LATE PERIOD - PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 400-250 B.C.

Made for a woman named Seuser-ded-es who had the title of “Dancer of Min,” this anthropoid coffin belongs to a category of coffins decorated in white or yellow paint against a completely black background. As the inscriptions on her coffin indicate, Seuser-ded-es was a citizen of Panopolis (modern Akhmim), and the style of the coffin accords with others from this site in northern Upper Egypt. As Third Prophet of Min, her father Sen-ikhet-ruri also has a title connecting him to one of the main religious cults at Akhmim, while her mother Nesi-khonsu simply bears the uninformative title “Lady of the House”. Ancient Egyptian elite women during the New Kingdom and Late Period down to Roman times frequently held titles related to music and (less often) dance, connecting them to the performance of rites in the main temples of Egypt.

A distinctive feature of this coffin is the depiction of the wig of Seuser-ded-es in rectilinear rows of braids, arranged in a pattern that resembles masonry. Her wig is covered by a vulture headdress. A large floral collar covers her chest, below which a goddess (likely Nut) is depicted with outstretched wings. An image of the mummy lying on a funerary bier is below, with four canopic jars arranged below. A series of standing protective deities are arranged on either side of the coffin lid, and the back of the coffin is occupied by a large djed-pillar. A related coffin in the Metropolitan Museum belonging to a woman named Iset-weret (86.1.48a-b) derives from Maspero’s excavations from 1885-86 in Akhmim. Given the acquisition of the coffin of Seuser-ded-es in 1885, it is likely that her coffin also was excavated at Akhmim by Maspero. Both coffins seem to date between Dynasty 30 and the Ptolemaic period. Increasing scholarly interest is being paid to funerary items from the site of Akhmim, despite the fact that early excavations there were poorly documented.