Sarcophagus of the Hathor Priestess Henhenet
The stone coffin of Henhenet, a priestess of Hathor buried in the temple of Mentuhotep II, a 2.6-meter limestone box with painted bands and inscriptions. Full commentary ↓
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Sarcophagus of the Hathor Priestess Henhenet is a stone object by an unknown maker (ca. 2051–2030 B.C.) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the pictureThis is a large stone coffin set on the gallery floor. It is a rectangular box made of joined slabs of pale yellowish limestone, with green and yellow painted bands and hieroglyphs running around its sides, and its lid is divided into several slabs. It is 2.6 meters long and nearly 1 meter high.
BackgroundHenhenet was one of the wives of Mentuhotep II, who reunified Egypt, and a priestess of the goddess Hathor; she was buried inside the king's temple on the west bank at Thebes. Examination of her mummy revealed that she died in childbirth, so she is often cited as evidence of the lives of women in ancient Egypt. The inscriptions on the coffin record her name and titles.
Puzzle tipIt is a large box shape, so the corner pieces form the framework. Fit the white slabs of the lid and the painted band pieces of the sides first, and fill the outside with the red wall and floor pieces of the background. Compare the limestone surfaces, which differ little in brightness, with the preview. 48 pieces is about right.
- Period
- Middle Kingdom
- Dynasty
- Dynasty 11
- Medium
- Limestone, sandstone, paint
- Dimensions
- L. 261 × W. 105 × H. 97 cm (8 ft. 6 3/4 in. × 41 5/16 in. ×
- Credit line
- Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1907
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- Mentuhotep II, Who Reunited a Divided Egypt, and Four Carved Works
A war record from just before reunification, a queen's stone sarcophagus, a shrine wall, and a later king's dedication. The story of a Theban king who made Egypt whole again, read through stone.
