THE NEW GALLERIES OF EGYPTIAN AND NEAR EASTERN ART AT THE MICHAEL C. CARLOS MUSEUM

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Since valuable hardwoods were not being imported in this economically depressed period, local softwoods were used to make most of these coffins. They were often coated with a thick layer of mud to correct defects in the wood and model the features of the body that could not be carved in the soft, splintery surface of the wood. A thin ground of fine, white gesso or plaster was then laid over the mud to form a canvas for the painting (Fig 25). Occasionally, as on the coffins of Tahat and ashedkhonsu (Fig 8), scarabs and other sacred images decorating the coffin were modelled in plaster to give them the three-dimensional quality of actual jewels set into a coffin, After everything was painted, the whole surface was coated with a gleaming varnish to give it the appearance of gold.

	Fig 8 (left). Lid of the coffin of Pashedkhonsu, High Priest ofAmun at Karnak. Painted wood. From Thebes. 21stDynasty,c. 1000BC.H. 156cm. MCCM1999.1.15b. The priests of Amun at Kamak ruled as virtual pharaohs in the 2lst Dynasty and commanded the services of the best temple craftsmen to create sumptuous coffins such as this one. Pashedkhonsu is shown here with the divine beard, equating him with the god of the dead, Osiris.
		Fig 9 (above). Detail of the face of Lady Tanakhtenttahat from the lid of her inner cofhn. Painted wood. From Thebes. 21st Dynasty, c. 1000 BC. H. 190 cm. MCCM 1999.1.17c. On the lid of her coffin the Lady Tanakhtenttahat is shown wearing a floral headband over a full wig and draped in jewellery, including earrings, necklaces, and an elaborate broad collar. Most of this jewellery had symbolic protective functions, but did copy ornaments worn by both the living and the dead.

	Fig 11.(right) Outer coffin of lawttayesheret. Painted wood and restored inlay. From Thebes. 25th Dynasty, c. 767-656 BC. H. 193 cm. MCCM 1999.1.8b. Constructed of fine, imported hardwood, this coffin was made for Iawttayesheret, who was the 'great follower of the Divine Votaress of Amon' in Thebes. As a court lady, she could afford a set of beautifully painted and nested coffins with inlaid eyes. Her tomb was evidently robbed in antiquity and the valuable bronze inlays removed. They have been restored here, modelled on similar examples from the period.
Fig 10. Detail from the side of the coffin of the Lady Tanakhtenttahat. Painted wood. From Thebes. 21st Dynasty, c. 1000 BC. MCCM 1999.1.17a. Tanakhtenttahat is shown being ushered into the Hall ofludgement in the underworld, where her heart is to be weighed against the feather of truth. Should her heart be literally heavy with sin she will not pass Osiris and enter the underworld.

The 25th Dynasty (c. 767-656 BC) ends the Third Intermediate Period and sees more change in funerary art. Taking advantage of the internal weakness of Egypt, the Assyrian army swept down the Mediterranean coast and invaded the Nile Valley.

Warned of the approaching army, the Thebans turned to the Nubian Kingdom to the south to help liberate them from foreign control. The Nubian kings were able to expel the Assyrian invaders and create a great empire, with the result that Egypt was again prosperous and fine wood, such as cedar of Lebanon, was again imported and used for coffins. There are a number of examples of coffins from this period that are also part of the new Carlos collection and have been complimented by the acquisition of a number of other examples of Nubian art.

A particularly lovely group is the nested set of coffins of Iawttayesheret (Fig 11), who served as lady-inwaiting to the Nubian princess who resided in Thebes during the 25th Dynasty. Iawttayesheret's outer coffin is left largely undecorated, except for the face, wig, and elaborate floral collar she is shown wearing. The prized cedar is left unpainted to reveal the exotic timber. The inner coffin is carefully carved to look like a cartonnage encased body with even the details of the knees rendered in the fine wood. The intricate painting was done over a thin white gesso ground and consisted of mythological texts and a band of decoration depicting 'Iawttayesheret being judged in the underworld. The inlaid eyes that had decorated this nested set of coffins appear to have been stolen in antiquity and have been simulated in stable, modern materials.

