University of Oslo

Department Member, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages

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PhD dissertation submitted 22.12.2011:

ABSTRACT
Faces within Faces – The Symbolic Function of Nested Yellow Coffins in Ancient Egypt.
ANDERS BETTUM

Dissertation presented for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo, December 2011.

This study explores the symbolic significance of nested coffin ensembles in ancient Egypt. Coffin decorations of private funerary nests from the 19th to the 21st dynasty Thebes were studied in order to establish the decorative scheme for each class of coffins. These schemes are then interpreted in context, i.e. in relation to the other components of the nest, and also to the mummy at t he heart of the nest and the tomb on the outside. The nest is regarded as a conceptual whole, where the individual coffin was part of a larger composition. 
Two themes dominate the coffin decorations: 1) the coffin as an eternal and deified image of the deceased, and 2) the coffin as the space in which the transformations of the deceased takes place. This space is usually conceived as a temple, micro cosmos or the womb of the sky goddess. Although the layers in the nest sometimes display nuances in form or decoration that indicate a difference in symbolic function, the most characteristic trait of the nest is repetition.
By use of text, images, color, light and repetition, as well as a clever play with dimensions and space, the coffin nest represents a highly sophisticated medium through which a narrative was told by non-linear and largely non-verbal means. At the core of this narrative lies the Egyptian notion of death as a process, where the blessed dead continue to exist in harmony with the cycles of nature, through a never ending series of transformations and manifestations.  It is shown how the contents and form of this narrative changed within the period under investigation. It is finally demonstrated that nesting was not limited to coffins, but worked as an organizing principle for sacred space at all times in Pharaonic history. It is further discussed in light of the global study of material culture pertaining to wrapping. The Egyptian material has not been utilized sufficiently in this larger discussion, where it ought to play a leading role.

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