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Cat. 98 Coffin of Nespahertahat, Third Intermediate Period Cat. 99 Coffin and Mummy of Paankhaenamun, Third Intermediate Period Cat. 100 Coffin of Wenuhotep, Third Intermediate–Late Period Cats. 101–4 Canopic Jars of Amenhotep, New Kingdom Cat. 105 Bead Net Funerary Shroud, Late Period Cat. 106 Funerary Shroud Fragment, Ptolemaic Period Cats. 107–9 Funerary Masks, late Ptolemaic Period–early Roman Period Cats. 110–11 Funerary Portraits, Roman Period

Cat. 99

Coffin and Mummy of Paankhaenamun


Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22, reign of Osorkon I (about 924–889 BCE)

Ancient Egyptian

Thebes (now Luxor), Egypt

Cartonnage, gold leaf, pigment, and mummified human remains; 170.2 × 43.2 × 31.7 cm (67 × 17 × 12 1/2 in.)

The Art Institute of Chicago, W. Moses Willner Fund, 1910.238

This cartonnage coffin case takes the shape of a mummified man, evoking the form of the deceased individual still contained inside, a man named Paankhaenamun.[1] The coffin’s serene molded face is gilded in reference to Paankhaenamun’s new semidivine state and association with the gods, who had golden skin. A heavy tripartite wig frames his face, and its two lappets, which are capped in orange bands, lie on top of a broad floral collar. A floral diadem above a band of alternating blocks of color encircles his brow, framing the image of a winged scarab beetle and sun disk that covers the top of his head (fig. 1).[2] On his chest an image of Maat (goddess of truth and justice) faces the benu bird, who here represents the deceased (fig. 2).[3] Below, a falcon-headed scarab—the newborn sun Khepri—spreads his wings over the coffin’s chest as he pushes the sun disk into a new day.1

Fig. 1


Detail of a winged scarab and sun disk on top of the head of cat. 99.

Fig. 2


Detail of cat. 99. The benu bird and the goddess Maat appear on Paankhaenamun’s chest between the lappets of his wig.

Painted decoration rich with Osirian and solar symbolism fills the rest of the coffin’s surface. It is divided into four registers, each separated by a color-blocked border painted blue, orange, green, red, black, and yellow. This vertical arrangement of imagery reflects the fact that coffins like this one were displayed standing at the funeral (compare the funeral scene on cat. 10).2

The largest register, which spans the torso, is a representation of Book of the Dead Chapter 125, the final judgement (fig. 3). On the proper left side (the viewer’s right), Paankhaenamun stands with his left arm bent across his chest, a sign of his deference to the gods. The deceased sports a goatee, is fashionably dressed in a knee-length kilt beneath a sheer, pleated tunic that falls to midcalf, and is accessorized with a colorful beaded collar and gold-colored bracelets. A cone and lotus bud are balanced on top of his shoulder-length hair or wig, which is tucked behind his ear and bound with the red and white ribbon of Osiris.[4]3

Fig. 3


Detail of Horus leading Paankhaenamun by the hand on cat. 99.

The deceased walks hand in hand with a falcon-headed god who is identified in the inscription above as “Horus son of Osiris, the Great God, Lord of Heaven.” Horus extends his right arm to introduce Paankhaenamun to the deities who await him on the other side: Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys (fig. 4).[5] Below, the Four Sons of Horus, who are responsible for protecting the deceased’s organs, appear on a lotus blossom (fig. 5).[6] Mummiform Osiris stands on a small base, his hands reaching out from his wrappings to hold the crook, flail, and a staff topped with the djed (stability), was (dominion), and ankh (life) signs. These implements are symbols of Osiris’s authority and role as king. He wears the White Crown and, like Isis and Nephthys behind him, a uraeus on his brow. The goddesses are attired in similar long dresses (Isis in green and Nephthys in red) with long sashes tied around their waists. The inscription between them reads: “Words spoken by Nephthys, Mistress of the West. She gives [her] arm, protection around [him], and all life, stability, dominion, health, and happiness.”4

Fig. 4


Detail of Nephthys, Isis, and Osiris greeting Paankhaenamun (not shown) on cat. 99.

Fig. 5


Detail of the Four Sons of Horus standing on a lotus blossom between Osiris and Horus on cat. 99.

