Three Decorated Ptolemaic Sarcophagus Fragments

Last week’s blog post discussed some Osiris figures in the Egypt Centre collection, drawing on parallels recently seen in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The blog post for this week also draws on a parallel in the Vienna museum when discussing three wooden sarcophagus fragments in Swansea, which likely date to the Ptolemaic Period. The three fragments of thick wood were purchased by Harry Stow, an agent of Sir Henry Wellcome, for £6 from Glendining and Co., an auction house in 1932. The auction catalogue describes lot 37 as “three massive pieces of ancient Egyptian wood sarcophagus case, carved in hieroglyphs.” Stickers with the number 518 found on the fragments made it possible to trace them back to the collection of Henry Martyn Kennard (1833–1911), whose collection was sold in 1912. The auction catalogue describes this lot as “two ends and a corner post from a large wooden sarcophagus; carved with incised figures of gods, inscriptions, etc.” Unfortunately, it is not possible at present to trace the history of the objects back further. However, Kennard is known to have supported the excavations of Petrie and Garstang, in addition to that of the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society).

EC357 is the most complete of the three fragments, with a width of 500mm, height of 275m, and 89mm thick (fig. 1). As noted in the Kennard catalogue, this represents the end fragment of a large wooden sarcophagus. Only the exterior face is decorated, with the central scene being carved at a slightly lower level than the border strips above and below. The upper strip is decorated with incised hieroglyphs, with both the hieroglyphs and figures below being crudely carved. Additionally, the line below the hieroglyphs in the upper strip is unfinished, while the lower strip is completely void of any decoration. In the upper strip, the centre of the inscription contains a sun-disk flanked by uraei, with parallel texts reading away from it. They read ḏd mdw hꜣ wsi͗r i͗mn pꜣ-di͗-wsi͗r, “Words spoken: Hail the Osiris, ‘He who Hides’, Petosiris.” While the final hieroglyphs of the name are partially lost, they are fully preserved on EC356, to be discussed below. The title i͗mn, meaning “He who Hides” or “The Hidden One”, is rarely attested and seems to have been mainly associated with the sixth Lower Egyptian nome. This priestly title is attested from the Late Period onwards (Klotz 2014, 731–2).

Fig. 1: Coffin end 1

 

The central scene of EC357 is decorated with an image of Isis (on the right) and Nephthys (on the left) flanking the so-called fetish of Abydos, the sacred emblem of Osiris. Behind Nephthys are Atum and his female counterpart Atumet, who wield knives. On the opposite side, behind Isis, are the deities Sobeq and Sobeqet, who are also shown holding knives. While Atum is, of course, well-attested, the other three are not. This is particularly the case with the pair of Sebeq and Sebeqet (LGG VI, 256–7). These four deities are commonly represented with Isis and Nephthys flanking the fetish of Abydos, as is the case with EC357. This includes the coffins of Wenenefer (Cairo CG 29310), Horemheb (Cairo TR 22/1/21/3), and Panehemisis (Kunsthistorisches Museum 4). Additionally, in pBrooklyn 47.218.138, which contains a series of spells for the protection of the king against poisonous snakes, scorpions, and spiders, these four deities are referred to as “the four Akh-spirits who keep watch over the majesty of Osiris” (Goyon 2012, 17).

Fig. 2: Coffin of Panehemisis

Since the wonderful publication of the coffin of Panehemisis (fig. 2) by Leitz (2011), I have been keen to visit Vienna to see it for myself. In particular, the see the parallel scene found on the sarcophagus fragment in the Egypt Centre collection. The coffin of Panehemisis, a priest of Amun-Re of Shena, was found in the necropolis of Saqqara. Notable for its excellent state of preservation as well as the high quality of its reliefs, it is made of basalt and is over two meters long. The inside of the coffin remained uninscribed, but the lid and the trough of the coffin in particular are decorated with an exceptionally large number of inscriptions and depictions. The scene in question is located on the underside of the coffin trough, where the head of the deceased would have been placed (fig. 3). Therefore, we can probably assume that EC357 represented the head panel of the sarcophagus. The elaborate depiction of the deities flanking the fetish of Abydos on the coffin of Panehemisis is accompanied by labels emphasising their role in protecting Osiris (Leitz 2011, 329–35).  

Fig. 3: Detail of the coffin of Panehemisis

 

If EC357 was located at the head end, then EC356 would have been at the foot end. EC356 is designed in a similar manner to EC357 with the central panel carved lower that the two border strips above and below. The upper strip contains the same inscription attested on EC357, with only the left side fully finished. The scene in the central panel is also unfinished, although the traces of decoration preserved indicate that it was intended to depict a djed-pillar flanked by two recumbent jackal figures (Anubis) atop shrines. Both jackals are also shown holding sceptres in their front paws (fig. 4).  

Fig. 4: Coffin end 2

The third fragment is EC434, which represents the corner post of the sarcophagus (fig. 5). The two exterior faces are decorated with hieroglyphs. On the first, a rearing cobra wearing the Red Crown is depicted atop a bundle of papyrus. The beginning of the column of hieroglyphs behind this figure is damaged, but it does at least contain the partial name of the deceased’s mother. Since there is no space above for both the names of Petosiris and his father, it is likely that this column continued on from one of the horizontal inscriptions found on EC356 or EC357. Following the name of the mother, the phrase “I am Nephthys” is written, which must be associated with the uraeus in front of it. This would suggest that each of the four corner posts contained a protective uraeus representing the tutelary goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Selket, and Neith. On the other face of the post, two columns of hieroglyphs are included, with traces of a horizontal inscription above. Once again, the name of the mother is preserved, which can tentatively be read as nb-ꜣḫt, Nebakhet (PN I, 183: 03).

Fig. 5: Corner post

Further research is needed on these fragments in order to fully understand them. It is hoped that this blog post will lead to more pieces of the sarcophagus being identified in other museum collections.   

 

Bibliography:

Goyon, Jean-Claude 2012. Le recueil de prophylaxie contre les agressions des animaux venimeux du Musée de Brooklyn: papyrus Wilbour 47.218.138. Studien zur spätägyptischen Religion 5. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 

Klotz, David 2014. Regionally specific sacerdotal titles in Late Period Egypt: soubassements vs. private monuments. In Rickert, Alexa and Bettina Ventker (eds), Altägyptische Enzyklopädien. Die Soubassements in den Tempeln der griechisch-römischen Zeit: Soubassementstudien I 2, 717–792. Studien zur spätägyptischen Religion 7. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Leitz, Christian 2011. Der Sarg des Panehemisis in Wien. Zeichnungen von Victoria Altmann. Mit einer detaillierten Bilddokumentation der Särge des Panehemisis und Horemhab auf DVD. Studien zur spätägyptischen Religion 3 ([1]). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.