Coffin of Lady Madja

The coffin of Madja, a woman of the Theban necropolis, rests among the finest examples of 18th Dynasty funerary craftsmanship. Shaped in elegant mummiform, the surface unfolds as a painted world of gods, rituals, and eternal light.

At the head stands Isis, at the foot Nephthys: the divine sisters who guard the deceased as they once guarded Osiris. Each raises her hands in invocation, standing upon the 𓎠 (neb) sign, the basket-shaped hieroglyph meaning “lady” or “all.” This detail proclaims their titles; “Isis, Lady of Heaven” and “Nephthys, Lady of the West.” Their gestures mirror one another, enclosing Madja in divine protection.

Along the coffin’s sides, scenes of ritual and remembrance unfold: a couple seated to receive offerings, female mourners kneeling in lament, and funerary bearers carrying gifts for the afterlife; a leg of beef, a trussed duck, and a jar of wine, each balanced upon yokes across their shoulders. A majestic figure of Osiris, wrapped in linen and crowned in white, presides over the procession, ensuring that Madja joins his eternal court.

On the lid, the decoration transforms into a celestial tableau. The surface is painted as if the deceased herself lies beneath a delicate shroud, wearing the royal nemes headdress, her stillness flanked by four shrines, each guarded by Anubis in jackal form, just as in the golden shrines of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Between these vignettes runs a band of yellow hieroglyphs; most likely a funerary offering formula, invoking offerings of bread, beer, and incense to sustain her spirit.

Deir el-Medina

Further along the lid appears another shrine surmounted by a vast wedjat eye, symbol of protection and resurrection. Below, the funerary narrative reaches its poignant climax: men haul the coffin on ropes, accompanied by kneeling women in white, their arms raised in mourning. Two further women stand beside the bier, dressed in flowing white robes and khat headdresses, their presence evoking the twin goddesses once more (Isis and Nephthys) guiding the soul toward the western horizon.

Through paint and sacred word, the coffin of Madja becomes both tomb and temple: a house of eternity where the sun, the gods, and the loving voices of the living forever accompany her into the dawn.

Ink Signs beside Nephthys

A few swiftly brushed hieroglyphs resembling shrines appear beside the goddess Nephthys, each drawn in bold black lines, with a faint curling stroke below. The quick, fluid brushwork of these signs suggests a ritual immediacy; not decorative precision, but the energetic hand of a painter invoking sacred formulae as part of the coffin’s consecration.

These marks seem less a formal inscription than a ritual shorthand; symbols hastily invoked rather than carefully written. The shrine forms may allude to Nephthys’s role as guardian of sacred enclosures and funerary spaces, while the curling line beneath could represent the binding of protection. Together they evoke the quick, devotional hand of an artist-priest, sealing the coffin with sacred power rather than polished prose.

Summary:

Coffin of Lady Madja

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III, c. 1479-1425 B.C.

From Deir el-Medina

Now at Musée du Louvre. E 14543