In the second register, the goddesses Maat (on the proper right) and Hathor extend their wings.[7] Several cultic emblems associated with Osiris, ruler of the underworld, stand between them: the “Abydos fetish” flanked by two ram-topped standards, a standard with two tall plumes, and another with a peanut-shaped placenta. A similar arrangement appears in the register below, where two falcon gods labeled “Behdety, Lord of the Sky” (a form of Horus) stand on the facade of a palace, each stretching his wings around a wedjat eye. In the center, a djed pillar with human eyes and a crown holds the crook and flail—the insignia of kingship.5

The bottom register is oriented in the opposite direction, so that Paankhaenamun can gaze upon the pair of wedjat eyes and the emblem of rebirth encompassed in the winged scarab pushing the sun disk while a shen ring (a symbol for infinity and, by extension, eternity) trails behind (fig. 6). To the sides, guardian figures with knives—one with the head of a hippopotamus, the other with that of a baboon—are shown.6

Fig. 6


Detail of a winged scarab, a sun disk, and wedjat eyes decorating the tops of Paankhaenamun’s feet on cat. 99.

The flat back of the coffin (fig. 7) is decorated with a djed pillar that has been anthropomorphized with a pair of arms. Topped with an atef crown of Osiris, from which two uraei hang, the djed imbues the coffin’s back with stability. Large hieroglyphs for “the west” (the land of the dead) flank the image.7

E22831 Int Press 300ppi 3000px Srgb Jpeg

Fig. 7


Reverse of cat. 99. The back of the coffin is decorated with a djed pillar that has been anthropomorphized with a pair of arms.

Cartonnage Coffin Cases

Cartonnage coffin cases like this one were nested inside one to three wooden anthropoid coffins.[8] To create these cartonnage coffins, layers of textile and animal glue were applied over a form made of mud and straw to create a shell.[9] When the cartonnage was set but still pliable, the core was removed and the mummified individual was inserted into the coffin through a slit in the back. Cord lacings closed the seams along the head and down the back and secured a footboard to the bottom of the coffin. Artists then added painted decoration to the plastered surface, followed by varnish (now yellowed on this example) applied to the painted areas. Once complete, the mummified individual could not be removed without damaging the cartonnage case. As a result, cartonnage cases were not well suited for reuse in future burials. The use of cartonnage cases as inner coffins was an innovation of Dynasty 22, likely in response to the rampant reuse of traditional wooden coffins.[10] Burial in a cartonnage case ensured that its owner would retain access to its religious imagery even if their wooden coffins were subsequently reused by others.8

This cartonnage coffin case belongs to a group whose method of manufacture and style of decoration are so closely related that they must have been produced in the same workshop, or at least by the same group of artists.[11] Originating in Thebes (now Luxor), these cartonnage cases can be dated to the reign of Osorkon I based on an example in Berlin that can be securely placed in this time period because it bears an inscription with the king’s name.[12]
9

Paankhaenamun’s Family and Profession

The inscription above the main register states that Horus gives “voice offerings consisting of bread, beer, provisions, offerings, oxen, fowl, incense, linen, and everything that is good and pure to the Osiris, the Doorkeeper in the Temple of Amun Paankhaenamun, true of voice, the son of the Doorkeeper in the Temple of Amun Amenkha, true of voice, the son of Ankhefenkhonsu, true [of voice].” Both Paankhaenamun and his father Amenkha held the title Doorkeeper in the Temple of Amun. The duties of doorkeepers are not fully known, but many men held the title, and there are reliefs that show men stationed at doorways, some diligently sweeping while others rest.[13] Their duties may have combined maintenance and security, an important task in Egyptian temples where access was restricted to the king, priests, and other temple staff. Our modern assumption that such a job was not prestigious seems at odds with the resources required to commission such an elaborate and expensive coffin; perhaps doorkeepers had a higher status than has been thought.10

Further information about this family can be gleaned from another coffin from the Theban group that belongs to a Singer in the Temple of Amun-Re named Djedmaatiuesankh.[14] Her coffin states that she is the wife of the “Doorkeeper in the Temple of Amun Paankhaef” (Pꜣ-Ꜥnḫ-Ꜥ.f). The identical title and similar name strongly suggest that Djedmaatiuesankh’s husband and the man whose cartonnage coffin and mummy are now at the Art Institute are one and the same.[15]11

The Mummy of Paankhaenamun

In 1996 and again in 2014, the mummy was CT scanned within its coffin, revealing information about Paankhaenamun and his mummification.[16] Mummification was a multistep process that included desiccating the body, wrapping it in linen, and performing rituals to aid the deceased in their transition to the afterlife. Paankhaenamun was mummified in the typical manner for Dynasty 22, which included the removal of the brain and the addition of packing to the mouth, cranium, and rectum.[17] Almond-shaped pieces of stone or faience were placed over the eyes, and a set of small amulets encircled his neck. In the scan, the amulets are bunched together in two groups, although their original arrangement is unclear. Also visible in the CT scan were a heart scarab, a winged scarab over the chest, and a rectangular plaque of unknown material covering the embalmer’s incision on the left side of the torso. Based on the bone joints and the condition of the teeth, which were worn almost flat on the biting surfaces, it was estimated that Paankhaenamun died of unknown causes as a young adult (between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-six).12

