Coffin of Djedmut

This painted wooden outer coffin belonged to Djedmut, a singer of Amun-Ra at Karnak in Thebes. It dates from the beginning of the Twenty-second Dynasty. Its yellow ground is covered with closely arranged images and inscriptions, with decoration extending across the available surface. During this period, texts and images that had occupied the walls of richly decorated tombs were concentrated on coffins. The wooden shell around the body carried much of the visual and written provision for life after death. The limited space encouraged makers to combine scenes and writing in a dense arrangement. Djedmut’s coffin preserves that change in a single object. It belongs to the group known as yellow coffins. Their background colour was associated with eternal regeneration, and a translucent varnish of plant origin covered the painted surface. This was the outer part of a burial ensemble that also included an inner coffin and a wooden cover laid over the mummy. The surviving object brings colour, text and the body’s outline together.