Online resources: Fitzwilliam Egyptian Coffins

Nested coffins of Nespawershefyt

In March 2019, the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge UK) announced the launch of a new website dedicated to Egyptian Coffins.

This great new online resource features:

"high-resolution images, films, virtual models and technical reports of the construction and decoration of coffins" ~ Press Release from the Fitzwilliam

The website should prove a fascinating introduction to Egyptology novices and a valuable scholarly resource for students and academics alike.

"The Fitzwilliam Egyptian coffins research is unique because it has brought together Egyptologists, conservators and scientists in a collaborative project and uses advanced scientific imaging techniques to produce a new holistic understanding of not just the coffins but also the people who were buried in them and the artisans and craftsmen who made them." ~ Press Release from the Fitzwilliam

According to the site's launch About page:

"This online resource presents the complete results of this research as it unfolds, commencing with the coffins of the 25th Dynasty ‘water pourer on the west of Thebes’, Pakepu, and the 21st Dynasty coffin set of Nespawershefyt. This includes full transliterations and translations of the hieroglyphic text, descriptions of the iconography, raw and interpreted results of the scientific analysis, including pigment analysis and wood identification, results of advanced imaging techniques such as CT scans, X-radiography and scanning electron microscopy, and some historical and social commentary on the significance of our findings in the context of ancient Egyptian attitudes to funerary beliefs, the economy and death and the afterlife. The website also contains some special behind-the-scenes footage and insight into what it is like working both internationally and collaboratively."

Detail from inner coffin box showing the preparation of surface layers.

It's always such a pleasure to see more and more of these fantastic resources being made publicly available online as institutions and scholars embrace digital media to promote sound scientific study in conjunction with high quality imagery, information and multimedia content.

Digging a little deeper into the site, highlights from my perspective include transliterations and translations of the hieroglyphic text, which are available as pdfs, some with accompanying links to 3D models hosted on sketchfab. This is a tremendously useful resource for distance education students and those who might have accessibility issues.

Check out the site for yourself by clicking the link below:

Our research on Egyptian coffins

The yellow anthropoid coffin set of Nespawershefyt is one of the best-known surviving examples of its kind from the 21st Dynasty. Comprising a mummy board, inner coffin and outer coffin, it was one of the first objects to be acquired into the fledgling Fitzwilliam Museum's ancient Egyptian collection in 1822.