DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Zych, Iwona: Wooden coffins from cemetery A in Naqlun
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42090#0221
NAQLUN
EGYPT
the side boards, and was fixed to the side
boards presumably with wooden pegs
inserted through matching holes (T. 388).
The gable lids (for a photo of coffins found
in situ, cf. report in PAM XIV, Reports
2002 (2003), Fig. 2. on p. 166) were made
of long boards nailed or pegged to trian-
gular end pieces that were fixed on pegs to
the end boards of the coffin box [Fig. 10}.
The side edges of the boards were not, as
a rule, cut at a slant to accommodate for
the angle at the point of fitting of the
boards together; in one instance, a thin
long slat was inserted lengthwise at the top
where the two slanting sides of the lid met.
One case of a qafas lid of palm-branch
ribs tied onto a wooden box coffin was
documented this season (T. 348, cf. Fig. 7).
QUALITY
Two aspects need to be discussed under
this heading and both have wider repercus-
sions. The material used in making coffins
is an indirect reflection of the wood trade
and carpentry in the Fayum Oasis in this
period. The workmanship of the coffins
reflects not only on woodworking skills
(talented carpenters need not have been
that rare after all, considering the extensive
use of wood in building and furniture in
the period), but throws light on this sphere
of spiritual beliefs and the related aspects
of social status and emotional commemo-
ration.
Fig. 10. One of the gahle-lidded coffins show-
ing pegged construction of endboard
(Photo I. Zych)
As regards the wood used in coffin-
making, both palmwood and greenwood is
represented. Characteristically, the long
boards of coffins can be made of palmwood,
but the end boards are always of some
greenwood species.4 Coffins made entirely
of greenwood constitute the other type.
Minute analysis of the wood has
provided data on various wood-cutting
and construction techniques that will not
be analyzed in this preliminary report. At
present, suffice it to say that the wood
used in coffin-making was for the most
part leftover wood from other jobs
(mainly architectural construction) that
a given carpenter was charged with. In the
best of cases, the boards are sawed from
the outside parts of a tree trunk and are
thus narrower. Frequently, they appear to
have been discarded because of one flaw or
another, not the least because a corner had
broken off or there was a hole left by
a knot, or the piece had cracked. The
material was no longer acceptable for
building or decoration purposes, but was
obviously good enough for a coffin. As for
the end boards, shorter slats and pieces
that could be cut to size were used, but
often enough branches of a lesser diameter
4 Four different kinds of wood have been sampled for laboratory identification of the wood species scheduled to be carried
out in a future season. Likely candidates are naturally sycamore and acacia, which were commonly available in the
region. A dark and hard wood (oak?), found occasionally, was probably salvaged waste wood.
219
EGYPT
the side boards, and was fixed to the side
boards presumably with wooden pegs
inserted through matching holes (T. 388).
The gable lids (for a photo of coffins found
in situ, cf. report in PAM XIV, Reports
2002 (2003), Fig. 2. on p. 166) were made
of long boards nailed or pegged to trian-
gular end pieces that were fixed on pegs to
the end boards of the coffin box [Fig. 10}.
The side edges of the boards were not, as
a rule, cut at a slant to accommodate for
the angle at the point of fitting of the
boards together; in one instance, a thin
long slat was inserted lengthwise at the top
where the two slanting sides of the lid met.
One case of a qafas lid of palm-branch
ribs tied onto a wooden box coffin was
documented this season (T. 348, cf. Fig. 7).
QUALITY
Two aspects need to be discussed under
this heading and both have wider repercus-
sions. The material used in making coffins
is an indirect reflection of the wood trade
and carpentry in the Fayum Oasis in this
period. The workmanship of the coffins
reflects not only on woodworking skills
(talented carpenters need not have been
that rare after all, considering the extensive
use of wood in building and furniture in
the period), but throws light on this sphere
of spiritual beliefs and the related aspects
of social status and emotional commemo-
ration.
Fig. 10. One of the gahle-lidded coffins show-
ing pegged construction of endboard
(Photo I. Zych)
As regards the wood used in coffin-
making, both palmwood and greenwood is
represented. Characteristically, the long
boards of coffins can be made of palmwood,
but the end boards are always of some
greenwood species.4 Coffins made entirely
of greenwood constitute the other type.
Minute analysis of the wood has
provided data on various wood-cutting
and construction techniques that will not
be analyzed in this preliminary report. At
present, suffice it to say that the wood
used in coffin-making was for the most
part leftover wood from other jobs
(mainly architectural construction) that
a given carpenter was charged with. In the
best of cases, the boards are sawed from
the outside parts of a tree trunk and are
thus narrower. Frequently, they appear to
have been discarded because of one flaw or
another, not the least because a corner had
broken off or there was a hole left by
a knot, or the piece had cracked. The
material was no longer acceptable for
building or decoration purposes, but was
obviously good enough for a coffin. As for
the end boards, shorter slats and pieces
that could be cut to size were used, but
often enough branches of a lesser diameter
4 Four different kinds of wood have been sampled for laboratory identification of the wood species scheduled to be carried
out in a future season. Likely candidates are naturally sycamore and acacia, which were commonly available in the
region. A dark and hard wood (oak?), found occasionally, was probably salvaged waste wood.
219