Detail View: The AMICA Library: Mummy Case of Paankhenamun

AMICA ID: 
AIC_.1910.238
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name: 
Unknown
Creator Nationality: 
African; North African; Egyptian
Creator Dates/Places: 
Ancient Egypt Africa, North Africa, Egypt
Creator Name-CRT: 
Egyptian
Title: 
Mummy Case of Paankhenamun
Title Type: 
preferred
View: 
front view
Creation Date: 
Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22, c. 945 - 715 B.C.
Creation Start Date: 
-945
Creation End Date: 
-715
Materials and Techniques: 
Cartonnage (gum, linen, and papyrus), gold leaf, pigment
Processes and Techniques: 
cartonnage
Materials Terms: 
gum
Materials Terms: 
linen
Materials Terms: 
papyrus
Materials Terms: 
gold leaf
Materials Terms: 
pigment
Support Materials: 
metal mount
Classification Term: 
Mummy Goods
Subject Description: 
Anthropoid coffin made for Paankhenamun, a doorkeeper of the estate of Amun in Thebes. The case is decorated with a variety of images associated with rebirth. The central scene depicts the presentation of the deceased by the falcon-headed deity Horus to Osiris, main deity of the afterlife. Decoration on the mummy case: 1. Top register (head to middle of case). (neck area): Maat with a phoenix bird. 'Broad collars': layers of floral necklaces. Beetle with hawk head below the sun disk; wings of Nut. Under beetle: Shen: hieroglyph for 'eternity.' 2. Middle top register: Scene of Paankhenamum with the gods. Proper left: Paankhenamum with a cone of scented fat on his wig, is led into the presence of the gods. Next to Paankhenamum: The hawk-headed god, Horus, Son of Osiris. Center figure holding staff: The god Osiris. Next to Osiris: Isis, the sister of Osiris. Proper far right: Nephthys, sister of Osiris. Center: The Four Sons of Horus. 3. Middle lower register. The geographic symbol of the city of Abydos. Proper left: Winged deity, Hathor. Proper right: Winged deity, Maat. Rams on a standard. Under left ram: A (mummy/tekenu ?) bundle on a standard. Under right ram: Double plumed headdress. 4. Bottom Register. Center: Djed pillar. Facing pillar: Falcon gods, 'The Behdite, Lord of Heaven.' Under wings: Eyes of Horus. 5. Foot register. Center: Winged scarab. Eyes of Horus. Above beetle: Shen: hieroglyph for 'eternity.' Above wings: Demons who live in the underworld. 6. The back of the coffin: single large djed pillar. On either side, below its elbows: hieroglyphs for 'The West.'
Creation Place: 
Europe, Greece, Central Greece and Euboea, Boeotia department, Thebes
Dimensions: 
H: 170.2 cm (67 in.); W.: 43.2 cm (17 in.); D.: 31.7 cm (12-1/2 in.)
AMICA Contributor: 
The Art Institute of Chicago
Owner Location: 
Chicago, Illinois, USA
ID Number: 
1910.238
Credit Line: 
The Art Institute of Chicago, William M. Willner Fund
Inscriptions: 
The hieroglyphic text above Horus reads:A royal offering of Osiris, presider over the West, the great god, lord of Abydos, Wennofer, ruler of Eternity. Utterance by Horus, the son of Osiris, the great god, lord of the sky; may he give a mortuary offering of food and viands, oxen and geese, incense, clothing and every good and pure thing for Osiris, the doorkeeper of the estate of Amun, Paankhenamun, deceased, son of Ainka, the doorkeeper of the estate of Amun, deceased, son of Ankhefenkhonsu. Paankhenamun means 'The one who lives for Amun'. Khamaat means 'The one who arises in Truth.'Ankhefenkhonsu means 'He who lives for Khonsu'. Other identifying hieroglyphs elsewhere on case.
Rights: 
Condition: 
Excellent condition. Areas with decoration have been
Context: 
Egyptian, probably from Thebes. The coffin belonged to a man named Paankhenamun, whose name translates as 'He Lives for Amun.' Paankhenamun was the doorkeeper of the temple of the god Amun, a position he inherited from his father. X-rays reveal that he was approximately 5' 6' tall and died in middle age. Cartonnage cases were popular at the time that Paankhenamun was buried. After mummification, the wrapped body was inserted into the case through the back. The back was then laced up, a footboard was added, and the case was painted. Cartonnage cases were normally placed inside one or more nested wooden coffins that were also decorated. The mummy case was x-rayed in 1985. The mummy case was catscanned and x-rayed in 1996.
Related Document Description: 
Cleopatra: A Multi-Media Guide to the Ancient World, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1997
Related Document Description: 
The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 1994, Volume 20, No. 1, pp. 22-25
Related Document Description: 
A Guide to the Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1994
Related Document Description: 
Minerva, May/June 1994, Vol. 5, No. 3
Related Document Description: 
The Essential Guide: Art Institute of Chicago, 1993
Related Document Description: 
Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection,1924, pp. 7, 12, 13 (ill.), 14-16, 19n, 69, and 124
Related Multimedia Description: 
3-D construction of mummy's head based upon CT data
Related Image Identifier Link: 
AIC_.E22827.TIF