Provenance

The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired in 1910.13

Publication History

Art Institute of Chicago, Thirty-Second Annual Report: June 1, 1910–June 1, 1911 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1911), 19, 62.14

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 7, 12, 13 (ill.), 14–15, 16, 19n2, 69, 124.15

Bertha Porter and Rosalind Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings, vol. 1, The Theban Necropolis, pt. 2, Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries (Oxford: Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, 1964), 824.16

Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1993), 93.17

Karen Alexander, “The New Galleries of Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” Minerva 5, no. 3 (1994): 30, fig. 3.18

Emily Teeter, “Egyptian Art,” in “Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, no. 1 (1994): no. 7, 22, 23 (ill.), 25, back cover illustration.19

Debra N. Mancoff and James N. Wood, Treasures from the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood, Director and President, with commentaries by Debra N. Mancoff (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000), 68.20

Emily Teeter, Karen B. Alexander, and Mary Greuel, Art of the Ancient Mediterranean World: Egypt, Greece, Italy, with contributions by Edmund Barry Gaither et al., teacher manual (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2001), 12, fig. 2; 21, image 4, fig. 7; 22–23, fig. 10; 24.21

Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide, revised edition (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), 93.22

Gayle Gibson, “The Lady from Thebes: An Afterword,” Rotunda 38, no. 2 (Winter 2004/2005): 20, 21 (ill.).23

Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), 80.24

Emily Teeter and Janet Johnson, eds., The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt, Oriental Institute Museum Publications, no. 29, (Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2009), 19, fig. 7.25

Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago, by Karen Manchester (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2012), 26.26

Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013), 63.27

Emily Teeter, “New Mummy Project for the University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago,” The Oriental Institute News & Notes 222 (2014): 12–13.28

John H. Taylor, “Two Lost Cartonnage Cases of the Early Twenty-Second Dynasty,” in A True Scribe of Abydos: Essays on First Millennium Egypt in Honour of Anthony Leahy, ed. Claus Jurman, Bettina Bader, and David A. Aston (Leuven: Peeters, 2017), 454, 456, 457n41, 458, 466, 476, fig. 5.
29

