Length: 183.000 cm
Width: 66.000 cm Room 62-63: Egyptian mummies http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps346431.jpg&retpage=15236 |
Coffin of Cleopatra
From Qurna, Thebes, Egypt
Roman period, early second century AD · 70 – 30 BC · Died at the age of 17 · A CT scan of her mummy confirmed the age of her death · Her coffin is rectangular with an arched lid with corner posts · The form of her coffin was first seen in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (747-656 BC) · The lid is decorated with two rows of goddesses · The two rows of goddesses are separated by a column on inscription · At the end of the two rows of goddesses are scenes of the “weighing of the heart and adoration of Osiris from the Book of Dead · Her coffin belongs to three generations of the family of Soter at Thebes who lived between AD 109 and 146 · The goddess Nut stretches across the front of her coffin · Her fingers and toes touched the ends of the coffin, the ancient Egyptians believed that they touched the horizons |
What does this artefact tell us about Egyptian society? |
The Coffin of Cleopatra tells us that Cleopatra was an important part of Egypt as she was the last of the Ptolemies to rule Egypt. She became co-ruler of Egypt at the age of eighteen along with her brother Ptolemy XIII who was only ten years old at the time; they were to be wed, as that was the Egyptian law. In 30 BC she took her own life by a poisonous asp, which is an Egyptian symbol for divine royalty. In her short time in reign she saw Egypt separate from the Roman Empire. Cleopatra’s beauty and power charmed Egypt, as Egypt was kept in line, although her sadness in life she still managed to stay in power until her death. She was wrapped in many layers of cloth, with an illustrated figure of a decrease woman on the outer layers of the cloth. Cleopatra was buried inside a wooden coffin, with a comb and necklace of beads, which was placed on the body.
The British Museum 2015, Coffin of Cleopatra, British Museum, London, accessed 7 May 2015, <http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/c/coffin_of_cleopatra.aspx>.
Addision, P, Albert, T & Bickham, C 2014, Pearson History 7 Student Book, Pearson Australia, Port Melbourne, Victoria. Deurer, R 2010, The Osiris Legend, Galleries of Egyptian Art, accessed 7 May 2015, <http://www.egyptartsite.com/osi.html>. |