Sarcophagus

Petamun and Penhorpabik, coffin and coffin lid for the two brothers

Petamun and Penhorpabik, coffin lid for the two brothers

Petamun and Penhorpabik, who lived and died around, c. 175-200 A.D., were young boys who shared the same father, a man named Amenope, but different mothers who are currently unknown. We know they were half brothers’ due to a papyrus scroll accompanying the pair at their burial, which may have been dedicated to the boys...

Sarcophagus of Pa-nehem-isis

Sarcophagus of Pa-nehem-isis

The sarcophagus of the priest Pa-nehem-isis [Pnehmêse] is a remarkable example from the Ptolemaic Period, with its large face and its profusion of inscriptions and images, covering the whole surface. The figures have been carved in the hard stone with great precision. The deceased is wearing the tripartite wig and a broad collar. No other...

Red granite sarcophagus lid of King Ramesses III

Sarcophagus lid of Ramesses III

In the center of the lid of this sarcophagus, King Ramesses III is depicted as the god Osiris in mummy form. On his head he wears the Atef crown composed of ostrich feathers, a sun disk and a pair of ram’s horns. Emerging from his forehead is a uraeus, the royal symbol of protection. The king...

Mummy of King Seti I

Mummy of Seti I

The royal mummy of Seti I was buried in an elegant alabaster sarcophagus in his tomb (KV17) in the Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. The mummy of the king was later moved to the Deir el-Bahari Cachette (DB320). Although the mummy’s skull was separated from the body by tomb-robbers, the head is still well...

Mummy of King Amenhotep II

Mummy of Amenhotep II

The French excavator Victor Loret found the mummy of Amenhotep II in 1898, still resting in his own sarcophagus in his tomb (KV35) in the Valley of the Kings. At that time, before the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, he was the only king whose mummy had survived the vicissitudes of continued robbery and...

Inside the burial chamber in the Pyramid of Unas decorated with Pyramid Texts, mid-24th century BC, Saqqara.

Pyramid Texts in the burial chamber of Unas

The sarcophagus chamber in the Pyramid of Unas; some of the Pyramid Texts can be seen written on the gable. The Pyramid Texts are the oldest religious writings known to exist. They were first recorded in the pyramid of Unas, last king of Egypt’s 5th Dynasty, and are called “Pyramid Texts” because they were carved...

Interior of the Tomb of Thutmose III

Interior of the Tomb of Thutmose III

Simple in form, muted in color, the art in the Tomb of Thutmose III (KV34) depicts the defeat of the serpent of chaos, Apep, a key episode of the Book of the Dead. The stone sarcophagus in which Thutmose’s body was placed is still in place in the burial chamber, albeit damaged by tomb robbers...

Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose’s Cat Ta-Miu

Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose’s Cat Ta Miu

Prince Thutmose is best remembered for the limestone sarcophagus of his beloved cat, Ta-miu (she-cat). The body of this sarcophagus is completely decorated with scenes, while the lid is inscribed with hieroglyphs. It shows the cat sitting before an offering table heaped with goodies for the afterlife. It seems that her owner, Crown Prince Thutmose,...