Mummy pencil tin, Henutmehyt

This design is based upon the gilded wooden inner coffin of the Theban priestess Henutmehyt, dating from the 19th dynasty, c.1290 BC. The bands of inscription on the front of the case follow the lines painted onto the outermost bandages of the inner wrappings. The designs on the inside of this tin feature details taken from the painted wooden shabti box of Henutmehyt. The shabti box contains small figures which were believed to become servants to the dead in the afterlife. Henutmehyt's coffin does not feature designs on the inside.