Day 17 – Art for the Dead

Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about the tomb of Khonsu, another of the Egyptian tombs I’ve been looking at. (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/srvt/hd_srvt.htm). Khonsu was part of a crew of artisans who carved and decorated royal tombs in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. What a job to put on your résumé, right? These artisans put an enormous amount of time and effort into creating the Pharaohs’ tombs, but they also used their talents to create their own (more modest) tombs.

Khonsu had two anthropoid coffins prepared for him (see below). (Apparently, the term “anthropoid coffin” refers to a coffin in the shape of a human). Khonsu’s coffins were covered with various magical symbols and texts. As you can see from the picture, the details are quite elaborate.

Khonsu’s tomb also contained shawabtis – little figurines which would substitute for Khonsu if he were called upon to perform manual labor in the afterlife. (See an example, below. Also, can we just pause here for a moment and say, it would be awesome if I could get some shawabtis to take care of things for me in this life?)

There was obviously a lot of attention to detail put into these coffins and they are, I think, very beautiful. And this was not even the coffin of royalty. Take a look below at the death mask of the famous King Tut. This beautiful masterpiece is made of gold, colored glass, and semiprecious stones. (http://wysinger.homestead.com/kingtutankhamun5.html)

It’s kind of amazing how much work was put into items that were only going to be buried in a tomb. For the Ancient Egyptians, who had strong beliefs regarding the afterlife, I guess it makes sense. I’m glad that these works of art finally made it out of the tombs and into museums so we can enjoy them today. I bet the individuals who were buried with these items would have been appalled, however, to know the eventual fate of their tombs’ treasures! Is it disrespectful that we now use these treasures for our own artistic gain? It might seem silly, but who are we to say that Khonsu doesn’t still need his shawabtis to help him with manual labor in the afterlife? I suppose the answer to that is that, as our understanding of the world evolves, it’s pretty unlikely that the kind of afterlife that Khonsu anticipated exists, and these treasures serve a better purpose being used for the education and enjoyment of modern people. What do you think?

Xoxo,

Diana