Coffin of Priestess Iawttayesheret

This is the coffin lid of a woman named, Iawttayesheret (also known as Tayesheret), who lived during Egypt’s 25th Dynasty, c. 722-655 B.C. Iawttayesheret was the daughter of Padikhnum and Tadiaset.

Iawttayesheret held the title of The Divine Adoratrice of Amun, which was a title given to those secondary to the God’s Wife of Amun. Essentially, Divine Adoratrice of Amun was a title bestowed upon the chief priestess of Amun. This indicates that Iawttayesheret held a very important place in society, and the quality of her coffins represent that.

“The massive outer coffin is made of long planks with minimal embellishment, in order to highlight the surface of the wood. The wig, the floral broad collar, and a single column of text comprise the only decoration. As on the inner coffin, the wig is surmounted by a vulture headdress and fillet. A solar disk between a pair of crowned uraei appears on the crown of the head. The inscription records the name, titles, and filiation of the deceased. On the base of the coffin, there is no decoration other than a line of text around the circumference. In several places, mud plaster was applied to mask knots in the wood or joins between boards. The spare, elegant figure of the goddess of the west assumes her customary place on the bottom of the case.

It seems that Iawttayesheret owned a three-part nested set of coffins. In addition to the two cases at the Carlos, fragments of her outer coffin have been located at the Medelhausmuseet in Stockholm. The fragments are from the cornerpost of the outermost coffin, indicating that it was of the vaulted, rectangular variety popular during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.”

The coffin now resides at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, USA. 1999.001.008 B