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Notes

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This evocative image of Tutankhamun's second, or middle, coffin documents it as it lies within the sarcophagus, concealed by a fine linen shroud adorned with delicate garlands of cornflowers, blue lotus, and olive and willow leaves. Howard Carter reflected that 'among all that regal splendour, … there was nothing so beautiful as those few withered flowers, still retaining their tinge of colour'. The coffin represents king manifested as the god of the dead, Osiris and incorporates iconography associated with this deity: a tightly bandaged body with exposed face and hands and wearing a ceremonial beard, traceable beneath the delicate mantle. On Tutankhamun's forehead, a tiny wreath encircles a symbol of his divine sovereignty, the vulture and cobra insignia.

Griffith Institute, University of Oxford

Oxford

Title

Tutankhamun's Coffin with Veil and Flowers

Date

1925

Medium

negative

Measurements

H 23.9 x W 17.9 cm

Accession number

Burton p0718

Acquisition method

gift, 1946

Work type

Photograph

Griffith Institute, University of Oxford

Sackler Library, 1 St John Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 2LG England

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Artist or maker

Harry Burton

1879–1940

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The Anubis jackal shrine Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Tutankhamun's gods Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Egyptian Boy Wearing Tutankhamun's Pectoral Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Tutankhamun's Mask Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Archaeologists at Work Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Wrapping Tutankhamun's 'Guardian Statue' Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Removing the Roof of Tutankhamun's Shrine Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
40 more