The coffins of Imeni and Geheset. Sources from the transition period between Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead.

• Applicant: Dr. Mareike Wagner
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 421314182

In this project I will be analysing two wooden coffins from the Middle Kingdom, which were found in 2004 during an excavation by the German Archaeological Institut Cairo in the area H of the necropolis of Dra' Abu el-Naga. The set was used for the burial of a lady called Geheset. The exterior coffin was however originally intended for the burial of a judge called Imeni.The primary objective of the project is the publication of both coffins based on a high quality photographical documentation of all parts of the coffins - a 3D model is planned as well - and a computerised copy of the inscriptions, a transcription and a transliteration of the inscriptions. Moreover, a typological categorisation is intended. Palaeographical studies on the three different types of signs (relief, ornamental hieroglyphs and cursive hieroglyphs) will be undertaken as well.In a second step, the inscriptions and texts are going to be identified, and the content of the spells will be commented and linked with the religious concepts of this specific period of time. A method called "sequencing" will be used in this context. The composition of Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and Chapters of the Book of the Dead promise an essential contribution to the knowledge of the period of the editorial work on the Book of the Dead at the end of the Middle Kingdom. Therefore, a careful treatment of the different texts one by one is necessary to decide, if a text belongs still to the Coffin Texts, if it is already a Chapter of the Book of the Dead or if it is an example for a stage between the two. To shed more light on this process of real work with the texts which is to be located in Thebes - keyword "Textschmiede Theben" - is also an aim of the project. Therefore, a small group of late Middle Kingdom coffins (L1Li, S8X, M2NY and Imeni Asiut) should be studied deeper. Indeed, they are also known to show early versions of chapters later identified as coming from the Book of Dead, in combination with a big amount of texts without parallel, as well as the already known early sources of the Book of the Dead (e.g. Mentuhotep, Satdjehuti, Herunefer).Moreover, a multi-perspective analysis should help: to produce an exemplary investigation of a whole coffin of the late Middle Kingdom; to get a clearer impression of the religious ideas and underlying concepts of the decoration of this coffin; as well as the changes and sifts of funerary concepts in relation with earlier sources from the Middle Kingdom and later Periods. In this context, an intense examination of the decoration concept of a whole side as well as the whole coffin is intended.Finally, a deeper investigation on the circle of persons named on the coffins, namely Imeni and Geheset, is planned. Who were the judge Imeni and his wife (?) Geheset? What was their real relationship? Under what circumstances did Imeni pass on his coffin to Geheset? Is it possible to locate them on further items and sources?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants