Box Coffin and Rope. The earliest coffins were ceramic tublike containers or large baskets made from bound reeds (rather than woven fibers). Before long, craftsmen began to fit short pieces of lumber together with a variety of carpentry techniques to make deep boxlike coffins. This early coffin was made from the wood of the tamarisk, a tree common to the Nile Valley. The sides, lid, and floorof the coffin were made from narrow planks held together with tenons. They were slipped into a channel in the frame to form a housing joint; and the frame then was pegged together. In order to fill imperfections in the wood and spaces between the planks, an earth-toned plaster was applied to the exterior surface. The vaulted lid heralds a style that was to become traditional for outer coffins and sarcophagus. The accompanying rope could have been used to lower the coffin into the tomb or to secure the lid to the box. Dynasty 3-4, from Tarkhan. -Text from the info card- (12.187.54) (The small bed or bier beside the coffin, is from the 1st dynasty, from Tarkhan (12.187.52) Photo taken in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:35:59 +0000
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