. 183.5 cm), datable to the mid-4th century B.C. (30th Dynasty), names Nefer-renepet, a dancer of Min from Akhmim. This object represents one of the artistically and technically superior coffins produced by Late Period Egyptian coffin workshops. It was formerly part of the Amherst collection, and was purchased by Ernest Brummer at a Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge auction in London in 1921, then donated the same year to the National Museum in Belgrade. The interior of the lid is distinguished by a remarkable 'gliding Nut motif with upward streaming hair' (an extremely important iconographic element) while the interior of the trough is dominated by a line drawing of Imentet wearing a diagonally-veined maat-feather on her head. The interior decoration includes inscriptions written on the side facets. Written hastily in whitish-yellow line on a rough ground of thick black pigment (in contrast to the fine outer decoration of the coffin) these barely legible Stundenwachen texts, are nonetheless significant, and are to be identified as abbreviated texts derived from the Book of Day and Book of Night. They are a manifestation of Late Period magical symbolism stemming from New Kingdom funerary compositions. Their presence on the coffin, however hurried, was intended to ease Nefer-renepet's passage through the netherworld. Since 1992 the coffin of Nefer-renepet is kept in the Archaeological Collection of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.", publisher = "Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd", journal = "Etnoantropološki problemi", title = "Inscriptions on the Interior of the 30th Dynasty Coffin of Nefer-renepet from Akhmim", pages = "716-701", number = "3", volume = "10", doi = "10.21301/eap.v10i3.7" }
Anđelković, B.,& Elias, J. P.. (2015). Inscriptions on the Interior of the 30th Dynasty Coffin of Nefer-renepet from Akhmim. in Etnoantropološki problemi Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd., 10(3), 701-716. https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v10i3.7
Anđelković B, Elias JP. Inscriptions on the Interior of the 30th Dynasty Coffin of Nefer-renepet from Akhmim. in Etnoantropološki problemi. 2015;10(3):701-716. doi:10.21301/eap.v10i3.7 .
Anđelković, Branislav, Elias, Jonathan P., "Inscriptions on the Interior of the 30th Dynasty Coffin of Nefer-renepet from Akhmim" in Etnoantropološki problemi, 10, no. 3 (2015):701-716, https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v10i3.7 . .