TWO EGYPTIAN POLYCHROME WOOD PANELS FROM THE SARCOPHAGUS OF HATHOR-HOTEP, 1ST HALF OF THE 12TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1938-1850 B.C. | Two Egyptian Polychrome Wood Panels from the Sarcophagus of Hathor-hotep

also known as a Chest of Life, the first panel decorated with ornamental inscriptions containing invocations to deities associated with death and rebirth, and the imitation of a prehistoric royal palace facade with finely painted details reproducing the appearance of Early Dynastic mud brick and stone architecture, and Wedjat eyes; the second panel, fragmentary,similarly decorated, and with inscriptions in reversed orientation to allow the deceased to read them.

Sayed Bey Kashaba Collection, Assiut, 1st quarter of the 20th Century
private collection, Egypt, by descent
acquired from the above prior to 1977
Jean-David Cahn AG, Basel, Auktion 8: Kunstwerke der Antike, November 9th, 2013, no. 49, illus.
acquired by the present owner at the above sale

Günther Lapp, Typologie der Särge und Sargkammern von der 6. Bis 13. Dynastie (Studien zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altägyptens, vol. 7), Heidelberg, 1993, pp. 288-289, (M33), Chart 16, pl. 19d

A fragmentary end panel from a coffin found at Meir and now in the Cairo Museum bears the same name, Hathor-hotep (Cairo CG 28062). The dating of the present panels is based on the decoration scheme and corresponds to the later part of the reign of Amenemhat II or early Sesostris III, down through the reign of Amenemhat III (H. Willems, Chests of Life, Leiden, 1988, p. 163, type VI).