Djehutymose- Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is located on the University of Michigan campus, Ann Arbor, MI. and it’s well-worth a visit if you’re in the area.

The Coffin of Djehutymose is one of the exhibits. He was a priest of Heru and Hethert at Edfu, lived during the Saite period, and died around 600 BCE. This was one of the Nubian eras, and the last dynasty before the Persians invaded.

The Goddesses

There are two remarkable images inside his coffin. The Goddess Imentet, personification of the Western Necropolis is on the base, and the Goddess Nut, of the upper sky. Nut stands on a shen, the hieroglyph for eternal protection.

The hieroglyph for “West” is on her head, with Heru perched on it.

I suspect the red disc below Nut’s lips is the sun disk she swallows each evening and gives birth to in the morning.

Djhehutymose07 — Exhibit Card- Djehutymose

The exhibit card is especially good. The coffin would have had an “opening of the mouth” ceremony, so it could indeed substitute for the missing mummy. There’s evidence that it’s working. Djehutymose has a facebook page, and apparently he tweets from time to time!

It’s difficult to take photos with south-facing windows and reflective display cases. Next time, I’ll try to visit on a dark, cloudy day. In the meantime:

An offering given by the king to Anubis, he who is in front of his divine booth, he who is on his mountain. That he may give a voice-offering of bread, beer, oxen, birds, alabaster, clothing, high-bandwidth internet, and every good and pure thing upon which a god lives, for the ka of the revered Djehutymose, True of Voice.