Art History - Anthropoid Coffin of the Servant of the Great Place - Teti

The object I viewed in the San Antonio Museum of Art was the "Anthropoid Coffin of the Servant of the Great Place. Teti". It is from Thebes, Egypt during the New Kingdom, mid-to late dynasty 18, Circa 1339-1307 B.C. The coffin that I viewed was about six feet long, and it was very decorative. Around the sides of the coffin there were paintings of men, and also of Gods. Where the feet of the coffin were, there was a large painting of a Greek goddess. There were also the eyes of Horus on each side of the coffin. The description of the coffin stated this coffin was used by Seth (God of chaos) to trap Osiris (god of the underworld), so I assume this is why there were pictures of different gods on the coffin. The coffin was also wooden, and it rarely looked like it was a very old piece of work. The paintings were still viewable, and the Greek letters painted on it as well were still viewable. The head of the coffin looked like it was made for a King. The head was draped in the same scarf, as a king's coffin would be. The sides of the coffin looked like it was telling a story, each character represented on coffin appeared to be giving a history of the coffin. There is also a dog represented on this coffin. Even though the coffin is painted, the painting on the coffin is very basic. It looks like the artist only used red, black, and brown. It also looks very boring, compared to other coffins I have seen of Egyptian Kings.

This object compares visually to King Tut's coffin that is shown on the Egypt slide 2, the New Kingdom period, and slide numbers 29-31. These artworks compare visually because King Tut's coffin as well as the Anthropoid coffin of the servant of the Great Place are shaped exactly the same. However, King Tut's coffin is a lot more elaborate being that it is for a king and not a servant. These two coffins also have artwork around their coffins. King Tut's coffin like the Anthropoid coffin was made of wood, but King Tut's coffin was draped in gold. King Tut also had very elaborate head dressing on this coffin, and the coffin I viewed only showed similarity with the head wrap. King Tut also appeared to be holding something in his arms that look like sticks, and the Anthropoid coffin did not have any arms. The painting on the Anthropoid coffin was very basic (as most of the painting in the New World were). Thematically the paintings on the coffin looked like the wall paintings in the funerary temple of Hatshepsut (Egypt 2, New World, #23). The paintings are the same colors, and the also look like they are telling a story. The only difference instead of it the painting being on her coffin, they are on the walls of her tomb. Like the coffin of Anthropoid, the paintings are of Greek gods. The function of this coffin is like any other coffin we have seen. It was used for the after world and to preserve the sarcophagus, just as King Tut's coffin was used. The

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