Author Description

The monograph offers the first comprehensive art historical analysis of the painted decoration of Middle Kingdom wooden box coffins from Beni Hassan. No fewer than 900 tombs were excavated in the Lower Necropolis in the early 1900s by John Garstang (University of Liverpool), and they still contained extensive burial equipment, including wooden box-shaped coffins. Careful study of published and archival material in the course of the project Painted for Eternity (University of Vienna) has revealed that more than 260 coffins (over 220 of them with decoration) must have been found. At least 81 coffins (or fragments thereof) have been located in museums worldwide and a further 32 decorated coffins were identified on the excavation photographs. For the first time, these coffins are presented in a catalogue, thoroughly examined as for their layout and the iconography of the decorative elements, set into context and published along with the excavation photographs, drawings and high-quality images in colour. The study revelas the existence of a well-established local tradition and important phenomena such as the use of templates, prefabrication and reuse. An overall analysis of the Beni Hassan coffin decoration is in preparation and will be included in the second volume of the study. This is a two volume set.