Two funerary ensembles of the Late Period from Thebes in the Berlin Egyptian Museum (ÄM 3–6 and 50–54)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Burkhard Backes
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 421345808

As early as 1824, the funerary ensembles of Tairkap (ÄM 3–6) and Paestjenfi (ÄM 50–54) came to Berlin as a part of the Minutoli collection. They each consisted of two (owner Tairkap) respectively three wooden coffins (owner Paestjenfi; outer coffin ÄM 50 is lost), a canopy chest and a mummy. They are of Theban origin and can be dated to the late 25th or early 26th dynasty. By now, they have never been documented and studied properly which is why they are only rarely mentioned in scholarly literature. Although comprehensive studies of coffin sets from other periods have clearly shown the potential of such undertakings comparable studies have not yet been written about Late Period specimens.The decoration of the coffins, especially their texts, are unusual in several respects. They thereby represent a valuable addition to the typologies of Egyptian coffins from the 1st millennium BCE established by John Taylor and Jonathan Elias who only partly used them. Of equal importance are their links to copies of funerary texts on other media (papyri and tomb walls). The unusual canopy chests also deserve closer attention.The project is designed as a cooperation with the Egyptian Museum in Berlin from which both partners should benefit as much as possible.Therefore, the main targets can be defined as follows:1) A comprehensive documentation in high-resolution photographs together with a 3D reconstruction. This work will be undertaken by qualified members of the eScience Center of Tübingen University.2) A detailed analysis of the decoration programmes of the coffins. This will of course include translations and commentaries on all texts and pictorial elements together with an investigation of diverse aspects from a diachronic (transmission, transfer between different media) and synchronic (comparison with contemporaneous coffins of Theban priests) perspective.3) The most visible result of the project will be a book volume, but crucial results will also be added to the 3D reconstruction in order to make it directly available for different forms of presentation via electronic media and in an exhibition context. The long-term storage provided by the eScience Center guarantees the usability of the data generated in course of the project for future transfer into diverse media.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants