Museum inventory number: 9534
Length: 176 cm; Width: 45,5 cm
Wood, plaster, paint and varnish.
Decorated with multicoloured paintwork and profuse use of moulded plaster, varnished.
The reverse side is undecorated.
The object is preserved in good condition. The plaster collapsed in several areas, mainly on the headboard and the footboard.
The object was restored in the workshops of Florence Museum in 1957–1958.1
Iconography
Headboard
A large multicoloured headband decorated with lotus petals and geometrical motifs adorns the wig. A large bunch of three lotus flowers and four buds hangs down over the forehead (Fig. 62).
The face is finely carved. The skin is yellow and the contours of the eyes and eyebrows are outlined in black. The pupils (black) are painted against a white background. The lips, nostrils and eye-lids are outlined in red.
The round earrings are painted (not moulded) and decorated with multicoloured rosettes.
The wig is decorated with a checkered pattern.
Upper Section
The breasts figure below the lappets of the wig featuring small rosettes to suggest the nipples. The hands, open and crossed over the chest, are carved in wood and painted yellow. The fingers and nails are outlined in red. The elbows are hardly visible but it is possible to detected a multicoloured lotus flower. The forearms are completely hidden under the floral collar (Fig. 62).
The area comprised between the lappets of the wig display a short collar composed of six transversal bands decorated with alternating pearl-beaded motifs.2
The large floral collar covers part of the abdomen, displaying eight bands decorated with different patterns: checkered motifs (4th, 6th, 8th bands), buds on reeds (3rd, 7th bands), lotus petals (5th band) and lotus flowers intertwined with acacia flowers (1st band).
On the chest, between the breasts and the hands, lies a pectoral depicting a winged scarab (moulded) holding up a solar disk flanked by cobras. The shen-ring figures between its hind legs.
Central Panel
The central panel displays eight registers featuring symmetrical compositions (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th registers) intertwined with large depictions of a winged goddess (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th registers). The layout typically used in the lower section was omitted in this object. Some of the motifs of the composition are slightly moulded in plaster to suggest relief, such as the scarabs, the tjet-signs, the bodies of the enthroned gods, the hwt-thrones, some elements of the frieze and the body of the winged goddess (Fig. 63).
In the first register the nuclear block features a sacred scarab holding up a solar disk flanked by cobras and tjet-signs. The scarab rises from a transversal sign and holds the shen-ring with the hind legs. This nuclear block is flanked by centrifugal blocks featuring the enthroned mummiform Osiris grasping the royal scepters. He has divine beard and wears the hedjet-crown. The register is completed with centripetal blocks displaying a winged goddess squatted on a high platform outstretching her wings towards Osiris. The avian manifestation of the deceased rests under her wings, wearing the divine beard. The goddess is crowned with a sun-disk encircled within a cobra wearing the hedjet-crown. A sacred vulture (wearing the hedjet-crown—only on the right side) rests above her wings, with the was-scepter at its feet. Short labels refer to ‘Neith’ while others form full sentences such as ‘Praising the great god who is in the beautiful’.
In the second register a large kneeling goddess outstretches her wings towards both sides of the object. A geometrical frieze is arranged above the wings of the goddess.
In the third register the composition of the nuclear block and the centrifugal block are kept, but the centripetal blocks feature a solar winged cobra resting on a high platform. The goddess outstretches her wings towards Osiris, while embracing the udjat-eye. Moreover, a standing mummiform god was added in this register. Short labels form the title ‘Neith, the goddess who is in the Duat’.
The fourth register recalls the composition of the second register.
In the fifth register the centrifugal blocks were excluded (Cf. Lid inner coffin—7th register). The centripetal blocks depict the avian manifestation of the deceased resting on a reed mat with a feather at his feet. The ba-bird has a divine beard and wears the menat-counterpoise and a sun-disk. Behind him, figures the winged udjat-eye with a pending cobra wearing the atef-crown and the ankh-sign hanging from its neck. Short labels form the formula ‘Praising the one who is in the beautiful Thebes’ (left side).
The sixth register depicts the large winged goddess, while in the seventh register the nuclear block is now flanked by centrifugal blocks depicting a squatted mummiform Osiris, grasping a feather. He has divine beard and wears a sun disk on his head. The centripetal block depicts the winged udjat-eye with a pending cobra wearing the hedjet-crown and the ankh-sign hanging from its neck. Short labels form the title ‘The one who is in the beautiful Thebes’.
The eighth register depicts the large winged goddess.
Footboard
Unlike most of the mummy-covers from Lot V, this object is provided with a footboard (Fig. 63). The central partition is inscribed with three columns of text (Inscription 1), bounded by block-friezes. The lateral partitions display mummiform hippopotamus-headed gods under a vaulted shrine. These deities stand on a heb-bowl depicted over a transversal band inscribed with the title ‘Venerable one’. The lower edge is decorated with a geometrical frieze.
Inscriptions
The central partition of the footboard is inscribed with three columns of text (Inscription 1). The hieroglyphs are written against a yellow background. In the first column the space reserved for the name of the deceased was left blank.
Inscription
(col. 1) i̓nk, Wsi̓r nbt-pr, šmꜥyt [n] I̓mn-Rꜥ, nsw-nṯrw [Space left blank for the name]. ḏd.[s]: ‘hꜣy, (col. 2) mwt[.i̓] Nwt, psš.t ḏnḥwy.t ḥr[.i̓, di̓.t] wnn[.i̓] (col. 3) mi̓ i̓ḫmw-sk, i̓ḫmw-wrḏ’
(col. 1) I am the Osiris, the mistress of the house, the chantress of Amun-Re king of the gods [Space left blank for the name]. [She] says: ‘Oh (col. 2) [my] mother Nut, stretch your wings over [me and let me] be (col. 3) like the Imperishable stars, (and) (like) the Unweary stars’.
Figure 62
Mummy-cover (A.15). Headboard and upper section
