Gold coffin

From: The tomb of Henutmehyt, Thebes, Egypt
Date: 19th Dynasty, around 1250 BC

Henutmehyt was an important woman who could afford to have her mummified body buried in a series of coffins placed one inside the other. It was believed that a coffin in the shape of a person would provide the spirit with a body if the mummy rotted away.

This is the final, outer coffin. It is covered with gold and shows the dead woman in her full wig. Her collar is spread over her breast, and the wedjat eye symbols are below her arms. The wings of the sky-goddess Nut are spread across the body, and the hieroglyphs below ask for her protection.