The acquisition of the Niagara Falls Museum collection perfectly complimented the collection of Egyptian funerary art acquired by Reverend William Arthur Shelton of Emory's School of Theology in the 1920s (Fig 26). Through funds donated by Georgia businessman; John A. Manget, Shelton went to the Near East with James Henry Breasted and made a number of significant purchases, including an Old Kingdom Mummy and coffin from Abydos, a Middle Kingdom coffin from Assuit (Fig 2), and an unusual Late Dynastic coffin with vivid painted decoration.

Fig 12. Statuette of the Divine Votaress of Amon. Bronze. 25th Dynasty, c. 767-656 BC. H. 10.7 cm. MCCM 1998.12. This small statuette represents one of the 'Divine Votaresses' or 'God's wives' of Amon. They were the daughters and sisters of the Egyptian and Nubian pharaohs and ruled as the supreme authorlty in Thebes. The individual represented here, either Amenirdis I or Shepenwepet II, is shown wearing the tall feathered headdress of a goddess with the sun disk and cow horns; in her hand she holds a papyrus stalk signifying her control of the land of Egypt. A small figure like this was probably set in a shrine, perhaps as part of a statue of a priest holding the sacred image. The 'God's wife of Amon' served as the chief religious and political figure in Thebes.

Fig 13. Ostracon. Egyptian, from Thebes, Valley of the Kings. 20th Dynasty, reign of Ramesses VI, c. 1145-l 137 BC. Limestone and paint. H. 32 cm. Lent by the Semitic Museum, Harvard University. This ostracon, or trial sketch, came from the excavations of Theodore Davis in the Valley of the Kings. It depicts the god of the dead, Osiris, and was undoubtedly a study for one of the scenes that decorated a royal tomb.

Fig 14. Canopic jar stopper. Late 18th Dynasty, 1390-1292 BC. Limestone. H. 16 cm. Lent by the Semitic Museum, Harvard University. New Kingdom canopic jars were capped with human heads for all four of the jars containing the various organs. Some, such as this example made for a man named Userhet, were idealised portraits of the deceased, and beautiful pieces of sculpture in their own right.

To further round out the collection the Carlos Museum has recently made additional acquisitions with contributions from many friends and supporters. The most notable include a colourful bead network face from a Late Period mummy cover (Fig 20), a rare Eighteenth Dynasty coffin lid from another early Canadian collection, several shabtis (Fig 18), a bronze statuette of Isis and Horus (Fig 21). The concentration has been on funerary material to compliment the Niagara material, but other acquisitions of Egyptian sculpture and jewellery.(Figs 3, 7) have also been made. In addition there heave been many generous loans from Museums and private collectors, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Harvard Semitic Museum, the Harvard Peabody Museum, the Peabody-Essex Museum, and the Worcester Art Museum, all made possible through the Museum Loan Network, a program funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust and based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Private collectors have also been most generous in sharing their treasures, notably Leon Levy and Shelby White, Jonathan Rosen, and Lewis M. Dubroff.

The difficult task of conservation of the new collection was undertaken by Therese O'Gorman, head of the Carlos Museum's Conservation laboratory, in order to prepare it for display. After being subjected to the extremes of the Canadian climate for over a century, many of the coffins and objects had suffered considerable damage.

In order to accommodate all these new acquisitions and to display the Egyptian and Nubian art in connection with the Museum's new African Galleries, the collection will switch its location from the current galleries devoted to Egypt and the Near East to the original Michael Graves wi,ng. in Carlos Hall (Fig 23).

The mummy and coffin gallery will be the centrepiece of the new galleries, set in the large, two-story, central hall in the old wing, which will provide a better space in,which to fully appreciate this wonderful trove. From there, visitors can enter into a gallery devoted to anicent Nubia, the first in the southern United States. The Nubian gallery leads to a stairway that allows viewing of the coffin gallery from a balcony and then continues on into the Galleries of African 19th and 20th century art.

 

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