
Presented by
Wm. Max Miller,
M. A.
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XVII'th
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XVIII'th
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Gallery
IV
Featuring the controversial KV 55
mummy. Now with a revised reconstruction of ancient events in this perplexing
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Gallery V
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XX'th
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XXI'st
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21'st Dynasty Coffins from DB320
Examine the coffins of 21'st Dynasty Theban Rulers.
Unidentified Mummies
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Including the mummy identified as Tutankhamen's mother.
About the Dockets
Inhapi's Tomb
Using this website for research papers
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Special Exhibits
The Treasures of Yuya and Tuyu
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the funerary equipment of Queen Tiye's parents.
Tomb
Raiders of KV 46
How thorough were the robbers who plundered the tomb of
Yuya and Tuyu? How many times was the tomb robbed, and what were the thieves
after? This study of post interment activity in KV 46 provides some answers.
Special KV 55 Section
========
Follow the trail of the missing treasures from mysterious KV 55.
KV
55's Lost Objects: Where Are They Today?
The KV 55 Coffin Basin
and Gold Foil Sheets
KV 55
Gold Foil at the Metropolitan
Mystery of the Missing Mummy Bands
KV
35 Revisited
See rare photographic plates of a great
discovery from Daressy's Fouilles de la Vallee des Rois.
Unknown Man E
Was he really
buried alive?
The
Tomb of Maihirpre
Learn about Victor Loret's
important discovery of this nearly intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Special Section:
Tomb Robbers!
Who were the real tomb raiders?
What beliefs motivated their actions? A new perspective on the ancient practice
of tomb robbing.
Special Section:
Spend a Night
with the Royal Mummies
Read Pierre Loti's eerie account of
his nocturnal visit to the Egyptian Museum's Hall of Mummies.
Special Section:
An
Audience With Amenophis II Journey
once more with Pierre Loti as he explores the shadowy chambers of KV 35 in the
early 1900's.

Most of the images on this website have been
scanned from books, all of which are given explicit credit and, wherever
possible, a link to a dealer where they may be purchased. Some images derive
from other websites. These websites are also acknowledged in writing and by
being given a link, either to the page or file where the images appear, or to
the main page of the source website. Images forwarded to me by individuals who
do not supply the original image source are credited to the sender. All written
material deriving from other sources is explicitly credited to its author.
Feel free to use material from the Theban Royal Mummy Project website.
No prior written permission is required. Just please follow the same guidelines
which I employ when using the works of other researchers, and give the Theban
Royal Mummy Project proper credit on your own papers, articles, or
web pages.
--Thank You
This website is constantly developing and contributions
of data from other researchers are welcomed.
Contact The Theban Royal Mummy Project at:
anubis4_2000@yahoo.com
Background Image: Wall scene from the tomb of Ramesses II (KV 7.) From Karl
Richard Lepsius, Denkmäler (Berlin: 1849-1859.)

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The Coffins of Nodjmet
A close inspection of the coffins of Nodjmet revealed that they had originally been fashioned for an unidentified man (DRN, 213, no. 26) and had either been usurped from their original owner or perhaps donated by him. Since these coffins had been made for a male occupant, it is probably safe to assume that they had originally been decorated with the gender markers commonly used on men's coffins during the 21'st Dynasty, including striped wigs, face masks depicting ears, and clenched hands. If this was the case, then both coffins had been extensively modified for the burial of Nodjmet. The facemasks and wigs had been completely reworked: the ears were replaced with disc shaped earrings and the wigs were skillfully recarved to represent the finely braided hair that served as an important status symbol on coffins of elite 21'st Dynasty ladies. (GCSS, 50, n. 280.)
It is impossible to determine if anything had been done to modify the hands because they had been removed in antiquity. However, the underlying areas where these hands had once been attached are visible (especially on the inner coffin lid) and show the outlines of the gilded hands that had once covered them. These outlines indicate that the hands had been clenched. Although this proves that the coffins once featured clenched hands (as would be expected on coffins originally designed for a man’s burial) it does not show that these hands remained in place when the coffins were modified for Nodjmet. In view of the care that had been taken to make the wigs and face masks gender-appropriate for the coffin set's new female owner, it seems likely that the clenched hands would have been replaced with feminine pairs depicting the fingers fully extended. These could have easily been attached over the outlines of the original clenched hands and would have concealed the outlines from view.
Nodjmet's coffins had been extensively adzed over and show a pattern of damage
that can be interpreted as the work of two different groups of people, each having a different agenda.
Virtually all of the outer coffin's surface had been removed, indicating
that it had originally been lavishly decorated and had probably been
extensively coated in thick gold foil. This outer coating had been hacked off with an adze in a very crude and hurried fashion. The inner coffin, however--although also
having been subjected to extensive stripping with an adze--seems to have been handled with greater care,
and most of the inscriptions and symbolic elements were allowed to remain
intact. This type of selectivity and careful handling is not characteristic of plundering by
disrespectful tomb robbers, such as those who most probably stripped the outer coffin, nor does it resemble petty pilfering,
which typically targeted only gilded hands, face masks, and other gilded elements that could be quickly
detached while an inner coffin remained in place within the outer coffin. In addition to its gilded face mask and hands, lower and less
easily accessible portions of Nodjmet's inner coffin lid had been stripped in a careful processing job
probably done by Royal Necropolis officials who did not want to completely violate the coffin of
one of their royal ancestors. (Source Bibliography: CCR,
40ff; CP, 175; DRN, 201, 207, 213; GCSS, 50, n. 280.; MiAE, 127, 230, 329, ills. 133, 143, 429.)
Source Abbreviation Key

(Left) Black and white photo of Nodjmet's damaged outer coffin lid. (Right)
Inner coffin
lid showing careful & selective removal of certain elements. From Georges Daressy's
Cercueils des cachettes royales (Cairo, 1909.) Click
photos to enlarge.

Damaged portrait mask from inner coffin. (Photo credit: CESRAS.)

Another view of damaged portrait mask from inner coffin. (Photo credit:
CESRAS.)

Close up of trough of outer coffin showing extensive adzing. (Photo credit:
CESRAS.)

Lower end of outer coffin trough showing thorough adzing. (Photo credit:
CESRAS.)
The Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy
of Sciences (CESRAS) maintains an extensive collection of
online images available for public use on Flickr and has posted large size
scans of many of the photographic plates from George Daressy's historically
important 1909 work, Cercueils des cachettes royales, which are featured on this page. The above images of the
coffins of Nodjmet provide a valuable photographic record of these beautiful
objects, currently on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
More close up images of this coffin's decorations and
inscriptions may be seen by going to the
CESRAS
Nodjmet photostream.
Return to 21’st Dynasty Coffins Menu .
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