Coffin

The painted wooden board was part of the narrow side of a box-shaped coffin. The hieroglyphic inscription translates as follows: Honoured by Anubis Heteput. The deceased can thus be identified as Heteput, who was buried around 2000 BCE. According to ancient Egyptian cosmology, the preservation of the body was necessary for the life of a deceased person in the hereafter. Therefore, preservation of the human body played a central role in the Egyptian Cult of the Dead. The soul of the deceased could thus return to the body. Additional protection for the mummified body was provided by a coffin made of wood or stone. In the ancient Egyptian term neb anch "Lord of Life", the mystical meaning attributed to it by the Egyptians emerges. The coffin fragment was discovered in a grave in Beni Hassan and was donated to the museum.