Objects from Theban Tomb MMA 840

This group of objects was found in a plundered chamber in Tomb MMA 840, excavated by Herbert Eustis Winlock (1884-1950), an archeologist who worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, reached by a shaft in the portico of a rock-cut tomb in the Asasif section of the Theban necropolis.

Among the finds were parts of a rectangular wooden coffin with green hieroglyphs on a yellow background as well as a few remains of one or more model wooden boat(s), three scarabs (13.180.8- .10), two anhydrite toilet vessels (13.180.19a- .c, .20) and the group of jewelry items (13.180.1- .18a- .l) striking for the extensive use of silver.

Dates that can be ascertained by stylistic comparisons to some of the objects range from the late Middle Kingdom (ca. 1850-1700 BC) to the late Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1580-1550 BC).

A number of clay pots (28.3.239- .241 now in the Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago) from the area of the tomb but not with certainty identified as found inside the shaft and chamber from which the jewelry was obtained date to the late Second Intermediate Period.

Late Middle Kingdom to Second Intermediate Period, 12th Dynasty to late 17th Dynasty, ca. 1850-1550 BC. Medium: Electrum, carnelian, amethyst, lapis lazuli and turquoise. Now in the Metropolitan of Art. 13.180.1–.20-related.