Head of a sarcophagus lid, 590-350 BC

Head of a sarcophagus lid, 590-350 BC
Period:
Dating:590 BC–350 BC
Origin:Egypt, Nubia, Meroe
Material:Wood (undetermined)
Physical:19.5cm. (7.6 in.) -
Catalog:WOD.LL.00648

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Links to others of type Coffin/sarcophagus lid

Carved face from a sarcophagus, N.K.
Face from a sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 26
Royal wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 18
Sarcophagus of a king, Dyn. 18
Sarcophagus of a queen, Dyn. 18
Wooden sarcophagus lid, circa 650 BC
Wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 18
Wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn.18
Wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 18
  This face is all that is left of the sarcophagus that was meant to forever protect the mummy of the deceased. The ‘cap’ now on his head is really the center section of the large headdress that once came down the sides. The face is painted green, the color of Osiris, in allusion to resurrection.

The aesthetic canon is not that of classic Egypt, but the technical and artistic quality of the workmanship is remarkable. Meroe, Egypt/Nubia, 590-350 BC.

Sarcophagus
Sarcophagus is a Greek term used in Egyptology to designate a container made to protect a mummified body (the term literally means “body eater”). Although we are guilty here of using the term loosely, the generally accepted convention today is to use ‘sarcophagus’ for a stone container, and ‘coffin’ for a wooden or metal container.

Initially, Egyptian coffins were rectangular (sometimes with arched tops). They were decorated with symbolically charged motifs and ritual texts. Around Dynasty 12 (Middle Kingdom) appeared the first anthropomorphic coffins, which followed the general shape of the human body. By the New Kingdom, royal burial sets had become very elaborate: “The mummy. . . lay in three mummiform coffins; the innermost is made of solid gold, and the other two of wood covered with sheet gold. . . [the] set of anthropomorphic coffins was laid into a rectangular or cartouche-shaped sarcophagus, which in turn was surrounded by several chapel-like wooden structures. . .” (Redford 2001:[1]283).

Meroe
“The only African state outside the Mediterranean littoral was Meroe. With Egypt under foreign domination, Meroe preserved the culture of the pharaonic state… The Kingdom of Meroe, as Kush is subsequently known, remained a major power that was taken seriously by the Persians, Greco-Macedonians and Romans who in turn ruled Egypt after 525 BC. In the Fourth century, Meroe suffered attacks from desert nomads; it collapsed about 350 BC… Until about 200 BC, when an indigenous Meroitic script was developed, Egyptian scripts and language were used for inscriptions, and the use of pyramids for royal burials continued into the Christian era, long after the practice had ceased in Egypt.” (Haywood 2000:2.01,2.21)


Bibliography (for this item)

Haywood, John, Charles Freeman, Paul Garwood, and Judith Toms
2000 Historical Atlas of the Classical World—500 BC to AD 600. Barnes & Noble Books, New York, NY.



Bibliography (on Sarcophagus)

Redford, Donald B.
2001 Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, London. (283)



Bibliography (on Meroe)

Haywood, John, Charles Freeman, Paul Garwood, and Judith Toms
2000 Historical Atlas of the Ancient World—4,000,000 to 500 BC. Barnes & Noble Books, New York, NY.






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