Entry by and

Notes

  1. The reading of the coffin owner’s name is not without problems. Thomas George Allen reads the name as “Pankhain,” presumably interpreting the final sign, 𓈁, as a miswriting of the similar sign 𓁽. Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 14. The same sign is also used to write the name of his father, read by Allen as “Ainkha” but read here as “Amunkha” (Amun appears). Ibid. 14. The sign in question is a well-known writing of the name of the god Amun. See M.-Th. Derchain-Urtel, “Die Namen der Götter,” in Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years; Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quaegebeur, ed. Willy Clarysse, Antoon Schoors, and Harco Willems (Leuven: Peeters, 1998), 571–72. Moreover, according to John Taylor, “a wooden shabti box of the same man, seen on the London art market in 1994, is inscribed for the iry-Ꜥꜣ n pr Imn pꜣ-Ꜥnḫ-? ?, son of iry-Ꜥꜣ n pr Imn Imn-ḫꜤi, son of Ꜥnḫ.f-n-ḫnsw.” John H. Taylor, “Two Lost Cartonnage Cases of the Early Twenty-Second Dynasty,” in A True Scribe of Abydos: Essays on First Millennium Egypt in Honour of Anthony Leahy, ed. Claus Jurman, Bettina Bader, and David A. Aston (Leuven: Peeters, 2017), 454. This confirms that the sign should be read as “Amun.” The name “Paankhaenamun” (Pꜣ-Ꜥnḫ-Ꜥ-n-Imn) can be translated: “The one who lives is the might [literally “arm”] of Amun.” Emily Teeter previously read the name as “Paankhenamun” (without the “a” used in the spelling followed here). See Emily Teeter, “Egyptian Art,” in “Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, no. 1 (1994): 22–25.
  2. On this type of ornament as a possible representation of the wreath of justification, which indicates that the deceased has been judged by the gods to be worthy of rebirth, see Mogens Jørgensen, Catalogue, Egypt III: Coffins, Mummy Adornments and Mummies from the Third Intermediate, Late, Ptolemaic and the Roman Periods (1080 BC–AD 400) (Copenhagen: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 2001), 24.
  3. “Djebau,” the name of the benu bird’s cult center in the Delta, is written behind the bird. As John Taylor notes, the placement of a Maat figure near the throat (the source of speech) is significant, likely alluding to the fact that the deceased has become “true of voice.” John H. Taylor, “Two Lost Cartonnage Cases of the Early Twenty-Second Dynasty,” 451.
  4. Interpretation of these cones, which are depicted on the heads of men and women, varies. Long thought to be cones of perfumed fat or unguent, a lack of excavated examples led some scholars to suggest that they were symbolic. For a summary of interpretations of these cones, see Joan Padgham, A New Interpretation of the Cone on the Head in New Kingdom Egyptian Tomb Scenes, BAR International Series 2431 (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2012), 9–14. However, the recent discovery of cones made of wax (likely beeswax) at Amarna undermines this theory of a solely symbolic meaning. Anna Stevens et al., “From Representation to Reality: Ancient Egyptian Wax Head Cones from Amarna,” Antiquity 93, no. 372 (2019): 1515–33.
  5. The text here names “Osiris, Foremost of the West, the Great God, Lord of Abydos, Wenennefer, Ruler of Eternity.” Isis is captioned in two columns of text, one in front of her face and the other behind her. They read: “Isis the Great, the God’s Mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress of All Gods.”
  6. For more on the Four Sons of Horus—Imsety, Qebehsenuef, Hapy, and Duamutef—see cats. 72, 101–4.
  7. Both Maat and Hathor bear the epithet, “Mistress of the West.” The text beside Maat’s head includes the statement, “protecting you,” which is addressed to Paankhaenamun.
  8. The location of the other coffin(s) from this set is unknown.
  9. For a summary of theories about the manufacturing process, see Charlotte Hunkeler, “New Results on the Manufacture and Durability of Cartonnage: Experimental Archaeology As a Method to Understand the History of 22nd Dynasty Cartonnage Cases from KV40 (Thebes, Egypt),” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 36 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102836.
  10. John H. Taylor, “Theban Coffins,” in The Theban Necropolis: Past, Present and Future, ed. Nigel C. Strudwick and John H. Taylor (London: British Museum, 2003), 104. On coffin reuse more generally, see Kara Cooney, Recycling for Death: Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2024).
  11. Taylor, “Two Lost Cartonnage Cases of the Early Twenty-Second Dynasty,” 445–89.
  12. Coffin of Tentamun (Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin 7325; published in Taylor, “Theban Coffins,” 102n67, pl. 45). The coffin was lost in World War II.
  13. John H. Taylor and Daniel Antoine, Ancient Lives, New Discoveries: Eight Mummies; Eight Stories, exh. cat. (London: British Museum Press, 2014), 100.
  14. Her name has also been transcribed “Djed-maat-es-ankh.” Coffin and Mummy of the Lady Djedmaatesankh (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 910.10; published in Taylor, “Two Lost Cartonnage Cases of the Early Twenty-Second Dynasty,” 455, 480, fig. 9).
  15. This familial connection between the owners of the two coffins has previously been suggested by Gayle Gibson, who incorrectly reads the man’s name on the coffin as “Pa.ankh.ntof.” Gayle Gibson, “The Lady from Thebes: An Afterword,” Rotunda 37, no. 2 (Winter 2004/2005): 21. See also, Taylor, “Two Lost Cartonnage Cases of the Early Twenty-Second Dynasty,” 458, 466, who reads the husband’s name “Pa-ankh-af.” It should be noted that the column where the man’s name is written is too short to accommodate additional hieroglyphic signs, which may have necessitated a shortened writing of the name in which “his” is substituted for “of Amun.”
  16. A spiral CT study and 3D reconstructions of the mummy were done in 1966 at Rush-Presbyterian–St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago. The web-based publication of these results (Gregory Foster, John Connolly, Jin-Zhao Wang, Emily Teeter, and Patricia Mengoni, “Evaluation of an Ancient Egyptian Mummy using Spiral CT and 3-D Reconstructions: Interactive Display Using the World Wide Web”) is no longer accessible. In 2014, the mummy was studied at the University of Chicago Medical Center by Dr. Michael Vannier using a Philips iCT spiral CT scanner on four energies (80, 100, 120, 140 KV). Those results are on file in the Department of Arts of Africa, Art Institute of Chicago.
  17. Packets visible in the abdomen and thorax are presumably the embalmed viscera.

How to Cite

Emily Teeter and Ashley F. Arico, “Cat. 99 Coffin and Mummy of Paankhaenamun,” in Ancient Egyptian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago by Emily Teeter and Ashley F. Arico, ed. Ashley F. Arico (Art Institute of Chicago, 2025), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865593213/101.

© 2025 by The Art Institute of Chicago. This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

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