Calcite Stopper for Canopic Jar, King's Head: NW Calcite (Alabaster) Height 24cm (9.44 inches) Reign of Tutankhamun 1336-1326 BCE Grand Egyptian Museum #347-C "There were four of these finely modeled calcite stoppers. A black symbol painted on the shoulder of each head identifies the coffinette to which it belongs." (Info card) The four coffinettes go into a calcite chest, which has cavities carved out to contain them. |
This photo by A. DeLuca shows the chest, with the four heads facing each other. (T.G.H. James, Tutankhamun, Metro books/White Star 2000) page 107) The goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Selket and Neith protect the corresponding corners to where each coffinette was placed. "The chest itself was in turn set within an immense shrine of gilded wood, decorated with reliefs and placed upon a sled beneath a large baldachin. The graceful figures of the four protective goddesses delicately keep vigil over the walls of this gilded chest." (Mohammed Saleh and Hourig Sourouzian, _Official Catalog: The Egyptian Museum Cairo_ (Verlag Phillip von Zabern, Mainz, 1986) Cat. #176)
|