Public experience

Coffin of Mut-iy-iy

Dynasty 22, 945–712 BC Painted wood Gift of Theodore M. Davis Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 1902.50.10 Mut-iy-iy was a singer in the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. The exterior of her coffin is painted red to imitate cedar and simply decorated. Besides her painted wig, face, and floral collar, there is only a single painted column of hieroglyphs with Mut-iy-iy’s title and name at the end. Inside the bottom half of the coffin is an image of the sky-goddess Nut. She wears a garment of blue, the celestial color, and carries an ankh, symbol of life, in each hand. Her arms, extending up the sides of the coffin, embraced the mummy lying inside it. Tracks from sacred water poured over the coffin during Mut-iy-iy’s funeral can be seen on the lid and sides.