Archaeological Museum of Bologna

This beautiful sarcophagus, in stuccoed wood and painted in bright colors, was built for a woman named Tasciakheper, belonging to a family of Theban priests. The sarcophagus follows the profile of the mummified body and, for this reason, is defined anthropoid type. The face of Tasciakheper, a pink-gold typical female incarnate, is highlighted for contrast color from the heavy tripartite wig with vulture bare and the pectoral usekh, consists of several rows of overlapping beads.

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The face, in a golden pink typical of the female complexion, poses a sharp contrast with the black wig and the large polychrome usekh pectoral covering the upper part of the sarcophagus. The necklace seems to be sustained by the protective embrace of the sky goddess Nut, who is seated on a door that allows the deceased to interact with the world of the living. Further down, Taschakheper is depicted on her funerary bed, next to which are the four Canopic jars holding her viscera, removed when she was mummified. A bird with a human head, the Ba – her soul – is flying away from the body into the sunlight. All of these scenes and the texts painted on the sarcophagus were intended to protect the body of Tashakheper so that she would live in eternity.

Provenance: West Thebes (?). University Collection
Datation: 25th–26th dynasty (713–525 BC)
Material: Painted wood
Dimensions: h. cm 175
Inventory #: EG 1961