Niagara Falls Museum Coffin NFM C4

Provenance: Unknown, probably Thebes
Date: Mid- to -late XXI Dynasty, circa 990-960 bce.
Material: wood, with gesso and paint, varnish.
Dimensions: 72" long x 20" wide

The final Twenty-first dynasty coffin appears to have been made for a woman. The lid corresponds to Niwinski's Type III. The face is pleasant, with a long wig, striped with gold, and ending in 'gold' bars.

The hands were separately carved and pegged in; the fingers are rather chubby, and rings have been painted on each finger. The lid is in need of conservation with areas of missing gesso at the head, and cracks on the sides; the foot end of the lid is missing, probably removed to facilitate shipping.

Insects may have been responsible for some of the damage. A cleaning would reveal more of the decoration, which was done with raised gesso to imitate inlay. The drawings are clear and skilfully executed. Once again, the canine images are particulary lively and graceful. There is considerable inscription, but no name has yet been read.

The coffin board is present, and in fair condition. The face is less interesting than on the lid, and the wig is plain. The raised images, particularly of a winged scarab, are powerful, intricate and interesting, in red, blue-black for the raised portions, and green, though rather cluttered

The coffin box is competently decorated, according to Niwinski's Type A, though with less skill and attention than NFM C1, C2, or C3. The lines of inscription were not ruled truly perpendicular, though the images of the four sons of Horus and other magical aids are well drawn.

The interior of the box is not accessible as displayed at present, but in old photos is shown as cherry red, without decoration on the sides. The bottom has been inaccessible due to the presence of human remains.

One skeletal hand protrudes from the well-preserved and apparently undisturbed wrappings. This woman may have lived in Roman or even Coptic times.

Though the faces of the coffin and of the mummy board are clearly female, the box shows images of a male offering, and a masculine ba. It is not unknown for the artist of the box to be unaware of the sex of the person for whom the box is intended (see ROM, XXIst Dynasty Coffin 991x2.31.1 and .2), or to show both male and female images haphazardly. The box of NFM C4, however, does not make a smooth fit with the lid, particularly in the head area, and it is possible that the lid and bottom were not originally made for each other, and came together in recent times.

The human remains, NFM Mummy M1, were once displayed with a label pronouncing them to be of one Sepnethes, wife of Amenhotep IV. The body is not well preserved, and the visible areas of the face are skeletal. The x-rays suggested the body was of an adult female, with hands across the genitals. The skull is empty, and the brain seems to have been removed. The mummification process seems to have been rough and simple.