Funerary cloth of Isetnefret

From Egypt
New Kingdom, 1300-1070 BC

Tii pours a libation before her deceased mother

This type of painted linen panel was placed on the chest of the coffin. It was another means of ensuring the eternal provision of offerings, which were also depicted on the walls of the tomb. Water, as a substance with no colour, taste or smell, was used in Egyptian rituals for purification.

Isetnefret is shown seated before an offering table loaded with loaves of bread. Her lion-footed chair is similar to examples found in wealthy tombs, but has much longer legs. She holds a lotus flower to her nose; the flower's stylized curved stalk is typical of representations dating to the New Kingdom. The lotus flower is symbolic of rebirth.

Both Isetnefret and her daughter Tii are dressed in fashionable voluminous robes, with the fringed edge running down the front of the garment. They also wear wide collars and heavy wigs. Tii wears hoop earrings. Pierced ears were fashionable for men and women from the New Kingdom. The small boy, Penpare, like all children in Egyptian art, is shown naked, but does not have the usual sidelock of youth.

G. Robins, Women in ancient Egypt (London, The British Museum Press, 1993)