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Volume 5 (2022)
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VOL.5 (2022)
PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL
JH IE 5, 2022: 93-106 | U D C 94(32): 393.3, 305-055.2 | D O I: 10.5281/zen od o.7755102 | ISSN 2241–0597
VOL.4 (2021) CONFERENCE OF THE HELLENIC INSTITUTE OF EGYPTOLO GY WOMEN IN AND ON THE EGYPTIAN 21ST D YNASTY COFFINS

Andrzej N IWIŃ SKI

VOL.3 (2020) Facu lty of A rchaeology , W arsaw U n iv ersity , W arsaw , Polan d

A BSTRACT

VOL.2 (2014)
C off n s of th e 21 st D y n a sty con sist of a m u ch v a lu a ble sou rce of th e in form a tion con cern in g w om en of th a t
p eriod . From th e in scrip tion s con ta in in g th e titles a n d n a m es of w om en on e ca n g et som e k n ow led g e a bou t

Women in and on the Egyptian 21st

th e p erson s w h o w ere b u ried in th e coff n s, a b ou t th eir p osition in th e Th eb a n society of th e 21 st D y n a sty , so-
m etim es a bou t fa m ily relation sh ip s, esp ecially w ith th e h ig h p riest of A m ū n . Sim ilar in form ation ca n b e fu r-
n ish ed b y th e g ild in g of som e p a rts of th e coff n –lid , or a d a m a g e d on e to th e g ild ed su rfa ces b y th e rob b ers.

VOL.1 (2011) Th e v ery rich icon og ra p h y of th e p a in ted coff n d ecora tion is a n oth er sou rce of in form a tion con cern in g w o-
m en : f rst of a ll a b ou t th eir d ress a n d th eir ritu a l a ctiv ities. H ow ev er, th e sh a p e of a w om a n w as often g iv en

Dynasty Coffins
to som e religiou s id eas, esp ecially p erson if ca tion s th a t tra d ition ally —alth ou g h n ot correctly — a re g iv en th e
d esig n a tion s «g od d esses». A lso som e sym b olic id ea s lik e ca rd in a l p oin ts or som e w ord s of fem in in e g en d er
w ere p resen ted on th e coff n s in th e fem a le form . Fin a lly , th e d iv in ised Q u een s lik e I ca h –m es‒N efertiry w ere
som etim es p ain ted on coff n s.
K EY W O RD S : Eg y p tia n coff n s, m u m m ies, icon og ra p h y , 21 st D y n a sty , w om en ’s titles, w om en ’s d ress, w om en ’s
a ctiv ities, fem a le p erson if ca tion s, id ea s of fem in in e gen d er, d iv in ised w om en .
EDITORIAL BOARD
I. INTRODUCTION .

Niwiński, Andrzej The coff n was understood in ancient Egypt as something very much female by its nature,
namely as the womb of the mother Nūt1, where every living human being must come back

EDITORIAL POLICY as newborn for eternal life. A natural association for a coff n was a mummy. It must be, how-
ever, considered that —quite differently from what not only generations of Egyptologists,
but practically everybody interested in the ancient Egyptian culture believed— mummies,
Abstract: coff ns, tombs, funerary papyri, shabti f gures, & c. belonged only to a small part, estima-
ted between 5% and 10% of the Egyptian society. A great majority of the deceased under-
went a quite different ritual burial ceremony, having been f nally thrown into the Nile2,
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS where, to be sure, one can also see a symbol of Nūt’s womb, however without any material

Coffins of the 21st Dynasty consist of a much valuable source of the

remainder.
In this paper, however, the élite‒group of the Egyptian society is taken into consideration,
that was mummif ed and then buried according to the royal pattern during the period of
information concerning women of that period. From the inscriptions the 21st Dynasty,in the 11th and 10th Centuries BC ,when the development both of the mummi-
INSTRUCTIONS FOR REVIEWERS f cation process and the coff n decoration reached their highest peaks.

containing the titles and names of women one can get some knowledge II. WOMEN IN THE COFFINS AND THE S OCIAL POSITION AND TITLES
AS FOUND ON THE COFFINS OF LADIES.

about the persons who were buried in the coffins, about their position in Nesy–Khonsū, the wife of the High Priest of Amūn Paynodjem II can be a good illustration
DISTRIBUTION & SUBSCRIPTIONS of the subject:women in the coff ns [FIG . 1]. To get some insight into the position of women

the Theban society of the 21st Dynasty, sometimes about family 1 Th e w ord swHt m ea n s litera lly egg, th a t is u n d erstood , b oth a s th e d ev elop in g life in th e m oth er’s w om b a n d

th e in n erm ost coff n or ca rton n a g e: W b. IV: 73-74; H A N N IG 52009: 735. See too M A RA VELIA 2019: 26-30, 31-34.

relationships, especially with the high priest of Amun. Similar information

O n th e celestia l g od d ess N ū t, see m a in ly BILLIN G 2002; cf. also M A RA VELIA 2003: 55-72.
2 See N IW IŃ SKI 2014: 253-260.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE RECEIVED: 15.04.2022 | | A CCEPTED: 20.11.2022 [93]

can be furnished by the gilding of some parts of the coffin lid, or a damage
done to the gilded surfaces by the robbers. The very rich iconography of
the painted coffin decoration is another source of information concerning wo?men: first of all about their dress and their
ritual activities. However, the shape of a woman was often given to some religious ideas, especially personifications that
traditionally —although not correctly— are given the designations "goddesses". Also some symbolic ideas like cardinal points
Contact information or some words of feminine gender were presented on the coffins in the female form. Finally, the divinized Queens like Iᶜah–
mes–Nefertiry were sometimes painted on coffins.

Hellenic Institute of Egyptology

Citation:

 P.O. Box 167

Niwiński, A. 2022. «Women in and on the Egyptian 21st Dynasty Coffins», JHIE 5: 93–106
Merarhias 1
GR–21100 Nauplion
Greece DOI:

 [email protected] 10.5281/zenodo.7755102

Language: en

Submitted on 2022-04-15; accepted on 2022-11-20

© 2011–2024:
Hellenic Institute of Egyptology.
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