Lid of Anthropoid Sarcophagus

Notes: ANCIENT NEAR EAST/ART MARKET; from the Cemetery of BETH SHEAN;(12-11th C. BC); clay; length: 63.5cm; loose sheet, source unknown; (see slide 93/94 #177.5, NE5.C10.14); BRILLIANT GIFT; MAY 30 1994; This lid comes from the cemetery of Beth Shean where it was unearthed, together with some fifty anthropoid sarcophagi of the same kind, in eleven burials dating from the thirteenth through the eleventh century B.C. This type of coffin is larger than life- size and held one or more bodies as well as funerary offerings. The lids of the Beth Shean coffins are of two types: the majority are modeled naturalistically in life- size, while a few are of "grotesque" style, with exaggerated facial features. This lid belongs to the second category, It combines modeled and applied features, including almond-shaped eyes, straight eyebrows picked out by diagonal incisions, a prominent nose, upper and lower lips separated by a deep horizontal cut, a protruding chin, and large ears. The arms emerge near the top of the head and are bent at the elbows, the outstretched fingers almost meeting be- low the chin. Bracelets and armlets are indicated by incisions on the wrists and above the elbows. The headdress consists of a horizontal row of projecting knobs beneath two parallel bands, Significantly, none of the Deir el-Balah coffin lids has the distinctive headgear of this lid. It has been suggested that this headgear represents that worn by the Sea Peoples as they appear on reliefs of Ramses III. The custom of burial in anthropoid coffins was practiced at other sites in Canaan, notably Tell cl-Fara and Deir el-Balah (see cat. no. 64). It originated in Egypt where it was common mainly from the New Kingdom onward. Since Beth Shean was an Egyptian stronghold during the Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties, it may be assumed that this custom was introduced by the Egyptian garrisons stationed there. Numerous finds from the city and its cemetery further underline the Egyptian presence in Beth Shean. REFERENCES: R. Hestrin, The Philistines and the Other Sea Peoples, Israel Muscum catalogue no. 68, Jerusalem. 1970, pp. 7-9, no. 31; *E. D. Oren, The Northern Cemetery of Beth Shean, Leiden, 1973. pp. 132-50, figs. 52:2, 79; T. Dothan, The Philistines and Their Material Culture, Jerusalem, 1982, pp. 252, 268-76.
Image Source: Columbia University Department of Art History and Archaeology Photograph Collection, digitized with support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Record ID: 2023_photocoll_020-04_0050


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