Sarcophagus of Djehutymose
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Collection
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Dynasty
Description
This coarse-grained granite sarcophagus of Djehutymose was discovered in 1915 in a burial shaft at Tuna el-Gebel. Djehutymose served as the ‘Great Overseer of Cattle of Amun-Re in Upper and Lower Egypt’ and ‘Overseer of Works in the House of Thoth’ during Dynasty 19. On the lid, Djehutymose is shown in the shape of a mummy wearing a hair wig decorated with three garlands and a bouquet of lotus flowers. A broad collar and a pectoral adorn his chest and his hands are crossed on his chest in the Osiride form, clenching the ankh (life) and djed (stability). Below, the goddess Nut is kneeling with winged arms on the nwb sign (gold). Five transverse bands of text divide the lid into vignettes showing Djehutymose standing and kneeling before the Sons of Horus. At the foot end of the lid are two wedjat eyes and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys kneeling before the shen sign (eternity). Scenes of deities decorate the outer walls of the bottom of the sarcophagus, including the ibis-headed god Thoth who is depicted four times holding a standard with the heaven sign on top. His role is to open the sky to allow the four winds to enter the nose of the deceased. Interestingly, this sarcophagus was inscribed not only with spells from the Book of the Dead but also with excerpts from different spells from the Pyramid Texts not attested on other stone sarcophagi of that time.