The Blank Text Strips on the Third Intermediate Period Theban Coffins Applied on an Unpublished Cartonnage at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (TR. 5.11.16.4).

Abstract

This paper discusses and analyzes the potential reasons for the presence of blank text strips as a feature of some Third Intermediate Period Theban coffins, applied on an unpublished cartonnage stored in the Egyptian Museum's basement (TR. 5.11.16.4), characterized by blank text strips running along its entire length. This cartonnage can be dated to the 22nd Dynasty according to the typology and criteria of the decorations. Furthermore, the paper conducts a comparative analysis of twenty-one coffins that feature the same artistic element, dating from the Second Intermediate Period to the Greco-Roman Period. The study aims to provide a classification of these coffins and suggests various coffin cases that are available for sale in the workshops. It also offers several explanations for leaving text strips blank and what they indicate. These reasons can be summarized in the hypothesis that workshops were producing readymade coffins intended for the open market. These coffins were sold and used for burials as they were; some had minimal inscription text strips, mostly on the footboard, while others had blank text strips throughout the coffin. This may have been done to cut costs or for decorative, religious, or practical reasons. Heavy demand for ready-made coffins arises from their importance and the ongoing necessity for this funerary product to facilitate the journey to the afterlife for all social classes, with the features and price of the coffin adjusted to suit each of these classes.