Coffins Of Hor, Priest Of Montu

Hor, priest of Montu, belonged to a powerful Theban family

, and his bural assemblage is typical of those prepared for people of high status during the twenty-fifth Dynasty. Political decentralization and economic stress had curtailed the construction of new tombs. Burials were deposited in older sepulchers or in temple precincts, and the dead were now Provided with only those items considered most essential to ensuring new life most Importantly, a set of coffins richly decorated with religious texts and symbolic images.

The eternal universe in which Hor hoped to dwell was magically created for him by the Shape and decoration of his coffins. Two, of a possible three, have survived: a rectangular Outer case and an inner one of anthropoid form. Hors outer coffin resembles a shrine for the physical body (statue) of a god. The use of

This shape for a coffin alludes to the divine status which the occupant hoped to achieve after death. But the coffin is also a model of the universe, the vaulted lid representing the

Sky, across which the sun god traveled, and the base the earthly realm ruled over by Osiris.to emphasize this link, the lid is painted with scenes depicting the creation of the universe

(the separation of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut) and the daily cycle of The sun (Hor is shown piloting Atum, the evening sun, in a barque) The coffins long sides are arrayed with deities, intended to give eternal protection to the mummy. The spaces between them contain extracts from the Book of the Dead. At one end (illustrated on this Page( left) Hor is shown sitting before a table of offerings, a scene heavily influenced by Old and Middle Kingdom art. The inner coffin has been skillfully carved to represent Hor as a divine being. His body Is shrouded, leaving only his head exposed, and he stands on a plinth, his back supported By a pillar.

The coffins surfaces are covered with hieroglyphic texts and images, including Spells from the Book of Dead to ensure food offerings for Hors spirit and to assist him in Passing through the ordeal of judgement. Hors burial place seems to have been discovered in the early 1820s, when his funerary objects were acquired by European ;ollectors. The findspot was not recorded, but at around the same time funerary furniture belonging to several relatives of Hor also came to light, suggesting that a communal burial may have been discovered. This was perhaps located at or near Hatshepsuts temple at Deir el-Bahari, where other burials of the priests Of Montu were found in the 1850s and 1860s. The British Museum also has a shabti box of Hor (EA 8525) and another box is in Aberdeen. No actual shabtis of his survive.

Third Intermediate Period,

Twenty-fifth Dynasty, c. 700-680 bc

From Thebes

coffiuns probably acquired in Egypt by

John Fowler Hull (1801-25), and

Purchased at the sale of the collection

Of his brother Samuel Hull, 1880 (inner

Coffin via W. Cutter)

OUTER COFFIIST

Wood, painted

Length: 204.5 cm

EA 565S

INM COFFIN

Wood, painted; the eves are of glass

Length: 179 cm

EA27735

by: hassan.sh

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