Coffin Base of Ankhtashepsit

Artist Unidentified

Period Third Intermediate Period (Ancient Egyptian, 1070–664 BCE)

Dynasty Dynasty 22 (Libyan) (Ancient Egyptian, 945–712 BCE)

Place of OriginEgypt, recently attributed to Beni Hasan (previously to Akhmim)

Date22nd Dynasty (945-712 BCE)

Dimensions70 × 16 in. (177.8 × 40.6 cm)

MediumCedar wood with polychrome tempera over gesso.

ClassificationMummies and Mummy Cases

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1906.2B

Not on View

DescriptionThis ensemble consists of two primary components: a two-part outer anthropoid coffin (1906.2A-B) and an inner cartonnage case (1906.4), both attributed to an individual named Ankhtashepsit. The coffin trough (1906.2B) is made from planked cedar wood, joined and coated with a gesso layer for painted decoration. Its interior would have housed the cartonnage-wrapped mummy. Decorative elements on the exterior are minimal, with emphasis placed on matching the lid through paint color and alignment. Signs of structural instability, past repairs, and pigment loss are visible. Evidence suggests a degree of reuse or reassembly, possibly ancient.

Label TextThe wooden trough of Ankhtashepsit’s anthropoid coffin features a large painted interior panel depicting the goddess Nut in a rare frontal pose. She stands atop the gold-sign, arms outstretched across the inner walls to envelop the deceased, signaling her protective role in rebirth. Her headdress resembles a stylized sistrum flanked by a frontal uraeus. The exterior appears undecorated. The interior decoration aligns with regional practices in northern and Middle Egypt, where frontal Nut depictions within the basin were more common than in Theban tradition. The consistent rendering of motifs between this trough and the associated lid confirms their production by the same hand. Though spare in surface treatment, the trough preserves essential information about the layout and theological emphasis of the ensemble, with Nut’s embrace emphasizing posthumous regeneration. Its structural simplicity and iconographic focus mark it as a representative but distinctive product of a regional workshop active ca. 750 BCE.Published ReferencesCatalogue of a Collection of Egyptian Antiquities Brought Together and Presented to The Toledo Museum of Art by Mr. Edward Drummond Libbey, President of the Museum, Toledo, 1906, p. 12-13, no. 2.

Knudsen, Sandra E., "A Mummy 'Comes to Life' in Toledo," KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, vol. 12, no. 1, April 2001, p. 44, note 1.

"Unique UV & EB Applications: Mummies Come Alive VIa Stereolithography," Radtech Report, vol. 21, no. 6, Nov./Dec. 2007, p. 48, repr. (col.) cover, p. 48.

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 72-73, repr. (col.) p. 73.

Johnston, Kea Marie, Unseen Hands: Coffin Production at Akhmim, Dynasties 21–30, Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley, 2022, PhD diss, pp. 173-181, 556-560.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Unseen Art of TMA: What's in the Vaults and Why? Sept. 21, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010- January 8, 2012.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo, February 3- May 6, 2018.