LIFE AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Family on the Ashmolean Adventure in the Egypt galleries

GALLERY 24, LEVEL G

LIFE AFTER DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT GALLERY

The objects displayed in the Life and Death in Ancient Egypt gallery all served as practical tools designed to help their owner make the journey from death to the afterlife and to provide for them for eternity. Ensuring eternal life was important for an ancient Egyptian. Non-royal Egyptians believed in different types of afterlife, including eternal life lived in the tomb as a ka (soul), and an afterlife lived in the Field of Reeds, the kingdom of the god Osiris.

A central display is the set of nested coffins and mummy of Djed-djehuty-iuef-ankh, while the long wall case explains the journey of death and includes funerary models and canopic jars showcased alongside coffin lids. Canopic jars stored the deceased’s organs after an intricate ritual to mummify the body. Amulets are also on show, which were believed to possess protective qualities.

The case on the opposite wall continues the chronological story of ancient Egyptian civilisation. Here are the remains of a chariot wheel hub, found in the tomb of Amenhotep III. Horses and chariots were introduced to Egypt from Western Asia around 1600 BC. Entire chariots would be placed in the tombs of kings and high-ranking officials.

Colourful paintings in this gallery are by the artist Nina Davies who, with her Egyptologist husband, Norman de Garis Davies, recorded Theban tombs in the early 20th century. Her copies of wall paintings found in Ancient Egyptian tombs are considered faithful representations.

Coffin and mummy of Djed-djehuty-iuef-ankh

Djed-djehuty-iuef-ankh – whose name means ‘The god Thoth says “May he live”’ – was a member of a family of priests from the city of Thebes. This is one of the inner coffins in a nest of three containing his mummy.

c. 770–712 BCE

AN1895.153, 155-156

Head of Djed-djehuty-iuef-ankh

Inside the rectangular coffin of the mummy of Djed-djehuty-iuef-ankh are two anthropoid (mummy-shaped) coffins, each with a human head wearing a striped wig, a beaded collar and a beard.

c. 770–712 BCE

AN1895.153, 155-156

Hub and spokes of a chariot wheel

Horse-drawn chariots came to symbolise the might of the pharaoh. Pieces of a royal chariot were found within a deep shaft at the tomb of Amenhotep III, including this remnant of a wheel hub.

c. 1539–1075 BCE

AN1923.663

Canopic jars

Canopic jars were used to store the deceased’s organs following an intricate ritual to mummify the body. The lungs, stomach, liver and intestines were placed in canopic jars, each protected by a different god known as the Sons of Horus.

380–343 BCE

AN1889.1320–23

Model of boat

In an ideal funeral, the last voyage was the transportation of the mummy by boat to Abydos in Upper Egypt, to visit the sacred area belonging to the god Osiris. Boat models were included in burials to symbolically recreate the final voyage.

c. 2125–1975 BCE

AN1896-1908.E.2301

Mummy of Meresamun

The inscription on this coffin tells us Meresamun was an elite musician priestess, whose job was to sing and make music for the god Amun. Music was a vital tool in Egyptian religion to pacify the gods.

c. 830–715 BCE

AN1960.1288

Blue faience Shabti figures

Statuettes of magical servants were included in tombs to carry out agricultural work in the ‘Field of Reeds’ on behalf of the deceased. These so-called shabti ‘answerer’ figures were inscribed with a spell so that they would answer the call to work.
Faience shabtis dating to the Late Period, including AN1879.277

Djed-Djehuty-Iuef-Ankh Mummy

Journeying to an after life

Mummy of Meresamun

Singer for the Temple of Amun

EGYPT MEETS GREECE AND ROME at the Ashmolean

ANTIQUITIES DEPARTMENT

Internationally renowned archaeological collections from Prehistoric Europe, the Ancient Near East, Ancient Egypt and Sudan, Minoan Aegean, Mycenaean and Classical Greece, Ancient Cyprus, the Roman world, Medieval and later Europe, as well as the museum's Founding Collection and historic archives.

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